I am ready to stand for my principles': Double world chess champion says she won't defend titles in Saudi Arabia because of kingdom's inequality

[tennisluvr]

It takes years of work, days of staring at a board and hours of agonising over individuals moves en route to becoming a world champion in chess. 

And it takes only a short-sighted decision from its governing body to ensure you lose that crown.

"In a few days I am going to lose two World Champion titles - one by one," Anna Muzychuk says. 

"Just because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia."

Muyzchuk is the defending world champion in two disciplines of speed chess - rapid and blitz. In rapid, each players gets 15 minutes to complete all of their moves and in blitz it is just 10. 

Muzychuk shows off her two titles - Rapid and Blitz World Championship medals (Getty)

The 27-year-old Ukrainian had been looking forward to defending her championships won in Doha, Qatar in 2016 but this year's competition, hosted by a political rival, has already faced far more opposition than any chess competition ever should. 

For Muzychuk and her sister Mariya, another chess pro, their refusal is on the grounds that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not treat women with anything even approaching equality - a country where the sisters would not be allowed outside unless escorted by a man.

"[I decided] not to play by someone's rules, not to wear abaya, not to be accompanied getting outside, and altogether not to feel myself a secondary creature," she said in an emotional statement.

"Exactly one year ago I won these two titles and was about the happiest person in the chess world but this time I feel really bad. I am ready to stand for my principles and skip the event, where in five days I was expected to earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined."

Muzychuk will not get to re-live the high points (or low points) of last year's wins (Getty)

And therein lies the problem. Saudi Arabia are understood to have paid in the region of US$1.5m to host the tournament, which will be called the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. That fee is four times what the host usually forks out and the prize money at this week's event is many multiples of what players would usually expect to receive - particularly championship contenders like Anna. 

Women are, according to local reports, being allowed to wear dark blue or black formal trousers and high-necked blouses, avoiding Saudi rules of dress that require female residents and most visitors to wear loose-fitting, long robes known as abayas. Most Saudi women also cover their hair and face with veils though the tournament organisers insisted on Tuesday that they are not requiring competitors to wear abaya.

But it is not just women who have had problems with the Saudi-hosted event. 

The very fact that this country is hosting a world chess tournament for the first time is controversial domestically as it comes two years after the country's top cleric issued a religious edict against playing the board game. Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, said in early 2016 that chess is "forbidden" in Islam because it wastes time and can lead to rivalry among players. Similarly, top Iranian clerics have also decried the game, saying it can lead to gambling, which is banned in Islam. 

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has had this year's championship named after him (Reuters)

Then there are the political issues, with countries that are currently geo-political rivals of the Kingdom complaining they have not received visas to enter the country and compete.

Israelis say Saudi Arabia ignored requests by Israeli players to obtain visas to participate in the tournament, perhaps unsurprising given that Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. But Qatar and Iran have reported similar grievances. While the top three male players are all travelling for the tournament, many will be missing and the women's competition is still reeling from Muzychuk's withdrawal on Tuesday.

"All that other stuff is annoying, but the most upsetting thing is that almost nobody really cares," Muzychuk added in her Facebook post.

"That is a really bitter feeling, still not the one to change my opinion and my principles. The same goes for my sister Mariya - and I am really happy that we share this point of view. And yes, for those few who care - we'll be back!

[tennisluvr]

Calling @Bhai

[uttermost]

So Bhai should answer for a country's decision to treat women as second class citizens. lol.

Is this another way of saying that all muslims shouldn't talk about India unless they talk about some fcuking barbaric kingdom 1000s of kms away? lol.

[Tyrannosauraus_Rex]

19 minutes ago, tennisluvr said:

It takes years of work, days of staring at a board and hours of agonising over individuals moves en route to becoming a world champion in chess. 

And it takes only a short-sighted decision from its governing body to ensure you lose that crown.

"In a few days I am going to lose two World Champion titles - one by one," Anna Muzychuk says. 

"Just because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia."

Muyzchuk is the defending world champion in two disciplines of speed chess - rapid and blitz. In rapid, each players gets 15 minutes to complete all of their moves and in blitz it is just 10. 

Muzychuk shows off her two titles - Rapid and Blitz World Championship medals (Getty)

The 27-year-old Ukrainian had been looking forward to defending her championships won in Doha, Qatar in 2016 but this year's competition, hosted by a political rival, has already faced far more opposition than any chess competition ever should. 

For Muzychuk and her sister Mariya, another chess pro, their refusal is on the grounds that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not treat women with anything even approaching equality - a country where the sisters would not be allowed outside unless escorted by a man.

"[I decided] not to play by someone's rules, not to wear abaya, not to be accompanied getting outside, and altogether not to feel myself a secondary creature," she said in an emotional statement.

"Exactly one year ago I won these two titles and was about the happiest person in the chess world but this time I feel really bad. I am ready to stand for my principles and skip the event, where in five days I was expected to earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined."

Muzychuk will not get to re-live the high points (or low points) of last year's wins (Getty)

And therein lies the problem. Saudi Arabia are understood to have paid in the region of US$1.5m to host the tournament, which will be called the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. That fee is four times what the host usually forks out and the prize money at this week's event is many multiples of what players would usually expect to receive - particularly championship contenders like Anna. 

Women are, according to local reports, being allowed to wear dark blue or black formal trousers and high-necked blouses, avoiding Saudi rules of dress that require female residents and most visitors to wear loose-fitting, long robes known as abayas. Most Saudi women also cover their hair and face with veils though the tournament organisers insisted on Tuesday that they are not requiring competitors to wear abaya.

But it is not just women who have had problems with the Saudi-hosted event. 

The very fact that this country is hosting a world chess tournament for the first time is controversial domestically as it comes two years after the country's top cleric issued a religious edict against playing the board game. Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, said in early 2016 that chess is "forbidden" in Islam because it wastes time and can lead to rivalry among players. Similarly, top Iranian clerics have also decried the game, saying it can lead to gambling, which is banned in Islam. 

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has had this year's championship named after him (Reuters)

Then there are the political issues, with countries that are currently geo-political rivals of the Kingdom complaining they have not received visas to enter the country and compete.

Israelis say Saudi Arabia ignored requests by Israeli players to obtain visas to participate in the tournament, perhaps unsurprising given that Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. But Qatar and Iran have reported similar grievances. While the top three male players are all travelling for the tournament, many will be missing and the women's competition is still reeling from Muzychuk's withdrawal on Tuesday.

"All that other stuff is annoying, but the most upsetting thing is that almost nobody really cares," Muzychuk added in her Facebook post.

"That is a really bitter feeling, still not the one to change my opinion and my principles. The same goes for my sister Mariya - and I am really happy that we share this point of view. And yes, for those few who care - we'll be back!

 

 

Very rarely do world champions risk their hard earned world titles for a cause they believe in. Kudos to Anna.

You are now more than a champion in chess.

[uttermost]

3 minutes ago, Tyrannosauraus_Rex said:

 

 

Very rarely do world champions risk their hard earned world titles for a cause they believe in. Kudos to Anna.

You are now more than a champion in chess.

more importantly, why not cancel that championships that dont allow certain nationalities to play? (denying visas to Israelis, Qatar, Iran)

FIDE, like all sports governing bodies, has proven to be useless. and not for the first time.

[Peter123]

respect to her from india 

[uttermost]

Just now, Peter123 said:

respect to her from india 

why exactly? because she made you feel better about being an asshole?

[Tyrannosauraus_Rex]

6 minutes ago, uttermost said:

more importantly, why not cancel that championships that dont allow certain nationalities to play? (denying visas to Israelis, Qatar, Iran)

FIDE, like all sports governing bodies, has proven to be useless. and not for the first time.

 

Agree with you.

Same with Qatar hosting the World Cup Football in 2022.

Its bidding process to win this privilege is mired in one of the most sordid stories of corruption not to mention the hundreds of slave workers who have already lost their lives building those giant stadiums.

 

 

 

[uttermost]

10 minutes ago, Peter123 said:

respect to her from india 

you are only an youtube comment bot, with an deluded sense of self worth. 

your respect means less than sh1t, just FYI  

[uttermost]

11 minutes ago, Tyrannosauraus_Rex said:

 

Agree with you.

Same with Qatar hosting the World Cup Football in 2022.

Its bidding process to win this privilege is mired in one of the most sordid stories of corruption not to mention the hundreds of slave workers who have already lost their lives building those giant stadiums.

This is what happens when governing bodies put money over principles. They crawl before the highest bidder, who'll use the prestige of the tournament to push their own agendas.

Saudi should ideally be blockaded from hosting all cultural/sporting events until they change their racist and sexist attitude.

 

[uttermost]

Its very simple man. RWs are all the same everywhere.

you live in the US for some 5yrs, and you end up defending white nationalist fcukers (soft ones that go 'MAGA') and their agenda, blindly bashing Obama (although he deserves bashing for other reasons).

same if you live in Saudi for a few years, you'll suck up to the Saudi royalty too.

Ofcourse you do this in the belief that, back in India, you'll get a similar free run against minorities (as if you don't have it now).

you are all part of the global elite, trying to make the world a worse place for people who are different to you.

[Staysafebro]

38 minutes ago, uttermost said:

So Bhai should answer for a country's decision to treat women as second class citizens. lol.

Is this another way of saying that all muslims shouldn't talk about India unless they talk about some fcuking barbaric kingdom 1000s of kms away? lol.

May be not at Bhai, but if they are proud of those countries for the good they have done - fair few of them sing great praises of the Saudis and Arabs everytime they are mentioned. It is only appropriate they condemn such barbaric acts. You want to show/talk about all the incidents related to Dalit atrocities to Hindu nationalists and shame them. How is this any different?

[uttermost]

1 minute ago, Staysafebro said:

May be not at Bhai, but if they are proud of those countries for the good they have done - fair few of them sing great praises of the Saudis and Arabs everytime they are mentioned. It is only appropriate they condemn such barbaric acts. 

then why call Bhai. go to their forum and call them. 

[Staysafebro]

1 minute ago, uttermost said:

then why call Bhai. go to their forum and call them. 

OK @uttermost

[Vaampire]

Hatsoff.  This decision of yours worth more tham winning 1000 championships.

 

countries which have such rules should not be allowed to host such events. 

 

There are some states in india too which need to be taught a lesson