Ukrainian chess grandmaster Anna Muzychuk has said she backed out from participating in a speed chess championship which is due to take place in Er Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between Dec. 24-31.
“In a few days, I am going to lose two World Champion titles – one by one,” Muzychuk wrote on Facebook on Dec. 23. “Just because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia. Not to play by someone’s rules, not to wear an abaya (a traditional Muslim dark loose over-garment worn by women in North Africa and Arabian Peninsula), not to be accompanied getting outside, and altogether not to feel as a secondary creature.”
According to the Saudi tournament rules for female participants, published on the World Chess Federation (FIDE) website, all players are required to wear dark blue or black formal trouser suits, with high necked white blouses, for all games. No players with jeans, T-shirts, sneakers, baseball caps, shorts or inappropriate dress will be allowed in the playing zone, the document reads.
Any requests to wear national or traditional dress must be approved by the Chief Arbiter. Also, if any player withdraws without any justifiable reason, they will forfeit her right to the prize for the tournament as well as incur further sanctions by the FIDE, according to the Federation.
However, on Nov. 14 the FIDE reported that there would be no need to wear a hijab or abaya during the games in Saudi Arabia, which would be the first precedent for any sporting event in the country. Still, in accordance with the Muslim Sharia law, women in Saudi Arabia are facing a number of limitations, such as strict Muslim dress code or the ban on free movement outside in the streets without being accompanied by a spouse or a male kin.
Some limitations are being gradually softened – on Sept. 26, the Saudi king Salman issued a decree that abolished the ban on driving cars for women.
Despite some minor concessions by the FIDE, the 27-year-old Ukrainian grandmaster insisted on her decision to boycott the championship.
“Exactly one year ago I won these two titles and was about the happiest person in the chess world,” Muzychyk also said on Facebook. “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.”
The total prize fund for the event is $2 million, with the first individual prize for women worth $80,000.
“All that is annoying, but the most upsetting thing is that almost nobody really cares. That is a really bitter feeling, still not the one to change my opinion and my principles. The same goes for my sister Mariya (a 25-year-old Ukrainian chess champion Mariya Muzychuk) – and I am really happy that we share this point of view.”
