A two-time world chess champion has said she will not defend her titles at a tournament held in Saudi Arabia because of the way the kingdom treats women as “secondary creatures”.
Anna Muzychuk, of Ukraine, turned down the chance to travel to the event despite modest signs of reform in the kingdom under the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
“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,” said Muzychuk. “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 Saudis are believed to have paid $1.5m (£750,000) to host the championship for the first time. The sport’s governing body, Fide, had claimed a measure of success in persuading Saudi authorities to allow female competitors to compete in high-necked white blouses and blue or black trousers instead of full-body abayas.
However, for Muzychuk, it was not enough. “I am going to lose two world champion titles, one by one,” she wrote on Facebook. “Just because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia. 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.”
Muzychuk is the defending world champion in two disciplines of speed chess – rapid, where each player gets 15 minutes to complete all their moves, and blitz, where players get 10 minutes. She will now lose her world titles for both. Her sister, also a world-class chess player, will also miss the event.
The push to host the tournament and the relaxation of the female dress code is a continuation of Prince Mohammed’s ambitious reforms shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom, including the decision to allow women to drive from next June.
In October it was announced that strict segregation laws were to be relaxed to allow women into sports stadiums for the first time. The kingdom is also expected to lift a public ban on cinemas and has encouraged mixed-gender celebrations.
Two years ago chess itself was the subject of religious condemnation in Saudi Arabia when senior cleric the grand mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, said the game was forbidden in Islam because it wasted time and could lead to rivalry and gambling problems.
But in September Prince Mohammed promised that his kingdom, long seen as an exporter of a puritanical Islam espoused by jihadists worldwide, would return to “what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is tolerant of all religions and to the world”.
The chess tournament has already been dogged by tensions, including an alleged refusal to give Israeli players visas and doubts over whether Iranians and Qataris would come. Israel’s chess federation said it was seeking compensation from Fide over the visa rejections.
