Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

I take your point and it is offensive to our way of thinking that the state should dictate the headwear of women anywhere. The issue is the role of FIDE. In the past, as you know very well, they have sited important contests in countries which were hostile to certain groups (e.g. Jews) without any qualms. So much for their motto.
But FIDE does control the playing hall and surely they will not be so craven as to require women to wear the Hijab while playing!?

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

What happens if the women need to be searched for possible communication devices - can they refuse like what happened to a Montreal student recently? She was about to write an exam, and was asked to remove her hijab (or at least raise part of it) so her ears could be "searched" for devices. She refused and was denied the right to take the exam.

Article from today's "La Presse" (I can't find any English articles yet): http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/ed...-son-hijab.php

[Sid Belzberg]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

I presume the posters on this thread understand the difference between the hijab (an attractive scarf with the style varying widely from country to country. See Wikipedia.) and the burka or niqab which is a full face covering. In general, I take the view that men and women should be free to wear whatever they wish. On a religious occasion, there are some constraints---e.g. the hats worn by women in Anglican and Jewish places of worship. I must admit that I too am squeamish about full face coverings which have no place in western society. But the hijab is really no big deal for me, any more than requiring men not to wear jeans at a golf course or long pants at the Masters.
That said, what is worn inside the playing hall is surely within the discretion of FIDE. If FIDE requires the hijab at the Women's World Chess Championship it is FIDE alone to blame.

Gordon, in my opinion you missed the point entirely. The Hijab is considered by hundreds of thousands of women in Iran as yet another symbol of Islamic oppression of women. They risk their lives and liberty daily by defying this edict. The FIDE Women's Commissioner Susan Polgar insists that women chess players should "respect" Iranian culture and wear the hijab. This would be like telling the few Jewish athletes that competed in the Berlin 1936 Olympics that they should respect German culture and don the yellow star of David (a Nazi edict inflicted on all Jews living in Germany). The US Women's chess champion has decided to boycott the tournament for these reasons even though it would be the most important of her career.

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

I presume the posters on this thread understand the difference between the hijab (an attractive scarf with the style varying widely from country to country. See Wikipedia.) and the burka or niqab which is a full face covering. In general, I take the view that men and women should be free to wear whatever they wish. On a religious occasion, there are some constraints---e.g. the hats worn by women in Anglican and Jewish places of worship. I must admit that I too am squeamish about full face coverings which have no place in western society. But the hijab is really no big deal for me, any more than requiring men not to wear jeans at a golf course or long pants at the Masters.
That said, what is worn inside the playing hall is surely within the discretion of FIDE. If FIDE requires the hijab at the Women's World Chess Championship it is FIDE alone to blame.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

In fact if the rumours are correct we will soon have an example of the idiocy of the Kasparov team in Canada which I will report at the appropriate time. Hopefully the rumours will not come to pass.

So... the guy is bad for reasons you will disclose at some point in the future. But you might not have to disclose these reasons because... eh... it's only hearsay?

I'm sorry, but this is objectively dumb. You either have reasonable (and thus presentable) evidence to believe Kasparov is not fit for the job, or you don't. The way you present it, it's like we have to take your word as cash on the matter, without you ever commiting to anything.

And I'm not taking sides here, just pointing out a huge logical fallacy in your statement. You want us to consider your view on the matter, without ever presenting the underlying facts that lead you there. It's not serious.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Humph ... I thought it was an accurate assessment.

[Sid Belzberg]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

I believe that we will see at least some of the money in the future if we play nice and continue to build relationships with FIDE. If we choose to burn our bridges then we will not see any of the money, ever.

If we had been faster out of the gate to organize the tournaments we would have already had more of the money but its hard to ask for the next installment when we haven't completed the first set of tournaments. By the time we had completed the first set with the events in Alberta which bailed us out from an embarassing situation of not having organized the tournaments we said we would, there were already problems at FIDE.

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[Sid Belzberg]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

You should ask yourself why your candidate lost so convincingly. It wasn't because of calls from the Russian embassies or because the aliens controlled our minds. It had more to do with Danailov and Leong. It was because of well founded beliefs of federations around the world that Garry was not up to the task based on past performance and some of the people he was surrounding himself with. Attending the FIDE meetings and seeing the Kasparov team members in action showed me very clearly why he lost. In fact if the rumours are correct we will soon have an example of the idiocy of the Kasparov team in Canada which I will report at the appropriate time. Hopefully the rumours will not come to pass.

If Sinquefield had been running himself he probably would have won.

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[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

You should ask Kirsan how his application for US citizenship is coming along :-). Then ask yourself how you could take a person like this seriously?

You should ask yourself why your candidate lost so convincingly. It wasn't because of calls from the Russian embassies or because the aliens controlled our minds. It had more to do with Danailov and Leong. It was because of well founded beliefs of federations around the world that Garry was not up to the task based on past performance and some of the people he was surrounding himself with. Attending the FIDE meetings and seeing the Kasparov team members in action showed me very clearly why he lost. In fact if the rumours are correct we will soon have an example of the idiocy of the Kasparov team in Canada which I will report at the appropriate time. Hopefully the rumours will not come to pass.

If Sinquefield had been running himself he probably would have won.

[Sid Belzberg]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Frankly the justification for the sanctions seems paper thin and that is why no other governments have jumped on board.

About the only thing that seems paper thin to me here is your brain for believing and accepting Kirsan's and FIDE's bullshit ...especially after they so far have stiffed the CFC and continue to hold chess tournaments in unacceptable venues such as Iran. Originally you posted here that the reason the CFC was stiffed was FIDE's tight finances. Now it is the CFC's fault for not organizing on time. Sounds to me like you are full of it Vlad. You should ask Kirsan how his application for US citizenship is coming along :-). Then ask yourself how you could take a person like this seriously?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Where there any other bids for FIDE to consider?

There were no other bids.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Vlad,

What about the money promised by FIDE? Are you still hoping to get the money so organizers can use them for new GM norm tournaments?
I don't organize tournaments and my son is already a GM so I don't have a personal interest in this.

I believe that we will see at least some of the money in the future if we play nice and continue to build relationships with FIDE. If we choose to burn our bridges then we will not see any of the money, ever.

If we had been faster out of the gate to organize the tournaments we would have already had more of the money but its hard to ask for the next installment when we haven't completed the first set of tournaments. By the time we had completed the first set with the events in Alberta which bailed us out from an embarassing situation of not having organized the tournaments we said we would, there were already problems at FIDE.

[Bob Gillanders]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Is the CFC happy the event is in Iran ? Obviously not.

Where there any other bids for FIDE to consider?

[Rene Preotu]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

How are Kirsan's promises working out for the CFC Vlad?

It worked out fine.

This was mentioned in Hal Bond's detailed report from the FIDE Congress, which is available for public viewing on the CFC Forum.

He says: "Acting President Giorgios Makropoulous advised the Assembly that Kirsan understood that he could not run for President in 2018 if this matter [US Sanctions, etc] was not resolved. It is worth noting at this point that no Presidential candidates for 2018 are visible. Kasparov is reportedly not interested, Kirsan is a question mark and no one else is making their intentions known. I also spoke to FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg about Kirsan’s election promise to Canada. He is aware of our predicament and is hopeful for a solution in early 2017."

This doesn’t sound “fine” to me. It sounds like a broken record.

[Fred McKim]

Re: Women will be forced to compete in hijabs at the next world championship in Iran

Vlad,

What about the money promised by FIDE? Are you still hoping to get the money so organizers can use them for new GM norm tournaments?
I don't organize tournaments and my son is already a GM so I don't have a personal interest in this.

This was mentioned in Hal Bond's detailed report from the FIDE Congress, which is available for public viewing on the CFC Forum.

He says: "Acting President Giorgios Makropoulous advised the Assembly that Kirsan understood that he could not run for President in 2018 if this matter [US Sanctions, etc] was not resolved. It is worth noting at this point that no Presidential candidates for 2018 are visible. Kasparov is reportedly not interested, Kirsan is a question mark and no one else is making their intentions known. I also spoke to FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg about Kirsan’s election promise to Canada. He is aware of our predicament and is hopeful for a solution in early 2017."