Double world chess champion won't defend titles in Saudi Arabia because of how they treat women

'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 The Ukrainian, 27, will not travel to Saudi Arabia, where she wouldn't even be allowed to walk down the street unaccompanied Ed Malyon Sports Editor @eaamalyon The Independent Sport Popular videos Liverpool agree world record deal with Southampton for Van Dijk Ten shoppers injured in St Petersburg supermarket explosion Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have reacted the same way to his niece How relentless self-improvement made Kane into England's Ronaldo It takes years of work, days of staring at a board and hours of agonising over individual 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!" More about: Chess World Chess Championship Anna Muzychuk 22K Reuse content    by Taboola  Sponsored Links  Macaulay Culkin Finally Opens Up About What Happened At Neverland Ranch IcePop Rare Photos Not Suitable For History Books Definition Dental Implants Used to Be Expensive - Not Anymore Implants | Sponsored Links Ridiculous Photos Taken By Trail Cams NinjaJournalist The World at War: Test Your WWII Knowledge With This Quiz Zoo.com Don’t Buy Bitcoin Until You Read This (Free Report Reveals ‘Next Bitcoin’) Money Morning Australia 28 Hilarious Pics Taken at the Vet Two Red Dots 24 Of The Most Dangerous Dog Breeds WikiPuppet South Australia Residents Born 1947-1979 With No Life Insurance Must Read This Life Insurance | Search Links Comments Log in or register to comment 294 Comments SubscribeRSS 2 hours ago pingpong She would deserved more credit if she didn't mention money ReplyShare -1 5 hours ago Robert Don't blame her only an Idiot would go that S**t hole. ReplyShare +6 6 hours ago L Garou All your World Chess Championships are belong to us! signed, AlphaZero ReplyShare +1 6 hours ago ksenak Inbreeding within families in hundreds of generations have some genetic consequences in muslim world...  ReplyShare2 replies +5 2 hours ago Disband_MPS What? Are all 1.8 billion of us Muslims inbreeders? Is that why you can see our blue veins through are white skins, our hair is ginger and die overwhelmingly from neurological diseases? ReplyShare1 reply -2 1 hour ago CaptChaos068 Just look. The vast majority have the ethics, IQ, work skills and usefulness of a potato. Share -1 7 hours ago dclaudew Another venue, the Fort Benning Airborne School, was very dangerous in 1968. My solution was to stay indoors at night. No one from another race assaulted me during my 3 weeks there. Chess players might do the same, and just stay inside their hotel. ReplyShare1 reply -1 6 hours ago Colin You miss the point entirely. She is not going as a protest against Saudi attitudes towards women in general.  ReplyShare +6 7 hours ago IandMe I heard that Saudis  will lose sleep, and won't be eating because she doesn't go there ReplyShare2 replies -13 7 hours ago BabeŔuth All you can do is what you think is right. I support her in her stance. ReplyShare1 reply +12 2 hours ago Disband_MPS You support her because it is mightywhite of you massa. You tell those brown people whats what. Share -2 8 hours ago JonnyWild Obviously no backhanders in Saudi, nor opportunity to bet on herself. That's the real reason - you know the Ukrainians. They don't get out of bed unless there a backhander involved. ReplyShare3 replies -19 6 hours ago Colin Stupid boring generalisation by a stupid boring idiot. Bear in mind she is a lot brighter than you.  ReplyShare +8 4 hours ago hughwill Вернитесь в Москву, чтобы лизать путинскую задницу, Юрий ReplyShare +2 1 hour ago CaptChaos068 Ever been to Saudi, they are corruption specialists. As for nepotism, there's not much they could learn from anybody. ReplyShare 0 8 hours ago BabeŔuth Whose bright idea was it to give the event to Saudi?  ReplyShare1 reply +10 1 hour ago CaptChaos068 Some bloke handing a bag of cash to the organisers. ReplyShare 0 9 hours ago vinhn1 Well done to her. I hope this teaches King Salman a lesson: All that money can't buy your way out of sexism. ReplyShare +15 9 hours ago rockingham Well done Muzychuk it's a pity the others haven't followed you, other dress banns are on the wearing of a cross round the neck and on show it also applies to earrings that are crosses, Saudi Arabia is 99% Sunni muslim and their aim is to wipe out Christianity and Shiite muslims, so why do our politicians keep telling us they are good. ReplyShare4 replies +13 9 hours ago Badger1 "So why do our politicians keep telling us they are good?" Because our politicians are in league with the Saudis and others to turn Europe Islamic. Sorry if that sounds like a conspiracy theory. But before you vote me down, please say how else you would explain: - Letting trained ISIS fighters back to live among us - Failing to monitor (let alone close down) extremist mosques that turn out suicide bombers - Allowing continued mass Muslim immigration so that their numbers are doubling every 12 years, and with it the number of jihadi attacks - The politicians' poodle MSM howling down as a racist Nazi anyone who says Muslims becoming  a majority in western Europe later this century isn't such a good idea. They are not taking the most simple, obvious actions to protect indigenous Europeans and preserve European civilisation. And every single British politician except Anne Marie Waters sings from the same hymn sheet.  How else would you explain the observed facts? ReplyShare3 replies -4 8 hours ago BabeŔuth Our government is an equal opportunity destroyer of people, nations and communities in search of influence and profit. Share +3 26 minutes ago Badger1 And that explains why they are letting in trained ISIS fighters to live among us, does it? Share 0 24 minutes ago Badger1 So none of the cowards who voted me down will hazard their own explanation of why our leaders are intent on replacing western civilisation in Europe with Islam. Share 0 Show more comments If music gives you goosebumps, your brain might be special A giant skull-faced asteroid is coming back to Earth How much alcohol people drink around the world, mapped Mike Huckabee said Trump is like Churchill and people were not happy Spending 'quality time' with parents makes little difference to children, studies suggest    by Taboola  Promoted Links  Susan Boyle is So Skinny Now and Looks Gorgeous Journalistate [Gallery] The World's Most Gorgeous Female Billionaires Idolator No It's Not Photoshop, Look Closer - This Is Australia Parentz Talk The Surprising Truth About Cats Burst Daily At least 10 injured in explosion at St Petersburg supermarket US and Russia do not accept North Korea as a nuclear power, US State department says Video Liverpool agree world record deal with Southampton for Van Dijk Ten shoppers injured in St Petersburg supermarket explosion Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have reacted the same way to his niece Sponsored Features Explore a ski paradise in SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental Visit Innsbruck's sprawling slopes and enjoy its buzzing ambiance The new cricket ground bringing a brighter future to Rwanda Follow us: User Policies Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Code of Conduct Complaint Form Contact Us Contributors All Topics Archive Newsletters Jobs Subscriptions Advertising Guide Syndication Evening Standard Novaya Gazeta Install our Apps We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you. Read our Privacy and Cookie Policies to find out more.