“It’s primarily a safety issue”. Irina Borisivna Krush too won’t take part in the Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament in Tehran. For further information, see http://chess-news.ru/node/22594.
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After Nazí Nodarovna Paikidze and Mariya olehivna Muzychuk, Irina Borisivna Krush also decided to not participate in the next Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament. As she declared to Chess-News.ru, “It’s primarily a safety issue. There is no official information about it, we heard anything from anyone, and the U.S. Department of State warn American women about the risk of travelling in Iran. It is enough to feel uncomfortable in a country that lives under Sharia law”. Krush admits that Iranian mandatory clothing protocols are a lesser problem, but, “if you put it all together and consider it as a whole, I don’t see why I should undertake such a journey”, she said. “I appreciate the efforts the Iranian Chess Federation went through to host major events in the country. I also want to say that all the players from Iran who I knew personally made a very good impression on me. So, it was all but an easy decision, but all in all the good reasons aren’t worth the risks”, Krush eventually said.
Not a word, maybe not unstrangely, about the format issue. The inequality of men’s and women’s World Chess Championship systems constitutes, as a matter of fact, a much more serious case of gender discrimination if not the unauthorized conduct of a bingo game. The knockout format, indeed, may easily transform itself into a call for bids to the entire women’s chess community (this is just my opinion, of course). By definition a World Chess Champion – even if pro tempore – should earn her title through a fair game and not by offering cash incentives to the responsible organization. I think people voted almost unanimously against such a “selection system”, so maybe it’s time to accept it. |
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