Second thoughts

Chess dress

A chess coach in Malaysia is demanding a public apology for one of his students after the 12-year-old was forced to withdraw from a tournament that took place April 14-16 due to her “seductive” dress.

In a Facebook post, the coach, Kaushal Khandhar, detailed the incident that took place at the National Scholastic Chess Championship in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Khandhar wrote, “In the middle of Round 2, (without stopping the clocks) chief arbiter informs my student that the dress she wore was improper and has violated the dress code of the tournament. It was later informed (by chief arbiter) to my student and her mother that the tournament director deemed my student’s dress to be ‘seductive’ and a ‘temptation from a certain angle far, far away.’”

Khandhar added that in his two decades coaching chess, he has never seen one of his students treated this way. He also stated that the tournament director must issue an apology, or the student and he will take legal action.

Fired, yet wanted

Veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder was among the many layoffs at ESPN last week.

While Werder said his layoff was effective immediately, he told the Dallas Cowboys-centric podcast “The Doomsday Podcast” that ESPN asked him to cover the

NFL Draft after informing him he was being laid off.

He said he realized he was being laid off when he was told to call his boss, who was also with a human resources employee.

He said one of the odder details of the meeting was that ESPN asked him to cover the New Orleans Saints in the draft the next day.

“When they finished telling me I was laid off, they said this was effective immediately,” Werder said. “And the next thing they told me to do as a former employee of ESPN was stay and cover the Saints’ draft, which seemed like an odd way to begin your unemployment.

“But it seemed like it was my option, and I chose not to.”

Werder