Chess Under Protest

Turns out it’s not just global soccer and the Olympics that are happy to enable tyrannical regimes: FIDE, the world chess federation, is, too.

To host February’s world championship matches, FIDE tapped Iran — a nation that requires women to wear head coverings, the hijab, under penalty of arrest. And the federation’s Commission for Women’s Chess is telling players to go along to “respect cultural differences.”

Female chess champs already had to do this at a smaller Grand Prix event in Iran this year.

Among those condemning this idiocy is Nazi Paikidze, the US women’s chess champ who says she’s likely to boycott. She also pointedly tweeted out a recent State Department travel warnings about American citizens being subject to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment in Iran.

Not to mention the terrorist attacks Iran has masterminded from Argentina to Lebanon, its on- going support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, its proxy wars across the Middle East and the regime’s bloody record on human rights at home.

A former Pan American women’s chess champion, Carla Heredia of Ecuador, also weighed in: “This violates all what sports means. Sport should be free of discrimination by sex, religion and sexual orientation.”

And she raises another issue of Iran’s barbaric laws: “Women can’t share a room with a male if she is not married to him.” What if “women chess players want to share the room with a male coach or if women chess players want to prepare for the game visiting the coach’s room?”

February is still five months off: time enough for FIDE to change its mind and move the tournament.

Strike a blow for human rights — instead of promoting tyranny.