Find Out Why Soumya Swaminathan Refused to Play in Iran
The Asian team chess championship of chess 2018 to be held in Hamadan Iran from 26 July to August 4th will see one chess star less from India. She is none other than Soumya Swaminathan the woman Grandmaster and former world junior girls' champion.
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Soumya Swaminathan Chess News-
Soumya swaminathan refused to play international master chess tournament citing the violation of freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion. On her Facebook page told that, she refused to abide by the compulsory head scarf rule of Iran. Countries like Saudi Arabia too have a compulsory headscarf rule but they had relaxed it for the world chess championship held there in 2017.
source Upcoming Chess Tournaments- The Asian Chess Championship is a chess competition open to all players from Asian chess federations. In 2016 Indian chess stars Sethuraman and Bhakti Kulkarni won the title at Tashkent (Russia). This year the tournament was scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, but a last minute venue change led to the tournament to be held in Iran now. AICF Deepak Chauhan said they respected her decision and further added they will soon get her replacement.
source The Asian nations cup is a team championship and follows the swiss system. Soumya won the Indian Women's Championships in 2011 and the Commonwealth Women's Championships in 2012. Saumya Swaminathan is not the first women to withdraw from an international tournament for enforced dress code. Earlier Henna Siddu refused to travel to Iran for the Asian gun championships held in 2016 in Tehran for the same reason. This year the world chess championship is to be held in November 2018. Book your world chess championship tickets fast to see the masters in action as the tournament is scheduled to be held in London this year. Read the full article