After Competing Without a Hijab, a Top Iranian Chess Player Won’t Return Home

Khademalsharieh, who has declined to speak with reporters, evidently anticipated that her decision would have repercussions. She traveled to the tournaments with her husband, Ardeshir Ahmadi, and their 10-month-old son. Now that the tournaments are over, they are moving to southern Spain, where they have bought a house.

Ahmadi, a TV producer, director and presenter, was once imprisoned in Iran for three months, apparently stemming from documentaries he had made.

Khademalsharieh was the only woman who had been living in Iran competing at the tournaments. Iranian men who were also playing in Almaty said that they were surprised by Khademalsharieh’s decision and were not aware that she would do it before the competition began. Many of those players have known her since childhood and said that they considered her a friend.

Other Iranian women have also forgone a hijab during international sports competitions. In 2017, Dorsa Derakhshani, another international master chess player, was barred by the Iranian Chess Federation for not wearing a head scarf while competing in a tournament in Gibraltar. She later moved to the United States.

Mitra Hejazipour, another chess player, was barred for not wearing a head scarf during the 2020 rapid and blitz world championships in Moscow. She was a student in France at the time and never returned to Iran. That same year, Shohreh Bayat, a top chess referee, was seen not wearing a hijab in Shanghai while officiating at the women’s world championship. She said that she feared returning to Iran and now lives in Britain.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/30/sports/iran-chess-hijab.html