The politics of chess. The case of Shohreh Bayat
It should not be a great surprise to learn that top level Chess, like other sports, has its share of politics. A case study is that of the gifted Iranian player Shohreh Bayat.
Shohreh, now domiciled in England fell foul of the chess authorities some years ago, but her case was brought into the headlines recently by an investigatory report by CNN on which I have based this podcast.
In 2020, during the women’s world chess championships Shohreh was criticised in Iran for not wearing the appropriate headscarf.
Enter the Chess Federation President, Arkady Dvorkovich.
President Dvorkovich served as Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister between 2012-2018 following a stint as the Kremlin’s top economic adviser. He has always maintained that his political stance does not influence his work for FIDE, the chess organising body. He has also pointed out that he was one of the most senior establishment figures in Russia to question the war in Ukraine...