FIDE Women's Grand Prix: GMs from Kazakhstan and Germany pull out due to poor organisation

New Delhi, March 28: The FIDE Women's Grand Prix began in New Delhi on Saturday (March 25) but not before causing huge embarrassment to the organisers as it got delayed by one day when one of the 12 participating players pulled out from the tournament.

First, Grand Master Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan pulled out of the tournament after expressing her anger over the shoddy treatment given to the players upon arrival in New Delhi.

A day later, German GM Elisabeth Pähtz, also pulled out of the competition citing 'several organisational issues on site that were inappropriate for a tournament in the World Cup qualifying cycle'.

Why Grand Master Zhansaya Abdumalik pulled out?

Abdumalik complained that the organisers didn't arrange for cabs for her to be chauffeured from the airport to the hotel and also claimed that several players were made to wait at the hotel for hours as their rooms were not ready.

Once Abdumalik threatened to pull out of the competition, the organisers proposed to replace her with a chess player from India. However, other players did not agree with the proposition and due to this, the start of the competition was shifted to the next day.

"At the Indian Grand Prix, my colleagues and I were stunned and disappointed with the conditions created by the organizers," said Abdumalik on her Facebook page. She further wrote, "After some discussion, we decided to write a collective letter to the President, in which we expressed our dissatisfaction and proposed to postpone or cancel the Grand Prix."

"The letter was signed by almost all the participants of the Grand Prix, I personally informed FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Executive Director Emil Sutovsky of my decision not to play in such conditions.

"I am convinced that female chess players deserve to play in safe and decent conditions, I am always proud to represent my country... I bring my apologies to colleagues for publishing their correspondence, but I have to do this to protect my reputation."

Following this, the FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich issued an apology to all the players in a letter without naming the player. The global body in its letter termed it "the errors of local organisers regarding the Women's Grand Prix tournament in New Delhi".

On its official website, FIDE apologised to all the players and confirmed that one player had withdrawn from the event. While neither FIDE's statement nor Dvorkovich's letter named the player.

In its statement, FIDE said, "In a letter to the participants of the event, Dvorkovich expressed his most sincere apologies for the problems and inconvenience that the players experienced, which led to the withdrawal of one player.

"Despite this setback, the tournament will continue with the changes made for the remaining players. FIDE will also appoint an additional coordinator who will be at the complete disposal of the participants and will provide compensation for any additional costs they may have incurred.

Why German chess player withdrew from the tournament?

German GM Elisabeth Pähtz also decided to withdraw from the FIDE Grand Prix citing similar reasons which meant the tournament now has only 10 players in participation.

"I cannot accept that not every player starts the tournament with the same qualifications. The intended solution of a new draw with a fair distribution of colours failed due to the ultimatum of a single player.

"Even if you start with 6 times white and 4 times black, as in my case, an unfair distribution of other players is not a prerequisite for a fair and equal tournament for everyone," Pähtz was quoted as saying.

Taking strong exception to the inappropriate conditions and questionable management, the German Chess Federation confirmed the withdrawal of their player and said, "As the German Chess Federation, we regret that our national player was confronted with such circumstances in a tournament of the World Cup qualification cycle, which led to her withdrawal from the tournament."

"We are surprised and disappointed that after the "FIDE Women's Year 2022" such mismanagement can occur at such an important women's tournament. We expect FIDE to work through what happened and make changes for the future," the federation further said.

Situation could have been avoided: Susan Polgar

Former chess player Susan Polgar also expressed her disappointment over the entire episode and wrote on Twitter, "Technical issues: Due to the withdrawal of 2 players before round 1 was played at the Women's Grand Prix in Delhi, there are now only 10 players, not 12.

"However, pairings were NOT redone. Therefore, some players will have 6 white, 3 black, and some will have 6 black, 3 white! The intended solution of new pairings to make things more equitable did not happen due to the ultimatum of ONE PLAYER! How is this even possible?"

"What happened at the Women's Grand Prix is a real shame. But in order to help ALL women players get better playing conditions, in safer environments, and increased prizes, female players need to stick together, support one another, and speak in unity.

We can only get real strength in numbers. Look at what happened to women's tennis when female players united! Let's do the same for chess. #Female #WomensChess #StrengthInNumbers @FIDE_chess," the 12-time Chess Olympiad medal winner had tweeted.

Chennai Chess Olympiad - A model for other FIDE events

The 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai last year - where players from nearly 180 nations participated - was organised smoothly in Mahabalipuram. Players and FIDE praised the arrangements made by the Tamil Nadu government and the All India Chess Federation. The recent development leaves a bad taste for everyone involved.