12-Year-Old Forced To Quit Chess Tournament Because Grownup Men Couldn't Handle Her Dress
She is a school chess champion of her district in Kuala Lumpur.
By Sadho Ram — 29 Apr 2017, 12:09 PM
The Tournament Director and Chief Arbiter of the National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017 couldn't handle what a 12-year-old girl was wearing. They found her dress to be "seductive" and a "temptation from a certain angle far, far away", forcing the promising little girl to quit the chess tournament in Putrajaya.
According to the girl's coach, Kaushal Khandhar, who is a Malaysian chess player, the girl, who is a school chess champion of her district in Kuala Lumpur, was made to feel "harassed and humiliated" by the actions of the Tournament Director and Chief Arbiter.
The coach took to Facebook to share what had happened on the night of 14 April.
"In the middle of Round 2, (without stopping the clocks) Chief Arbiter informs my student that the dress she wore was improper and have violated the dress code of the tournament. It was later informed (by Chief Arbiter) to my student and her mother, that the Tournament Director deemed my student’s dress to be "seductive" and a "temptation from a certain angle far, far away."
So what was the little girl wearing that was so "seductive"?
"Please see attached photo of what she was wearing! Completely ridiculous!" wrote Kaushal on his Facebook post which has attracted a huge number of shares.
While the Chief Arbiter later apologised to the girl following a discussion and assured her that there was nothing wrong with her attire, he said that she was not allowed to wear the dress due to the directive from the Tournament's Director, the girl's coach wrote
"This discussion happened at around 10pm and Chief Arbiter gave them a choice to go to the mall nearby to buy a long slack for the next day 9am round. Due to the timing of this incident, it was impossible to get another attire in time for the 9am round next day, as all shops were already closed and wouldn’t be open in time," Kaushal wrote.
So the girl's mother, Chin Wai Ling, called up the Tournament Director to talk about the issue before the next round began
"Before the morning round next day, my student’s mother called Tournament Director regarding this matter, initially he had replied that he was not aware of the situation but after a brief discussion, it was realised that he knew all the details of this incident prior to this phone call. He promised to return the call upon discussion with Chief Arbiter, but this did not happen. He would further not answer or return any calls of my student’s mother," reads the Facebook post by Kaushal.
Writing that he was absolutely disgusted by how a 12-year-old girl and her mother were treated by the Tournament Director, Kaushal said that the incident has resulted in loss of time and money
He further wrote that he has been playing chess in Malaysia for two decades but had never in his life heard this type of issue in any tournaments in the country.
"This should be the first and last time this kind of issue ever appears, I or anyone of us should never accept this in our Chess Community," the girl's coach wrote, adding that the girl who has shown tremendous potential in chess was left feeling "extremely disturbed and embarrassed" by the incident.
He is now demanding a public apology from the Tournament Director of National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017, adding that if they did not receive a public apology in the next 5 days, "we shall have no choice but to resort to legal proceedings"
Meanwhile, the Tournament Director, according to The Malay Mail Online, "would be lodging a police report on the matter soon"
The Malay Mail Online further reported that a Malaysian Chess Federation spokesman has said that the tournament secretariat is currently investigating the incident.
"The tournament secretariat is currently investigating the complaint. The claim posted is different from the official complaint. We will take action once the report comes out," The Malay Mail Online reported the spokesman as saying.