Iran chess champ snubs Israeli rival
Iran’s chess Grandmaster Ehsan Qaem Maqami has been expelled for refusing to take on Israeli player Ehud Sachar in an international tournament.
There had then been no choice but to expel Qaem Maqami, the tournament’s organizer and head of the Corsican Chess League, Leo Battesti, said on Tuesday.
"I was forced to expel Ehsan Qaem Maqami, who unfortunately refused to change his mind. I had no other choice," he was quoted as saying by AFP.
The Iranian grandmaster told the organizers that he would not play against the Israeli rival in the fourth round of the Corsica Masters in the French island’s city of Bastia.
Iranian athletes refuse to play against Israeli opponents in sport fields as the occupying Zionist regime of Israel is not recognized by Tehran.
More than 800 players from 30 countries, including about 40 Grandmasters and International Masters, gathered in Corsica for the tournament.
The current World Chess Champion India’s Viswanathan Anand is among the players.
The 26-year old Qaem Maqami was named by the World Chess Federation as the most active and promoting player in 2004.
Source: presstv.ir
