R. Vaishali’s handshake refused by Uzbek grandmaster stirs up a debate

The ongoing Tata Steel Chess tournament in the Netherlands was witness to an unwarranted controversy when Nodirbek Yakubboev, a grandmaster from Uzbekistan, refused to respond to India's R. Vaishali extended her hand for the customary pre-match handshake before their fourth-round game.

Vaishali seemed taken aback at the (lack of) response — but Yakubboev later clarified that his refusal was due to ‘religious reasons’ and nothing personal.

In the clip released by ChessBase India which has gone viral, Vaishali was seen extending her hand as the players took their seats. However, Yakubboev ignored it and proceeded to adjust his pieces on the board.

Faced with strong criticism on social media, the Uzbek grandmaster took to his X handle for a lengthy post: ‘Dear chess friends, I want to explain the situation that occurred in my game with Vaishali. With all due respect to women and Indian chess players, I want to inform everyone that I do not touch other women for religious reasons.’

‘I respect Vaishali and her brother as two of the strongest chess players in India. If my behaviour has offended her, I sincerely apologise. I would like to provide some additional clarifications: Chess is not haram,’ said Yakubboev, who was beaten in the fourth round game by Vaishali.

Incidentally, the Uzbek player had shaken hands with Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali’s teammate in the last Chess Olympiad in 2023.

‘What I did before (referring to the game with Divya in 2023 and similar instances) I now consider to have been wrong for me. I act according to my personal beliefs. However, I do not insist that others refrain from shaking hands with the opposite gender, nor do I expect women to wear a hijab or burqa. It is entirely their choice,’ the Usbek sportsman said.

Nodirbek missed out on the fact that he also met Divya in an earlier round of this ongoing tournament, however, and was seen in a live broadcast fist-bumping her before their match began.

‘I discussed this matter with Irina Bulmaga before my next game and she agreed to it. However, when I arrived at the playing hall, the arbiters informed me that I should at least greet my opponent with a namaste. In my games against Divya and Vaishali, I was unable to communicate this beforehand — which led to an awkward situation’: that was his explanation.

He then faced worse backlash from netizens, a lot of which involved distinctly Islamophobic comments as well as accusations of racism (Deshmukh has fairer skin than Vaishali) — and deleted his X handle and has dipped entirely off social media, apparently!

Meanwhile, reigning world champion D. Gukesh is in the joint lead in the tournament with compatriot Pragg and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Chess fans, meanwhile, are disappointed over the absence of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann.