Iranian Chess Player Sara Khadem Defects to Spain

From Chess-dot-com: Iranian IM Plays Without Hijab At World Championships, Defects To Spain

First, a definition or two: IM denotes the rank of International Master in the world of chess.

Each IM norm is extremely difficult to attain, and there are many rules for what constitutes a norm. In essence, you need a 2450+ performance rating in a nine-round FIDE tournament, and several of your opponents must be from federations/countries other than your own and also be titled (other rules and restrictions can be found in FIDE's handbook)—this is for one norm.

FIDE, stands for the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or the World Chess Federation in English. It is the governing body for chess on the world stage.

Now, on with our story.

IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Sara Khadem), who defied the Iranian dress code for women by refusing to wear a headscarf at the 2022 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships, will not be returning home after her last tournament of the year. With her husband, film director Ardeshir Ahmadi, and the couple’s young child, she will move to an undisclosed city in Spain. At this time, she has made no public statement although two sources close to her confirmed this news to El Pais, a Spanish newspaper.

The backdrop is, of course, the protests in her home country.

Chess-dot-com currently lists Khadem as ranked in 777th place with a classical chess rating of 2490. (Though a caption on a photo in the article lists her as 804th in the world rankings.) Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world chess champion currently has a rating of 2859, for comparison.

Iran has produced many great chess players in modern times, but some of the best choose to leave the country. Khadem, their most recent loss, is the 10th highest-rated player in Iran and number 17 on the world rankings for women.