The scandal surrounding the fact that three-time Armenian chess champion Maria Gevorgyan was not allowed to participate in the international competition in Turkey at the demand of Azeri chess players became a topic of discussion in FIDE and in Turkey. In particular, Azeri grandmaster Gadir Guseinov wrote to Gevorgyan that he spoke to participating chess players, organizers, and the federation’s director after reading what she wrote.
The Azeri grandmaster came to the conclusion that the ones at fault here are the organizers and what took place is simply a provocation. Gadir Guseinov found out that there was no official demand from his fellow chess players. All that happened was one unprofessional email from a chess player that was sent as a provocation. He also wrote that the head of the Turkish federation went to the place where the competition took place to find out what happened. According to the grandmaster, the organizers did not have the right to do such a thing.
A leading member of the Armenian women’s chess team, Elina Danielyan, told Aravot Daily that what happened was disgraceful, and it has nothing to do with chess and sports ethics. Nothing could justify it. “I never saw such a thing. Chess is one large family, and we always compete against one another either independently or as a team. Yes, the competitions are always tense- this is normal. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this,” Danielyan said.
