"I Do Not Wish...": Indian Chess Player Divya Deshmukh On 'Sexism' Row

Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh took to social media to share her thoughts regarding the 'sexism' controversy at the recently-concluded Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands. Earlier, Divya alleged that she had to endure sexist behaviour from spectators at the competition and added that they "focused on irrelevant things like her hair, clothes and accent" during the tournament. In her latest Instagram story, Divya wrote - "I would like to add one last clarification because what i have said is being spun to huge levels, I would not like to be associated with promoting the word "sexism" in my case, I do not wish to be the face of it but to be an ambassador for women's chess and especially young girls and juniors who, like me are aspiring to be top chess players. The only motive has been to ensure a better environment for women chess players and to bring awareness."

The 18-year-old International Master from Nagpur, who won the Asian women's chess championship last year, shared a lengthy social media post on Tuesday calling out the misogyny that women players face routinely while elaborating on her unpleasant experience in Wijk Aan Zee.

"I have been wanting to address this for a while but was waiting for my tournament to be over. I got told and also myself noticed how women in chess are often just taken for granted by spectators," Deshmukh said.

"Most recent example of this on a personal level would be in this tournament, I played a few games which I felt were quite good and I was proud of them."

"I got told by people how the audience was not even bothered with the game but instead focused on every single possible thing in the world: my clothes, hair, accent and every other irrelevant thing," she wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Deshmukh finished 12th in the Challengers section with a score of 4.5 at the Tata Steel Masters.

The teenager said while male players were getting their share of spotlight purely for their game, the women were judged for aspects which had nothing to do with their ability on the chess board.

"I was quite upset to hear this and I think is the sad truth that people when women play chess they often overlook how good they actually are, the games they play and their strength," she said.

"I was quite disappointed to see how everything was discussed about in my interviews (by the audience) except my games, very few people paid attention to it and it is quite a sad thing."

"I felt it was unfair in a way because if I go to any guy's interview there would be way less judgement on a personal level, actual compliments about the game and the player," she asserted.

(With PTI inputs)