A 12-year-old chess champ was forced to pull out of a Malaysian youth tourney because the boss of the competition believed her knee-length dress was too “seductive,” according to a report.
Her coach, Kaushal Khandar, slammed the move in a Facebook post, saying the girl had been “extremely embarrassed” and “disturbed” by the actions of the director of the National Scholastic Chess Championship, Malay Mail Online reported.
Khandar said the director mentioned the dress to the event’s chief arbiter, who then stopped the girl’s competition in the second round.
“It was later informed (by Chief Arbiter) to my student and her mother, that the Tournament Director deemed my student’s dress to be ‘seductive’ and a ‘temptation from a certain angle far, far away,’” he wrote.
“We found this statement completely out of line!” Khandhar added.
The girl — a district chess champion — withdrew from the competition because shops at a nearby mall were closed so her mom was unable to buy her long slacks, as instructed by the chief arbiter.
“This situation had led to the inevitable decision of withdrawal from the tournament all together. We are absolutely disgusted by the treatment of Tournament Director to a 12-year-old girl and her mother,” Khandar railed.
The coach demanded a public apology from the tourney’s director.
“In the event, we do not receive a public apology in the next 5 days, we shall have no choice but to resort to legal proceedings,” Kaushal stressed.
When contacted by Malay Mail Online, the director said he would be filing a police report and didn’t want to comment yet.
A Malaysian Chess Federation spokesman said the incident was under investigation.
The tournament was held in Putrajaya from April 14 to 16.



