A Dutch chess player was outraged after the International Chess Federation fined her for wearing “sports shoes” which she said were Burberry sneakers.
Anna-Maja Kazarian, 23, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday that an arbiter stopped her while she was playing at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Uzbekistan and asked her to change her shoes because they were “strange” and considered “sports shoes”.
The 23-year-old, who currently holds titles of International Chess Federation (FIDE) Master and Woman International Master, disputed that she was wearing sports shoes saying she wouldn’t want to use her Burberry sneakers for sports as it hurts to walk in them.
Kazarian said in a Youtube post after the game that the shoes were a gift from her sister years ago.
“I barely ever wear them because they’re fancy and they’re not everyday types of shoes,” she said.
“I wear them for special occasions but not every day.”
Kazarian said the arbiter asked her to change the shoes but she didn’t have another pair with her and her hotel was across the city.
But after not changing the shoes and arguing they were not sports shoes, Kazarian received a yellow note with a 100 euro fine ($162) for “not complying with the official dress code”.
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“Committing further infringements will result in not being included in the pairings for the next round,” the note said.
In FIDE’s dress code, it asks players to “promote a good and positive image of chess” and stipulates that sneakers with socks are acceptable however sports shoes are not.
Kazarian was outraged by FIDE’s decision to fine her.
“I’m here to play chess I shouldn’t have to worry about a dress code that I’m not trying to violate,” she said.
“I’m not dressing like a clown going out of my way to disrespect the dress code.
“I’m really disappointed in the way they handled this. It is very disrespectful to me.”
9news.com.au has contacted FIDE for comment.
