Thursday 29 September 2022 12:26 PM Israeli chess commentator is sacked and accused of sexism trends now
An Israeli chess commentator was sacked and accused of sexism after saying the game is 'maybe not for women.'
Ilya Smirin was live on air with Fiona Steil-Antoni in the ninth round of the Women's Grand Prix in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday when he appeared to admit to previously making the remark in private.
Speaking about the competition, Mr Smirin, an Israeli grandmaster, initially mentioned the Chinese chess player Zhu Jiner, a woman grandmaster and talked about if she could be a grandmaster.
He said: 'She's a woman grandmaster or what?... Why she wants to be like men grandmaster in this case?'
Ms Steil-Antoni replied: 'You're saying, you know, 'chess is maybe not for women.'
But Mr Smirin said that he 'didn't say it openly' and that it was said in 'private conversation.'
The title is a lower title to grandmaster and requires a lower rating of 2,300.
In the game, all chess players can be grandmasters with a rating of 2,500 and above and is an accolade given to elite female chess players.
Ilya Smirin, was live on air with Fiona Steil-Antoni in the ninth round of the Women's Grand Prix in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday when he appeared to admit to previously making the remark in private
The Belarusian chess ace also seemed to confess to saying that Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkin, had been 'playing like a man'
The Belarusian chess ace also seemed to confess to saying that Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkin, had been 'playing like a man.'
He said: 'That's true. She played in Russia super final. Small minus she made, but it was very strong tournament.
'She also had like 2,600 plus rating.'
His fellow commentator then asked him: 'What does that have to do with playing like a man, only men can play well?'
But Mr Smirin said: 'No, no. But she's playing in style, positional style.'
He then queried why women can play tournaments with women but men cannot play with women in female tournaments.
Speaking to the BBC, he later said that he does not want to hurt anyone and loves and respects chess and women.
But he added that the incident had left him slightly puzzled as he did not believe he had said anything 'really bad, did not want to insult or hurt anyone.'
Mr Smirin added that since the clip was broadcast
