Boycott of 2023 US Chess Championship

So, are any female chess players boycotting or not playing in the US Championship in St. Louis (boycotting the USCF or the St. Louis Chess Club)....or is it just Chess.com and lichess? And does it say anything if none are?

Hi

You are WAY too late to the party. Why bother with a (non) reply?

hi

It did happen, Carissa Yip won. uschesschampsDOTcom/2023-us-championships/pairings-results-0

With no boycott by any female players to show support for Jenn. Money talks.

I don't see how boycotting supports Jen. She just did commentary on women's speed chess. I am sure we have 1000s of misogynists logging into this site on a daily basis. If she herself were leading a cause and boycotting the behavior of Ramirez, she needs to look no further than the very monitor she stares into to realize boycotting a group doesn't address the problem individually.

Individually, Ramirez resigned. He is NO longer in the scene as he was before. Jen accomplished her goal, and that is not just removing Ramirez, but alerting other people. This is not the first time, and it won't be the last. Otherwise, she wouldn't have chimed in.

Prevention means you go work, you put your office hours in, and you take precautions. Study in groups, play in groups, and when they have these post-event celebrations parents have the responsibility to pick up their child. Not St. Louis Chess Club.

Again, lets go back in time to Q3 of 2023...even Oct 1. Chess.com and Lichess were issuing statements and boycotting even allowing the broadcast to be shown on their sites. St. Louis Chess Club in their minds (and the minds of many) had not done enough and have gone FAR too slow in dealing with...well, 'things'.

SLCC eventually admitted their tardiness...even showing to music a long letter, scrolling on the screen every day (immeidiately followed it should be noted by a 'rah' 'rah' for the SLCC in video clips by various strong players...) and then Chess.com and lichess relented. And of course is WAS the US Championship...sanctioned BY the USCF from which Jenn had just separated due to THEIR doing too little and being too slow about it.

So...the time was ripe for a female player to step up and say, 'thanks....but I need to snow my support by not playing this time'. And you might remember, this was not long after multipled women told the Indian organizers off by walking out after...think it was round 1 due to conditions and safety concerns.

But no one did.

"Again, lets go back in time to Q3 of 2023...even Oct 1. Chess.com and Lichess were issuing statements and boycotting even allowing the broadcast to be shown on their sites. St. Louis Chess Club in their minds (and the minds of many) had not done enough and have gone FAR too slow in dealing with...well, 'things'."

PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE

The irony here is that one defense (even though not good) is that the age of consent in Costa Rica, where Ramirez is from, is 15. If we are to go by the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do.", then we also must do as the US Americans do in the USA. This means you are innocent UNTIL you are proven guilty. Ramirez should not have to prove his innocence, the courts should prove his guilt.

The USCF is using this as a solid and legitimate reason for a delay in action. While Jen may have inside knowledge, and she may have been a victim herself (I don't doubt her words), we all have to allow the legal system to work its way through a case. If we can bring up cold cases from 50 years ago and use DNA technology to prove the guilt of a serial killer, then surely we can do the same with this situation which while being bad is not nearly as bad as killing.

"SLCC eventually admitted their tardiness...even showing to music a long letter, scrolling on the screen every day (immeidiately followed it should be noted by a 'rah' 'rah' for the SLCC in video clips by various strong players...) and then Chess.com and lichess relented."

This was a PR response to address mob rule tactics. In social media, if you give 95% support towards something and criticize the messenger (could be one person or group like chess.com or lichess.org), you are summarily dismissed. Unless you kowtow to the majority (mob rule) in full 100% support you get ostracized. Those in power and/or influence don't care if you have 5% constructive criticism.

Bottom line, SLCC wants to win over the people, they aren't going on an ethical crusade to defend justice.

"And of course is WAS the US Championship...sanctioned BY the USCF from which Jenn had just separated due to THEIR doing too little and being too slow about it."

This was her personal decision, it's not a COVID moment. When COVID came, it became a serious issue that not wearing a mask and not getting the proper vaccines would result in the spread of COVID. Compare this to China, where they would chain lock the buildings, not provide the right vaccines, and you will see there are actions people can take for the betterment of society as a whole, and there are also actions people can take because they are not actually thinking about the group as a whole.

Jen's action here does not help women in chess. On the other side, doing commentary elsewhere does. I don't see why she couldn't do her own commentary under her own rules as it relates to a US Championship.

I will add what I stated before. Parents, not the USCF, not SLCC, and not Jen have a responsibility for the safety of children but their parents/caretaker do. Blaming both SLCC and USCF shows this is not actually addressing the root of the problem. Some parents want their child's teacher to solve all their parental responsibilities, and unfortunately when mommy and daddy want to work to keep up with the Joneses they can't be there. However, they have the responsibility to solve that. I credit Jeffrey Xiong's father for adding an office in St. Louis so he could train and play at the SLCC. If other parents thought like this, things like this could have been prevented.

"So...the time was ripe for a female player to step up and say, 'thanks....but I need to snow my support by not playing this time'. And you might remember, this was not long after multipled women told the Indian organizers off by walking out after...think it was round 1 due to conditions and safety concerns."

Playing or not commentating? If playing, I think you have her mixed up with Elisabeth Paehtz. I already have a long post here, so I will sum up quickly what happened. One player showed up at the airport and wasn't greeted. Paehtz didn't like it and left the tournament. Others did play. I think if safety is of concern women should travel together and meet each other at the airport. They should also arrange their own transportation instead of putting it in the hands of a stranger to sort out which would increase the chances things would be unsafe.

Calling out an organization is one thing. Address that on its own merits and demerits, but it has nothing to do with personal safety. What happens when any of these players or anyone wants to travel as simply a tourist and not a participant or businessperson (ex. working trip)? At some point, no one is going to hold your hand. You have to get from point A to point B on your own.

I have no interest on debating a topic so well covered in other placed here. And your 'this is the way the world should work' (all according to you of course...) gets discussion nowhere in any case....so I'll not respond (and will unfollow) this thread.

Also, you are factually misleading with simply saying "one player showed up at the airport and wasn't greeted". It was multiple players and their option was to "take taxis". This in a country which seems to have way too many males who do not value the health and life of women. Walk a mile in their shoes before you dismiss their concerns.

I read in one thread with astonishment one poster from China on 3/23/23 saying Abdumalik's concerns were unjustified and "Just to be clear it would be a different matter if she was assaulted, confronted or threatened, but it did not happen".  That poster needs to walk mile in a woman's shoes as well! When it is statistically so much more probably, you worry on the front end, not AFTER bad things happen to you.

In any case, my only contention in starting this thread back then was that the 'iron was hot' and people issued 'words' of support for Jenn...and wondering why none of the female players chose to support her in a visible or tangible way at the tourney or during it. But then you offer players money to play in chess variants of all sorts and they take it...it's what they do for a living....even if it's not 'real' chess, you offer them enough cash and in the end, they need to rent so to speak.

"Also, you are factually misleading with simply saying "one player showed up at the airport and wasn't greeted". It was multiple players and their option was to "take taxis". This in a country which seems to have way too many males who do not value the health and life of women. Walk a mile in their shoes before you dismiss their concerns."

You apparently don't know what happened. It was ONLY one person, Zhansaya Abdumalik. The rest except Paehtz played. Have a look for yourself. You can see clearly below that 12 players played in Astana and Munich, and that 10 players played in New Delhi.

"And your 'this is the way the world should work' (all according to you of course...) gets discussion nowhere in any case....so I'll not respond (and will unfollow) this thread."

Not only is it how the world works, but the world deals with it. Everyone in India has an option to hire a female taxi driver. It's not according to me only. I have no connection with this company.

It reads, "Cabs for women, by women" - https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-airport-has-an-all-women-cab-service-now-6230046/

WHY DIDN'T ABDUMALIK DO THIS? HOW IS THIS MORE DANGEROUS THAN A STRANGER PICKING HER UP NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE CAUSE OF SAFETY?

This is not only in India, Japan has something similar with their trains.

How did money talk? Were the women paid off or something?

And in case the Indian cab service I referenced is only for low income Indian families (which would be weird since they are at an international airport), I found this other site which lists multiple services throughout India for foreigners traveling to India.

"If you don't feel comfortable catching a taxi or a rickshaw that has a male driver, there are some cities that offer special transportation services driven by women. They are as below: 

Delhi: Meru Eve Cabs (44224422), Sakha (99991 93004), GCabs (39423942)Mumbai: Priyadarshini Taxi Services (43333999), Viira Cab (6120 6120)Chennai: Go for Pink (64581111)Trivandrum/Kochi: Shetaxi (859 0000 543)" - https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us/india/is-it-safe-for-women-to-travel-in-india

"Cabs for women by women" kinda says it all about how women feel about their safety in India....and as you said, that service is only for "low income families". So....

You totally are getting things jumbled up! Take a deep breath. You just said, "You apparently don't know what happened. It was ONLY one person, Zhansaya Abdumalik. The rest except Paehtz played."

I said multiple women were in the position of 'having to take taxis' - and in a city and to a site they were not familiar with. That is true according to the French report I have read. But you pull up the strawman of 'only Phatz withdrew'...those are totally different things.

Again, take a deep breath and stop digging for an argument. You are venturing too far from the point of this post. Start your own if you want to argue different things.

I won't quote so you can correct Elisabeth's spelling of her last name.

As I also stated in my next reply, the cabs for women thing is at an international airport. If you are flying internationally you must have some income. It is hard to see how low income families can afford not the cab ride but the flights. Does India also have much cheaper airfare for low income families? Here in the states we have Southwestern Airlines which seems to be the cheapest around. What you do is book a flight, but they overbook. So, you have to reschedule constantly. They have Youtube videos on this that show how bad their service is.

If anyone is low income, needing to fly internationally, and this happens to them what do they do? They miss their convention or whatever they are flying for? I am curious how India deals with that.

Also, in the initial cabs post I showed the same in Japan with their train services. So, this isn't limited to India only. We can also look in our country assuming you are also from the USA based on your profile flag. USA has the following site for women travelers, but I also follow these guidelines when traveling, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/women-travelers.html

The logic escapes me how anyone would place blind faith in a stranger to schedule a taxi ride instead of doing it themself. What exactly would a chess organizer do that the person coming to their country not be able to do? If you bring up language barriers as a reason, then what happens when they drop the person off at the hotel? How would the person communicate? Wouldn't you want to find a hotel on your own where you can talk to the hotel in your native language if you can't speak the language of the country you are going to? Then, wouldn't you also want THEM and not the organizer to recommend an equally valid taxi/cab service? I would get that straightened out before I booked any flight.

If other players had to get a taxi, were they dissatisfied in any way? Isn't this what taxis are for? Again, how would a taxi scheduled by the organizer be any different? You might want to look into Bill Cosby and where he partied. I don't know if I can spell it here but it was Hugh Hefner's "Playb_y Mansion". People would recruit young women to meet celebrities there for acting careers and modeling jobs. Probably other things too. Harvey Weinstein probably did the same as Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein had an assistant, Ghislaine Maxwell. She would go out and get young ladies.

So, even if you feel you know the people you are talking to, there are cracks in society which clearly show you likely don't know them as well as you think you would. This is why you need to verify businesses and not just put blind faith in a group to do it for you.

I referred to Paehtz because you referenced "not playing" and Shahade is what your thread is about. She was involved with commentary. I just wanted to make that clarification. What followed was, "this was not long after multipled women told the Indian organizers off by walking out".

I also wanted to clarify that walking out may have happened for other reasons, but they didn't all drop out of the event. Only one did from that group, Paehtz. Her reasoning is that she got too emotional. But we can look past that and realize that is not the key issue. The key issue is safety. If you don't look out after yourself and those around you that you care about, who will?

Was the organizer supposed to hire 12 different chaperones during their stay? What exactly were they supposed to do?

Or, we can go back on topic and strictly discuss Shahade and the idea of boycotting events. Is it better to boycott or is it better to cover events, doing it the way you want to? I see Irina Krush taking the lead. She teaches in NY. She has Youtube videos with recent good content. Shahade can do this too. Why is boycotting the solution?

Should we also go into a restaurant and scream, "I'M NOT GOING TO EAT HERE!!!" and then walk out? Sorry, I just don't understand the point of boycotting when instead you could be promoting what you want. How many events has Shahade organized since boycotting? How many airports has she gone to to greet players?

Let's turn the tables around here, shall we? Let's get a good idea of what an organizer is supposed to be doing by setting an example instead of boycotting them. I may just have to boycott "girl"cotting someday. That will show those girls.

Please don't take this offense @AboninableChessmasta, but I think that comment would make a great blog.

Then, it's all yours. I wrote something similar about 6 months ago and wished I kept it. Would have saved a lot of typing.

Okay

Are there any news articles I could read on this, I haven't heard about this before.