Do you think this is a good idea? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Checkmate! ‘No cleavage’ dress code makes chess tournaments less sexy than ever
PUBLISHED: 08:09 EST, 9 March 2012 | UPDATED: 08:16 EST, 9 March 2012
In chess, the ultimate battle of wits, concentration is key.
So imagine trying to stay a step ahead while your opponent’s plunging neckline looms inches from your pawns.
A women’s chess championship taking place in Turkey is the first since strict rules were introduced to stop players flaunting their bodies.
The union’s general secretary, Woman Grandmaster Sava Stoisavljevic, brushed off suggestions that the new dress code might stop women distracting male opponents.
Instead, she said, the wide-ranging rules were brought in to restore a sense of decorum to the game after tournament bosses noticed many of the players were not wearing ‘proper clothes’.
‘I was here during three rounds and I’ve got an impression that we have to work much more on those regulations,’ Mrs Stoisavljevic told German website ChessBase.
She added: ‘Once, when I was working as an arbiter, I warned one player, even though there were no any rules at that time, because she kept coming to the playing hall dressed like someone who was going to the beach.’
And on players who like to show a little leg, she said: ‘It’s nice to see chess players with short skirts – they are very pretty girls. But I believe there should still be some limit.’
The European code makes no such demands, but others dictate that skirts should be no shorter than 5-10cm above the knee.
FASHION TIPS FROM CHESS’S NEW DRESS CODE
- ‘In respect to shirts, the second from the top button may also be opened in addition to the very top button’
- Clothes ‘should be crisp and show no excessive wear, no holes and shall be free of body odor’
- High heels are in, flip-flops are out
- The rules demand ‘a pulled-together, harmonious, complete look with colors, fabrics, shoes and accessories, for both men and women’
- After two warnings, verbal and then written, ‘If a player is then still in breach of the Dress Code he/she can be send back to dress appropriately’
- ‘Spectators not properly attired will have to leave the playing area’
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
Susan, what is your view on this new dress code?
Sava is NOT WGM!!!
I am in favor of the code in tournaments. Besides the matter of distraction, chess and chessplayers should maintain a certain degree of classiness and sophistication, like fine art or music.
Yes, you’re right!
This whole dress code thing, including no cleavage, is definitive proof that there are too many boobs in chess, well, in chess politics at least.
Ridiculous.
kind of a silly rule… if they enact this rule they should have rules for men as well… boys must wear belts so half their boxers aren’t showing… certain men must have showered…
Its hard enough to get women to play chess, the last thing we need to do is tell them how they must dress
Making regulations that will make it more difficult for chess to appeal to the News media especially television.
Hello ladies and gentlemen,
I think that a no- cleavage code is as important as a no boxer-shorts code. Chess is not about sex, it is a proper sport. In this game, participants sit for an extended period opposite each other, unlike in other sports, which makes it uncomfortable for participant opposite to the one dressed in a non-conservative manner. It can be distracting to the sport. Moreover, wives/girlfriends of the largely male chess population would not like their men to be exposed to unnecessary cleavage or sexual expression, nor husbands/boyfriends of the female players would like their partners to be distracted by another manflaunting his sexuality. The focus must be kept on the game as an intellectual sport- there is no ‘boring’ for people seriously interested in it for itself. Those looking for added attractions can find many other places to do so. That’s my take. Thank you.