On Sunday, January 26, Uzbekistan GM Nodirbek Yakubboev courted controversy after he declined to shake hands with India’s R Vaishali before their fourth-round match in the Challengers section of the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands.
A video shared on social media shows Vaishali extending her hand before the start of her fourth-round match against Yakubboev, who ignored the gesture and sat down, leaving the Indian player visibly uncomfortable.
Uzbekistan grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov refuses to shake hands with Indian grandmaster Vaishali Rameshbabu.
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) January 27, 2025
Why?
Religious reasons. M men must not touch ‘outside’ women, lest they get horny.
But Nodirbek is seen shaking hands with another chess player.
That’s his sister? pic.twitter.com/dNvFFVfE2Y
It is also worth noting that Nodirbek was seen shaking hands with many female chess players before.
However, Nodirbek issued an apology later, taking to X to explain why he had refused to shake hands with the Indian chess player. In a tediously long thread on X, Nodirbek blamed Islam for turning down the courtesy of a handshake with a fellow female competitor.
“Dear chess friends, I want to explain the situation that happened in the game with Vaishali. With all due respect to women and Indian chess players, I want to inform everyone that I do not touch other women for religious reasons,” Nodirbek tweeted.
Dear chess friends,
— Nodirbek Yakubboev (@NodirbekYakubb1) January 26, 2025
I want to explain the situation that happened in the game with Vaishali. With all due respect to women and Indian chess players, I want to inform everyone that I do not touch other women for religious reasons.#chess #fide #islam@ChessbaseIndia @Uzchesss
Defending his actions, Nodirbek tweeted, “I do what I need to do. I do not insist others not to shake hands with the opposite gender or for women to wear hijab or burqa. It is their business what to do.”
He added, “Today I told Irina Bulmaga about it. She agreed to it. But when I came to the playing hall, the arbiters told me that I should at least do Namaste as a gesture. In the games with Divya and Vaishali, I couldn’t tell them about it before the game and there was an awkward situation.”
However, as fate would have it, Nodirbek lost his match to Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali.
