Vaishali Rameshbabu found herself in the middle of a controversy at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. During Round 4 of the Challengers’ Section, she was supposed to compete against Uzbek player Nodirbek Yakubboev.

Nodirbek showed up late, and when Vaishali reached out for the usual handshake, he turned her down with a hand gesture. Many fans and fellow chess players felt this was disrespectful and questioned why he would snub Vaishali, who is also a grandmaster.

Later, Nodirbek took to X, previously known as Twitter, to apologize to Vaishali but explained that his religion (Islam) prohibits him from shaking hands with women. Fans quickly pointed out that he had shaken hands with Divya Deshmukh in 2023, to which he admitted was a mistake. However, it’s worth noting that he was also paired with Divya in the current tournament and opted for a fist bump instead of a handshake. So, the reasoning behind Nodirbek's actions seems a bit inconsistent in this situation.

Elisabeth Pahtz stands up for Vaishali Rameshbabu

Elisabeth Pahtz, Germany's only female grandmaster, didn't take Nodirbek's behavior lightly. She expressed her frustration on X, saying, “I hold him responsible for his ‘hand gesture of refusal’ that just escalated the situation.”

In another tweet, she mentioned, “Actually, I know this is also a thing in Jewish culture. If you’re married and Jewish, you’re only supposed to touch your wife, which is kind of a nice compliment to her. There’s an American Jewish GM who apologized in advance for not shaking hands.”

She went on to explain that Nodirbek could have chosen a different way to greet instead of a handshake. She said, “Sure, he could have just given a nod or held up a sign instead. His action came off as a ‘no’ and felt disrespectful. I can imagine it was pretty frustrating for Vaishali, especially since she’s such a young and genuinely good person.”

She totally crushed that game! What I really meant was that her character just wouldn’t let her get into public arguments or drama. She’s way too nice for that and isn’t into social media, but you better believe she’s got nerves of steel

She said, "You might want to pay closer attention. The real problem isn’t just that he turned down the handshake; it’s the rude way he signaled that he wasn’t interested!"

Even with Nodirbek's rude actions, Vaishali came out on top. She outsmarted him tactically and made her moves with more precision, which spoke volumes about his behavior. After losing, he once again brushed her off and walked away.

Read Also: Virat Kohli Touches Fan's Heart: Gifts Gloves and Receives Grateful Gesture

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