It’s not very nice to change the country you represent: WGM Sara Khadem on leaving Iran for Spain Premium

WGM Sara Khadem reflects on her bold move from Iran to Spain, discussing identity, chess, and family life.

As Sarasadat Khademalsharieh sat down for our interview by the poolside at Trident Hotel on that pleasant morning in Mumbai, a gentle breeze made her dark hair flutter. She had earned that freedom — not to have her hair covered — at a heavy price. She lost her nationality.

Sara Khadem — she is better known these days by that shorter version of her name — no longer represents Iran in international chess tournaments. She plays for Spain. After competing in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Kazakhstan in 2022 without wearing a headscarf — it was one of the boldest moves ever by a Woman Grandmaster — a warrant for her arrest was issued in Iran. She was given nationality by Spain, where she has been living for the last three years.

The first time Sara came to India, she had made headlines. She finished runner-up at the World Junior Championship in Pune in 2014. Four years later, she finished second at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, performing much better than her seeding in both tournaments. Excerpts from the interview in Mumbai, where she played for PBG Alaskan Knights in the third edition of the Global Chess League:

How do you look back at that decision not to wear a headscarf for the World Rapid and Blitz Championships at Almaty? You must have been upset by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in Iran.

I was. I think everyone in Iran was upset. Before that, I always had this sort of mixed feeling about this whole thing. But after it happened, many of my friends were going to protest in the street, which was very risky. That was the time I just had my son. And I was in Tehran with my husband and my son, who was very little, maybe six months old.

Many of my friends were part of the protest in their own ways. I felt they were taking really serious risks. When I got invited to this tournament in Kazakhstan, I didn’t want to go there just to make a move [on the board]. I told my husband, ‘If I go there, it doesn’t feel right if I go the same way, wearing the scarf, and I know that I have the chance not to wear it.’ But I didn’t want to go to the tournament to make a scene there.