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German grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz decided to withdraw from the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in New Delhi and didn’t show up for her first-round game against Vaishali Rameshbabu. Paehtz publicly supported her colleague Zhansaya Abdumalik who was the first one to withdraw from the tournament due to poor organization, and then decided to withdraw from the event as well.
Speaking for ChessBase India, Elisabeth Paehtz explained that over the last two days the players went through the emotional rollercoaster and that she couldn’t accept the fact that the playing conditions are not the same for all the participants: “I cannot accept that every player does not start the tournament with the same conditions. The intended solution of new pairings with a fair distribution of colors failed due to the ultimatum of a single player. Even though I would get 6 whites and 4 blacks, it is unfair for the other players. I wanted a fair and equal tournament for everyone. The events of past two days were an emotional rollercoaster for most of us and the fight and the indirect blackmailing of one player against new pairings was the last drop for me to leave.“.
