Nazi Paikidze

The Georgian-American champion who refused to compete in the 2017 Women's World Championship in Tehran, choosing principle over her shot at the title. Her boycott sparked a global debate about women's rights in chess.

The Stand

Nazi Paikidze was born on October 10, 1993, in Tbilisi, Georgia. She moved to the United States as a teenager and became a dominant force in American women's chess, winning the U.S. Women's Championship twice. When FIDE awarded the 2017 Women's World Championship to Tehran, requiring all female players to wear the hijab, Paikidze refused to participate. "I will NOT wear a hijab and support women's oppression," she wrote. Her boycott drew international attention and forced a conversation about the intersection of chess, politics, and human rights that the chess world had been avoiding for years.