Mitra Hejazipour tells of sadness and joy in playing fellow female grandmaster at world championship
It was France against the US, battling it out for bronze at the World Team Chess Championship. But the heated competition took on an unexpected twist when Mitra Hejazipour and Atousa Pourkashiyan – once teammates in Iran, now grandmasters in exile – were pitted against each other.
“It was strange. There was this sadness, but also a bit of joy,” said Hejazipour. “We were able to leave our country, we were able to successfully join other national teams. But it was sad that we couldn’t represent Iran, our country.”
