Top-ranked chess GM caught throwing racist remarks during the Airthings Masters qualifier

A Georgian chess Grandmaster, Baadur Jobava, is currently in the hot seat for throwing racist remarks. The 2578-rated player was competing in the Airthings Masters qualifier on February 3, when he lost a match against a Chinese GM of the same rating. He accused his opponent of cheating and took to Chess.com's moderator to give an obnoxious complain.

The Champion Chess Tour kickstarted with the Airthings Masters qualifier in which many high-rated GMs flocked to grab the limited slots. One of the GMs was Baadur Jobava who is currently rank #278 in the world. Jobava had many notable achievements and was looking to participate in the Airthings Masters alongside players like Carlsen and So. However, he suffered a loss against Xiangyu Xu, a 2578-rated Chinese GM, in the midst of the qualifier.

The three-time Georgian champion did not take his loss well as he believes his opponent was cheating. After the game, he sent a foul message to Xu, "You little Chinese piece of sh**. How dare you cheat like that shameless mtf."

He then called a Chess.com moderator to file a complain. All of this conversation was captured in a video and it surfaced on Reddit.

"Tell them he must [be] banned immediately, not after two hours. My tournament is over, he made me tilted. I will lose 10 in a row."

He asked for his point back and called for all Chinese players to be banned. After the call with the moderator was over, he continued to say: "There was one hundred players in this tournament and I found one cheater in this tournament. Chess.com does nothing.. say nothing and do nothing. This is unreal."

Both players, Jobava and Xu, share the same rating and ranking. Xiangyu Xu is a 23-year-old who is a part of the Chinese Chess Olympic Team and is a renowned GM in China. He was a part of the winning squad in the FIDE World Team Championship alongside his teammates Lu Shanglei, Bai Jinshi, and Li Di.

Although Jobava threw cheating accusations, he might be punished for unleashing derogatory remarks against his opponent. Chessarena.com, referred to a legal expert who works with FIDE (World Chess Federation) to understand the consequences of Jobava's actions.

It stated, "FIDE Ethics Commission will be in the position to investigate matters such as this one if the offended party, his or her chess federation, or an official FIDE body files an official complaint with the Commission. Concerned parties can also address the FIDE Council, the top governing body of FIDE. The Council may take this case to the Ethics Commission as well." As for now, there are no punishments imposed to Jobava.

Chess.com released a response to this case. The team conducted a review and contacted everyone involved including Jobava himself. Chess.com then imposed a ban on Jobava's account, preventing him from participating in all prized events for the rest of 2023.

"There is no place in our game for sexism/racism/or any forms of intolerance, and there is an expectation for both professionals and amateurs alike to uphold this standard on Chess.com and in our broader communities."

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