18-year-old chess grandmaster gets kicked off Iran national team for not wearing a headscarf

An 18-year-old Iranian chess grandmaster has been kicked off the national team after she showed up for a game not wearing a hijab.

Dorsa Derakhshani was competing in a chess tournament in Gibraltar earlier this month.

However, she failed to wear a hijab, or traditional headscarf, which is compulsory wear for Iranian women in public.

Derakhshani, who is a student in Spain, will be barred from representing Iran, as well as banned from playing in any tournaments in Iran.

Separately, her younger brother, Borna, was also playing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. The 15-year-old was similarly barred from the team -- a punishment for playing against Alexander Huzman, of Israel.

Iran currently does not recognise Israel as a state.

Both sister and brother have yet to publicly comment on the matter.

"As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran," Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, the head of the Iranian Chess Federation, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying.

"And, in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team."

Some netizens were quick to support Derakhshani.

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Darya Safai, an Iranian human rights activist, used the hashtag #ForcedHijab to describe the ban.

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Over in Tehran, the Women's World Chess Championship 2017 is currently taking place until March 5.

American chess champion Nazi Paikidze announced last year that she would not be attending the competition out of protest that it was being held in Iran.

"When I learned about the situation in Iran, that ... women are forced to wear hijab, I was heartbroken. I know that a lot of Iranian women are bravely protesting this forced law daily and risking a lot by doing so," said Paikidze in an Instagram post.

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"That's why I will NOT wear a hijab and support women's oppression."

Ukrainian chess player and former world champion Maria Muzychuk also refused to participate in the competition because of the hijab requirement.

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It has been compulsory for women in Iran, including foreigners, to wear the hijab in public, after the 1979 Islamic revolution.