‘It was strange’: Iranian chess players meet across board in exile

Mitra Hejazipour, a reigning French chess champion, won bronze at the World Team Chess Championship last month. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

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.”