India, Jan. 27 -- Vaishali Rameshbabu fell victim to controversy at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. During Round 4 in the Challengers' Section, she was set to face Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubboev.

The Uzbek grandmaster arrived late, and as Vaishali went forward for the customary handshake, he simply declined her and by making a hand gesture. According to many fans and current chess players, the gesture was disrespectful and they also questioned the reason behind the reason to snub Vaishali, who is also a grandmaster.

Later on, Nodirbek took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to issue an apology to Vaishali, but also clarified that his religion (Islam) doesn't allow him to shake hands with women. Then fans po...