Fide, the World Chess Federation, has been accused of "total moral degredation" after awarding this year's $2 million world speed chess championship to Saudi Arabia.

A raft of top players have now revealed they will boycott the blitz and rapid event, one of the most exciting in the chess calendar, over concerns about safety and human rights in the ultra-conservative regime.

Among the big names who won't be there are double women's world champion Anna Muzychuk and the American super grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, a renowned specialist at playing in short time controls.

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict dress codes for women, foreign and local, who are required to wear the "abaya", a garment which covers their bodies down to their feet.

Homosexuality is also illegal and punishments range from fines and whipping to imprisonment and execution while players have expressed concern that competitors from Iran, Israel and Qatar will not be able to attend for political reasons.

Even the game of chess itself has not escaped censure in the oil-rich kingdom. Several years ago the regime's Grand Mufti issued a fatwa saying the game is "the work of Satan" and forbidden in Islam.