Echesspedia

The Palestine Chess Federation joined FIDE in 1934 and participated in its first international competition, the Olympiad,  the following year. WWII and the Independence War reduced to a minimum all chess activities in the country for nearly 13 years. After this period, in 1950, the Israel Chess Federation started its activities. Israeli players had some minor success until the 70’s, then with the immigration of the Soviet players like Vladimir Liberzon, Lev Gutman, Alla Kushnir and Roman Dzhindzhidashvili and later with Lev Psakhis and Boris Gelfand, Israel became regularly among the 10-12th best teams in the world and lately in 2008 and 2010 even among the top 3.

Despite political boycott, Israel has organized two Olympiads (1964 and 1976), the Student Olympiad in 1970, the European Team Championship in 1989, the World Team Championship in 2005 and the World Blitz Championship in 2006. Since 1930′s Israel organize every four years the Maccabiah games which attracted the best Jewish world chess players.

The national team was co-World Senior Team Champion in 2004 and also winner of the WCCT in 1982 and the WCSC in 1980, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2004.

Israel has participated in 31 Olympiads since 1935 (except 1937, 1950 and 1986 where the country was excluded for political reasons) and has collected 15 individual medals. Its best achievement was second in 2008 in the men’s championship however the women team won the Gold in 1976. In other competitions Israel won the High School World Championship in 1996, was silver medal at the Students’ Olympiad of 1965 and at the European Team Championship in 2003 and 2005. As for the best players under the Israeli flag, Emil Sutovsky was World Junior Champion in 1996 and European Champion in 2001. Ofer Comay (1985 and 1998) and Noam Elkies (1996) were World Chess Solving Champions, Luba Kristol twice Women World Correspondence Champion and Boris Gelfand, a member of the top 10 best players of the world for more than 10 years, has won the World Cup in 2009.

Israel plays Ukraine at Khanty Mansiysk Olympiad, 2010

The national champions were: 1935 Blass, 1936 Czerniak, 1937 Porat, 1938 Czerniak, 1940 Porat, 1945 Aloni, 1951 Oren, 1953 Porat, 1955 Czerniak, 1957 Porat, 1959 Porat, 1961-2 Aloni, 1963 Porat, 1965 Aloni, 1967 Kagan, 1969-70 Kagan, 1971-2 U. Geller, 1974 Liberzon, 1976 Birnboim, 1977 Dzindzihashvili, 1980 Birnboim, 1982 Gruenfeld, 1984 Greenfeld, 1986 Birnboim, 1988 Rechlis 1990,1992 Smirin, 1994 Yudasin, 1996 Yudasin, 1998 Liss, 2001 Avrukh and Gershon, 2003 Smirin, 2004 Erenburg, 2006 Rodshtein, 2008 Avrukh, 2010 Golod.