Yom Kippur disrupted the Olympics: Israel counted defeats

Israeli teams were awarded technical defeats in the sixth round of the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. This is reported on the website of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and confirmed by sports publications.

The reason was the opposition to play outside the official schedule. In the open tournament, the Israelis were to face the Netherlands, and the women’s team – with Bulgaria. The matches were scheduled for Monday, September 23.

Israeli chess players asked to postpone the games to a later time or Tuesday. It was associated with the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur (Judgment Day), which began on the evening of September 20 and ended on the evening of Monday.

In the fifth round, FIDE met the Israeli side. Matches against Singapore and Colombia teams have been postponed to an earlier time to allow players to complete meetings before the start of the post. The rivals agreed to meet in one of the official hotels.

However, in the sixth round, the teams of the Netherlands and Bulgaria refused to change the schedule. FIDE said they had every right to do so. As a result, both teams of Israel counted defeats with a score of 0: 4.

The president of the Israel Chess Federation expressed extreme outrage at the organization’s decision. He said FIDE had failed to meet its obligations to ensure a level playing field for all participants.

This is not the first scandal involving Israeli athletes in the tournament. In the first round of technical defeat was the men’s team of Pakistan. The team refused to play against the Israelis, citing solidarity with the Palestinians. As a result, Israel was awarded a 4-0 victory without a single move made.

The Russians were not allowed to the Chess Olympiad. The tournament runs from 15 to 27 September.