Last update – 02:41 17/11/2008
Chessboard diplomacy: Israel beats Egypt at chess Olympiad
By Eli Shvidler
Tags: Israel news, chess, Egypt
Israel’s national chess team defeated Egypt last night 2.5-1.5 at the biennial Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany in the teams’ first matchup in 27 years. In 1981, Egypt defeated Israel in a friendly game in Cairo.
Boris Gelfand, Israel’s top-ranked player and currently 20th in the world, won his match, as did teammate Boris Avruch.
Israel’s team, ranked eighth in the world, currently has six points, having tallied two wins and two draws in its first four rounds. The team is considered a medal contender, though not a favorite.
Meanwhile, Israel’s women’s team defeated Bosnia 3-1 for its third win in four rounds. Earlier in the tournament, the Israeli women beat the United States team, one of the favorites for the title.
1270 chess players are taking part at the Olympiad, 722 of them are men who play in 146 teams, 548 of them are women and play in 111 teams. In addition, 257 team captains and 120 arbiters take part.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037861.html
Although I followed the match intensely, I thank you Susan for this post. I think that Egypt has become stronger than in the past. The score could have turned the other way around. Israeli superiority in chess over the Arab countries is not as clear as it was before. As an Israeli, I give the Egyptians a warm applaude for their progress, and hope for many matches like that in the future. But I am happy that Israel won and my applaude to the Israeli team .
A. Weiler
Israel.