Chess for every child
By Eitan Bekerman
Tags: Israel news

“After we have a big accomplishment like taking second place in the Chess Olympics or my win in the World Cup,” says Boris Gelfand, “the politicians and the media show up right away and make a lot of fuss. There are all kinds of events, photos, etc. Then a few days go by and no one remembers that chess is such a great representative for Israel. I’m not worried about myself, or the other senior chess players, but we won’t get anywhere this way.”

Last year, Marsel Efroimski from Kfar Sava won the European and World championships for 14-year-old girls; Gil Popilsky won the European under-16 championship; Gelfand won the adult tournament. “How many titles of this kind does Israeli sport have? Not just in one year, but in general?” asks Israel Chess Federation chairman Yigal Lotan. “Where else, in such a small area, do you find such a tremendous amount of knowledge, of senior players, of hundreds of superb coaches? The ground is ready for Israel to become a world chess superpower, at a relatively laughable cost compared to other branches of sport. All that’s needed is a little watering and fertilization and it will really bloom here.”

Last year, the Sport Administration invested a grand total of NIS 194,000 in chess. Lotan: “There are some good people in there, who try to help, but nothing significant will happen until the policy-makers understand what chess can contribute, both to our society at home as well as to our reputation in the world. Think about it – the team just went to a major competition in Turkey, and we all know what the attitude toward Israel is like there. We almost had to cancel the trip before we were able to scrape together the money.”

Here is the full article.

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