Israeli chess team penalized after Yom Kippur scheduling agreement falls apart

Jerusalem Post/Israel News/Israel SportsAccording to the Israel Chess Federation, the International Chess Federation agreed in writing that matches scheduled for Yom Kippur would be moved to accommodate the Israeli team.Follow us on GoogleThe Dutch chess team is seen on Monday, September 21, 2026, at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand Uzbekistan sat across from empty seats and the Isreali team refused to play on Yom Kippur. (photo credit: COURTESY OF THE ISRAELI CHESS FEDERATION )SEPTEMBER 22, 2026 01:51The International Chess Federation refused to reschedule the Israeli team's Monday matches in the International Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, scheduled for Yom Kippur, despite having pledged months earlier to remedy the issue, according to the Israel Chess Federation. Because they failed to compete on Yom Kippur, the Israeli team forfeited four matches. According to the Israel Chess Federation, the International Chess Federation agreed in writing in January that Israel's Sunday matches would be moved to an earlier time in order to finish them all before the start of Yom Kippur in the evening. Monday matches would be rescheduled to take place after Yom Kippur.In practice, the four countries scheduled to compete with Israel on Yom Kippur were given the option to reschedule. Colombia and Singapore agreed to start their matches early, but the Netherlands and Bulgaria kept the original Yom Kippur match times and were awarded a 4-0 technical victory because their opponents, Israel, never showed up.'The Israeli teams have performed very well at the Olympiad so far'"We are very angry that the International Chess Federation failed to honor the commitments it made," said Dr. Zvika Barkai, Chairman of the Israel Chess Federation. "Instead of including this in the tournament regulations, they planned to speak with the teams we were drawn against because they didn't want to generate public discourse or attention around the issue; in reality, they did almost nothing, and we are very upset with them about this."The letter from the International Chess Federation pledging to accomodate the Israeli team's inability to compete on Yom Kippur. (credit: COURTESY OF THE ISRAELI CHESS FEDERATION )"The [international] federation did not enforce what had been agreed upon with us in advance, causing us significant harm," said Gil Boruchovsky, CEO of the Israeli Chess Federation. "They did nothing to mitigate the damage it caused. They could have at least tried to prevent a 4–0 forfeit, which will severely hurt our ranking later on; we will consider our next steps—this will not go unchallenged.""The Israeli teams have performed very well at the Olympiad so far and will continue to fight with all their might and ability to reach the top 15," Boruchovsky added.Despite this slight from the international community, the Israeli Chess Federation is still expected to host the Jerusalem Open Championship in November, which is projected to attract some 450 chess players from all over the world.Follow us on Google