Outrageous: FIDE broke promises, forcing Israel to play on Yom Kippur

At the World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, both the men's and women's Israeli teams received technical defeats of 0:4 after FIDE refused to reschedule matches falling on Yom Kippur (September 21). The federation violated a written promise given to the Israeli side in January. The Netherlands and Bulgaria refused to reschedule their matches, while Colombia and Singapore agreed. The Israeli Chess Federation is considering legal measures and demanding compensation.

At the World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, an incident occurred: both the men's and women's Israeli teams received technical defeats of 0:4 after FIDE refused to reschedule matches falling on Yom Kippur (September 21). Representatives of the Israel Chess Federation had approached FIDE in January with a request to arrange the schedule so that games would not fall on the holy day. FIDE confirmed in writing that games on the eve of Yom Kippur would be moved to an earlier time, and games on Yom Kippur itself would be postponed. However, in practice, this decision was left to negotiations with opposing teams. Colombia and Singapore agreed to the time change, but the Netherlands and Bulgaria refused, resulting in a technical victory for them. Chairman of the Israel Chess Federation, Dr. Zvika Barkai, stated: 'We are extremely disappointed with FIDE's actions. They simply deceived us.' The Israeli federation claims that the Netherlands was ready to reschedule the match, but the decision was not approved, while Bulgaria immediately opposed. The teams arrived at the Olympiad in good form and were showing results that promised a high finish, but now their chances are virtually gone. The Israeli federation is considering legal measures and will demand compensation from FIDE for damages.