Article provided by: Yoav Dothan

Israel is proud of its 15 titled players, amongst them 6 active GM : Uri Blass, Yoav Dothan, Daniel Elyakim, Moshe Glazman, Dmitry Gooshchin and Abir Har Even. We have also 6 active SIM and 3 IM.

Another nice achievement is the first place in the Jubilee Postal Open – Final where Yoav Dothan got 10 out of 10 points.

Some words about the history of CC in Israel: the late Natan Yungereiz from the Kibutz HaOgen organised the Israeli CC championship numbers 1-32 for almost 35 years in what became his life project. Now the championship is named after him – God bless his soul.

After Mr. Yungereiz’s death, the Israeli CC activity is handled by the Israeli CC committee: IM Itamar Oren, SIM Pinhas Azar and GM Yoav Dothan.

We should mention that Binyamin Katz from Jerusalem was the first organiser of the CC activities in Israel. All of us remember his love for sharp play, and I remember with great pride my first win (as white) against him played in his famous Latvian gambit (OTB game).

The first Israeli CC championship was organised in 1960 and was won by the Israeli OTB master Malkiel Peretz, who won also the 18th, 19th, and the 20th championships almost twenty years later! Other known chessplayers are the 12th champion FIDE GM Yehuda Greenfeld and the 27th champion FIDE Master Miki Granski.

The Israeli championship is organised in three stages, and starts every January, usually finishing in 4-5 years.

Israel is currently represented in the 27th World Championship by GM Yoav Dothan.

Israelis play also in the European championship, Olympiads, international matches and all international activities that were managed by Itamar Oren from Beer Sheva, who is twice Israeli champion: he won the 28th and the 31st championships! Only in 1996, after many years, he has handed over control of international activities to Yoav Dothan.