Israel at The Chess Olympiads
Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog. Today, we will look at how a chess nation gets built, how legends are created and legacies are written, by looking at the most important national chess tournament - the Chess Olympiads.
Did you know that IM Czerniak from Israel had won against Tartakower in 1939? Or that IM Porat made a draw with Fischer in 1968, when Fischer was in his prime? And don't forget Gelfand, who became the Vice World Chess Champion in 2012!
In discussions regarding chess nations, Israel's name rarely comes up. But the fact is, Israel has one of the richest chess legacies in the world. Let's dive in, starting at the 8th Chess Olympiad conducted in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1939- At the Shadow of War
In the mid-1930s, many chess masters immigrated to Israel from all around Europe. The enormous amount of chess masters coming to Israel raised interest in the game, and various chess tournaments were quickly organized all across the country. The Israeli Chess Federation was officially created in 1935, and with the newly established federation came the dream of sending an Israeli team to the Chess Olympiad.
This dream became a reality when in 1939 an invitation to participate in the 8th Chess Olympiad was approved by the Israeli Chess Federation (ICF), and an Israeli team was organized. The Argentinian organizers made great efforts to help the team participate and even sent a ship that would take them to Argentina. At the beginning of August, the ship set sail carrying Czerniak, Porat, Rauch, Kleinstein, and Vintz from Jaffo to the distant continent of South America.
This year, there was a record number of entries, with 27 teams participating in the event. To sort the best teams for the Grand Final. Israel had qualified for the final after beating Norway, Estonia, and Guatemala. The team faced a hard time in the final - with strong teams such as Poland, Cuba, and France there was no room for mistakes.
On the 1st of September, WWII began, and the hard news deeply affected all teams at the Olympiad in Argentina. The British team left Argentina to help with the war efforts at home, and the French and Polish teams refused to play with Germany. It was decided that all meetings that couldn't have occurred on the chess board would be marked as a 2-2 draw on the tournament table, and by so canceling half of the games that should've been played.
Israel's hero in this Olympiad was without a doubt Yosef Porat, the second board, who scored an 11/14 (including a victory over Paul Keres!). This great result gave Porat the IM title. Other noteworthy results were Czerniak's victory over Tartakower, his draw with Capablanca, and Kleinstein's victory over P Frydman.
Let's look at Czerniak's victory over Tartakower, with Czerniak's comments on his brilliant bishop sacrifice. If you have never seen a game played by Czerniak before, this one would be a great place to start!
Germany had won the event by a margin of half a point, with Poland finishing second and Estonia finishing third. After the Olympiad was over, most of the players stayed in Argentina. Najdorf, the most famous player from Argentina, was one of those players, alongside Israel's first board, Moshe Czerniak.
By the next Chess Olympiad, Israel would already go through a war and become independent. Despite the hard times, the chess legacy must go on.
1974 - The Russians are Coming
Israel's population is probably the most diverse in the world. Immigrants from all over the world came to live and build their families in Israel. One of the biggest immigrations to Israel happened at the beginning of the 70s when the Soviet Union permitted a small group of Jews to leave the country and move to Israel. The national team received new stars who came from the Soviet Union right before the 1974 Chess Olympiad which took place in Nice, France.
The Israeli team was stronger than ever - Liberzon, a Soviet GM who immigrated to Israel was on the first board, followed by Kraidman, the first GM who was born in Israel. The third board was occupied by Czerniak, whose game we had seen earlier. Kagan, Bleiman, and Radashkovich closed the list. 3 of the players were newly immigrated Jews from the Soviet Union.
Despite the strong team and the seemingly easy Preliminary group that Israel got, the results weren't optimal and Israel didn't get a chance to compete in Final A (the system back then was Preliminaries, and then Final groups according to the team's performance in the first stage. Final A was the strongest, and its winners were the Olympic champions).
An interesting game was played in the final stage when Liberzon met Børge Andersen, an IM from Denmark.
Israel had won Final B, ahead of strong teams, such as Poland, Austria, and Italy. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, dominated Final A (their players didn't lose a single game!) and won the Olympiad. After the event, it was decided that Israel would host the Olympiad for the second time in 1976.
1976 - Olympic Champions
12 years have passed since the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv, and Israel is once again the host of the tournament. While the playing hall is being set up, a diplomatic crisis is developing, as the Soviet Union is refusing to play in Israel. FIDE's motto, "Gens Una Sumus" (We're all one family) is brought to the test, while FIDE itself is refusing to cancel the upcoming Olympiad.
Despite the refusal of the Soviets to play, no less than 71 teams registered to play in Haifa, Israel. The men's Olympiad is very interesting this year, but this time, we will look at the women's side of the event. Israel's team consisted of 4 players: Alla Kushnir (Vice Women's Chess Champion at the time), Ljuba Kristol, Olga Podrazhanskaya, and Lea Nudelman. The question is, can such a strong team conquer the podium of the Olympiad?
And the answer is yes! After a great performance at the preliminaries, Israel's team won the event by a huge margin of 5½ points!
The Olympiad in Haifa was not only a success in terms of Chess, but also on the technological side - for the first time, computers were used to help organize the matches and tables throughout the event. Databases were also used - all games were uploaded to a database using a computer. One of those games was the game between Alla Kushnir and Anni Laakman from Germany. Let's take a look:
Kushnir, as always, excels in her positional understanding. Being a 4-time vice women's Chess Champion (Kushnir lost her final matches against the legends, Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze), she is the strongest player in the whole tournament, and her extensive knowledge and experience helped Israel to win a gold medal in the Olympics for the first time in it's history.
2010 - Modern Masterpieces
As I said before, Israel's population is incredibly diverse, due to the high number of Jews who immigrated to Israel throughout the years. In the '90s, more than a million immigrants from the Soviet Union settled in Israel, and between them were Chess players who were destined to bring Israel some of its greatest chess achievements.
2010 came by and brought us the 39th Chess Olympiad, which took place in the cold city of Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Israel's team consisted of 5 GMs: Boris Gelfand (one of the best players in the world at the time), Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin, Maxim Rodshtein, and future Israeli champion, Victor Mikhalevsky.
This time there were no preliminaries, and 11 matches were played. The last game I want to show you today was played by Smirin, Israel's second board. This victory over a young, unknown player from Hungary gave Israel a very important victory over their strong opponents.
Israel had a great run in this Olympiad - winning against strong teams, such as the US, Netherlands, and Hungary. All players performed well, and gave Israel third place in the Olympiad! Russia and Ukraine took the second and first place, respectfully. Interesting team took the 6th place - Russia's second team, with young Nepomniachtchi as its first board.
The achievements brought by the new generation of Israeli Chess players exposed many children in Israel to the royal game. A "Chess Boom" happened in Israel after Gelfand lost to Anand in his match for the World Chess Championship in 2012. Some of those little kids, who watched the match from their homes, are leading Israel's Chess teams toward new heights. It's amazing to see how the cycle of generation works in Chess, and Israel is a great example of that.
Conclusion, Recommendation, and a Bit of Thoughts
Israel's performances at the Chess Olympiads show how a chess nation gets built - starting from small, unknown masters, who pass their knowledge to the younger generations, and progressing into one of the strongest "Chess countries", with children and adults playing the game all around the country.
One last thing - Some recommendations. Some of the information in this blog is taken from Moshe Czerniak's book "Israel at the Chess Olympiads", written in 1979. The book is entirely in Hebrew (as you can see from the tournament tables), but is filled with photos and games.
Another book I want to mention is Smirin's "Sicilian Warfare", where he explains why the Sicilian is (in his opinion) one of the most fascinating openings to date. As you saw earlier Smirin won against Polgar with his Sicilian, so maybe it's worth checking out the book 
Our journey throughout Israel's Chess Legacy is over for today - hope you enjoyed and learned some new stuff! Until the next time, have a great day 
