David Ben-Gurion at the closing ceremony of the first Israeli Chess Championship, 1951.[1]
The Israeli Chess Championship is a chess event held every year in Israel.
History
From 1951 to 1971, the men's and women's championships were held every two years, eventually becoming an annual event. The 1998 Championship was held 8–24 November in Ramat Aviv.
The single-elimination tournament, 32 players in the men's section and 16 in the women's, used an unusual time control of 100 minutes for 30 moves + 30 seconds per move. GM Eran Liss won the men's final over GM Victor Mikhalevski. After tying their 2-game match with one victory apiece, they then tied an active chess playoff with one win and two draws each. In a 5-minute blitz playoff, Liss won 2–0. Irina Yudasina won the women's final over Ella Pitem with one win and one draw.
^Right to left: Pinhas Rosen Justice minister and honorary president of Israel Chess Association, David Ben Gurion, Israel Rabinovich-Barav, Dr Yehouda Grunegard
^Men's and women's competition held together
^Embedded in the unified men's and women's championship finals (not as a separate competition).
^U15 champion. The U17 championship was cancelled, due to lack of enough participants.
^"Israel Junior Championship Final 2019 June 2019 Israel FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
^"Israeli Open Junior Championship 2020 Rounds 1-8 April 2020 Israel FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
Bibliography
Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, p. 104, ISBN 0-85112-455-0 (results through 1982)
Crowther, Mark (30 November 1998), THE WEEK IN CHESS 212, London Chess Center
Wolsza, Tadeusz (2007), Arcymistrzowie, mistrzowie, amatorzy. Słownik biograficzny szachistów polskich, vol. 5, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo DiG, ISBN 83-7181-495-X
