Israeli diplomat urges FIDE to allow Israelis to take part in international chess championship in Malaysia

Israeli Ambassador to the Republic of Bulgaria Yosi Levi Sfari called on the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on Monday to allow Israeli chess players to participate in the World Amateur Chess Championship being held in Malaysia, after the Muslim-majority country reportedly barred their entry.

“Israeli players have reportedly been excluded because of their nationality,” the diplomat tweeted.

“In 2019, FIDE pledged not to hold events in countries that deny entry to eligible players based on nationality,” said Sfari.

“So where is that commitment now? If Malaysia cannot guarantee equal access to all participants, the championship must be moved. No double standards. No political excuses. FIDE must act.”

On Saturday, Malaysia released the official list of chess players who will take part at the World Amateur Chess Championship, to be held Nov. 4-13.

Two Israeli players who registered for the tournament did not make the list. One of these is Lior Aizenberg, director of the Israeli-based Chess4All organization.

“The Malaysian authorities are simply unwilling to allow Israelis to represent Israel at a World Championship,” Aizenberg said in a statement. “As far as they are concerned, Israel does not exist … We as Israelis cannot allow such a situation to stand,” especially after the Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

A precedent to relocate international competitions was established in 2019, after Malaysia was stripped of its hosting rights for the World Para Swimming Championships for refusing to allow Israeli athletes to compete.

Aizenberg called on FIDE to follow suit and relocate the event where Israelis would not be excluded.

“If the tournament proceeds in Malaysia despite the ban, the word ‘World’ must be stripped from its official title. It cannot be considered a true World Championship if representatives from Israel are barred from participating,” the chess player added.

Susan Polgar, a Hungarian-born American chess grandmaster and one of the most accomplished figures in women’s chess, reacted to the incident on X, posing the question, “What happened to Gens una sumus?

“Gens una sumus” is a Latin phrase that translates to “We are one family.” It was adopted in 1952 as the official motto of FIDE, to promote international peace and unity.

FIDE has yet to respond to JNS’s request for comment.

Discriminating against Israelis

Israeli chess players have been facing a growing hostile environment in international tournaments in recent years.

Last month, Israel’s men’s and women’s chess teams pulled out of their sixth-round matches against the Netherlands and Bulgaria at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after both opponents declined requests to change the date, which fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

FIDE “breached” its commitment and forced the Israeli teams to miss the games on Yom Kippur, the Israel Chess Federation said in a Hebrew-language statement.

In September 2025, seven Israeli chess players withdrew from a chess competition in Spain, following a series of harassment incidents by the event’s organizers.

The Sestao Chess Club’s president, Miguel Ángel del Olmo, said at the time that “we invited them not to take part and we thank them for their decision.”

Before the Israelis’ withdrawal, Del Olmo went as far as convening a press conference with local pro-Palestinian groups in which he encouraged “noisy” protests to accompany the tournament.

In addition, the event’s organizers released a statement that condemned the “genocide that Israel is carrying out in Gaza.”