'We are extremely angry': Israel's chess chief slams FIDE for failing to honor 'commitments' after Chess Olympiad fails

Evgenii Romanov of Israel, Petar Arnaudov of Bulgaria, Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria (Photo by Rafal Oleksiewicz for FIDE) NEW DELHI: Israel Chess Federation chief Zvika Barkai accused FIDE of not honoring a previous Yom Kippur scheduling agreement after both the Israeli men’s and women’s teams lost their Round 6 matches at the ongoing Samarkand 2026 Chess Olympiad on Monday. The forfeiture followed a planning dispute over the observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.The trouble started over the weekend. Israel requested an early start for its games so they could be completed before the start of Yom Kippur. Singapore’s men’s team and Colombia’s women’s team, their Round 5 opponents, agreed to the adjustment and play continued as scheduled on Sunday.Monday told a completely different story. For the 6th round, which fell on Yom Kippur itself, Israel submitted a formal request to FIDE, the sport’s world governing body, asking that their games start after 19:30 local time or be moved entirely to Tuesday, the day designated for the tournament.

The Netherlands and Bulgaria reject it

This time, their rivals Netherlands in the Open section and Bulgaria in the women’s section refused.Without the agreement, both the Israeli men’s and women’s teams did not show up for their scheduled matches, and the Netherlands and Bulgaria received full points via forfeit. Footage from the scene showed the Dutch team arriving to find no opponents waiting for them.FIDE clarified that Israel requested a schedule adjustment for both rounds due to Yom Kippur. For Round 5, it demanded earlier games, while for Round 6, it demanded a 7.30pm start or later, or a move to September 22, a rest day. FIDE said it contacted both objectors, but neither agreed that they had the right to refuse.

The Israeli Chess Federation is responding to the problem

The Israeli Chess Federation’s objection begins precisely with that last sentence, that the Netherlands and Bulgaria had the right to say no.In an exclusive interaction with TimesofIndia.com, Zvika Barkai, president and chairman of the Israel Chess Federation, said the whole situation should never have come to this.“About six months ago, when we saw that the scheduling of the Olympics would fall on Yom Kippur, we approached FIDE and asked them to change the date or give us special arrangements,” Barkai said. “It was agreed in writing that the Israeli games on Monday, the eve of Yom Kippur, would be moved forward and end before the start of the holiday, and that today’s Yom Kippur games would start two hours later, after the end of the holiday.”According to Barkai, it was not a failure on FIDE’s part, but a process. “We are extremely angry that FIDE has not followed through on the commitments it made,” he said. “Instead of including this measure in the competition rules — they were afraid of negative reactions, especially during the FIDE elections — they planned to talk to the teams that would be drawn against us. In practice, they did almost nothing and we are extremely angry with them about this!!”Barkai drew a stark contrast between how Sunday’s and Monday’s opponents reacted. From Singapore and Colombia, who agreed to adjust in the 5th round, he was outstanding.“Thankfully yesterday, the Singaporean and Colombian teams showed sportsmanship and agreed to move the matches forward. We are very grateful to them and will also know how to repay their sportsmanship,” he added.“Today, the Dutch team against the men’s team and the Bulgarian team against the women’s team behaved unsportsmanlike and strongly opposed the postponement of the matches by an hour or a day,” he further noted. “FIDE did not enforce what was agreed with us in advance and caused us considerable damage.”Barkai’s frustration went beyond the missed games themselves to how the scores will now be recorded.“FIDE did nothing to minimize the damage it caused,” he continued. “They could have at least tried to prevent the game from being recorded as 4-0, which will hurt us significantly in the rankings going forward. We will consider the next steps after the Olympics.”Recorded as clean 4-0 defeats in both legs, the losses carry real weight in the Olympics standings compared to the translated result that would normally be contested.Barkai went on to clarify the federation’s position at length. “We understand that it is difficult to allow us special measures due to Yom Kippur restrictions. We consider the sportsmanship of the Singaporean and Colombian teams to be exemplary, and we are very disappointed by the response of the Dutch and Bulgarian federations. The truth is that those from whom we expected consideration did not disappoint us,” he noted.“We didn’t expect much from the Dutch and that’s why we weren’t disappointed. And finally, one more time: the relationship between the Israel Chess Federation and FIDE has been excellent and effective over the years. That’s why we expected much more from FIDE to act as a responsible body that respects the agreements it made with us, and we were disappointed!!”Despite the setback, Barkai insisted the controversy would not destroy his team’s ambitions in Samarkand.Asked what his expectations were for the rest of the event, he added: “The Israeli teams have done very well so far at the Olympics and will continue to fight with all their strength and ability to reach around 15th place. Any final placing above 20th place will be considered a success.”