Pakistan boycotts chess Olympics match against Israel

Pakistan boycotted the match scheduled against Israel at the 2026 Chess Olympiad underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The Pakistan Chess Federation justified the choice with the country’s policy towards Israel and with solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Pakistan-Israel match was scheduled for today, in the opening round of the prestigious international competition. However, Pakistan refused to take the field against the Israeli team and did not take part in the match.

The motivations of the Pakistani federation

The president of the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP), Syed Zeeshan Naqvi, said that Pakistan had a clear and consistent policy towards Israel, and that the federation could not participate in a match that conflicted with the government’s position. Naqvi said the decision also wanted to convey a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people. “We boycotted the match to express solidarity with the Palestinian people,” he said. He added that Pakistan’s participation in international sporting competitions will continue, but that the federation will respect the Pakistani government’s official position on Israel.

Many federations did not like Israel’s presence and Islamabad’s choice could be followed and imitated by other teams present in Samarkand. The draw will decide the new pairings and, consequently, the next decisions by future opponents.

The Chess Olympics in Samarkand

The 46th edition of the Fide World Chess Olympiadthe largest ever organized, takes place from 15 to 27 September. There are 400 teams at the start between the Open and women’s tournaments, for a total of 208 teams in the Open and 192 in the women’s, with almost two thousand players registered. India tries to defend the two golds won two years ago in Budapest, the United States starts as first seed in the Open, while Uzbekistan, the host country, aims to compete for victory.

The format of the Olympics is different from that of an individual tournament. Each match is played on four boards: a team victory is worth two points, a draw one, and the result depends on the sum of the four individual scores. The games are played at a classic pace, with 90 minutes each for the first 40 moves, another 30 minutes to conclude the game and an increase of 30 seconds per move from the start. There are eleven rounds scheduled, with a single rest day on September 22nd and the last round on the 27th. Alongside the individual and team medals, the Olympics awards three main trophies: the Hamilton-Russell Cup to the winning team of the Open, the Vera Menchik Cup to the team that wins the women’s tournament, and the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy to the federation with the best combined result between the two tournaments, won by India in the last two editions.

For the third consecutive edition there will be no Russiaalso absent from Chennai 2022 and Budapest 2024: the Chess Federation of Russia has remained suspended by Fide since 10 June, after failing to comply within the deadlines with the obligations established by a previous award from the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The situation is different in Belarus, which returns to compete under its own flag after the Fide Council removed all restrictions previously imposed on the federation on 21 July.

Italy debuts with Myanmar and Ghana

In the first round, played on Wednesday, the Italian Open national team, 26th seeded with an average Elo of 2551, is facing Myanmar, 128th. The Italian team, led by captain Michele Godena, features Lorenzo Lodici, Luca Moroni, Francesco Sonis, Sabino Brunello and Edoardo Di Benedetto. In the same round the Italian women’s national team, 33rd seeded, challenges Ghana, 128th in the starting ranking. The team, led by captain Mihail Marin, includes Marina Brunello, Olga Zimina, Kamilla Rubinshtein, Tea Gueci and Giulia Sala.