Israelis blocked from chess world championship in Malaysia

Two Israeli chess players who registered for the World Amateur Chess Championship discovered they had simply disappeared — not from the board, but from the official participant list. The championship is scheduled to open on 4 November and run through 13 November in Klang, Selangor state, Malaysia.

The event is organised by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), and the official announcement states explicitly: "All member federations and all eligible players are invited to participate." In practice, however, Israelis cannot enter Malaysia — a longstanding policy of the country, repeatedly declared by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim himself.

Chess. Illustration (Photo: Shutterstock)

Lior Eisenberg, director of the "Chess for All" club in Savyon and an activist against boycotts of Israel in sport and culture, was one of the two who registered. He tried using a foreign passport as well, but it didn't help. His name was completely omitted from the final list.

"Malaysian authorities simply refuse to allow Israelis to represent Israel at a world championship. As far as they're concerned, Israel doesn't exist," Eisenberg said. "After 78 years of statehood, and especially after 7 October, we cannot allow this situation to stand."

When he contacted the organisers with a straightforward question, he received a direct answer: Israelis would not be able to play due to immigration policy. The message was then deleted and replaced with a promise that "they would get back to him". The Israel Chess Federation reported that FIDE promised to "make maximum effort" to help obtain visas, but in practice, the names vanished.

The 2019 precedent and FIDE's own rules

The story is not entirely new. In 2019, Malaysia lost the right to host the World Para Swimming Championships for exactly the same reason: refusal to guarantee entry to Israeli athletes. The International Paralympic Committee moved the event to London.

Eisenberg, acting on behalf of the Elitzur Centre, recalls that case and calls for similar action, this time before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or directly with FIDE: cancel the event or move it to another country. "A competition that excludes Israelis has no right to bear the title 'World Championship'," he emphasises.

FIDE itself has a commitment from 2019: not to hold events in countries that refuse to issue visas or allow entry to eligible players based on nationality or citizenship. The decision to host the amateur championship in Malaysia puts the organisation to the test, particularly under the relatively new presidency of Timur Turlov.

Beyond the chessboard, the affair once again exposes the tension between the principles of international sport, equality, openness, "the whole world is invited" and a political reality in which certain countries use sporting events as a tool for delegitimisation.

Malaysia does not recognise Israel, has banned entry to its citizens since the 1970s, and has even threatened to deport dual passport holders found on its territory. Eisenberg warns against complacency: "The big problem with boycotts and attempts at delegitimisation through sport is our complacency. It doesn't matter if the championship takes place thousands of kilometres away and no Israeli is expected to attend, or close to home, the same rules must apply."

Meanwhile, the official list has already been published without the Israelis, and the championship is approaching. The big question is whether FIDE will stand behind its own principles, or allow a world championship to take place in a location where part of the world simply "doesn't exist".