Forty-seven teams from 30 countries have registered for the Chess Olympiad which will be held in Haifa Oct. 24-Nov. 11. The Haifa contest, which has the official sanction of the International Chess Federation, has triggered an anti-Israel Chess Olympiad sponsored by Libya with the approval of other Arab countries. At the same time, the Soviet bloc and some Third World nations are boycotting the Haifa event.
However, Dr. Max Euwe, president of the International Chess Federation, said in Switzerland that his organization regretted the absence of those who refused to participate but has decided by a majority vote to go ahead with the contest in Israel. He noted that the Soviet Union boycotted the Chess Olympiad in Yugoslavia in 1950 But the contest went on as scheduled.
The Austrian Chess Federation has asked the Soviet Chess Federation to reconsider its decision, noting that politics should not be introduced into international chess competition.
COUNTRIES REGISTERED FOR CONTEST
The countries registered for both men and women events are: Switzerland, Israel, England, Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Holland, Wales, Scotland, Japan, Finland, France, Canada, Austria, West Germany, Colombia and Sweden. ‘Registered for men only are: Uruguay, the Virgin Islands, Surinam, Panama, Papua, Chile, Thailand, Guernsy, Faroe Islands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Peru and Norway.
From Switzerland it was learned, meanwhile, that Vladimir Liberson, Israel’s chess champion, has reached thirteenth in the regional competitions there, the best an Israeli player has done so far in interzonal tournaments.
The winner was Bent Larsen of Denmark, with 12.5 points, followed by two former world champions, Tigran Petrosian and Mikhail Tal and Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Protisch with 12 points each. Liberson scored nine points in the 19 games. Larsen is scheduled to play in the Haifa Olympiad.
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