The Sixteenth World Chess Olympics were officially opened here last night with the participation of players from 50 countries. Premier Levi Eshkol, Deputy Premier Abba Eban and Mayor Mordechai Namir greeted the participants. The guest at the opening ceremony was Iceland’s Premier Bjerni Benediktsson who is in Israel on an eight-day visit.
There are many Jews among the entries and hardly a delegation which does not include some Jewish players. Samuel Reshevsky, former United States champion, who arrived yesterday morning, said at the airport that he was planning to settle in Israel and appear under the Israeli banner at the next chess competition.
Premier Eshkol cited the Jewish contributions to the game during many generations, a fact of which "we are proud." Citing factors of history and cultural circumstances, the Premier said that Jews, being scattered among the peoples of the world, found in chess a natural outlet for the sportive competition imbued in all human beings–since no other branches of sport were open to Jews.
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