by Assi Philosoph
Before we jump into the 22nd edition of the Maccabiah games, let’s have a quick review of the 2022 results. The 2022 games should have been held in 2021, but due to a pandemic called COVID (for those of you that still remember it!) they were postponed.
The main event took place in Hotel Ramada in Jerusalem, located a 5-minute walk from Heikhal HaSefer (Shrine of the Book), which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the “Knesset”, the Israeli Parliament with its 120 members. Let’s go through the different sections and highlights of the event.
GM Ori Kobo gets the gold
In the invitational round robin tournament, Kobo won nicely the main event, ahead of two regular national team members, Evgeny Postny (silver) and Ilia Smirin (bronze), with 6 points out of 9. Here is Kobo’s nice finish against Postny from round 5:
Kobo,Ori (2534) – Postny,Evgeny (2564)
GM Maccabiah 2022 Jerusalem, Israel Round 5 – 17.07.2022
In the diagram position, Kobo played 39.Re1, setting up a trap for Black who was in time trouble. Black replayed 39…Rxe5, but lost on time before pressing the clock. Can you figure out what Ori’s idea was?
The game would have continued 40.Qf8+ Kh7 and 41.Rb1! (the hidden move)! 1-0
The gold medalist GM Ori Kobo | Photo: Dr. Mark Livshitz
One interesting fact is that Kobo lives just walking distance from the hotel, which means that his “travel arrangements” to such an international tournament were quite simple. For the full results, click on the link below:
https://chess-results.com/tnr626113.aspx?lan=1
A Japanese medal
In the open section, everything was undecided before the final round, with four players all on 6.5 points. Three wins on the first three boards determined the podium: Daniel Moskovich won against Yehonatan Fadida, taking the gold; Alexey Streltsov finished second after winning against Sophie Aflalo; and Moshe Gal came third with a win against Yochai Vazana.
Moskovich, who gained 7.5 points, finished the tournament with a nice attack. The diagram shows the position after 34…Bh6 – an already winning position:
Moskovich,Daniel (2210) – Fadida,Yehonatan (1822)
Maccabiah Open 2022 Jerusalem, Israel Round 9 – 21.07.2022
35.Rd8 Qb7 and now 36.Rh8+ [36.Rh8+ Kxh8 37.Qxh6+ Kg8 38.Rd8#] 1-0
Daniel Moskovich. Israeli with Japanese roots | Photo: Dr. Mark Livshitz
Full results: https://chess-results.com/tnr617466.aspx?lan=1
Blitzing after Shabbat
As is becoming tradition, on “Moza’ei Shabbat” the blitz tournament of the Maccabiah 2022 was held in the Ramada hotel. The tournament was open for all players and the blitz time control games were a great opportunity to interact with all the international players and to release a bit of stress from the main event.
GM Ilia Smirin won convincingly, with 8.5 out of 9. The full results can be found via the following link: https://chess-results.com/tnr656743.aspx?lan=1
GM Ilia Smirin, receiving the gold | Photo: Dr. Mark Livshitz
Lancman wins the junior tournament
The host of the Junior Chess Championships was the Haifa-Nesher Chess Club, located in the city of Nesher in the Haifa District of Israel. The junior tournament had four leaders with 4.5 points out of 6 before the last round – the first three boards ended in a draw, making the last round’s fight for medals very tight.
Daniel Ser from Lithuania, the youngest player in the junior tournament (13), won against the Israeli Tomer Gilad, but finished second since Kyle Lancman (USA) had a better tiebreak after winning against Jack Lieberman (USA). Ilya Zuev (ISR) gained the bronze after drawing on the 3rd board with the South African Jacobson Gabriel Kenneth.
The three medalists: Kyle Lancman (gold), Daniel Ser (silver) and Ilya Zuev (bronze) Photo: Ritvo photography
Junior results: https://chess-results.com/tnr643234.aspx?lan=1
A final picture with the medalists in Jerusalem | Photo: Dr. Mark Livshitz
For the full coverage of the 2022 event, please visit the following page: Articles 2022
We also invite you to take a look at past games with great stars in the previous article. Names like Yuri Averbakh, Boris Gelfand, Judit Polgar, Ian Nepomniachi, Alexander Khalifman and Evgeniy Najer played in the past Maccabiah games. Would you believe it?!
We hope that this recap offers you a taster of the event. If you are feeling inspired, come and make history with us in the 22nd edition of the Maccabiah games this July! We look forward to seeing you there!