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Prime Ministe Netanyahu and Culture and Sports Minister Livnat, met with Boris Gelfand, runner-up at the recent World Chess Championship in Moscow.
PM Netanyahu told Gelfand, "During discussions, I watched your moves in an adjacent room. I am certain that many Israelis are proud of your achievements and many more Israelis now love the game of chess. The State of Israel is a brain power and chess is game of the brain. Thanks to people like you, we will turn Israel into a chess power."
Gelfand told the Prime Minister that the World Chess Championship aroused great international interest and said that the fact than an Israeli player reached the finals brought great honor to the State of Israel. "It is important that we continue to develop the sector and initiate international competitions that will bring recognition of Israeli chess players," Gelfand said. He added that he remembers playing the Prime Minister approximately two years ago: "It is so nice to see the Prime Minister playing chess. I am certain that your abilities at chess assist you in making other important decisions."
Culture and Sports Minister Livnat announced that her ministry and the Prime Minister's Office intend to invest NIS 1 million in dozens of chess clubs in Israeli cities. This is in addition to her ministry's and the Sports Betting Council's ongoing NIS 1.2 million support for chess in Israel.
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