46th Chess Olympiad - Australian Player Boycotts Israel

My name is Heather Richards and I am board 3 for the 2026 Australian Women's Chess Olympiad Team.

Today, for round 7 of the 46th Chess Olympiad, the Australian Women’s Team has been paired against Israel. I was due to play this round, having rested the previous round.

I am not playing. I am participating in the sporting boycott of Israel.

Russia is currently banned from competing in the Chess Olympiad due to the invasion of Ukraine. Israel should be banned from the Chess Olympiad.

I am doing this because Israel is committing a genocide.

The Chess Olympiad is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, with over 200 countries competing this year. Letting Israel participate in major sports events allows them to engage in sportswashing of their reputation and to project an image of normality to the world while they commit genocide and apartheid.

Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 2023, over 21,500 of which are children. There have been almost 1,400 fatalities since the “ceasefire”. At least 21,000 children have been disabled. Israel’s own internal documents state that the civilian deaths are about 83% of all deaths.

In 2025, the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In 2026, they also found that Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children as part of their genocidal and atrocity crimes in both Gaza and the West Bank.

The International Court of Justice has issued arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity for Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers. Israel should be banned from all sporting events just like apartheid South Africa was.

I oppose genocide. I oppose the Israeli apartheid which denies Palestinians basic rights and dignity. I oppose the illegal occupations of the Palestinian territories as per the ruling of the International Court of Justice.

I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

#BanIsrael #FIDE #ChessOlympiad #BDS #FreePalestine

A personal choice that would carry more weight as a collective team decision. As it stands, it puts more weight on your teammates.
The FIDE general assembly is concurrent with the Olympiad. Why not ask the Australian delegate to submit a motion to ban Israel?

The Dutch team refused to play Israel at another time to celebrate their religious Yom Kippur holiday.
The Netherlands thus won 4-0.

I oppose antisemitism. You don't mention the guilt of Hamas (of October 7th, and of increasing death tolls by using civilians as human shields) anywhere in the first place, maybe you don't even care about it.

ppl finding all sorts of ways to miss a round for their team which could otherwise help them earn fame and medals.

@lynghonig said ^

I oppose genocide. I oppose the Israeli apartheid which denies Palestinians basic rights and dignity. I oppose the illegal occupations of the Palestinian territories as per the ruling of the International Court of Justice.

Well said, and well done! Free Palestine!

Standing up against the Gaza genocide is no antisemitism.
Several Jews outside and inside Israel oppose the Gaza genocide.
As for the October 7 attack, Haaretz wrote Netanyahu knew of it in advance.

In a previous Olympiad, the Dutch supported the refusenik Gulko by wearing shirts with his name when playing the Soviet Union. A similar action, playing with the shirt 'Stop genocide' would create more publicity than not playing.
It is a common misconception to equate antisemitism with disapproval of the acts of the Israeli government.

Not every Russian chess player supports Russia. Not every Israeli chess player supports Israel.
If we have to do anything, we have to unban every single nation from FIDE or any chess organization.

@tpr said ^

Standing up against the Gaza genocide is no antisemitism.
Several Jews outside and inside Israel oppose the Gaza genocide.

if someone refers to BDS, as OP did, I'm highly suspicious if they respect Israel's right to exist in the first place.

Also I will note again that with regard to sportive events or ESC, any Russian representative will be closely tied or dependent on the neofascist government of Putin, while this need not be the case for Israel which is still a democracy (e.g. EBU member KAN is perceived leftist-liberalist and very oppositional)