India withdraws from the World Cadet Chess Championship in Egypt for the Gaza situation

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has affected Indian chess and the All India Chess Federation (AICF) has announced its withdrawal from the World Cadet Chess Championship to be held in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt from October 14 to 23. As many as 39 players from the country were supposed to take part in the tournament which included events in the under-12, 10 and 8 categories.

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The Indian chess body also said the decision was taken keeping in mind all aspects of the safety of our young players as the Gaza Strip is only 397 kilometers from Sharm El Sheikh and the conflict could significantly impact commercial airlines in the Middle East at short notice.

"The All India Chess Federation took this decision considering all the aspects of safety and security of young players as Egypt shares the border with Gaza as well as Israel," the release further said.

"The Federation took this hard decision based on force majeure and unforeseen scenarios as we give paramount importance to the safety of our players even though our players put in almost one year training to participate in this important event." Meanwhile, an AICF official said the Indian federation has requested the world chess body (FIDE) to postpone the tournament keeping in mind the situation in Gaza.

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Israel has launched an unprecedented attack against Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that rules Gaza. Earlier, on October 7, Hamas fighters broke the border fence and entered the southern part of the country through air, land and sea and caused destruction.