GM Yair Parkhov and IM Marsel Efroimski have emerged as the new champions of Israel.
The 42nd Israeli Chess Championship was held at the Yam Suf Hotel in Eilat from January 20–28. Organized by the Israel Chess Federation with support from the Lottery and the Eilat Municipality, the event was initially scheduled for late 2024 but was postponed to January 2025 due to organizational reasons.
Open Championship
In the open category, 32 players—including 11 GMs, 6 IM, and 8 FM—competed in a 9-round Swiss tournament for a total prize fund of 85,000 NIS.
The competition was fiercely contested, with at least two players sharing the lead for most of the event. Heading into the final round, GMs Yahli Sokolovsky and Yair Parkhov (pictured below, left) were tied at the top with 6/8, half a point ahead of Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya and Ido Gorenstein.
In the final round, Sokolovsky and Gorenstein agreed to a quick draw, while Parkhov secured a critical victory over Yeshaayahu Tzidkiya, finishing with 7/9 to claim the title. Sokolovsky ended half a point behind, earning the silver medal, while Yannay Ben Ari clinched bronze with a final-round win and a superior Buchholz score over Gorenstein.
Final standings Open
| 1 | GM | Parkhov, Yair | 2508 | 7 |
| 2 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | 2535 | 6½ |
| 3 | IM | Ben Ari, Yannay | 2453 | 6 |
| 4 | GM | Gorshtein, Ido | 2565 | 6 |
| 5 | IM | Tzidkiya, Yeshaayahu | 2479 | 5½ |
| 6 | IM | Veinberg, Nimrod | 2400 | 5½ |
| 7 | IM | Rozen, Eytan | 2504 | 5½ |
| 8 | IM | Bronstein, Or | 2451 | 5½ |
| 9 | GM | Boruchovsky, Avital | 2532 | 5 |
| 10 | GM | Alekseev, Evgeny | 2518 | 5 |
Women’s Championship
The women’s championship, a 10-player round-robin with a prize fund of 25,000 NIS, was dominated by IM Marsel Efroimski. As the top seed, Efroimski steamrolled the competition, winning eight games and conceding just a single draw to finish three points ahead of a group of four players.
IM Masha Klinova, FM Dana Kochavi, WIM Noga Orian, and WFM Ronit Levitan all tied for second place with 5.5/9. Klinova and Kochavi secured silver and bronze respectively based on tiebreaks.
Final standings Women
| 1 | IM | Efroimski, Marsel | 2389 | 8½ |
| 2 | IM | Klinova, Masha | 2235 | 5½ |
| 3 | FM | Kochavi, Dana | 2345 | 5½ |
| 4 | WIM | Orian, Noga | 2155 | 5½ |
| 5 | WFM | Levitan, Ronit | 2085 | 5½ |
| 6 | WFM | Tashkinova, Sofiia | 2150 | 5 |
| 7 | WCM | Gadasi, Noam | 1962 | 3½ |
| 8 | Ingel, Mica Bar | 1995 | 3 | |
| 9 | Vardi, Shlomit | 1842 | 1½ | |
| 10 | Kluchik, Julia | 1922 | 1½ |
Photos: Israel Chess Federation
Official website: https://www.chess.org.il/