President Shimon Peres visits chess academy

Dear chessfriends,

Last week, the president of the state of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, visited the chess academy Shevach Mofet in Tel-Aviv.

Mr. Peres received explanations from the academy founder and director, GM Boris Alterman about its activities and objectives. Some 200 students attend mandatory chess lessons as part of the regular school program .

20 students enjoy a special chess program of 6 hours a week given by IM Mark Berkovich, national coordinator of the junior squad, and other trainers. The academy team has recently won the Israel championship for high schools.

Two of the top academy students, Gil Popilsky and Marsel Efroimsky, have represented Israel in several European and world individual championships. Marcel was at the time world champion for girls U12.

You may find more about the sucessful academy here:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5140

Best wishes,
Yochanan Afek