Australian women's chess champion refuses to play Israel at Chess Olympiad

In Summary

Australian women’s chess champion Heather Richards refused to play Israel at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as part of a sporting boycott.
She withdrew after being paired against Israel in round 7, saying she would not play due to Israel’s war and alleged genocide in Gaza.
Richards argued Israel faces a double standard in chess, contrasting its participation with Russia’s ban for its invasion of Ukraine.
She cited deaths in Gaza and 2025–2026 UN findings, along with International Criminal Court arrest warrants and international court conclusions about unlawful occupation.
Her decision follows similar earlier Olympiad protests (e.g., Bangladesh and Iran in 2024) and is viewed as one of the first such actions by a Western player.

Australia’s reigning women’s chess champion, Heather Richards, has refused to play against Israel at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, joining the sporting boycott of Israel in protest at its war on Gaza.

Richards, who plays board 3 for the Australian women’s team, announced her withdrawal on 23 September after Australia was paired against Israel in round 7. Having rested the previous round, she had been due to play.

“I am not playing,” she said in a public statement. “I am doing this because Israel is committing a genocide. I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Richards pointed to what she called a double standard in world chess. Russia remains banned from the Olympiad over its invasion of Ukraine, and she argued Israel should face the same treatment.

With more than 200 countries competing, she said, allowing Israel to take part in one of the world’s biggest sporting events lets it “sportswash” its reputation and project an image of normality.

In her statement, Richards cited figures of more than 70,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, including over 21,500 children, and almost 1,400 deaths since the ceasefire.

She referred to the 2025 finding by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, and its 2026 finding that Israeli forces had deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank.

She also noted the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Richards compared the situation to the sporting isolation of apartheid South Africa, saying Israel should be excluded from all international competition. She also cited the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is unlawful.

Her stand follows similar protests at the previous Olympiad in Budapest in 2024, where Bangladeshi Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Razib boycotted his team’s match against Israel, and Iran’s women’s team forfeited theirs. Richards’s decision is believed to be among the first by a player from a Western nation.