Victory on the Board

The chessboard, that is. Israel was well represented by 12-year-old Marsel Efroimaski from Kfar Saba this past week - as she sailed to win the 2007 World Youth Chess Championships for girls 12 and under. It's a wonderful testimony to the peaceful activities many Israelis encourage their children to undertake. Most cities and villages offer after-school activities such as ballet, art, music, English lessons, sports of all types and much more. It's what a normal, peace-loving country does - because it means we want our children to focus on the important things in life, despite the violence that all-too-often surrounds us.

So this week, as we celebrate with Marsel's family, we celebrate a victory for our children and for us - we are doing something right!

Excerpt from the Jerusalem Post:

Marsel Efroimaski, a 12-year-old from Kfar Saba, is the new world chess champion for girls 12 and under. She won the title after eight rounds of play at the 2007 World Youth Chess Championships held this week in Antalya, Turkey.

Efroimaski, who returned to Israel on Thursday, is still trying to grasp her huge victory. "At the moment I knew I got first place, it was exciting and confusing and it was hard to believe that I had won," Marsel told The Jerusalem Post. "I was overtaken by emotion."

The young chess champion started to play after-school chess when she was eight. She continued to play in the Kfar Saba chess club, and now plays in Ashdod.