Israel First in Strategy Games

Instead of a 100-meter (328-feet) sprint or a long-distance jump, players sit at a table and compete in strategic games, such as checkers and mazes. Four teams (Israel, Spain, and two British teams) competed against each other in four thinking and strategy games. Next year, 12 teams from around the world will compete.

“It was really easy,” concluded Tomer Levin, one of four members of the Israeli delegation. The young students obtained 24 of the 24 possible points. Levine said, “The other schools didn’t really have experience in this. In order to win, you have to practice a lot and play a lot of games against other kids. This is not like homework in math where you have to solve the exercise; this is a game and it’s fun…Everyone at school praised us. I feel proud to represent Israel.”

The idea for the games was thought up by Ehud Shahar and Danny Gendelman, two chess champions. The aim is to learn thinking strategies in order to win games. The strategies are then applicable to a wide range of fields, such as studies, solving social problems, and more.