Israelis and Lithuanians competed against one another in a chess event in order to build relations and strengthen ties as part of the Israeli Chess4Solidarity project.
The event, which was held online, was attended by 191 participants from both countries. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Lithunian House of Representatives, spoke of the importance of continuing to grow relations between Israel and Lithuania.
Čmilytė-Nielsen also remarked on the project's impact in encouraging members of both Israel and Lithuania's civil society to build connections, such as artists and musicians.
In addition to the political class, other prominent figures attended the events, such as chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov, Boris Gelfand and Bruce Pandolfini, one of the consultants on the Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit.
Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Yossi Levy spoke of the good relations between Israel and Lithuania at the event as well.
The event was broadcasted in Israel and Lithuanian on Facebook, and also included informational videos about Israel for the international audience.