Israeli Sets World Record by Playing 523 People Simultaneously

By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Alik Gershon stares down an opponent during his record-breaking simul.

Alik Gershon, a 30-year-old Israeli grandmaster, set a world record on Thursday by playing 523 people simultaneously in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.

The simultaneous display, or simul, took 19 hours. Gershon beat 454 of his opponents, drew with 58 and lost to 11, scoring 92 percent. For the record to be official, Gershon had to score at least 80 percent.
The Jewish Journal reported that Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident, was among Gershon’s opponents.

Gershon broke the record held by Morteza Mahjoob, an Iranian grandmaster, who played against 500 people last year. The record has been raised many times in the last few years.
In an interview afterward with the Associated Press, Gershon said that he was pleased that he had beat Mahjoob’s record, given the tensions between Iran and Israel. But Gershon added, “Hopefully this is the only war we are going to have with this enemy, ever.”