Project budget
- Who takes part
- Older residents of the City housing complex in Ashdod.
- What the funds pay for
- Four maths sessions and four chess sessions a month in the residents’ common room.
- Funding requested
- ₪3,600 for eight sessions in one month, or ₪10,800 for 24 sessions over three months.
- What we can report
- We can report the sessions held, attendance, repeat visits and spending by budget item.
Maths with Sofia Ilizarov
The educators at Tsameret Hashivyon developed the programme under the guidance of Sofia Ilizarov. Sofia holds a master’s degree in education, has taught maths for over 30 years and created the Sofi DL number-card game. She leads the maths sessions, adapting the difficulty to the people at the table.
For example, three cards showing 3, 4 and 7 allow two players to make different calculations. One might suggest adding 3 and 4 to make 7. A neighbour might start with 7 and subtract 4 to make 3. Each explains how they got there.
Boris Maryasin, lead instructor
Boris Maryasin leads the chess sessions for Tsameret-Duna Chess Club. FIDE awarded him the title of International Master in 1999. Residents can explore a position together before they play. Which piece could move? How might their opponent reply? What would change if they chose another move?
Three meetings in summer 2026
On 21 June, residents and club members met over the board. On 2 August the club returned with a demonstration board to prepare for the tournament. On 16 August players recorded their tournament games and received medals and cups. Duna Community Centre helped purchase the awards.
Proposed budget for City
The proposed budget is ₪3,600 per month for one residence, or ₪10,800 for three months. Each month includes four chess sessions and four mathematical thinking sessions: 24 sessions over the full programme.
A partner can fund one month or the full cycle. This is a working estimate. Before the programme starts, we will agree the timetable and final price with the partner and the residence. If residents would like to finish with a tournament, we will budget for it separately.
The original Rovair grant application
In our application to Ashdod’s Rovair programme, we requested ₪25,000 for five residences together. It covered 120 sessions over three months at subsidised teaching rates, with maths cards, team clothing, and awards and refreshments for two joint events. The estimate above is the proposed commercial price for a single residence.
How to follow the next cycle
For the partner’s report, we propose recording how many maths and chess sessions took place, how many residents joined each activity and how many came back. The report can include spending by budget item and, if residents choose to hold a tournament, its results.
Records and results
Questions about the report or project budget
Nikita Bezman, chair of the association
nbezman@tsamerethashivyon.com