Iranian chess players participated for the first time in a virtual tournament on Monday that was part of an Israeli solidary initiative.

From beginners to grandmasters, a total of 438 chess players from more than 40 countries, including Ecuador, Chile, Indonesia, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and Yemen, took part in the Chess4Solidarity project sponsored by the Abu Gosh council, the Chess4All organization, the French city of Sarcelles and the Beit Esther association.

The event promoted the alliance of sister cities Sarcelles and Abu Gosh.

The Chess4Solidarity initiative aims to strengthen ties between people, countries and nations.

Azerbaijani chess Grandmaster Vugar Rasulov won first place in the tournament, followed by international Grandmaster David Gorodetsky in second and Aristabek Orzeev from Kazakhstan in third place. A total of 1,000 euros ($1,218) in prize money was awarded in Monday’s tournament, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Thousands have chess players from throughout the world have taken part in Chess4Solidarity’s past events, which have included tournaments with Bhutan, Morocco, Sudan and New Zealand.

Another tournament will take place between Israeli and American players on Feb. 28 with a $2,000 prize, the largest winning amount that has been offered so far by the initiative.