At the age of 14 I became the youth chess champion of my republic and was supposed to be sent to Leningrad for the national tournament. I was extremely proud and excited; I was training day and night. However, two weeks before the departure a government official told me that “a Feldman could not represent Moldavia.” That is when I realized that even in chess, being a Jew was a major flaw. They sent somebody else to Leningrad instead of me.