Winter Olympics

[Clive Blackburn]

You could play on ice or snow though... Instead of a two-minute penalty for minor infractions, the player could be told to skate to the far end of the rink and back whilst his clock runs.

We already have Chess Boxing, so to keep the crowd entertained, why not Chess Speed Skating?

10 laps of the rink, followed by a quick game of chess

[Clive Blackburn]

10 laps of the rink, followed by a quick game of chess

I bet that Magnus Carlsen would win it for Norway!

[Kevin Thurlow]

I have seen Magnus snowboarding and he looked rather skilled at it.

[Chris Rice]

Well the Russians don't seem to give up easily and are now concentrating their efforts in getting chess included at the winter paralympics according to an article in Chess-News:

Chess Isn’t Welcome at Olympic Games. Andrey Filatov: “We Need to Concentrate on Paralympics”

Thursday, 11.12.2014 02:44

Chess can’t become part of the Winter Olympiad. This decision was made by the International Olympic Committee at the session held in Monte-Carlo.

“We did a lot to promote such an idea, - said the Head of the Russian Olympic Committee and former President of the Russian chess federation Alexander Zhukov. - There was a proposal to include indoor sports as a part of the Winter Olympic games and it was under serious evaluation. In that case chess might have been included, but in the end the delegates decided to promote an old principle saying that winter games only comprise snow and ice sports”.

However the actual president of the Russian chess federation Andrey Filatov thinks that FIDE should do its best to include chess in winter Paralympics programme. “Currently we have continents that are not included in the Paralympic movement, while chess shall give them this chance. It would be right to do it. This might promote chess and would allow many summer countries to participate in Winter games. Just imagine a handicapped person living in Africa. Where is he supposed to find snow and who is going to send him to participate in winter Paralympic games? While he can become a part of such Games through chess” – TASS news agency cites Filatov.

[Chris Rice]

Are we on the verge of getting rapid chess into the Olympic games after all? The Russian Chess News site carries the following article:

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: "We are on the verge of getting rapid chess into the Olympic Games"

Sunday, 10.05.2015 12:01

On 19 June this year a meeting is planned between FIDE leaders and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Kirsan Ilyumzhinov told news agency TASS that FIDE is counting on rapid chess being included in the programme for the Winter Olympics.

"I think we will propose the inclusion of rapid chess, with players having 25 minutes", the agency quoted him as saying. "We still have to speak about this with Thomas Bach. But I already have very good support. We have reached critical mass, against which nothing can be done. I am convinced we are on the verge of getting rapid chess into the Winter Olympic programme. The ancient Greeks said that sport was the combination of strength and intelligence. The Olympics has strength, and FIDE will bring the intelligence.

The President expressed his confidence that chess will enrich the Winter Olympics. "In his time, [former IOC President] Jacques Rogge advised me to collect letters from national Olympic committees. I want to get these from all 200 countries. We already have over 100. I have spoken with the leaders of the Association of Winter Sports and they are also supporting us!".

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/18959

[Roger de Coverly]

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: "We are on the verge of getting rapid chess into the Olympic Games"

Earlier in the thread, it is stated by the IOC that the Winter Olympics only covers sports which require the presence of snow or ice. Hence the perhaps the not totally serious suggestion of melting pieces recently.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/ches ... mpics.html

[Chris Rice]

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: "We are on the verge of getting rapid chess into the Olympic Games"

Earlier in the thread, it is stated by the IOC that the Winter Olympics only covers sports which require the presence of snow or ice. Hence the perhaps the not totally serious suggestion of melting pieces recently.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/ches ... mpics.html

The further link to the two I posted earlier moves the story on to by a reference to a meeting on June 19th and the addition of rapid chess. I think Kirsan is totally serious about this and don't forget he has a strong relationship with Putin. He says he has letters from over 100 national Olympic Committees so perhaps we should take him seriously. Of course if some of those letters are signed by the President of Alpha Centauri or the Vulcan Ambassador then I may have to take that back.

[David Sedgwick]

[Kirsan] says he has letters from over 100 national Olympic Committees so perhaps we should take him seriously. Of course if some of those letters are signed by the President of Alpha Centauri or the Vulcan Ambassador then I may have to take that back.

I think that Ilyumzhinov almost certainly does have over 100 genuine letters. I attended a meeting in Gambia in March last year when the President of the Gambia National Olympic Committee was asked to sign such a letter. That meeting didn't go particularly well, but I imagine that there was greater success elsewhere.