Olympiad

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Matthew Turner
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Matthew Turner » Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:59 pm

The Telegraph are reporting on the two deaths
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... eaths.html

This is a new aspect of the story (to me at least)
"The participant's collapse during a chess game sparked panic among players and spectators when some in the hall mistook a medic's defibrillator for a weapon and feared the event had fallen victim to a terrorist attack. Play was delayed for several hours following the incident"

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JustinHorton
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Re: Olympiad

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:11 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:Play was delayed for several hours following the incident"
No it wasn't.
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:11 pm

Matthew Turner wrote: Play was delayed for several hours following the incident"
Watching live, I thought it was just minutes. The commentators didn't have to resort to whatever their "Fire Alarm stopped play" fall back was, unlike Andrew Martin at the British. I don't know what they did about any unfinished games in rest of the Seychelles match.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Olympiad

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Aug 15, 2014 5:14 pm

I thin k the top two boards may have been declared drawn.

I'm sure you're right and it was just minutes. I was following too.
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Ian Kingston
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Ian Kingston » Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:50 pm

The Independent repeats the claim that play was delayed for a number of hours: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 71869.html

In contrast, The Guardian says that play was 'briefly suspended': http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/a ... iad-norway

Andy Howie
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Andy Howie » Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:20 pm

Spoken to Alex and Lara. They confirm the hours story is a load of bull

Chris Rice
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Chris Rice » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:29 pm

I guess its not particularly shocking to see the media embellish a story to increase interest in an article. Inventing an angle to the story to work in a potential terrorist plot with the whole Olympiad in lockdown was particularly creative though. If you want the truth then chess.com's article is where you go to get it without the hype.

"The tournament ended on a very sad note. A player from the Seychelles collapsed during the round. The player received first aid, was brought to the University Hospital and died. The closing ceremony started with one minute of silence. Update: it's almost unbelievable but later in the evening another player, from Uzbekistan, was found dead in a hotel room. Both appeared to have died of natural causes."


Very sad way to end the tournament though. I was impressed with the way the Chinese guys were hugging and crying afterwards and the Indians were so pumped to get that bronze. It meant so much to them it was like the football world cup. The Russian women were also partying hard yesterday after their win made more significant by what went on beforehand. Let's hope Batumi is as half as exciting as Tromso.

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Re: Olympiad

Post by NickFaulks » Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:13 am

JustinHorton wrote: I'm sure you're right and it was just minutes. I was following too.
It is true that the official break was for only a few minutes. However, some players thought it was a bomb and decided to put considerable distance between themselves and the playing hall, so it was a while before they got back.
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Chris Rice
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Chris Rice » Sat Aug 16, 2014 6:51 am

NickFaulks wrote:
JustinHorton wrote: I'm sure you're right and it was just minutes. I was following too.
It is true that the official break was for only a few minutes. However, some players thought it was a bomb and decided to put considerable distance between themselves and the playing hall, so it was a while before they got back.
I guess when something like this happens so many misunderstandings can occur. ChessBase quotes a report from Morgan Lillegård, Head of communication for the Chess Olympics, “People in the hall thought the defibrillator was a weapon. Panic spread because they thought there was an armed person. I can definitely confirm there was no weapons. This is a misunderstanding. It is in itself dramatic enough that someone had a heart attack.”

http://en.chessbase.com/post/deaths-at- ... s-olympiad

While I'm here I better correct a mistake I made earlier. I'm sure most people here don't really care but the next Olympiad 2016 is in Baku, Azerbaijan, not Batumi, Georgia which just got awarded the 2018 edition. My bad.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:08 pm

Chris Rice wrote:While I'm here I better correct a mistake I made earlier. I'm sure most people here don't really care but the next Olympiad 2016 is in Baku, Azerbaijan, not Batumi, Georgia which just got awarded the 2018 edition. My bad.
Hmmm, wonder if Gazza will pay a visit to his home city?
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JustinHorton
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Re: Olympiad

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:11 pm

Ian Kingston wrote:The Independent repeats the claim that play was delayed for a number of hours: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 71869.html
This now appears to have been corrected, which is more than can be said for the Telegraph story.
"Do you play chess?"
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Chris Rice
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Chris Rice » Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:07 am

Well it had seemed that the controversy over Lagno’s inclusion in the Russian women’s team which won Gold had all been resolved:

The Tromso organisers formally apologized to the Russian Chess Federation in a letter expressing regret that this misunderstanding could have affected the preparation of the Russian chess players. The authors of the letter congratulated the Russian national team on its victory and expressed hope for further fruitful cooperation.

The Russians accepted the apologies of the Olympiad organizers and regarded the conflict that arose just before the start of the tournament as fully resolved.

Unfortunately though Natalija Zhukova of Ukraine, who won the individual gold medal (board four) didn’t quite see it that way and didn't mince words when asked about the situation.
“Getting rid of the parasites is always painless. Well, love cannot be forced. If she doesn't want to play for Ukraine, why do we need such people? We didn't communicate at the Olympiad, she avoided it. Cleansing is always for the better.”

Looking forward to seeing what happens next time they are paired together.

Also there is a clear implication from Zhukova that the Chinese were up to no good "We almost ran out energy, while China is a very strong team, they have some kind of medications which helps them to feel refreshed as on the first day."

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/16452

Keith Arkell
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Keith Arkell » Tue Aug 19, 2014 5:46 pm

JustinHorton wrote:I notice there's an Arkell Ending still in progress in Panama v Yemen.
Finally, after a 2 and a half year absence, I had R+B v R at the weekend! I've sort of lost count, but I think it is number 19 or 20 and I managed to keep up my 100% record by converting against Dominic Mackle at the Plymouh qualifier for the Mind Sports World Championship.

I managed to score 15.5/16 in total over the weekend:

https://www.mindsportsevents.com/media/ ... -Final.pdf

LawrenceCooper
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Re: Olympiad

Post by LawrenceCooper » Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:01 pm

Keith Arkell wrote:
JustinHorton wrote:I notice there's an Arkell Ending still in progress in Panama v Yemen.
Finally, after a 2 and a half year absence, I had R+B v R at the weekend! I've sort of lost count, but I think it is number 19 or 20 and I managed to keep up my 100% record by converting against Dominic Mackle at the Plymouh qualifier for the Mind Sports World Championship.

I managed to score 15.5/16 in total over the weekend:

https://www.mindsportsevents.com/media/ ... -Final.pdf
It's reassuring to know that it's not just me that you beat in that ending :oops:

I heard a rumour that you had a draw in the ending once although legend has it that you had the rook on that occasion :lol:

Chris Rice
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Re: Olympiad

Post by Chris Rice » Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:20 am

JustinHorton wrote:I thin k the top two boards may have been declared drawn.

I'm sure you're right and it was just minutes. I was following too.
Rwanda: Controversy Hits Chess Team Over 'fair Play' Gesture At Olympiad
By Ivan R. Mugisha

Team Rwanda returned from the Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway on Saturday embroiled in a bitter controversy.

The controversy started on the final day of the tournament on Thursday last week, when in round 11, a Seychelles player against Rwanda's Alain Patience Niyibizi on board 2, suddenly collapsed and was later pronounced dead.

Although Rwanda was leading on the score against Seychelles before the incident, team captain Maxence Murara chose to sacrifice two games as loses in a gesture of goodwill to Seychelles, a decision which did not go down well with his teammates.

Godfrey Kabera, Rwanda's only internationally rated chess player, termed the decision as "personal" and "shameful" and that it was not done in consensus with other team members.

"The gesture was done without consulting the other players... we lost on board 2 to a deceased player; this is the first time it's happened in chess history.

"The captain was also nowhere to be seen for close to an hour when all this was happening. He only came in later to change the decision which was initially given as 3-1 to Rwanda," Kabera said.

He added: "The matter should be referred to the General Assembly and administrative measures taken against the people who fail to put national interests above anything else."

Kabera accused the Team captain for interfering with the final results of the game, which had been signed and accepted by arbiters as a 3-1 victory, only to be changed to a 2-2 draw later.

"When the team learned of this we were very angry, frustrated and dissatisfied with a decision that was depriving one of our players the title of Candidate Master on board 4," he said.

"The captain went back and changed the score to give board 4 a win and remove board 1 a point. We don't know how he decided this or why? If it was done in the spirit of fair play, the least one can expect is for players to be consulted about the matter so as to collectively cede the points in the spirit of fair play."

The decision cost Rwanda 15 points.

However, the president of Rwanda Chess Federation, Kevin Ganza stood by the captain, saying that in the wake of such a sad incident as death, the least Rwanda could do was to conduct a "fair-play gesture."

"It was so sad; fair-play is the least thing we could do in the face of such a tragedy. I really support the gesture of our captain; it is the right expression of condolences to the Seychelles Chess Team," Ganza said.

Murara also defended his actions, saying: "It was wrong to take advantage of the death of a player".

He added that he took the decision as captain because the team had failed to reach consensus.

"As captain and leader I took responsibility especially because there was no consensus. I am ready to explain it during the General Assembly," he said.

Source: http://allafrica.com

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