Tragic news from the Olympiad

[Andy Howie]

Norwegian news is reporting that a player from the Seychelles collapsed and died today during the games. There is speculation about who it is but until confirmed I will not mention names.

Sad news and a sad ending to a brilliant Olympiad

[Andy Howie]

Just received further news that a second player has died here today. Very little information at the moment. I have a feeling I know who it is and I hope I am wrong

[Keith Rose]

Sad indeed. The following is from an English language website in Norway - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newsinenglish.no/">http://www.newsinenglish.no/</a><!-- m -->

A member of the chess team from the Seychelles collapsed and died on the last day of the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø on Thursday. A moment of silence was held during the closing ceremonies that otherwise marked the first victory by a country outside Europe and the US.
The player from the Seychelles suddenly seemed to suffer a seizure and fell to the floor of the large hall where 650 chess matches have gone on simultaneously for the past 12 days. Two ambulances arrived quickly but they were unable to revive the Seychelles player.
“We have had the Red Cross inside the playing hall, and they immediately began resuscitation efforts,” Morgan Lillegård of the Chess Olympiad’s organizing committee told reporters “The ambulance team continued the emergency efforts.”
Most of the matches were over when the player collapsed while others interrupted their play. State broadcaster NRK reported that many people in the hall began to cry and several of the man’s teammates witnessed his collapse. The organizers said they were setting up a crisis team that would be available for anyone feeling a need for support.

There is also a report at http://www.thelocal.no/20140815/chess-pl...ring-match

A chess player, who was brought to hospital after collapsing during the last round of the Chess Olympics in Tromsø, is dead, it was confirmed on Thursday.

The elderly man suffered a fit and collapsed during a round of chess on Thursday afternoon and received first aid on site. He was taken to the University hospital of Tromsø where he died.

The incident happened at the Mack Hall in the city centre, where the Chess Olympics is currently taking place.

Several people reported there was chaos in the playing arena when the man collapsed. Two ambulances and an emergency car arrived to deal with the emergency situation.

The chess player was confirmed as male, aged between 60-70 years old and came from the Seychelles, reported local newspaper iTromsø.

Morgan Lillegård, head of communication for the Chess Olympics, said: “[The situation] concerns a person with serious heart problems. The Red Cross were in the venue and started first aid until the ambulances arrived at the scene.”

When asked by TV2 why there was such panic among others during the man's treatment, Lillegård explained: “What happened was people in the hall thought the defibrillator was a weapon. Panic spread because people 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.”

Entry to the Mack Hall was temporarily closed and games postponed while medics and staff dealt with the incident.

The chess referee resumed play some hours after the incident.

No mention so far of a second death

[Andy Howie]

Keith, it has only recently broke here (within the last hour) so will take time to filter out. No details as yet but I am aware of someone being taken really ill and have a bad feeling about this (I should add it is not any of the UK teams I am aware of)

[Keith Rose]

Andy - this does sound ominous. Let's hope that it doesn't turn out as you fear, whoever it is.

[Andy Howie]

Just had an update, it wasn't who I thought it was, I have just been told it is someone from the ICCD team who has unfortunately died Very black day for our sport