Tromso Olympiad 2014

[Matthew Turner]

Well we have FIDE's response,

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Rather than try to alleviate the Norwegian financial difficulties it seems to make it worse by trying to prevent them levying the E100 administration fee.
It looks like all posturing to me and I fully expect the Olympiad to go ahead as planned but everyone is playing it pretty hard at present.

[George Neave]

Andy Burnett's last ditch master plan to stop Andy Muir getting to Norway kicks into action... :ymdevil:

[andyburnett]

Andy Burnett's last ditch master plan to stop Andy Muir getting to Norway kicks into action... :ymdevil:

[amuir]

I tried sorting all noticeboard topics by replies and this topic comes 1st.
It has more replies than the 2nd and 3rd topics combined and the event hasn't started yet!

The Norwegian selectors are very confident the tournament will take place.

The Norwegian first team in the Open Section will look as follows:
GM Magnus Carlsen (Stavanger Chess Club)
GM Simen Agdestein (Oslo Chess Club)
GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (Oslo Chess Club)
GM Kjetil Lie (Asker Chess Club)
GM Leif Erlend Johannesen (Oslo Chess Club)

Thomas Robertsen, Chair of the Elite Committee of the Norwegian Chess Federation, is very bullish and
commented:

This is the best Norwegian national team in history. The first team in the open section consists exclusively of grand masters. We have a world champion, and some very good players who if they are in form can be a match for anyone. Magnus leads the way, but has a wonderful collection of strong players behind him; a great blend of creativity, experience, solidarity and tremendous will. This bodes well!

The Norwegian Chess Federation has strong hopes of seeing the best ever performance by the Norwegian team at the Chess Olympiad, and is really looking forward to seeing this team playing at home in Tromsø in August. With live broadcasts on television and the internet, Norwegians can begin looking forward to a very exciting competition at the highest level.

[amuir]

News from Australasia:

A draconian player agreement has been drawn up by the New Zealand federation. At least we don't do all this in Scotland. This would be a nightmare for players.

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Some excerpts:

3. YOUR OBLIGATIONS
3.1 During your participation in the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, you agree to:
a) abide by the FIDE Laws of Chess and the regulations relating to the Tromsø Chess Olympiad.
b) train and prepare yourself to the best possible state to enable you to compete in the Chess Olympiad to your highest possible standard;
3.4 You will annotate at least one of your Olympiad games within a month of the conclusion
of the Olympiad and submit it to NZCF for publication as NZCF sees appropriate.
3.5 You will be responsible for the organisation and payment of your travel to and from
Tromsø in order to be at the Olympiad for the full duration of the event. You will also be
responsible for your personal travel insurance.
5. MEDIA AND INTERNET GUIDELINES
5.1 For the Term of this Agreement, you:
a) Are entitled to make public comment relating to your personal involvement with the Olympiad providing those comments or communications comply with the remainder of this clause;
b) Are not to make or endorse any public statements that may have a negative effect on any member of the actual or potential Teams either at or in the build-up to the Olympiad;
c) Acknowledge and accept that the spokesperson on all matters concerning the Teams is the Team Manager;
d) Are not to make public statements or comment before or at the Olympiad relating to team selections.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the Chess Olympiad in August may be on the move from Norwegian city Tromso

[HelenMilligan]

I helped draw it up, in response to really awful behaviour by some players - basically, your selection committee doesn't really have the right to reject people who are stronger at chess than others. You need to have some procedure to prevent them being considered for selection in the first place (for teams, at least). We had the situation where a player might score more than his/her colleagues, but would cause all of them to play worse than they might otherwise have done - sum total, a worse team performance than if you replaced him/her by the next in line in strength.
I don't think there is anything in it that any Scottish players (that I have been to Olympiads with) would worry about. You can drink and party as much as you like so long as you are fit to play the next day! But if you're out all night in someone else's bed, you don't leave your room-mate panicking as to where you are (and worrying you'll be sent home if he/she goes to the team manager about it!). You don't install a relative in your room if it happens to have a spare bed - at least, not without the team manager's permission. You don't say really horrible scathing things to the person sat beside you, just before the start of a match. You keep the team manager informed if there might be a visa issue rather than pulling out 10 days before the start. Etc!

I might add, it's based very closely on the agreement that our NZ Olympic athletes have to sign...

[Kevin Mayo]

I tried sorting all noticeboard topics by replies and this topic comes 1st.
It has more replies than the 2nd and 3rd topics combined and the event hasn't started yet!

If you look at the content of the replies it is hardly anything to be pleased about. Quite the opposite.

A draconian player agreement has been drawn up by the New Zealand federation. At least we don't do all this in Scotland. This would be a nightmare for players.

What would be a nightmare? It is all perfectly logical and reasonable as far as I can see.

[Duncan Grassie]

In my opinion the New Zealand document is a good idea- as well as laying out what is deemed acceptable behaviour, it also makes it clear what level of support the players can expect from the federation (accommodation/team management) and what they will have to manage yourself (travel documents/insurance). I have signed similar forms myself when running abroad basically saying that if I am drugs tested I don't know any reason why I would fail and it is basically a short reminder that you are representing your country abroad and it is a privilege to do so.

What part of this document would anyone find draconian?
If it is about alcohol, then as long as players don't render themselves unfit to play then they are fine.
If its about not arguing with officials then it gives recourse to the appeals procedure
The only one I can see people having concerns with is submitting one game to the NZCF with annotation within a month if you are particularly protective about openings/analysis (similar to Alan Norris a few years back) but then it sounds like it is more for promoting the game rather than revealing opening secrets.

[Andrew McHarg]

The only one I can see people having concerns with is submitting one game to the NZCF with annotation within a month if you are particularly protective about openings/analysis (similar to Alan Norris a few years back) but then it sounds like it is more for promoting the game rather than revealing opening secrets.

I agree Duncan. And surely if Chess Scotland is funding players to go to the Olympiad then this isn't too much to ask in return? Maybe we could be learning something from our friends down under instead of labelling them as draconian Andy Muir?

[D-Oswald]

I tried sorting all noticeboard topics by replies and this topic comes 1st.
It has more replies than the 2nd and 3rd topics combined and the event hasn't started yet!

If you look at the content of the replies it is hardly anything to be pleased about. Quite the opposite.

Correct. It is embarrassing that one of our directors can act in such a way... and it is actually supported by the other directors. Why hasn't common sense prevailed here?

But its clear nothing will happen. Anyway, said my bit, so off to enjoy my night and listen to my favourite band...

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