Tromso Olympiad 2014

[Patrick McGovern]

it is ironic that the "draconian" contract for New Zealand players, if applied to Scotland, may have afforded Mr Muir the level of protection from criticism that he currently does not have.

[HelenMilligan]

The situation would not arise though. Players are selected by the selection committee; captains are appointed by the NZCF Council, which has a dozen or so members, appointed by the various areas of NZ. If someone on the Council applies (as was the case this year), then he/she/they are not allowed to be part of the decision. Input from players, and reports from previous team events where the person has been captain, are taken into consideration. There's no way that anyone could appoint himself!

I note that your players in general have abided by the NZ contract and it is just everyone else who is arguing over the matter! I guess you could use the contract to eliminate someone from future consideration for the post, if he/she demonstrably damaged team morale and performance. You are most welcome to copy it!

[amuir]

Can someone send me a photo of Andrew Greet please (jpg) ? It's needed for his Olympiad accreditation. His pictures are on facebook but I tried emailing one to myself but it didn't work.

[amuir]

its ok, Claire managed to trim his headline photo so I have all the team photos now.

[George Murphy]

False Alarm? Political Chicanery? Red Herring? Typo?

I see ChessVibes has just reported that the Olympiad has been saved thanks to a new variation produced in the Norwegian Parliament whereby a consensus has emerged to secure 12 millions of the 15 million kroners said to be required to top up the necessary (chess) budget.

That in itself may not be a surprise, but this is:

The additional money for the Olympiad will be part of the revised national budget which will be presented on Friday, April 13th, 2014.

If I remember correctly, that revised budget would pre-date the 'crisis' reported by Chess.com in mid-April. But, to be sure, 13th April 2014 on my calendar fell on a Sunday, not a Friday.

Still, as someone wiser than me once said:

All's well that ends well.

[HelenMilligan]

I just had breakfast (here in Macau at a Kasparov Team Asia meeting, alongside a major youth event) with Morten Sands (namedropping!) who is heavily involved with the Tromso organisation.

He assured me there are no problems at all - though some hotels will be a fair distance away (the furthest is one hour 10 minutes from the venue). Flights - the airlines are aware of the event and there will be either more flights or bigger planes, to cope with demand. The organisers' main issue at the moment is an unexpectedly large demand for upgrades to single rooms...

Apparently Norway has cash-sniffing dogs at the airport so neither side will be able to bring in large amounts of ready cash to use as bribes in the election!!

[Phil Thomas]

That's a shame. It would have been more interesting to use the cash sniffer dogs, unannounced, at the airports as delegates were on the way home

[George Murphy]

Actually, for nostalgic reasons, I prefer Helen’s name-dropping. It’s interesting that the Kasparov team has reached as far as Macau. (Presumably, the major event taking place there is the 15th ASEAN + Age Group Championships 2014.)

Macau is famous for its Casinos - and always has been for as long as I can remember. Hong Kong residents decamped in their droves to Macau for ‘Rest and Recreation’, leading to a thriving ferry service between the two.

It’s well known that Hong Kong built a second airport to replace it’s ‘ribbon on a strip’ at Kai Tak. But, before I left Hong Kong in 1995, there had been talk of an international airport being built in the hinterland of Macau, and even - if memory serves - talk of a new road system linking Hong Kong and Macau, incorporating some island hopping and bridge building. I wonder if any of this ever materialised?

No, if the Kasparov team has tried its luck and been successful at the gaming tables, cash-sniffing dogs might have a role to play - though not of course to combat bribery. I can’t think chess players would stoop to that.

George Murphy

[amuir]

I played in the Commonwealth Championships in Hong Kong in 1984. It was a great place. I went on the ferry and bought a white suit cheaply. Has it changed much since 1997 ?

[HelenMilligan]

Morten Sands did also confirm the sky-high cost of alcohol in Tromso. So it's unlikely that the bribed delegates will have any cash left by the time they leave!

As for Macau - it was a convenient location for Kasparov's Team Asia (which includes me as proposed Asian General Secretary) to meet up for the first time, and to meet Kasparov and various of his presidential team, and also representatives from the African branch of the Kasparov Chess Foundation. All in the midst of a hectic junior event, with delegates from various Asian countries! I've put a lot of photos on the NZCF Facebook page (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.facebook.com/NZChessFederation;">https://www.facebook.com/NZChessFederation;</a><!-- m --> you don't need a Facebook login to see them). I haven't much outside the big hotel complex yet - hoping to see old Macau today, before I go home tomorrow. What I have seen is utterly spectacular.

On a political note - seems Kasparov is ahead in both Africa and Asia! And my Team Asia has a very good chance of winning!