Thursday 8 September 2016

2016 Olympiad - Rest Day

Unlike previous Olympiads, there is only a single rest day. This means the Bermuda Party is held a lot earlier than usual, and as a result players either have to decide whether the day is one of site seeing and exploration, or simply one of recovery.
However for some of us the choice was neither, as for the first time team captains needed to become qualified FIDE Trainers. This required the completion of the FIDE trainers course, which was mainly held on the rest day. The course consisted of 14 hours of instruction, followed by a fairly straightforward 45 minute exam, which some people completed in around 20.
Unfortunately spending a day inside a small room working rather than having an enjoyable day out is pretty typical for this Olympiad. Just when it looks like restrictions on various things is going to be loosened a new set of directives comes down. The no camera rule continues to rankle, and even people with media accreditation are being hassled by security, sometime quite physically. Pencils are still being confiscated (as are notebooks etc), although the restrictions are ultimately pointless as players and captains have found ways to simply get around them (by using different entrances, or only handing some items over). I've also spotted a few arbiters using mobile phones in the hall, and this seems to be allowed.
This means that my attempts at producing pictures, videos and other social media content for this Olympiad have fallen flat, as it has for a number of teams. Sadly this mainly effects the smaller teams, as while coverage of their exploits may be appreciated at home, it is less newsworthy here.
As for the actual standings, the large field still sees 3 teams with a perfect score. Netherlands, Ukraine and India have all scored 5 wins, with the Ukraine win over Russia particularly tasty. Tucked in behind are USA, Czech Republic and Georgia, ahead of a large number of teams on 8. The Women's Olympiad has Russia and Ukraine in the lead, and they meet today. Roumania and China play on the second board, with the home team of Azerbaijan the third team that is tied for third.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Did it also require payment of the FIDE Trainers fee?