44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

[LawrenceCooper]

Visa woes still not entirely solved. My passport was lost somewhere in the system, but has been located and I shall pick it up on Monday - to travel on Tuesday, so a bit tight.

One of the Bermuda team is a Canadian citizen and was been given such an appalling runaround that he was on the verge of giving up. Then he tried a different application on an old, but still valid, Russian passport. That went straight through through after a simple online process.

The belief that Russians are reviled around the world may be exaggerated.

I also heard that the Canadian team had been having problems, hopefully not insurmountable ones.

[David Sedgwick]

Visa woes still not entirely solved. My passport was lost somewhere in the system, but has been located and I shall pick it up on Monday - to travel on Tuesday, so a bit tight.

One of the Bermuda team is a Canadian citizen and was been given such an appalling runaround that he was on the verge of giving up. Then he tried a different application on an old, but still valid, Russian passport. That went straight through through after a simple online process.

The belief that Russians are reviled around the world may be exaggerated.

Citizens of most countries can apply for visas online. There is a list of these countries at https://chessolympiad.fide.com/visa-information/.

Canada and the UK are notable exceptions, so you would expect that citizens of those countries would have more problems than most.

However, they are not the only ones by any means. Gambia is on the e-visa list, but the Gambian Head of Delegation had to go to Dakar, Senegal, to collect their visas a day or two before they departure.

This particular story seems to have had a happy ending. The team left Gambia as scheduled on Sunday 24th July and I have confirmation that they have arrived safely in Mamallapuram.

[Alex McFarlane]

Visa system is a total farce.

Lara Barnes and I applied for a visa of the type advised. We then had to re-apply because it was the wrong type!

My visa photo was rejected because it was matt and may be rejected by the scanner. They wanted a glossy picture instead! This seems idiotic to me as glossy images were always harder to scan/photocopy.

I agreed with the visa office that I would pick up my visa on Friday rather than risk it being delayed (travelling now). On Thursday I got two emails. One telling me to pick it up from the Consulate in Edinburgh and the other telling me it had been sent to me. On Friday I got another email telling me that it had been sent that day (presumably for a second time). On Friday afternoon I went to the visa office (not the consulate) and picked up my passport and visa as arranged. No-one could explain the additional two emails (assuming one was the equivalent of a standard letter).

[NickFaulks]

After a while trying to find out where my passport was, I discovered on Friday that it was at the Hounslow Visa Centre and they were puzzled that I had not troubled to pick it up.

I did so this morning ( they were very helpful and allowed me to jump the queue ) and, like Alex, have since received an email assuring me that it is in the post. I fly out tomorrow morning.

[NickFaulks]

This particular story seems to have had a happy ending. The team left Gambia as scheduled on Sunday 24th July and I have confirmation that they have arrived safely in Mamallapuram.

Actually Mamallapuram or somewhere a two hour bus ride away?

[David Sedgwick]

Actually Mamallapuram or somewhere a two hour bus ride away?

Yes, probably the latter.

[MJMcCready]

Chennai is Anand's home town isn't it but how comes he never plays in the olympiads?

From what I understand there are other big players not taking part. Ali Reza and MVL too I believe.

[Roger de Coverly]

Chennai is Anand's home town isn't it but how comes he never plays in the olympiads?

This time round, he will be involved with the FIDE elections. Previously I think he has said that he wanted to give opportunitities to the younger Indian players.

[Mick Norris]

MVL

In general it was a tough decision, but both Alireza and I thought we need a rest. And I was kind of aware of the climatic situation in summer, where I feel I could get sick and be almost certain I wouldn’t be performing to the best of my abilities, so it’s sad, but I will be missing my first Olympiad since 06, if we don’t count the online Olympiad.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Chennai is Anand's home town isn't it but how comes he never plays in the olympiads?

From what I understand there are other big players not taking part. Ali Reza and MVL too I believe.

For the record he played in every event from 1984 to 1992, but since then only in 2004 and 2006.

In his last participation he scored "just" 50% and that may have put him off doing so again.

[Nick Burrows]

For the record he played in every event from 1984 to 1992, but since then only in 2004 and 2006.

And 2018

[MJMcCready]

Carlsen is playing though isn't he?

[Matt Mackenzie]

For the record he played in every event from 1984 to 1992, but since then only in 2004 and 2006.

And 2018

Ah right, Olimpbase doesn't have that one up yet (surprisingly) though I did actually suspect he had appeared fairly recently.

[Chris Rice]

Playing area looks superb



Curtain raiser event with 1414 (!) players already held won by Prasanna V with 9/9

[MJMcCready]

Yes it looks very nice. Will be good to see how England get on.