There have been a lot of complaints about the Turin Olympiad such as horrible accomodations, poor food quality, lack of food, one hour line for food, disastrous website, etc.

Below is excerpts from from Men’s Team Captain John Donaldson, IA Carol Jarecki and US Champion Alex Onischuk:

John Donaldson: “Last night Gata arrived from Bulgaria. He took one look at the accommodations and decided he could not give his best efforts if he stayed in the Village. Accordingly he booked a room at the hotel across the street at his own expense for 60 Euros a night…”

“Last night there was an emergency meeting of the team captains organized by Bill Hooks, wife Mimi. Presently players have been waiting in lines for 30-40 minutes for food. The playing hall had only 7 toilets for 600 players the first two rounds.”

Carol Jarecki: “On the other hand, it has produced long lines in the cafeteria where everyone eats. Although meal times are exceptionally long, at least 3 hours for each meal, it seems that most people like to come at almost the same time.”

“The 3 Fitness Centers, for instance, are empty. I guess the authorities thought that chess players don’t need to exercise and all the equipment has disappeared. There are self-service laundromats but I don’t think they are functional yet. “

“Food–one of the primary considerations, is not quite up to the standards of Italy that onewould expect. The servers in the cafeteria are also required to ration out the portions. Iarrived on Friday morning and about the first person I met was GM Pentala Harikrishna, a friend from the Bermuda invitationals, who immediately complained about the inadequate amount of food he received. He had gotten his lunch, handed over his meal coupon, and was still hungry. I suspect this will change when enough people complain about it.”

“Unfortunately, we just discovered the time control for the games has not been changed from the previous Olympiad in Calvia. The council of GMs had requested a longer one but it remains at Game in 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move. Too fast also in my opinion.”

Alex Onischuk: “But it was a surprise for us to learn that there is no TV, refrigerators, phones, andcleaning services at the hotel! The Russian team, knowing that there might be some problems with the accommodations, staying at the different hotel. It is too bad that the FIDE delegates will not stay at the same place as all the teams and will not be able to feel the Olympiad flavor. Unfortunately, so far we are experiencing some problems with meals. You have to stay up to one hour in a line to get your food.”

“Today, for example, I had to spend 6 minutes to go to find restroom and stillc ould not get in because of the huge line! Opening Ceremony, first disappointment from the Olympiad. I was hoping that the experience with the Winter Olympic will help the organizers to do a good job with an opening ceremony. But instead we had booking and not well organized event. One of problem was with interpreter from Italian to English who did not do much translation at all. Why didn’t organizers find a professional interpreter? Many players did not stay till the end of the ceremony and were leaving it earlier.”
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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