The members of the Olympiad squad are responsible for their own travel costs to the event. At present, there is no sponsorship for them at all. The New Zealand Chess Federation is appealing for donations to help with travel costs. Send cheques, payable to NZCF, to PO Box 216, Shortland Street, Auckland 1010, or make contributions directly to ANZ Bank 01 0535 0073257 00 - please send me an email to confirm you have done this (heligan@newzealandchess.co.nz). Contributors will be listed on this web page.

Thanks to: FM Ben Hague; Auckland Chess Centre; St Paul's Rapid; Spiller Enterprises; various donors who would prefer to remain anonymous.

Unfortunately Women's team board one wim Sue Maroroa has encountered problems with the processing of her travel documentation in the UK and is not in a position to be certain about her arrival in Istanbul for the Olympiad. This is naturally very disappointing for Sue and for NZCF but fortunately first reserve wim Marany Meyer was able to confirm her participation as a replacement at short notice . Marany will now join the team in Istanbul playing on board five. Her previous Olympiad experience has been with the South African Women's Team. The team is now: wfm Helen Milligan, Judy Gao, wfm Nicole Tsoi, wfm Natasha Fairley, wim Marany Meyer.

The organisers have published a list of allocated hotels. NZ is in 'WOW Hotels' which refers to a pair of hotels, one 4-star and one 5-star. We don't know which one we are in yet. See full details here (pdf document).

Following the withdrawal of IM Puchen Wang (board 1) from the NZ Open Team for the Istanbul Olympiad and his replacement by IM Paul Garbett, NZCF has announced a revised board order for the team. This will be: 1. IM Russell Dive; 2. FM Nic Croad; 3. FM Mike Steadman; 4. IM Paul Garbett; 5. Luke Li.

In an interview with ChessVibes, Yazici states that the ban on arbiters will not be rescinded, despite the protests. See http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/ali-nihat-yazici-i-wanted-to-shake-the-chess-world for details and links. He has also resigned as a FIDE Vice-President; his statement is available here (pdf document).

Some federations have been exempted from paying the 100 euros per person registration fee. Unfortunately New Zealand is not among them!

"The Russian Chess Federation has published an extremely forceful response to Turkish Chess Federation President Ali Nihat Yazici’s recent statement refusing to accept the participation of arbiters from 7 federations in the upcoming Olympiad in Istanbul. Yazici justified that refusal by the legal costs FIDE had incurred due to court cases pursued by those federations. The RCF statement defends the universal right to take legal action, asks for clarification of whether FIDE supports Yazici’s position and ends by calling for the statement to be disavowed followed by an apology 'to the chess federations and all chess fans across the world'." For the full story and text, see http://www.whychess.org/en/node/2030.

Tough words also from IM Malcolm Pein: http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/malcolmpein/near-universal-scorn-for-nihat-arbiter-ban

The Turkish Chess Federation, organisers of the Olympiad, has taken the unusual step of banning the appointment of arbiters from the following countries: England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Georgia, USA. Read the full announcement here (pdf document). It remains to be seen whether this will have repercussions. NZCF will be discussing the issue at the next Council meeting.
See also:
http://www.chessdom.com/tsf-vetos-7-federations-from-having-principals-at-the-istanbul-chess-olympiad-2012/
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/turkish-chess-federation-denies-arbiters-from-seven-federations-to-istanbul-olympiad
http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4370
http://www.davidsmerdon.com/?p=787
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8227.

Some of the problematic issues that NZ and other federations are facing at this Olympiad have been highlighted in an Open Letter by the European Chess Union president, Silvio Danailov. Interesting reading here (pdf document).

NZCF has confirmed that the Open Team replacement for IM Puchen Wang will be IM Paul Garbett of Auckland. Paul will bring significant previous Olympiad and international experience to the team. The final board order for the revised team will be announced after NZCF has received advice from selectors and it has been confirmed by NZCF council.

NZCF has announced that it has received notice of the withdrawal of IM Puchen Wang from the Olympiad Open team for Istanbul. Puchen has been accepted for a job at the completion of his university studies in the U.S. which will unfortunately prevent him from taking his place on board one in the NZ team. An announcement will be made as soon as possible regarding his replacement.

The organisers have published a FAQ of 'useful' information on their website. Note the (unreasonably) strict rules for room share/splitting. Note also there is a dress code (though presumably not the strict one that the European Chess Union uses - frankly I'm not aware of any official FIDE dress code).

Question: What conditions are provided by the Turkish Chess Federation regarding accommodation?
Answer: We provide 3 double rooms (full board) for each delegation. Please refer to the tournament regulations.

Question: Is it possible to change one of the 3 double rooms into 2 single rooms as it was common in previous Olympiads?
Answer: As this question especially concerns women teams with male captains the following solutions can be provided:
1. The male captain could share a room with a captain from another federation
2. The remaining 5th woman player could share a room with a woman from another federation
3. Upgrade one double into 2 singles under the given conditions
4. If one person in a double room upgraded to a single room, remaining person in double room will be given by organisers a room mate from another federation.

Question: How much is the fee to upgrade a double room into 2 single rooms?
Answer: The fee is 100 € p.p./p.n.

Question: If only one of the 2 sharing persons wants to upgrade to a single room, do we only need to pay 100 € for that particular person while the other person will remain in the official double room by himself?
Answer: The remaining person would then need to share the room with someone else.

Question: Why is the upgrade fee higher than in previous years?
Answer: Istanbul is a very modern metropole and in general more expensive than other cities (Khanty Mansisk). The region of the venue is one of the best and safest ones and therefore more expensive.

Question: Can the federations freely choose between the official listed hotels on the web site?
Answer: The following official hotels of the Olympiad will be used for the accommodation of the participants. Hotels will be given by respecting to last Olympiad Ranking. Most of the hotels are 5 stars and ranked respecting to distance to venue.

Question a) Is a federation forced to choose one of the offical hotels?
Answer: Please refer to the tournament regulations.

Question b) How about parents, private trainers and others?!
Answer: All participants have to make registration by their federations. Organizers will provide accommodation for all teams according to attached classification. The federations who want to upgrade rooms from double to single or much more room for extra persons should take under consideration that organizers may change the hotels due to such requests Whoever, who wants to enter the venue of Olympiad with any privilege (player, coach, delegate, VIP, doctor, journalist, etc.) should make accreditation through TCF.

Question: Is it allowed to bring drinks or food into the playing hall?
Answer: Yes it is.

Question: Is there any required dress code?
Answer: Yes there is! This is a FIDE event. Please check out their regulations!

Question: How can the participants get to the playing hall?
Answer: We provide buses for each of the official hotels.

Question: What has been done by the organizer to secure the safety of the players/delegations?
Answer: There will be security check at the entrances.

Question: When is the deadline for registration?
Answer: The deadline for each delegation ends by 10 June 2012.

The details of hotels and costs are now available on the official website: download the pdf file here. Details to note are the restriction to three double rooms per team (regardless of the gender of the players/captain) and the imposition of a fee per person of 100 euros (for accreditation, transportation, etc etc) in addition to the entry fee per team of 270 euros. The cost to split a double room into two singles is 100 euros per person per night. Costs for accompanying persons (if we have any) are also given.

We have received the official invitation to the Olympiad, which gives information on venue and hotels. Download the letter here (pdf document). The venue is the Istanbul World Trade Centre (halls 9, 10 and 11). The hotels listed are WOW Hotels (presumably the WOW Istanbul, 5 star, and the WOW Airport, 4 star), Radisson Blu Airport (5 star), Holiday Inn Airport Hotel (5 star), Green Park Merter Hotel (5 star), Courtyard Marriott Hotel (4 star), Ataköy Marina Hotel (4 star), Adela Hotel (4 star), Titanic Airport Hotel (5 star), and Polat Renaissance Hotel (5 star). More details are promised for the official website http://istanbul2012.tsf.org.tr/en/ on May 8th.

Open team (in board order):
IM Puchen Wang, FM Nic Croad, IM Russell Dive, FM Mike Steadman, Luke Li
Captain and team manager:
Hilton Bennett

Women's team (in board order):
wim Sue Maroroa, wfm Helen Milligan, Judy Gao, wfm Nicole Tsoi, wfm Natasha Fairley
Captain:
Peter Hulshof

According to the official FIDE Olympiad regulations, we should by now have received a formal invitation to play in the Olympiad, and we should have been asked to register our intention to play. In fact we have received no invitation as yet and there are no facilities for registration on the official website. Nor is there any information about the venue or accommodation (or costs for accompanying persons). We will keep you updated, here and on ChessChat and Facebook, whenever anything relevant turns up.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances can be downloaded here (pdf document). If you are taking any of these for medical reasons, then you need a letter from your doctor, to present to the FIDE medical team if you are selected for dope testing. Pseudoephedrine (a component of many cold & flu remedies, outside NZ) is no longer a banned substance (except in huge doses). The official WADA rules for the sampling procedure are available here (pdf document). (Note that FIDE doesn't take blood samples). FIDE has not, in the past, applied these guidelines in full.

Names are given in alphabetical order.
Captains:
Hilton Bennett, Peter Hulshof
Open team:
FM Nic Croad, IM Russell Dive, IM Paul Garbett, Daniel Han, Antonio Krstev, Luke Li, FM Stephen Lukey, Noel Pinic, FM Bob Smith, FM Mike Steadman (automatic place), IM Puchen Wang.
Women's team:
wfm Natasha Fairley, Judy Gao, Sacha Gilmore, wim Sue Maroroa, wim Marany Meyer, wfm Helen Milligan, Joy Shu Yan Qin, wfm Nicole Tsoi.

The dates and location of the Olympiad are confirmed by the Turkish Chess Federation: see http://istanbul2012.tsf.org.tr/en/.

NZCF is inviting applications for the the roles of Open Team Captain and Women’s Team Captain for the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiad. These are non-paid roles and Team Captains will be responsible for their own travel costs and arrangements in the same way as players. They will receive free, full board for the duration of the Olympiad on a share twin basis. They will also receive a share of any contributions and fund-raising towards travel expenses on the same basis as players.

Applications close on the 31st March 2012. The completed Application for Team Captain form (Word document) must be received by NZCF, either by post or email, on or before this date. All applications will be acknowledged by email on receipt. The Team Captains for Istanbul will be announced on the 20th April.

For any further information or details relating to these roles please contact NZCF Olympiad Coordinator Hilton Bennett (email: hiltonb@wave.co.nz).

Applications are now open for the New Zealand Open and Women’s Teams to the 2012 Istanbul Chess Olympiad, which is scheduled to take place between 27th August and 10th September 2012 in Istanbul Turkey.

To apply you must:
1.. Complete the Application for Selection form (Word document) and return it either by email or post to NZCF by the 31st March.
2.. Read the Player Agreement and Code of Conduct (link, and pdf download) and sign and return the Player Acceptance form (last page of Player Agreement), either scanned and emailed, or by post by the 31st March.
To return forms by post please send to: New Zealand Chess Federation, P.O. Box 216, Shortland Street, Auckland 1010.
An application for selection must have both forms completed and returned by the closing date.
Receipt of your application documentation will be confirmed by email.
Selections (including up to three non-travelling reserves) will be announced on or before the 20th April.

The Application for Selection provides information necessary for both selecting and registering players. This is your opportunity as an applicant to show why you believe that you should represent New Zealand at this event. NZCF is also attempting to improve its processes and bring them into line with good practice in other sporting organisations. To this end the Player Agreement has been introduced for this Olympiad. It is based on a format used by the NZOC, and endeavours to outline the responsibilities and roles of both the player as a NZ representative, and the NZCF. It is intended to provide greater clarity for both parties.

The final dates and location of the Olympiad are always at the discretion of FIDE and the Olympiad organisers. Although no Olympiad website or accommodation details are yet available, NZCF is proceeding with Olympiad organisation on the basis of the information received so far and confirmed at the last FIDE quarterly Presidential Board meeting. If you would like further information or clarification on any point please contact Hilton Bennett by email: hiltonb@wave.co.nz.

FM Mike Steadman guaranteed himself a place in the Open team by winning the NZ Championship outright at the Queenstown Chess Classic. Nobody claimed the place on offer in the Women's team.

As far as I am aware, the contract between FIDE and the Turkish Chess Federation still hasn't been signed, and the Olympiad (venue and dates) remains unconfirmed.

The New Zealand Chess Federation is calling for 'Expressions of Interest' from players and captains for both the Open and Women's teams for the Chess Olympiad which is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 27th August to 10th September 2012. An Expression of Interest is not an application for selection, but will ensure that those who are interested in selection will be informed directly about news and developments related to the Olympiad.

For the Open team, players applying should be 2150+. For the Women's team, female players over 1400. Anyone can apply to be captain. Note that you can apply to be a player and a captain; please state which you prefer, as it is very unlikely that NZCF would appoint a playing captain.

You can submit an Expression of Interest in the 2012 Olympiad by emailing the Olympiad Co-ordinator, Hilton Bennett directly (hiltonb@wave.co.nz) or by post to NZCF: New Zealand Chess Federation, P.O. Box 216, Shortland Street, Auckland 1010.