Malcolm Pein on the accommodation problems at the Chess Olympiad 2024

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The Chess Olympiad 2024 is going to take place in Budapest, Hungary from 10 to 23 September 2024. It is the world’s largest team event and will have a record breaking participation. A number of delegations raised their voice about serious accommodation issues in Budapest, among them Scotland, Monaco, Germany, and later the same day Türkiye. Two more federations reported the same spectrum of problems, but wished to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal by FIDE officials.

Malcolm Pein from the English Chess Federation was open about the story of team England. In a short interview for Chessdom, Malcolm Pein shared, “The main issue was that like many other federations, the organisers did not engage until it got to the point where we were already very worried.” He continued, “There was seemingly no understanding that many countries would want extra rooms in addition to the standard offer of 2 free singles and 4 free doubles per team. I understand the Germans were having trouble, also Croatia and Scotland.”

In the end England resorted to the solution that most federations are trying, “England decided to split the Open and Women’s team,” says Malcom Pein. “We are now ok. Also, the organizers, or it seems to be an accommodation agency, have become much more responsive. They have been far more flexible and we are grateful to them.” He concludes, “It just would have been nice to have this organised 3 months ago!””