Olympiad dates have been changed!!

Last week, FIDE moved the dates for the Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan to Sinquefield Cup moved back September 1st-14th 2016. The original dates were set for September 17th-30th 2016 and many who have already set their flight plans have already reported losses.

Moving the Olympiad is already a pain in the ass for me. Lost already 500 euro on flight tickets.

— Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes) February 18, 2016

The 2016 FIDE Congress will take its place, accordingly, during 4-14 September 2016. With only seven months to the event, this change will cause expected hardships, but it also impacted the Sinquefield Cup which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. The CCSCSL organizers made the following announcement:

Due to the Olympiad being rescheduled, the 2016 Sinquefield Cup has changed its dates to August 4-16. As the third stop in the Grand Chess Tour, the organizers of the Sinquefield Cup understand the importance of both events and cooperating with other tournaments for the benefits of the players. The Sinquefield Cup will now begin with the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, August 4 and round one on Friday, August 5. The tournament will wrap up on Tuesday, August 16. –

The original dates of the Sinquefield were August 19th until September 2nd creating an overlap with the new Olympiad dates. Although one can make the argument that top players in the Olympiad do not play in the first couple of rounds, there is still added strain on the top players having to make such a quick transition.

The change of the Olympiad dates caused a stir in the chess world and more expletives were hurled at the chess body whose President Kirsan Ilymumzhinov had stepped down temporarily in order to clear up sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of Treasury for facilitating oil deals between between Syria and the Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

FIDE: https://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/9429-change-for-the-olympiad-and-congress-dates-.html