“It is part of human nature to party”, Nigel Freeman

Nigel Freeman, the FIDE Executive Director and organizer of famous Bermuda parties since 1992, talks to our website.

Could you please say a few words about the background to the Bermuda party? When was it organized for the first time?

The first one was in Malta in 1980. It was a staircase party because what really happened was that the government of the country built low-cost housing for the locals, but before people moved in, the houses were occupied by the players participating in the Olympiad. So the Bermuda team decided to hold the party one night. This is how it all started. Then, I think it has been held in every Olympiad except for Elista, where Bermuda did not participate. However, I have only been involved since 1992 in Manila. And roughly speaking, I have organized all the parties ever since.

Why is the party called Bermuda?

It was the Bermuda team who first did it. However, until Bled we had to pay a lot of money for it, as it has always cost us something. I could give you a history overview. In 1992, in Manila, there were a lot of parties organized for the players. There were a lot of things going on at the time. Now it seems that this event is the only one players are invited to, but at that time there were a few other parties as well. But the problem in Manila was that the organizers promised to get us beer and other things but they did not. The party was about to start at 10, so we got there at 9 but there was almost nothing going on. So we had to grab a bit of money and rush away to the shops to buy things, but we discovered that water, Coca-Cola and juice were far more expensive than beer.  one famous grandmaster was caught out taking a bottle of whisky out of the party rather than bringing it in. In Moscow, there was another problem, as the organizers wanted to charge far more for the drinks and everything else. And also the organizers were the first ones to grab all the free food and drinks and only then let the doors open to for the teams. After that, we decided to run the party on a different basis. Instead of buying the drinks of your own, people paid 10 euros or 10 dollars and got 2 free drinks while women got a free entrance. At that time, there were far fewer ladies at Chess Olympiads because there were only four ladies in a team. Men’s team had six men. Now it has got much more equal, which is quite a good thing. Then it was time for Yerevan, and there was a problem there due to some political uncertainty. Bulat Asanov was very helpful to me and we managed to persuade the Armenians that this party was a good thing for all the chess players to get together in one place rather than to have them wandering around the town. So that was quite successful. Then, in Istanbul in 2000, it was the last time where I had to go and find a place. Normally the first half of the Olympiad I tried to find a place somewhere to hold the party. It was hard, because it was in a city I did not know. Secondly, no-one expected to host so many people. So we had to put the deposit down which we could not get back. So we ended up paying quite a bit of money because the deposit was around USD 10,000. They simply told us – we don’t believe you are going to have 500 or 600 people. In Bled the organizers arranged the party themselves for the first time.

It seems that this party is popular right now and there is no problem proving that you expect 500-600 people to attend…

In Tromso, we had something like 1,400 people inside, while others were out. I think that 1,500-1,600 people showed up at the party. Don’t forget that we do it for everybody, not just for the players but also for volunteers, officials. Everyone involved with the Olympiad and having an accreditation badge can come in. Normally everybody has to pay except for women, but in Tromso, according to Norwegian law, we couldn’t charge men only and not charge women anything, so they ended up not charging anybody. But normally everyone has to pay. Even Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has to pay! Whoever comes in has to pay! And we hope that men buy a drink and give it to a woman. That’s the idea, but we still don’t know whether it will work.

What is so special about the Bermuda party? Why do people like it so much? I heard that some flew to the Olympiad specifically to take part in it.

I think it is the only thing that is done for the players who can take a drink and enjoy themselves. It was moved to the first rest day and this year it will be before the only rest day. It gives people a chance to meet and relax. Everybody likes it, everybody has a good time. We had a case when certain teams said that their players can’t come, but now, when everybody knows about it, it is more relaxing. I think it is part of a human nature to have a party. And as I say, it has grown ridiculously from a staircase party of 30-40 people into a monster of 1,500-1,600 people we seem to have now. And I think that it will be very good in Baku. Watching people of all ages and background get together and enjoy themselves is a wonderful thing. So as long as I am around, I will make sure that this party is organized at every Olympiad.

Can you say that the Bermuda party has become a real tradition?

At a certain time, other people tried to hold some parties. But the Bermuda party is still a big one. The fact is that when they had candidates matches in Elista, Kirsan decided that he wanted to have a Bermuda party there as well. I even had to find shorts quickly. I mean every party in chess seems to be called a Bermuda party now. Then, of course, everyone wants to try Larry Ebbin’s famous Bermuda Rum Swizzles!

Many top players have started to attend the Bermuda Party. If I am not mistaken, World Champion Magnus Carlsen also showed up.

Yes, In Khanty-Mansiysk I also saw Karpov and Kirsan coming for the first time. I thought he would only come there for a short time but he spent a few hours there. He wandered around, chatted to everybody and somehow realized that this was a good thing. It is for everybody, players can mix up. So you have players from all sorts of backgrounds, places and ratings. Magnus is there at the same party as you. Anyone can go and chat to him. He can go and chat to others. I don’t remember seeing Vishy Anand, but Ponomariov was there, Topalov attended the previous party. Top FIDE people seem to come now. They were not used to it but now they are all there. One thing we are making sure from the beginning to the end is that the party doesn’t get involved in politics and is open to everybody. We also try to allow volunteers to have the same good time as chess players.

Do you allow the media to come?

Journalists are welcome as well, but we don’t like cameras because we think that people should enjoy themselves without worrying that pictures are taken of them that they might not like other people to see. People should have the right to enjoy themselves in private. We can’t stop chess players taking pictures themselves but we don’t want professional photographers to come. If they want to come in, they have to leave their cameras outside. And of course I will wear my shorts!

What was the best Bermuda party in your opinion?

It is very difficult to say, as different people have different ideas of what makes a good party. I enjoyed all of them. Of course, it seems that I do more and more work to set it up, but I am quite used to that. I think each one had its own different flavor, a different place and a different time. We always get complaints about the music because older people say it is too loud, younger people say it is too old-fashioned. As far as I know, the only music everyone enjoys is ABBA. There are always going to be complaints about something. Chess players are used to complaints. We never make any money out of it – that’s for sure.

Can you please recall some interesting episodes or scandals?

We got ourselves on the front of English newspapers with Danny Gormally in Turin. I suppose it was a bit of a scandal. There is always a little problem or something, but people are all well behaved and if somebody drinks too much, his friends see it and take care of him. I would say that there is always a gossip at each party rather than a scandal. Perhaps it is a bit weird to see chess players in such conditions because people think that they can’t behave in such way. They imagine that chess players always read chess books and never enjoy themselves. It is a place where chess players can meet up and make friends much more easily than they would do otherwise. It brings them together in the same place. I think that it helps the Olympiad. I think there are some people who met at Bermuda parties and then got married. So there are romantic stories as well.

Is everything ready for the Baku Olympiad Bermuda party on 6 September?  

I think that the organizers are looking forward to it. The place has been chosen and all other details will be known soon.