That's a deadly game of chess

STOCKHOLM

- When death occurs at, say, an auto-racing event, it's always tragic, but not entirely surprising.

But two deaths at a chess tournament?

Yes, a major international chess tournament in Norway ended on a grim note, with one player dying in the middle of a game and another found dead in a hotel room, organizers said.

A 67-year-old member of the Seychelles team collapsed and died during the final round Thursday of the two-week Chess Olympiad in Tromsoe, Norway, tournament spokesman Jarle Heitmann said. Another player, from Uzbekistan, was found dead in a hotel room later that day, Heitmann said.

He said both died of natural causes. Local police said on Twitter there was "no crime" suspected in either case.

Heitmann said there was a brief moment of panic as emergency workers rushed to attend to the Seychelles player, as some participants apparently mistook their defibrillator for a gun and fled toward the exits.

The Seychelles News Agency identified the player as Kurt Meier, a Swiss-born member of the small island nation's chess team. It said he died during a game against Rwanda.

In case it matters, China won the men's title and Russia won the women's title in the biennial chess tournament in which about 3,000 people participated.