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

Kurt Meier, a 67-year-old member of the Seychelles team, collapsed and died during the final round game against Rwanda on Thursday of the two-week Chess Olympiad in Tromsoe, tournament spokesman Jarle Heitmann said on Friday.

Another player, from Uzbekistan, was found dead in a hotel room later on Thursday, Heitmann said.

He said both died of natural causes, while Tromsoe 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.