Othello News December 2013
New Year Message by Tor Birger Skogen
Dear all Othello-players,
2013 is soon history, and I hope you all have had a good Othello-year. This year started with a large tournament in Japan, Othello World Cup 2013. The tournament was arranged to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Othello in Japan, and about 60 players from all over the world was invited to join the tournament. We who were privileged to take part in this celebration had a great time together in Tokyo.
In Europe the European Grand Prix (EGP) has been organized as every year, and in 2013 Greece was a new tournament entry. At the EGP tournaments there are always a great number of top players, but there seems to be a problem recruiting new players. All the federations seem to have a crisis of new players while the top ones still continue to play. In the end of the year Europe has started to formalize the rules of the EGP.
In Asia have Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China continued organizing their tournaments as usual. Vietnam is under consideration as a new Othello country, and arranged a tournament in September.
Players in Asia found hard time to participate in the World Othello Championship as most of them do not have sponsorships, and expenditures to Europe is quite expensive. If the WOC could be organized in Asia, it would be good for them. In Americas there have been official tournaments in USA, Argentina and Brazil. There is no registered activity in other countries, but there are people searching for information in Venezuela and Colombia.
In 2013 World Othello Federation arranged the 37th World Othello Championship (WOC) in Stockholm, Sweden. This was the first time WOF was alone responsible for the tournament. The tournament was sponsored by local Swedish companies and some enthusiastic Othello players.
It is a lot of work to arrange such a tournament, and I want to thank all of you that contributed to make this tournament possible. A special thanks to Benkt Steentoft as Head Tournament Director and Emmanuel Lazard as Technical Tournament Director!
WOF will continue to arrange WOC in same spirit as it has been done so far. In November WOF and Megahouse started up discussions about a sponsorship agreement. Megahouse has informed us that Othello World Cup (OWC) will not continue. OWC in Singapore 2014 will be the last OWC in this format. Megahouse as Trademark holder in parts of the world is therefore very interested to cooperate with WOF and make it possible so the WOC can continue as the most important Othello tournament every year in the future. Of course WOF also continues discussions with Anjar about the Othello future.
I believe in a good future for our loved game Othello, and hope that we together with Megahouse and Anjar can make the game more popular and well-known in 2014.
I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope you all will have an Othellofantastic year in 2014.
Tor Birger Skogen,
President, World Othello Federation
2013 is soon history, and I hope you all have had a good Othello-year. This year started with a large tournament in Japan, Othello World Cup 2013. The tournament was arranged to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Othello in Japan, and about 60 players from all over the world was invited to join the tournament. We who were privileged to take part in this celebration had a great time together in Tokyo.
In Europe the European Grand Prix (EGP) has been organized as every year, and in 2013 Greece was a new tournament entry. At the EGP tournaments there are always a great number of top players, but there seems to be a problem recruiting new players. All the federations seem to have a crisis of new players while the top ones still continue to play. In the end of the year Europe has started to formalize the rules of the EGP.
In Asia have Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China continued organizing their tournaments as usual. Vietnam is under consideration as a new Othello country, and arranged a tournament in September.
Players in Asia found hard time to participate in the World Othello Championship as most of them do not have sponsorships, and expenditures to Europe is quite expensive. If the WOC could be organized in Asia, it would be good for them. In Americas there have been official tournaments in USA, Argentina and Brazil. There is no registered activity in other countries, but there are people searching for information in Venezuela and Colombia.
In 2013 World Othello Federation arranged the 37th World Othello Championship (WOC) in Stockholm, Sweden. This was the first time WOF was alone responsible for the tournament. The tournament was sponsored by local Swedish companies and some enthusiastic Othello players.
It is a lot of work to arrange such a tournament, and I want to thank all of you that contributed to make this tournament possible. A special thanks to Benkt Steentoft as Head Tournament Director and Emmanuel Lazard as Technical Tournament Director!
WOF will continue to arrange WOC in same spirit as it has been done so far. In November WOF and Megahouse started up discussions about a sponsorship agreement. Megahouse has informed us that Othello World Cup (OWC) will not continue. OWC in Singapore 2014 will be the last OWC in this format. Megahouse as Trademark holder in parts of the world is therefore very interested to cooperate with WOF and make it possible so the WOC can continue as the most important Othello tournament every year in the future. Of course WOF also continues discussions with Anjar about the Othello future.
I believe in a good future for our loved game Othello, and hope that we together with Megahouse and Anjar can make the game more popular and well-known in 2014.
I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope you all will have an Othellofantastic year in 2014.
Tor Birger Skogen,
President, World Othello Federation
Henry Aspenryd wins Stockholm XOT Christmas lunchLocation: Stockholm, Sweden
Date: 28 December Tourney format: XOT opening, 7 rounds There were 8 players who joined the SCXOT. It should be more but many players had to cancel because they were sick, or had sick kids. The tourney started with a nice lunch prepared by Bengt, meatballs, salmonballs and pasta. A special guest at this tourney was Mrinal Roy from India, he is the brother of Amar Roy. 
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Henry Aspenryd in training for the Christmas tourney
Ranking of the 8 players after round 7:
1: 7 pts [462] ASPENRYD Henry (1513) {SWE} 2: 6 pts [430] ODSELL Caroline (1577) {SWE} 3: 5 pts [373] STEENTOFT Benkt (1301) {SWE} 4: 3 pts [359] BENGTSSON Ulf (1499) {SWE} [345] ZEMELKA Jan (1533) {SWE} 6: 2 pts [381] GARDEBRINK Christian (1505) {SWE} 7: 1 pnt [314] ROY Mrinal (350018) {IND} [304] KJELLBERG Arvid (1599) {SWE} |
Alessandro di Mattei wins Torneo di Natale NapoliLocation: Napels, Italy
Date: 28 December Tourney format: 5 rounds report by Alessandro di Mattei at Website FNGO Fourteen players at this classic Christmas tourney, two comebacks, Maura Privitera and Rosario Rienzo and two rookies. Winner after five rounds was Alessandro Di Mattei with 5 points, runnerup Francesco Marconi had 4 points. Great performance by Leonardo Caviola , fourth-ranked and best player of the BIE category . Leonardo was able to win for the first time against a master, he won against Biagio Privitera 55-09 in round 4. Tourney results:
1: Di Mattei, Alessandro, 5 2: Marconi, Francesco, 4 3-7: Alami, Carlo, 3 Caviola, Leonardo, 3 Diodati, Michele, 3 Privitera, Biagio, 3 Tedesco, Giuseppe, 3 8-12: Debertolis, Giulia, 2 Puzzo, Luigi, 2 Privitera, Maura, 2 Martinelli, Sergio, 2 Rasconà, Maurizio, 2 13: Imbò, Barbara, 1 14: Rienzo, Rosario, 0 |
MARCONI, Francesco 25 - 39 DI MATTEI, Alessandro Torneo di Natale Napoli, round 4 |
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To
all Othello players from Japan Othello Association
Please be advised that Japan Othello Association has decided to officially recognize the World Othello Championship 2012 and 2013 as the JOA authorized tournaments, and both WOC 2012 and 2013 tournament results and Kazuki Okamoto, WOC 2013 Champion, of his article about WOC 2013 are put in this Othello News (note: JOA Othello News) (page 7 - 14). This decision was made by JOA Council meeting after their review and discussion of the report that MegaHouse and World Othello Federation (WOF) will start talking regarding the unification of two World Othello tournaments (World Othello Championship (WOC) and Othello World Cup (OWC) ). Also, please be advised that JOA Councils meeting has approved the promotion of Kakuzi Okamoto 8 dan to the 9 dan. As for the future world tournament, it will be announced on the JOA Othello News as soon as the next world tournament has been decided. Also, please note that due to the completion of the Othello 40th year Anniversary project, no Othello World Cup 2015 will be held. JOA’s Othello News December 2013 |
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Comment by World Othello Federation Council
The World Othello Federation is very positive that Japan Othello Association have decided to accept Mr. Takanashi and Mr. Okamoto as World Othello Champions 2012 and 2013! This is a very big step to again unite the Othello World!
We will inform you that the W.O.F and Megahouse in November started up discussions about a sponsorship agreement. W.O.F. also continues discussions with Anjar about the Othello future. We all look forward to the day that the conflict about the trademark of Othello is over. The Othello world needs cooperation and that we all work toward the same direction: To make Othello more known and popular!
W.O.F. arranges the World Othello Championship (W.O.C.). We will continue to arrange W.O.C. in the same spirit as it has been done so far.
Megahouse as Trademark holder in parts of the world is very interested to continue to cooperate with the W.O.F. and make it possible so the W.O.C. can continue as the most important Othello tournament every year in the future! So we all hope that the discussions about sponsorship and cooperation will be successful!.
Megahouse has informed us that Othello World Cup (O.W.C) as it has been arranged in 2013 and 2014, will not continue. O.W.C. in Singapore 2014 will be the last O.W.C. in this format.
We believe in a good future for our beloved game Othello. Together we can make the game more popular and more well known then ever!
World Othello Federation Council by:
Benkt Steentoft, Event and Tournament Manager, World Othello Federation
Tor Birger Skogen, President of World Othello Federation
The World Othello Federation is very positive that Japan Othello Association have decided to accept Mr. Takanashi and Mr. Okamoto as World Othello Champions 2012 and 2013! This is a very big step to again unite the Othello World!
We will inform you that the W.O.F and Megahouse in November started up discussions about a sponsorship agreement. W.O.F. also continues discussions with Anjar about the Othello future. We all look forward to the day that the conflict about the trademark of Othello is over. The Othello world needs cooperation and that we all work toward the same direction: To make Othello more known and popular!
W.O.F. arranges the World Othello Championship (W.O.C.). We will continue to arrange W.O.C. in the same spirit as it has been done so far.
Megahouse as Trademark holder in parts of the world is very interested to continue to cooperate with the W.O.F. and make it possible so the W.O.C. can continue as the most important Othello tournament every year in the future! So we all hope that the discussions about sponsorship and cooperation will be successful!.
Megahouse has informed us that Othello World Cup (O.W.C) as it has been arranged in 2013 and 2014, will not continue. O.W.C. in Singapore 2014 will be the last O.W.C. in this format.
We believe in a good future for our beloved game Othello. Together we can make the game more popular and more well known then ever!
World Othello Federation Council by:
Benkt Steentoft, Event and Tournament Manager, World Othello Federation
Tor Birger Skogen, President of World Othello Federation
Keiko Nakamura wins 1st Mito Endurance TourneyLocation: Mito, Japan
Date: 28 December Tourney format: 16 rounds Swiss, 15 minutes per player Eight players at this first Othello Marathon. The winner, Keiko Nakamura won 12 games. Runner up was Tsuyoshi Okuda with 11 wins and third place for Takashi Izumi with 10 wins. All the players were very happy with this initiative and there will be a second Othello Marathon next year. I hope I correctly translated the Japanese names, if not, I am very sorry and please send me a mail with the correct names 
link to results (in Japanese)
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第1回水戸耐久戦－脱落者なし!!初代水戸耐久王は中村三段!!
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3on3 Othello ChallengeLocation: Bangkok, Thailand
Date: December 22nd Tourney format: teams of 3 persons (total rating not more than 5600) play 7 rounds Result after 7th round: 1. Warawut Intaranop Pongpipat Srisa-ngajit Kun Pongpirodom 2. Sitthichai Iamchirangkun Chatcha Ratthanadechathorn Charinee Mitmean 3. Woramet Hempijit Patcharaporn Tana Suntri Intarajit 4. Piamrat Kraikokit Pharisorn Sritaraphan Kantapon Dechjaroensri 5. Thammatorn Kraikokit Chitwadee Sangnet Anuwat Wongwiwat 6. Piyanat Aunchulee Kanda Tantisawat Tang_Oh 7. Dusit Chinwattana Kittipong Rakprakobkit Noon 8. Tai Vichailakana Issariya Vichailakana Ingkawat Vichailakana |
Marie-Christine Torri and Takuji at French Championship 2007
Takuji Kashiwabara won the tourney with 5 wins:
Kashiwabara Takuji 37-27 Schneider Doris ( round 1) Juigner Felix 28-36 Kashiwabara Takuji ( round 2) Kashiwabara Takuji 35-29 Nicolas Caroline (round 3) Michel Stéphane 25-39 Kashiwabara Takuji (round 4) Kashiwabara Takuji 38-26 Juigner Arthur (round 5) |
Takuji Kashiwabara wins Tournoi de Fin d'AnneeLocation: Grenoble
Date: December 21st Tourney format: 5 rounds Tourney in memory of Marie-Christine Torri, founder of the Grenoble Othello Club who died 2 years ago. Players at this tourney: Takuji Kashiwabara, Stéphane Michel, Caroline Nicolas, Arthur Juigner and his brother Felix and Doris Schneider, the mother of the two young players. The two Juigner boys beat their mother Doris quite easily. Arthur won against her in round 3, he left her just 3 discs. Felix beat his mom in the 4th round, 12 - 52. But I am sure Doris won't mind and I bet she is very proud of her two smart boys. Final results:
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MICHEL Stéphane 25 - 39 KASHIWABARA Takuji Tournoi Fin d'Année, round 4 |
KASHIWABARA Takuji 38 - 26 JUIGNER Arthur Tournoi Fin d'Année, round 5 |
JUIGNER Felix 46 - 18 NICHOLAS Caroline Tournoi Fin d'Année, round 5 |
Michele Diodati wins Torneo di NataleLocation, Rome, Italy
Date: December 15th Tourney format: 4 rounds of 16 minutes final 18 players came to this Christmas tourney for beginners and advanced players, 12 of them were first-timers! Michele Diodati (favorite because of his vast experience with live tournaments) won in the final against Samuele Arena. In the final for debutants, Sergio Puzziello won against Gulia Debertolis while in the under 15 final Katia Zhuk beats Gaia Pieragostini. Giulio Pieragostini (9 years) addressed all the games with sportsmanship and determination, and finally managing to snatch victory against Alessandro Di Mattei in the under 10 category! source: FNGO site 
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ARENA Samuele 15 - 49 DIODATI Michele Torneo di Natale, final |
The 2nd Korean Othello Youth Championship
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제2회 전국 오델로 유소년대회 결과
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A pleasant tourney with 32 young Othello enthusiasts. The Korean Othello Association and its President Joung-mok Oh do a lot to promote the Othello game and to train a new generation of players. I just love to see all the children so caught up in their game. The 1st Korean Othello Youth Championship was in December 2012 and the 11 - 13 age group then had the same winner. Two championships in a row for now 12 year old Yujin Park!. Congrats to all winners and well done to all players and staff!!!
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18 players in the 7 - 10 category
Ranking of the top 9 after round 5: 1: 5.pts [246] 박정현 PARK Jeonghyun 2: 4. pts [213] 류은성 RYU Eunseong [199] 고준형 KO Junhyoung [148] 김화랑 KIM Hwarang 5: 3. pts [198] 이미카엘 LEE Mikael [192] 유태현 RYU Taehyun [181] 장정후 JANG Jeonghoo [152] 조용원 CHO youngwon [144] 김동영 KIM Dongyoung |
10 players in the 11 - 13 category
Ranking of the top 5 after round 5: 1: 5. pts [218] 박유진 PARK Yujin 2: 3.5 pts [189] 임유현 LIM Yoohyean 3: 3. pts [201] 오영호 OH Youngho [180] 김재현 KIM Jaehyun [145] 정현찬 JUNG Hyunchan |
4 players in the 14 - 18 category
Ranking of the top 3 after round 6: 1: 4. pts [218] 김동규 KIM Donggyu [189] 김동현 KIM Donghyeon 3: 3. pts [201] 김성은 KIM Seongeun |
Roy Lin wins Singapore Othello Masters Series (SOMS)Location: Singapore
Date: December 15th Tourney format: 7 rounds Roy Lin was 4th at the SOMS in 2012 with 4 wins. This year he is the SOMS champion with 6 wins. The only game he lost was in round 6 against Anthony Goh. Runnerup is last year's SOMS champion, Chee Kit.
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From left: 1st runner up Chee Kit, Champion Roy Lin and 2nd Runner up Eddie Low
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Leong Chee Kit 21 - 43 Low Wee Hao Eddie Singapore Othello masters Series 2013, round 3 |
Low Wee Hao Eddie 30 - 34 Lin Weihao Roy Singapore Othello masters Series 2013, round 4 |
Lin Weihao Roy 52 - 12 Koh Bo Xiang Singapore Othello masters Series 2013, round 7 |
Tetsuya Nakajima wins 90th Shinagawa Seaside OpenLocation: Tokio, Japan
Date: December 14th Tourney format: 6 rounds Tetsuya Nakajima won the tourney with 5 wins out of 6. Runnerup was Makoto Suekuni, who also had 5 wins. Several players with 4 wins, among them Takeshi Murakami, Yusuke Takanashi and Takashi Yamakawa 
link to results (in Japanese)
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中島 哲也, 第90回品川シーサイドオープン
Tetsuya Nakajima, winner of the 90th Shinagawa Seaside Open
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NAKAJIMA Tetsuya 34 - 30 SUEKUNI Makoto 90th Shinagawa Seaside Open, round 2 |
SUEKUNI Makoto 43 - 21 TAKANASHI Yusuke 90th Shinagawa Seaside Open, round 6 |
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TASTET Marc 34 - 30 LAZARD Emmanuel Tournoi de Noël 2013, round 5 |
Marc Tastet wins Tournoi de NoëlLocation: Paris, France
Date: December 14th Tourney format: 5 rounds, each player had a bye Marc won all his 4 games including the decisive game in round 5 against Emmanuel Lazard. Final results:
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Takashi Yamakawa wins 149th Nagareyama openLocation: Nagareyama, Japan
Date: December 8th Tourney format: 6 rounds, 24 players Winner of the 149th Nagareyama Open is Takashi Yamakawa (7th Dan). When asked for the transcript of one of his games, Takashi very modesly sent the one game that he lost, that was in round 3 against Tatsuro Akagi. Takashi finished third at the World Othello Championship in Stockholm earlier this year. Othello News interviewed him at the WOC after round 3. Takashi promised me another interview next year and he seems well on his way to qualify for the Japanese 2014 team :). Top 8:
link to results (in Japanese)
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Takashi Yamakawa - Nicky van den Biggelaar in playoff for 3rd and 4th place, WOC 2013
YAMAKAWA Takashi 18 - 46 AKAGI Tatsuro 149th Nagareyama open, round 3 |
Cecilia Norgren at WOC in Stockholm
tourney room
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Cecilia Norgren wins Uppsala Othello OpenLocation: Uppsala, Sweden
Date: December 7th Tourney format: 7 rounds 16 players showed up in Uppsala despite the storm and slippery road conditions. Cecilia won 6/7, the only game she lost was in round 7 against Benkt Steentoft, 17 - 47, but the victory was allready hers after round 6 as Marcus and Benkt only had 4.5/6 and 4/6 points. Final results:
round by round results on SOF website |
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BERNER Nils 37 - 27 ASPENRYD Henry Uppsala Othello Open, round 5 |
STENBERG Veronica 30 - 34 JOHANSSON Erik Uppsala Othello Open, round 7 |
LUDICA2013Location: Rome, Italy
Date: 31 November - 1 December Photoalbum of Italian Othello Federation (FNGO) participation at LUDICA2013 (Festival of Games) in Rome, with more than 100 new players learning our wonderful game and playing their first matches! This is in line with the focus of FNGO in 2014 : to expand as much as possible the knowledge and diffusion of Othello in Italy, increasing the numbers of beginners and players! Biagio Privitera (FNGO President) |
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