Othello News May 2016
Top 10 World Othello Rating May 31st 2016
Find your own rating and the complete ratinglist here.
Othello Festival in Niigata, Japan
A very succesfull Othello event as 362 people visited at the Niigata Othello festival at the Bandai City Pavilion. Lots of instructors were present. What a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the game from, among others, Masaki Takizawa (World Othello Champion in 1985 and 1994).
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Chiara Giglucci wins stage 3 Città di Roma 2016Location: Rome, Italy
Date: May 29th Link: FB photoalbum, FNGO website Only 7 participants at the third stage of the Città di Roma. Junior player Valentino Giannini surprised Leonardo Caviola in round two as he defeated him 30-34 (playing white). Three players with 3 points, but the winner was Chiara Giglucci 
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Marc Tastet wins Tournoi Ile de France 4
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Location: Paris, France
Date: May 29th Tourney format: 5 rounds Link: FFO website Marc Tastet won 4 games and played a draw against Michel Busuttil. There were a lot of close games, including Marc's in the final round against Fouad Touchene. Fouad had the win but ended up losing 29-35 as he was pressed for time. The following players have qualified for the "Finale du Grand Prix": TASTET Marc, LEVY-ABEGNOLI Thierry, ANDRIANI Bintsa, KASHIWABARA Takuji, DELAUNAY Arnaud and LAZARD Emmanuel. Final result: 1: 4.5 pts [225] TASTET Marc (2) {FRA} 2: 4. pts [186] LEVY-ABEGNOLI Thierry (3598) {FRA} 3: 2. pts [156] TOUCHENE Fouad (9025) {DZA} [143] BERTRANDIAS Marc (50075) {FRA} 5: 1.5 pts [132] BUSUTTIL Michel (228) {FRA} 6: 1. pt [118] BENOIT Serge (3600) {FRA} |
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BUSUTTIL Michel 32-32 TASTET Marc Ile de France 4 After move 47, the position is a "solitaire" for White. The correct order of moves is crucial. |
TOUCHENE Fouad 29-35 TASTET Marc Ile de France 4 Neat swindle at the end for black but not enough discs |
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9th Singapore Schools Othello Championship 201626 May 2016 – Othello Organisation (Singapore) organized its 9th Singapore Schools Othello Competition, featuring a new high of 137 participants from 32 teams fighting it out for top. We are very appreciative of Bukit View Primary School who has once again kindly sponsored us the venue for this competition. We would also like to thank all the teachers and parents for your support to ensure the well-being of the young participants. See you next year! 
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Oskar Eklund wins Göteborg OpenLocation: Göteborg Sweden
Date: May 28th Tourney format: single round robin and final Link: SOF website Another great victory for Oskar Eklund who won 4/4 Swedish Grand Prix tournaments this year! Results after 4 rounds: Oskar Eklund 4,5 Danial Ljungqvist 4 Tintin Eng 3,5 Benkt Steentoft 2 Johan Magnusson 1 Final: Oskar Eklund 49-15 Daniel Ljungqvist 
final: Oskar Eklund - Daniel Ljungqist
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EKLUND Oskar 49-15 LJUNGQVIST Daniel Göteborg Open, final 
crosstable Gotenburg Open 2016
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Tom Schotte's interesting EGP statistics after the tournaments of Copenhagen and Warsaw:
Both Denmark and Poland are countries with traditionally few players (~15 players/tournament), only Greece and Spain (~13 players/tournament) have a lesser attendance, though interesting things occurred.
Copenhagen
- Takashi Yamakawa is the 10th player to participate and win his first EGP tournament.
o Jean François Puget (Milan 1986)
o Imre Leader (Cambridge 1986)
o David Shaman (Paris 1986)
o Takeshi Murakami (Paris 1989)
o Tetsuya Nakajima (Paris 1994)
o Pawel Peczkowski (Gdansk 2004)
o Rubèn Saiz (Barcelona 2006)
o Martin Odegard (Moss 2009)
o Keita Ohmori (Paris 2013)
o Takashi Yamakawa (Copenhagen 2016)
- Japan has taken the 10th place again in the 'points collected by players from a country', pushing Belgium back to 11th.
- Karsten Feldborg is only the 3rd player over 50 to end in the top 4. The other players are Marc Tastet and Imre Leader.
Warsaw
- Marc Tastet achieved his 50th top4 position in an EGP tournament.
- Marc Tastet is improving the age of the oldest player to play a final (and as well ending in top 3 and top 4).
- Warsaw was the 3rd final this year with a draw, according to me this is the first time this happens in one single season.
- Poland has overtaken the 5th position of United Kingdom when it concerns 'different players that have scored EGP points' (31 vs 30). Italy has still a convincing lead over France and Sweden in this (60 vs 35 different players).
- It is the first time in EGP history that the 5th position was only 0,5 point behind the Swiss leader.
- How many times did it happen that all foreigners were in the top 4 and all locals were outside? Little research learns us that at 6 occasions there were exactly 4 foreign players, but none of these tournaments had 4 foreign players in the top 4.
- 5 tournaments and 5 different winners. The last time all tournaments in a season had different winners was in 2002 (when there were only 6 tournaments). Can this be improved 14 seasons after? The names in 2002: Sperandio, Leader, Feldborg, Berg, Kashiwabara and Shaman...
Copenhagen
- Takashi Yamakawa is the 10th player to participate and win his first EGP tournament.
o Jean François Puget (Milan 1986)
o Imre Leader (Cambridge 1986)
o David Shaman (Paris 1986)
o Takeshi Murakami (Paris 1989)
o Tetsuya Nakajima (Paris 1994)
o Pawel Peczkowski (Gdansk 2004)
o Rubèn Saiz (Barcelona 2006)
o Martin Odegard (Moss 2009)
o Keita Ohmori (Paris 2013)
o Takashi Yamakawa (Copenhagen 2016)
- Japan has taken the 10th place again in the 'points collected by players from a country', pushing Belgium back to 11th.
- Karsten Feldborg is only the 3rd player over 50 to end in the top 4. The other players are Marc Tastet and Imre Leader.
Warsaw
- Marc Tastet achieved his 50th top4 position in an EGP tournament.
- Marc Tastet is improving the age of the oldest player to play a final (and as well ending in top 3 and top 4).
- Warsaw was the 3rd final this year with a draw, according to me this is the first time this happens in one single season.
- Poland has overtaken the 5th position of United Kingdom when it concerns 'different players that have scored EGP points' (31 vs 30). Italy has still a convincing lead over France and Sweden in this (60 vs 35 different players).
- It is the first time in EGP history that the 5th position was only 0,5 point behind the Swiss leader.
- How many times did it happen that all foreigners were in the top 4 and all locals were outside? Little research learns us that at 6 occasions there were exactly 4 foreign players, but none of these tournaments had 4 foreign players in the top 4.
- 5 tournaments and 5 different winners. The last time all tournaments in a season had different winners was in 2002 (when there were only 6 tournaments). Can this be improved 14 seasons after? The names in 2002: Sperandio, Leader, Feldborg, Berg, Kashiwabara and Shaman...
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Visit Tom's EGP Statistics pages:
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Top 20 of the 2016 EGP, you can find the complete list here at Othello News or at the official EGP website.
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Hiroto Yamada wins 36th Niigata Othello Challenge CupLocation: Niigata, Japan
Date: May 22nd Tourney format: 5 rounds Link: Niigata FB Top 3 of 16 players:
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European Grand Prix stage 5 in Warsaw, Poland
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Top 4 EGP Warsaw:
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Tomáš Douda wins stage 6 Czech Grand Prix Othello
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Date: May 21st
Link: Czech Federation FB page
Tourney format: 7 rounds
Tomáš Douda won 6 games and played a draw against the runner-up Miroslav Voráček. Third place for Sevara Voráčková. Best junior player Nikita Zinčenko. Tomáš Douda won the 2016 Czech Grand Prix Othello, runner-up Miroslav Voráček.
Date: May 21st
Link: Czech Federation FB page
Tourney format: 7 rounds
Tomáš Douda won 6 games and played a draw against the runner-up Miroslav Voráček. Third place for Sevara Voráčková. Best junior player Nikita Zinčenko. Tomáš Douda won the 2016 Czech Grand Prix Othello, runner-up Miroslav Voráček.
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Takanori Oshimizu wins 85th Sendai Open
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Location: Sendai, Japan
Date: May 15th Tourney format: 6 rounds Link: JOA website A total of 11 players at this 85th Sendai Open tournament. Top 3 players:
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Daniel Olivares wins Torneo OtoñoLocation: Buenos Aires, Argentine
Date: May 15th Tourney format: 5 rounds Final result:
First tournament: Maximiliano Axel Pellizzari Spinetto, Germán Vazquez and Paula Iturbide second tournament: Daniel Olivares, Alejandro Coello and Marcelo Lisnovsky |
COELLO Alejandro 43-21 OLIVARES Daniel Torneo Otono, round 2 |
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LISNOVSKY Marcelo 17-47 OLIVARES Daniel Torneo Otono, round 5 |
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Roel Hobo wins 11th Antwerp Othello Open
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SCHOTTE Tom 30-34 HOBO Roel 11th Antwerp Open, round 1 |
There were some games I played well, but in other games I have been very lucky in a lost position, especially in my game against Brecht. |
HOBO Roel 33-31 VAN DAMME Brecht 11th Antwerp Open, round 2 |
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Guy Plowman wins Hampshire Regional Othello Tournament
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Ochachi Kitano wins 169th Nagareyama OpenLocation: Nagareyama, Japan
Date: May 8th Tourney format: 6 rounds Link: JOA website Undefeated winner of this tournament, Ochachi Kitano. Runner-up, Yutaka Hagikura with 5 wins. |
Naoki Hamada wins 77th Q-LeagueLocation: Fukuoka, Japan
Date: May 8th Tourney format: 7 rounds Link: JOA website Naoki Hamada won this tournament with a perfect score of 7 wins. Runner-up, Takanao Nakano with 6 wins and 1 loss. |
Yusuke Takanashi, Yukiko Tatsumi and Kazuki Okamoto win Kanto Meijin-Sen
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Location: Tokyo, Japan
Date: May 8th Tourney format: best of 3 Kanto Meijin-Sen; Yusuke Takanashi won against Takeshi Murakami with straight 2 wins. Yusuke Takanashi 48-16 Takeshi Murakami Takeshi Murakami 26-38 Yusuke Takanashi Kanto Female Meijin-Sen; Yukiko Tatsumi won against Kyoko Takeda with straight 2 wins. Kyoko Takeda 6-58 Yukiko Tatsumi Yukiko Tatsumi 48-16 Kyoko Takeda Kanto Student Meijin-Sen; Kazuki Okamoto won against Nobuaki Mitsuya with 2 wins of 3 games. Kazuki Okamoto 27-37 Nobuaki Mitsuya Nobuaki Mitsuya 23-41 Kazuki Okamoto Nobuaki Mitsuya 26-38 Kazuki Okamoto Congratulations to all 3 champions!! |
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Takashi Yamakawa wins EGP Copenhagen
Top 4 EGP Copenhagen:
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Ranking of the 18 players after round 11:
1: 10 pts [888] YAMAKAWA Takashi (5539) {JPN} [850] EVERTS Jeroen (5231) {SWE} 3: 8 pts [844] KASHIWABARA Takuji (839) {FRA} 4: 7 pts [828] FELDBORG Karsten (92) {DNK} [812] EKLUND Oskar (150016) {SWE} 6: 6 pts [823] TASTET Marc (2) {FRA} [778] DE GRAAF Jan C. (4012) {NLD} [756] LUND JENSEN Erik (93) {DNK} [726] STEENTOFT Benkt (1301) {SWE} GARDEBRINK Christian (1505) {SWE} [659] JOHANSSON Erik (1493) {SWE} 12: 5 pts [729] KORTENDIJK Albert (5012) {NLD} [720] SCHOTTE Tom (2795) {BEL} 14: 4 pts [590] BADSTED Palle (1025) {DNK} 15: 3 pts [572] LITSAS Andreas (300018) {GRC} 16: 2 pts [579] FAHLESON Rikard (150045) {SWE} [529] AAGAARD-HANSEN Jens (1019) {DNK} 18: 0 pt [461] WIDMAN Linnea (150055) {SWE} |
Top 15 players EGP 2016 after 4 stages
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25 years agoToday (May 5th) is the 25th anniversary of the 1991 U.S. Open Othello Championship in New York. My first Othello tournament. Brian Rose vs Greg Johnson in the picture as Arnold Kling looks on. |
from left: KANG Le, SONG Yan, LIU Yaqing, WANG Weiwei
Ranking after round 7：
1: 7 [461]Song Yan 2: 5 [400]Jia Baolong 3: 4 [396]Kang Le 4: 4 [377]Wang Weiwei 5: 4 [365]Ji Zihui 6: 4 [361]Chen Xu 7: 3 [374]Yu Tao 8: 3 [354]Dian Dashan 9: 1 [282]Liu Yaqing |
SONG Yan wins 5th Beijing Othello OpenLocation: Beijing, China
Date: May 2nd Tourney format: 7 Swiss preliminaries; semifinals 1vs4,2vs3; finals. Song Yan, the winner of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Beijing Open, succesfully defended his title. Of a field of 9 players, 4 players qualified for the semifinals, Song Yan, Jia Baolong, Kang Le and Wang Weiwei. Wang lost to Song and Kang won against Jia. In the final the Kang Le lost to Song Yan 26-38. The playoff for third place was won 39-25 by Wang Weiwei. Top 3 of Beijing Open 2016~
Best female player: LIU Yaqing (just like she was in 2013, 2014 and 2015). 
winner: SONG Yan
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WANG Weiwei 14-50 SONG Yan 5th Beijing Open, semifinal |
KANG Le 33-31 JIA Baolong 5th Beijing Open, semifinal |
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WANG Weiwei 39-25 JIA Baolong 5th Beijing Open, playoff 3rd/4th place |
KANG Le 26-38 SONG Yan 5th Beijing Open, final |
Bintsa Andriani wins Tournoi d'Albert
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Location: Albert, France
Date: May 1st Tourney format: 5 rounds Link: FFO website Jacky Bruiant organised this first Othello tournament in the Hauts-de-France region. The name of the region tricked me into thinking the tournament was held in some high up place in the French mountains, but it is a new Region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014 by the merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Bintsa Andriani won the tournament and it seems it was easy going for him because he won all his games. 1: 5. pts [263] ANDRIANI Bintsa (45) {MDG} 2: 4. pts [208] MILLOT Jean-Marc (50076) {FRA} 3: 3. pts [199] BÉTIN Dominique (419) {FRA} [197] BOULENGER Sophie (9058) {FRA} [150] BRUIANT Jacky (50028) {FRA} 6: 2. pts [155] TIMMERMAN Jean-Louis (9061) {FRA} [119] LABIS Albert (9060) {FRA} [111] OVION Jacques (275) {FRA} 9: 1.5 pts [144] MANSET Alexis (9059) {FRA} [114] CARTON Mickaël (9057) {FRA} 11: 1. pt [60] -CARTON Patrick (9056) {FRA} |
BÉTIN Dominique 26-38 ANDRIANI Bintsa Tournoi d'Albert |
Takuji Kashiwabara wins 5th Ferrara Othello OpenLocation: Ferrara, Italy
Date: May 1st Tourney format: 7 rounds Link: LiveOthello, FB, FNGO website At the start of the 7th and final round, both Takuji Kashiwabara (FRA) and Francesco Marconi (ITA) had 6 points. It all came down to their final game in round 7 and Francesco lost 27-37 to Takuji. Giuseppe Chiarulli was awarded the title of master thanks to his result in the overall ranking! 1: Takuji Kashiwabara, 7 pnts 2: Francesco Marconi, 6 pnts 3: Giuseppe Chiarulli, 4 pnts 4-5: Michele Diodati, 3,5 pnts Gianluca Ilacqua, 3,5 pnts 6: Damiano Foschi, 3 pnts 7: Chiara Gigliucci, 1 pnt 8: Maria Serena Vecchi, 0 pnts On Saturday, Takuji played the Championship of Switzerland, near Geneva, where he won 7 out of 7 games. On Sunday, he played this Italian tournament in Ferrara in northeastern Italy where he also won 7 out of 7. |
MARCONI Francesco 27-37 KASHIWABARA Takuji Ferrara Othello Open, round 7 |
Nordic Champions 1985-2016
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Martin Ødegård wins Nordic Championship 2016
Location: Oslo, Norway
Date: April 30 - May 1st Tourney format: single round-robin Link: LiveOthello, pictures, FB eventpage, Norges Othelloforbund website, SOF website The Nordic Championship is an open Championship for the Nordic countries; Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The championship was first held in Copenhagen in 1985 and rotates through the Nordic countries. Karsten Feldborg and Erik Lund Jensen are the leading Nordic players of all times, with eight and five individual Nordic titles respectively. In 2015 The Nordic Championship was held in Finland and the champion was Finnish player Lari Pihlajapuro. This year the tournament is held in Oslo. Will it result in a Norwegian winner? We have to go back to 2007 to find a Norwegian champion. That year the championship was also held in Oslo and Martin Ødegård (NOR) won the title after a battle with runner-up Henry Aspenryd (SWE). The only other Norwegian winner since 1985 was Johan Dovland who won in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Go Norway! |
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ØDEGÅRD Martin 36-28 VALLUND Henrik Nordic Championship, round 3 |
Three players have collected 6 points in the seven rounds that were played on the first day of tournament: Jan Kristian Haugland (NOR), Henrik Vallund (DNK) and Martin Ødegård (NOR).
Nine Norwegian players in this field of 13. My bet is on a Norwegian victory. Sorry Henrik :) 
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Kim Orbeck-Nilssen - Martin Ödegård
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What did they do when they were done playing? They played Othello!!!!!!!
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Ranking of the 13 players after round 13:
1: 12 pts [529] Odegard Martin (2560) {NOR} 2: 10 pts [538] Haugland Jan Kristian (1868) {NOR} [507] Danielsen Jostein (2583) {NOR} 4: 9 PTS [491] Vallund Henry (96) {DNK} 5: 8 PTS [468] Albrigtsen Vidar (2570) {NOR} [429] Nielsen Kim J. (1045) {DNK} 7: 7 PTS [429] Tvedt Sverre (140031) {NOR} [414] Boe Alexander (1878) {NOR} 9: 6 PTS [406] Skogen Tor Birger (1802) {NOR} [395] Olsen Pal Tore (2511) {NOR} 11: 4 PTS [395] Badsted Palle (1025) {DNK} 12: 2 PTS [280] Orbeck-Nilssen Kim Andre (140048) {NOR} [231] Stokke Solrun (1981) {DNK} Results Nordic Team Championship 2016: 1. Norway 1 (Danielsen, Haugland, Ødegård) 32 pts 2. Norway 2 (Albrigtsen, Bøe, Skogen) and Denmark 1 (Badsted, Nielsen, Vallund) 20 pts 4. Norway 3 (Olsen, Tvedt, Ørbeck-Nilssen) 15 pts 5. Greenland 1 (Stokke) 2 pts |
Martin Ødegård won the Nordic Championship for the second time. It was a great victory with 12 wins and only one 39-25 loss against Alexander Bøe in round 4.
Three rounds before the end Henrik Vallund (Nordic Champion in 1998) and Martin Ødegård both had 9 points. It looked like it would be a close finnish for these two great players. But Henrik finished 4th with 9 points as he lost his game in round 11 against Alexander Bøe 20-44, in round 12 against Tor Birger Skogen 34-30 and in round 13 a 23-41 loss against Vidar Albrigtsen. Martin on the other hand continued his winning streak and won 6-58 against Solrun Stokke in round 10, 36-28 against Jan Kristian Haugland in round 12 and 21-43 against Pal Tore Olsen in the final round. Runner-up is Jan Kristian Haugland (runner-up in 1998) and third place for Jostein Danielsen (runner-up in 2012), both with 10 points. |
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DANIELSEN Jostein 26-38 HAUGLAND Jan Kristian Nordic Championship, round 10 |
Martin Ødegård - Jan Kristian Haugland
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ØDEGÅRD Martin 36-28 HAUGLAND Jan Kristian Nordic Championship, round 12 |
Swiss Othello Championship: Takuji Kashiwabara wins the tournament, Arthur Juigner is Swiss Othello Champion
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Location: Vésenaz, Switzerland
Date: April 30th Tourney format: 5 rounds and final Link: Swiss Othello Federation We played a round-robin with Italian order (the stronger players play against each other for the last round). As expected, Takuji and Arthur ended at the 2 first ranks. Arthur lost all his games against Takuji, so the European Champion won this tournament. Arthur is Swiss champion for 2016. |
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