Othello News November 2013
Matthias Berg wins Cambridge Christmas FriendlyLocation: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Date: November 30th Tourney format: 8-round round-robin-plus-modified-swiss Five players turned up for the Cambridge Xmas Friendly today, but the field was pretty good, as more than half of the contestants had been 2nd in the World Championship at some point. We were vey pleased to welcome a new player, Gokce Balkan, from Turkey by way of Brighton. And the international flavour was compounded by the presence of Matthias Berg (GER). The player back from retirement was Graham Brightwell! He claims that he never retired, but I lost track of his explanation of how stopping playing for 6 years did not count as retirement. Final results:
Matthias was unbeaten. In his draw with Imre, he managed to make a flipping error at move 58 (he'd have won 33-31 otherwise). Imre had missed a win at move 53. Imre and Matthias were the two players with only one bye. Note that, very impressively, Gocke managed to win a game from Roy. report by Imre Leader on British Othello Yahoo mailinglist |
Matthias Berg (at OWC)
Graham Brightwell at WOC 2007 in Athens. He finished second at the WOC 3 times, in 1988 , 1989 and in 1997.
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In Memoriam: Michael Handel (1970 - 2013)
Michael Handel at WOC 2010
Dear Othello Players,
I am so sorry to report that Michael Handel has died.
He was diagnosed recently with cancer of the lungs and brain. He was in a hospice for the past few weeks (where he was very well looked after), and he was not in pain for his last few days. His father and brother were with him.
All Othello players will miss his wonderful cheeky cheery funny manner, and his incredibly creativity and insight into the game. He was always pure fun to be around.
Best wishes, Imre Leader
from the BOF mailinglist November 27th
I am so sorry to report that Michael Handel has died.
He was diagnosed recently with cancer of the lungs and brain. He was in a hospice for the past few weeks (where he was very well looked after), and he was not in pain for his last few days. His father and brother were with him.
All Othello players will miss his wonderful cheeky cheery funny manner, and his incredibly creativity and insight into the game. He was always pure fun to be around.
Best wishes, Imre Leader
from the BOF mailinglist November 27th
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Michael Handel was one of the top British players. He was taught the game by Joel Feinstein when he was a student at Leeds University in the late 1980's.
He played at nine World Othello Championships: 1991, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 1992 and 1997 he was a member of the UK team that won the World Team Championship. Michael won the Cambridge Open and the British Grand Prix in 2003. The British National Championship title was his in 2009. Winner of the first Jakarta Othello Open in 2011. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends. |
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Othello Graph features Bengt SteentoftSatoshi Koide started his Japanese Othello website "Othello Graph" in October, just before the start of the World Othello Championship in Stockholm. The site looks great and the articles are interesting to read (in my case with the help of Google translate).
Latest article is an interview with Bengt Steentoft who was in Japan 2 weeks ago. The pictures that Bengt himself posted on facebook, gave me the impresion that all he did in Japan was eat his favourite food, but he also played in a tourney, had meetings with Megahouse and found time for this interview with Satoshi. 
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Diego Sagrera wins Argentina Torneo Amistad I
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Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date: 24th November, 2013 Tourney format: 7 rounds Othello and barbeque to welcome the Swedish Othello friends, WOC female champion 2012 Veronica Stenberg and Henry Aspenryd. Diego Sagrera and David Nakasone did not play the first round and both got 0.5 points and 0 discs for round 1. Diego lost only 1 game and that was a 10 - 54 loss against Veronica Stenberg in round 5. Runner-up Henry lost 28 - 36 against Diego in round 4 and also lost 35 - 29 against Alejandro Coello in round 5. Final result: Diego Sagrera 5,5 points 209 discs Henry Aspenryd 5 points 297 discs Veronica Stenberg 5 points 287 discs Alejandro Coello 4,5 points 245 discs Maximiliano Axel Pellizzari 4 points 267 discs Marcelo Lisnovsky 4 points 219 discs Daniel Olivares 3,5 points 237 discs Paula Iturbide 3 points 213 discs David Nakasone 2,5 points 197 discs Pablo Coll 2,5 points 167 discs Max Seifert 2 points 147 discs Mercedes Cohen 0,5 points 139 discs |
Henry and Veronica on their way to Buenos Aires
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Invitation to OWC in Singapore for European players. Deadline November 22nd
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It proves to be nearly impossible to find 10 European players for the OWC in Singapore, January 15th - 18th, 2014. Right after the World Othello Championship, the OWC tourney organisation invited top European players to the OWC. When only 1 player, Francesco Marconi, confimed he would come, the invitation was extended to European players in the top 400 of the World Othello Federation Ratinglist. As there was only 1 additional positive response, the tourney is now open for all!!!!
If you want to compete in Singapore with the best players Asia has to offer, please send an email to owc2013@gmail.com. Latest November 22nd! The host invites you to two free lunches and the victory dinner. The host in Singapore, JOA and Megahouse welcome you to Singapore! update November 26th: now online OWC Singapore players page |
Solrun Isbjørnen Stokke wins 1st Greenland Othello ChampionshipLocation: Nuuk, Greenland
Date: November 17th, 2013 Tourney format: 2 games + final Due to a severe snow blizzard, only two players at this tourney: Solrun Isbjørnen Stokke and Sophie Kjelstrup. The two ladies played two rounds, both won by Solrun (17-47, 47-17). The final ended 64-0. With only 2 players at the first Greenland Championship, I wonder if there will be a second one. A stray icebear could have made the tourney more interesting, but no mention of them in the tourney report. |
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Borja Moreno wins Spanish National Othello Championship
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Location: Madrid, Spain
Date: November 16th Tourney format: 5 rounds, final and playoffs Results after 5 rounds:
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Final:
Borja Moreno 34 - 30 Roman Kraczyk Playoff 3rd / 4th place: Rubén Saiz 40 - 24 Javier Martín Playoff 5th / 6th place: Ricardo Budiño 36 - 28 Luis Martí Final standings:
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KRACZYK Roman 30 - 34 MORENO Borja Spanish National Championship 2013, final |
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Jan C. de Graaf wins 13th Dutch Blitz TourneyLocation: Lexmond, Netherlands
Date: November 16th, 2013 Tourney Format: 20 rounds, 5 minutes per player Number of players: 6 Only 6 players at this tourney but we all had a great time. There was even time to play billiards and darts. Green was certainly the theme of the day. There were some missflips and timeouts but all in all the tourney went very well.
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Othello: Game of the Century by Takeshi Murakami ( Japan Quarterly, 2000)
August 6, 1997. Takeshi Murakami (r), in his second game against a computer, programmed by Michael Buro (l). Picture links to online article by Josh Rolnick
Match report by Michael Buro
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Takeshi Murakami (WOC 1996, 1998 and 2000) has an Othello blog (note: the blog has moved and can now be found here) that is very interesting to read. It's in Japanese but you can use a browser translator. The blog shows lots of replayable games. Takeshi failed to qualify for the OWC 2014. At my request he sent me the transcript of his game in the playoff against Masaki Takizawa. As I was searching online for a picture of Takeshi, I stumbled upon the Murakami-Logisthello story. Takeshi has been so kind to send me an article that he contributed in 2000 to the "Japan Quarterly", titled "Othello, Game of the Century". It is really very interesting to read. In this article he describes his encounter with Othello, how he got hooked on the game and how he realized his dream and became World Champion. He also explains why he played against Logistello, how the match progressed and the insights he gained through playing against the then strongest computer program in the world. On page 3 the story of his semifinal against Gary Edmead at the WOC 1996 unfolds and it is a real thriller. 
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EDMEAD Gary 29 - 35 MURAKAMI Takeshi WOC 1996, semi-final game 3 |
LOGISTELLO 37 - 27 MURAKAMI Takeshi Princeton, August 1997, game 6 |
Tom Schotte wins 88 Othello TourneyLocation: Waarschoot, Belgium
Date: November 11th, 2013 Tourney format: 5 rounds The first official 88 Othello tourney in Europe was played in Belgium on the 11th of the 11th. Winner was Tom Schotte and runnerup was Nick Reunes. Nick defeated Tom in round 2 and might have won the tourney, if he had not lost against Jeroen de Wael in the final 5th round. Tom and Nick both finished with 4 points and Tom won the tourney as he had won most discs. 
88 Waarschoot, standings after 5 rounds
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transcript Nick Reunes - Tom Schotte, round 2
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OWC 2014, Japan National Team final selection won by Yusuke Takanashi
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Location: Tokyo, Japan
Date: November 10th, 2013 Tourney format: 7 rounds Top 3 after 7 rounds: Yusuke Takanashi 7 points Kenta Tominaga 6 points Tetsu Satani 6 points Playoffs: Makoto SueKuni 28 - 36 Tomohiro Ohno Masaki Takizawa 37 - 27 Takeshi Murakami
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TAKIZAWA Masaki 37 - 27 MURAKAMI Takeshi OWC 2014 qualification, playoff |
"I think I was ahead in the middle of the game, but I was not able to keep the advantage into the endgame. Takizawa's endgame was perfect. This defeat was a small shock to me, as I had never been closer to qualifying myself to a world event since 2002. They say the OWC 2014 will be the last one and that there will only be WOC's after 2015. I guess I have just missed the biggest opportunity, in the latter half of my Othello career, to qualify for a world event." |
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SUEKUNI Makoto 33 - 31 NAKAJIMA Tetsuya OWC 2014 qualification, round 4 |
TAKIZAWA Masaki 22 - 42 TOMINAGA Kenta OWC 2014 qualification, round 7 |
SUEKUNI Makoto 28 - 36 OHNO Tomohiro OWC 2014 qualification, playoff |
Yukiko Tatsumi-Iijima, Tetsuya Nakajima and Yusuke Takanashi at OWC 2014 qualification tourney
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link to results (in Japanese)
link to OWC 2014 homepage
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Thanks by Bengt Steentoft
Hello all!
Two weeks ago the WOC 2013 ended. I will now thank all who made those days possible! WOC 2013 was 12 hard work days to make all to be ok! If you never arranged a WOC before, I can recommend it. After you will feel tired, empty and sleep in days. But I hope players and spectators liked it.
I want to thank many persons who made this WOC 2013 to a fun event!
Stéphane Nicolet and Emmanuel Lazard! What a team! Pairings, live Othello and managed to get up the games for each round in record time! I am very amazed!
Niklas Wettergren, Simon Ingelman-Sundberg and Martin Fransen who gave you Liveothello. 13 rounds in 13 hours liveothello! Thanks guys! You did a great work!
Trees van Seggelen and Mateusz Sosnowski who worked hard and did a splendid work with Othelllo News and WOC 2013 facebook! I am so impressed at your works! And I am sure all players who followed the news thought the same!
Jan Zemelka and Arvid Kjellberg who I sent all over Stockhlm to pick up material to the WOC and also worked hard with the coffee, lunches and took care at all players in the room between the games. They got big help from Malin Jeppsson, Doris Schneider, Bo Hellgren and the guards at the castle. Big thanks also to all in the Swedish Othello Federation who supported and helped as Henry Aspenryd, Uffe Bengtsson,Marcus Frönmark, Nils Berner, Maria Nyman and many more!
Thanks to all sponsors who made this possible! Those great players in the WOF Sponsorgroup who sponsored a BIG part of the WOC 2013! And also thanks to Franssons Glasmästeri, Bergakungen, Engelen, Livrustkammaren and more. A big thanks to Anjar so we could arrange the 37th WOC!
Have I forgotten someone, I am sorry! But dont feel forgotten! many thanks to you too!
Last I want to thank all Othelloplayers all over the World. They who was there and also all players who was not there but supported WOC 2013 anyway!
Thanks all!
And again a big congratulations to Kazuki Okamoto and Katie Wu! You are the real World Champions 2013! Congratulations!
Dear Othello friends! We hope that WOC 2014 will be a good success too, and we hope to meet you there! We will need your help to make it possible, your support and your positivity! make Othello well known! Play Othello live and online! Play in the local tourneys, or why not arrange tourneys in your country? Help others to start playing!
I am sure 2014 will be a great Othello year!! Are you?
Bengt Steentoft, Head Tourney Director WOF
Two weeks ago the WOC 2013 ended. I will now thank all who made those days possible! WOC 2013 was 12 hard work days to make all to be ok! If you never arranged a WOC before, I can recommend it. After you will feel tired, empty and sleep in days. But I hope players and spectators liked it.
I want to thank many persons who made this WOC 2013 to a fun event!
Stéphane Nicolet and Emmanuel Lazard! What a team! Pairings, live Othello and managed to get up the games for each round in record time! I am very amazed!
Niklas Wettergren, Simon Ingelman-Sundberg and Martin Fransen who gave you Liveothello. 13 rounds in 13 hours liveothello! Thanks guys! You did a great work!
Trees van Seggelen and Mateusz Sosnowski who worked hard and did a splendid work with Othelllo News and WOC 2013 facebook! I am so impressed at your works! And I am sure all players who followed the news thought the same!
Jan Zemelka and Arvid Kjellberg who I sent all over Stockhlm to pick up material to the WOC and also worked hard with the coffee, lunches and took care at all players in the room between the games. They got big help from Malin Jeppsson, Doris Schneider, Bo Hellgren and the guards at the castle. Big thanks also to all in the Swedish Othello Federation who supported and helped as Henry Aspenryd, Uffe Bengtsson,Marcus Frönmark, Nils Berner, Maria Nyman and many more!
Thanks to all sponsors who made this possible! Those great players in the WOF Sponsorgroup who sponsored a BIG part of the WOC 2013! And also thanks to Franssons Glasmästeri, Bergakungen, Engelen, Livrustkammaren and more. A big thanks to Anjar so we could arrange the 37th WOC!
Have I forgotten someone, I am sorry! But dont feel forgotten! many thanks to you too!
Last I want to thank all Othelloplayers all over the World. They who was there and also all players who was not there but supported WOC 2013 anyway!
Thanks all!
And again a big congratulations to Kazuki Okamoto and Katie Wu! You are the real World Champions 2013! Congratulations!
Dear Othello friends! We hope that WOC 2014 will be a good success too, and we hope to meet you there! We will need your help to make it possible, your support and your positivity! make Othello well known! Play Othello live and online! Play in the local tourneys, or why not arrange tourneys in your country? Help others to start playing!
I am sure 2014 will be a great Othello year!! Are you?
Bengt Steentoft, Head Tourney Director WOF
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