WOC 2015 Results and Reports
Interview with Marie (sorry Marie I misspronounced your name..... again) Lightman, chair of the British Othello Federation. The 39th WOC is bound to be a great success.
October 28th
welcome reception, first round pairing
The venue for World Othello Championship 2015:
The University Center, Cambridge
Granta Place, Cambridge CB2 1RU
Wednesday evening of any WOC is all about meeting friends, speeches, badges, introducing players and.... pairings for round 1. The seeded players were distributed over table 1 to 9. Then the other players drew their "lucky" table number.
Team Japan brought me Othello chocolates (thank you Yukiko), this will surely bring luck on their side :)
The University Center, Cambridge
Granta Place, Cambridge CB2 1RU
Wednesday evening of any WOC is all about meeting friends, speeches, badges, introducing players and.... pairings for round 1. The seeded players were distributed over table 1 to 9. Then the other players drew their "lucky" table number.
Team Japan brought me Othello chocolates (thank you Yukiko), this will surely bring luck on their side :)
October 29th
round 1 - 7
Three registered players for the WOC but missing due to passport and visa problems: Jeannot Ourega and Goda Roger Togba from Ivory Coast and Pavel Radzivilovsky from Israel. A pity they will miss out on a great tournament an bad Luck for British reserve player Iain Barrass who was very eager to play.
Round 1:
First game to finish was Katsiaryna Zhuk who won 29-35 against Xiang Wei Tey. Second pair down in the coffee room was Jacky Fu and Matthias Berg. They immediately sat down to analyze the game, which was won by Matthias 37-27.
Ben Seeley played at table 1 against Marie Lightman, chair of the British Othello Federation, Ben was nice enough to leave her 6 discs. Marie really enjoyed the game against this strong opponent.
Of the seeded players Piyanat Aunchulee was the only one to lose his first round game. He had a very difficult opponent, Junya Ito.
Round 1:
First game to finish was Katsiaryna Zhuk who won 29-35 against Xiang Wei Tey. Second pair down in the coffee room was Jacky Fu and Matthias Berg. They immediately sat down to analyze the game, which was won by Matthias 37-27.
Ben Seeley played at table 1 against Marie Lightman, chair of the British Othello Federation, Ben was nice enough to leave her 6 discs. Marie really enjoyed the game against this strong opponent.
Of the seeded players Piyanat Aunchulee was the only one to lose his first round game. He had a very difficult opponent, Junya Ito.
Piyanat Aunchulee
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AUNCHULEE Piyanat 30-34 ITO Junya (Round 1) 39th WOC Cambridge |
Round 2:
While round 2 was beeing played there was a meeting in the coffee room with WOF and JOA official. Later on I had an interview with Hiroyoshi Kudo from the Japan Othello organisation. Shinya Fujii from Bantai was kind enough to act as translator.
While round 2 was beeing played there was a meeting in the coffee room with WOF and JOA official. Later on I had an interview with Hiroyoshi Kudo from the Japan Othello organisation. Shinya Fujii from Bantai was kind enough to act as translator.
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14 players with 2 wins after round 2:
Michele Borassi defeated Junya Ito in a very exciting game. Michele seems to find it hard to sit still when the pressure is on. Great to see a player so very eager to play. Arthur Juigner still has not lost a game, I would love to see him in the semifinals. But of course, I also want team Netherlands in the semifinals. Seems hardly any room left for team Japan :). BORASSI Michele 34-30 ITO Junya (Round 2) 39th WOC Cambridge 
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players with 2 wins after round 2
TASTET Marc 22-42 JUIGNER Arthur (Round 2) 39th WOC Cambridge 
6 players with 3 points after round 3
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Round 4:
After a nice lunch at the University Centre restaurant the players got ready for round 4. Two employees from sponsor "John Adams" came to see what was happening here. On table 4 Arthur Juigner won against Steven Robinson 24-40. Steven played most of the game standing up. Table 3: Yusuke Takanashi 40-24 Imre Leader. On table 2, last year's finalists Makoto Suekuni 42-22 against Ben Seeley. Table 1: another win for Bartlomiej Sury 35-29 Matthias Berg. The list of players with a perfect score keeps getting shorter. |
Top 4 after 4 rounds
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TAKANASHI Yusuke 40-24 LEADER Imre (Round 4) 39th WOC Cambridge |
SUEKUNI Makoto 42-22 SEELEY Ben (Round 4) 39th WOC Cambridge |
SURY Bartłomiej 35-29 BERG Matthias (Round 4) 39th WOC Cambridge |
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Round 5:
The big surprise of round 5: Arthur Juigner 35-29 Yusuke Takanashi. Or maybe it was not really such a big surprise because we all know what a great player Arthur is and that at the age of thirteen. 
Yusuke Takanashi and Arthur Juigner
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JUIGNER Arthur 35-29 TAKANASHI Yusuke (Round 5) 39th WOC Cambridge |
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Round 6:
Arthur Juigner leads after round 6, but the competition is right behind him. He defeated the two Japanese favourites one after the other, playing black in both games. He won against Yusuke Takanashi in round 5 35-29 (see above) and this round he won 40-24 against Makoto Suekuni. Well done! Othello News is happy to see two Dutchmen in the top 5. While round 6 was beeing played I played a game with Hiroyoshi Kudo from Japan Othello Association. 38 -26 for me, I feel like a champion :) |
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ITO Junya 30-34 VAN DEN BIGGELAAR Nicky (Round 6) 39th WOC Cambridge |
JUIGNER Arthur 40-24 SUEKUNI Makoto (Round 6) 39th WOC Cambridge |
Round 7:
The first game to finish was Takuji Kashiwabara 45-19 Arthur Juigner. Nicky van den Biggelaar had a big 53-11 win against Ben Seeley. Makoto Suekuni played against Jan de Graaf who had a great first day of tournament and scored 5/7.
The first game to finish was Takuji Kashiwabara 45-19 Arthur Juigner. Nicky van den Biggelaar had a big 53-11 win against Ben Seeley. Makoto Suekuni played against Jan de Graaf who had a great first day of tournament and scored 5/7.
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VAN DEN BIGGELAAR Nicky 53-11 SEELEY Ben (Round 7) 39th WOC Cambridge |
SUEKUNI Makoto 36-28 DE GRAAF Jan C. (Round 7) 39th WOC Cambridge |
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