Othello news
3rd European Championship
13 May 2024Written by Othello News
This year, the third European Championship was held in the charming small town of Oudenaarde in Belgium. Oudenaarde is a typical small town in Flanders, built by the Ename River in the 1100s. It started with a castle and grew into a small town with classic Flemish style: a market square with a town hall and a church, surrounded by houses with shops and restaurants on the ground floor, and the owners and staff living upstairs. All the houses are painted in different colors, making the town look like a necklace of colorful beads.
The EOC venue was near the marketplace, at Bernarduscollege. It’s a beautiful school building from the early 1800s. The EOC organizers secured a perfect location for the tournament, a large room that can hold many players, with high ceilings, good lighting, and good air circulation. It was set up for a great tournament!
| These were the local conditions: a pleasant town, good hotels, nice surroundings, a perfect venue, and an enthusiastic tournament management. What was needed now were the players. And the players came! 66 players from 14 European countries. They were eager to play, happy, excited, and hungry for victories, and to have fun with other Othello enthusiasts. The European Championship, part of the World Othello Series, is a two-day tournament. There are 11 rounds, followed by finals in different classes and categories. There were 25 trophies to be awarded to the 66 players. But before the trophies were handed out, 382 Othello matches would be played. |
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| The players played minimum 11 games, 25 minutes time per match. That's almost 9 hours thinking time for all players. And it was players from 9 year old to 76. Othello is a world there age difference isn't a issue. Everyone can play Othello and have fun! This year, the new online pairing system from flipthedisc.com was used. It made it easy for everyone to follow the EOC and even watch some matches live, both on Flip the Disc and LiveOthello. We recommend readers visit the EOC tournament page to follow the rounds and watch the matches there. |
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After the 11 rounds were completed, Makoto Suekuni, who now lives in the Netherlands, faced Oskar Eklund from Sweden in the final. It was two tight matches and a great final. Oskar, who was fifth in EOC 2022 and fourth in EOC 2023, made it to the final and finished second in the tournament. Makoto Suekuni now joins Alessandro di Mattei and Michele Borassi as European Champion. There were many winners at the EOC. There were eight different classes and categories. You can find all the winners on the EOC website. We hope to write more about interesting matches and interview players and winners. |
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We want to thank the Belgian organizers for a fantastic weekend! The EOC was well organized, with perfect and delicious lunch sandwiches, good venues, a social and friendly atmosphere, and a fun Saturday evening with dinner. It is not yet decided where EOC 2025 will be held. Those interested in being organizers are welcome to contact the WOF Office. |
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