Tantrix Tournament Reports

[blick]

Hey Everybody!

We proudly announce, that next year's World Tantrix Open will be held in Hungary! After huge success in Edinburgh we hope we can do at least as good job as Julia & Steven did

The date is already fixed: 23-25 July, 2010. In the following weeks, months we are going to publish all details about the tournament, like venue, side-events and programs you can do during your stay.

Hopefully all of you can manage to be here, as the date is known very early

Feel free to spread the word!

[ellajolie]

OOOOH what a difficult date......

For me it's not possible to make it. It's in the middle of the summerholliday.



but feel free to change the date

[Greenfox]

*Joyce for president!*

Sadly I have the same problem, and the same wishes.

[Snuitje]

*Joyce for president!*

and me too

[snuggled]

I already have plans for that weekend

[dunadan]

Now I have plans for that weekend too: the WO!

[Bdot]

In the middle of the summer holidays - good time for me!

[NiklasA]

in the middle of the holidays, means no university, which is good! It might work... all depends on how I work during the summer... but I'll try to keep the dates free.

[Vilda]

I have to work

[Noodles]

Ah yes, work.... that thing that gets in the way of Tantrix
Thanks for the advance notice, I shall do my utmost to get there
_________________
**** Tantrix is not a game.... it's a disease ****

[ILLES]

I am the first player on 2.WTO

[igor85]

i think i will be here in Budapest so i should be able to join

is the venue already chosen? (just curious where itll be exactly)

[blick]

Hi Everybody!

It's time for some information about this year’s WTO. To enter, please click here.

Time
As already announced the WTO will be held between July 23-25, 2010. However, you are welcome to extend your stay to get a closer look to Budapest or Hungary.

Venue
The location will be definitely in central Budapest, so you can already book your flights (-; We have several options for the venue, but hopefully we can announce it in the coming weeks.

Accommodation
We will arrange a student hostel or some other budget option as a group accommodation. Please let us know if you are looking for a different solution, like a hotel or private room. We would be glad to help finding something nearby, so the team can stay fairly close in order to have more fun in the evenings.

Entry Fee and Prizes
The entry fee for the WTO will be 7000 HUF (~26 €). This includes sandwiches and drinks /soft drink, tea, coffee/ for the weekend. The top three players, the best Rising Star and the best U18 player will get prizes.

Tournament Format
After last year’s extensive discussions and the experience from the first WTO we have decided to run the tournament in Swiss format. The exact method and the number of rounds on each day will be announced when we get closer to the WTO, after the entrants number has been finalized.

Palago World Championship on Friday
We will organize the Palago World Championship (www.playpalago.com) on Friday. Everybody can enter, even if you don't play in the WTO. If you are about to enter send an e-mail about it to blick (blick88@gmail.com). Depending on number of entries we plan to run it from Friday morning.

Friday Evening
In the evening, we will have an auction of the players, where you can bet on who will be the top three players in the tournament (like in NZO in 2008, or GO this year). Detailed rules will be explained beforehand. Don't forget to bring your wallet d-:

WTO Logo Competition
It's time to get creative! If you have some ideas for a WTO logo, please send it to blick (blick88@gmail.com) before June 1, 2010. Of course, anybody can take part, not only those who are planning to attend the WTO. The winner gets a prize, but that's a surprise (-:

Hungarian OpenCake
The Hungarian OpenCake competition will be held for the third consecutive year. On Saturday morning bring your favorite cake or cookie and the players will decide which is the best! The top three will be prized.

[igor85]

[blick]

I don't know anything about the expenses of organizing GO, but e.g. I can imagine, that our venue is more expensive in the city center of Budapest. We don't have profit from the tournament, you can be sure all this money will be spent for the players. (Last year we had 25 € and even with a relatively cheap venue we had to add money to cover all the costs.)

[igor85]

great, köszi (-:

[benopi]

Well we have our tickets booked, we will arrive on Thursday, leave on Monday.
If the hostel has double rooms I'm interested otherwise I'd like to know where
the venue will be, so I can look around for a place nearby.

Ben

[fafa]

I might (though very very unsure yet) attend the hungarian open. I saw there was going to be a palago championship as well.
Anyone here interested in a few online practise rounds?
email me (emailadress in player details) to arrange a date or invite me for a game when you see me in the lobby.
_________________
May the forced be with you

[flohuels]

yeah, i now planned a 2 week holiday trip by a rented camper to HUNGARY!!

And I already created a logo for the WTO logo competition still not sure, if i can make it perfect before sending it...?!

Oh, and I should really practice my (not yet existing) Palago skills...
_________________

[egmaria]

Igor, could be that the GO is sponsored (eg by the mathematicum...).

Flohuels, 2 weeks in Hungary! that sounds great. let me know if you need any help for spending your time here. I might have some good tips for you.

[Zormac]

[blick]

The WTO will be the perfect place to further trial the new "112 tile" rule that was already well tested at the recent NZO.

Basically, tournament table games should also be played in pairs, whenever two players are ready to start a game, they find two other players also ready to start.
Ideally there should be tables big enough for two games simultaneously, bu if this is not possible, two small table close to each other should work ok.

New rules:
1. First all 56 tiles from both bags are thoroughly mixes together, then randomly split back into the tow bags. Each bag now has 56 tiles but many will be duplicated, and some will be missing.
2. Play must commence simultaneously in both games.
3. As the game progresses, players may watch which tiles have been drawn in both games.
4. Towards the endgame good players should be able to calculate which tiles are still potentially available.

NB: The purpose of the new rule is to handicap the best players (who in recent years are winning too often).
Of course, even towards the endgame, the very best players can only calculate the probability that a given tile might still be in their bag. They can never actually know for sure, and this should give lesser players a much fairer chance of winning any particular game. Hopefully these more friendly rules will make the Budapest competition much more appealing to the world wide Tantrix community, not just a few elite players!

[Noodles]

Do we get to choose our own music this time ? I found that "Highway to Hell" was a little distracting in my headphones.
_________________
**** Tantrix is not a game.... it's a disease ****

[Zormac]

and if it's not 112, please call 112.

[benopi]

Actually not a bad idea for a new kind of doubles tournament,
but personally I think it is wrong to split the tiles into two bags.
One bag would be better, faster players will get to play more tiles !