1st World Tantrix Open
Come and conquer the Tantrix world!
Tantrix takes over the kaleidosphere! Image © Camera Obscura, Edinburgh.
Introduction ** Please fill in the form at the bottom of this page if you are interested in taking part **
The first ever World Tantrix Open (and the 8th British Open) will take place in June 2009 in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the UK. The tournament venue is a past and future Commonwealth Games venue which lies in the shadow of the ancient (extinct!) volcano called Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh's most prominent landmark.
When? - the weekend of 13/14 June 2009 (plus an optional extra day on Friday 12 June)
Where? - the Commonwealth Suite at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh, Scotland
Accommodation? - available in the beautifully situated Pollock Halls, next to the tournament venue
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ben Thomas ('Retro') for being our eyes and ears on the ground in Edinburgh during venue selection - we are sure we have found the most appropriate venue, and without his help, we doubt that we would have!
Registrations so far come from:
What is the World Tantrix Open?
According to Mike McManaway, the Tantrix inventor, many of the Open organisers are in favour of having one Open designated as a "World Open" every year or two to act as a focal point, e.g. for players coming from other continents. The first ever table Tantrix Open was held in the UK back in 2002 and we are delighted to have been asked to run the first WTO in our well-established (albeit previously self-inflicted) role as tournament guinea pigs! (other Opens will continue to be held too)
The name of the title held by the winner will reflect the importance and global nature of this event, but will be designed to avoid confusion with the online World Championship, which with entrants from 25 countries remains the most accessible event of all.
Getting to Edinburgh
- by air to Edinburgh Airport * (no rail link, but a bus goes into the city)
- by ferry from the Netherlands or Scandinavia (plus a short road/rail trip)
- by Eurostar then rail or coach (big discounts if you book early - ask us or any of the Brits for advice!)
* e.g. The low-cost airlines offer lots of options for those coming from mainland Europe. Easyjet has direct flights from Paris, Amsterdam, Belfast, Geneva, Madrid, Munich, Nice, etc. Ryanair has direct flights from Stockholm, Grenoble, Berlin, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Bratislava/Vienna, Alicante, Billund, Torino, etc, and flies from Budapest to Glasgow (Prestwick Airport), which links to Edinburgh by train/bus. Jet2.com has direct flights from Toulouse, la Rochelle, Avignon, Prague, etc, with new routes being added on a regular basis.
More about the tournament venue
The Royal Commonwealth Pool was named one of sixty key Scottish monuments of the post-war period. It was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, was used again for the 1986 Games and will also host the diving competitions for Glasgow 2014. So, here is your chance to win medals in the same place as some famous British, Aussie and Kiwi (etc) swimmers!
The Commonwealth Suite, where we will be playing, overlooks the pool, but by all accounts the glass is thick enough to make it as well soundproofed as it needs to be. The tables are larger than those used at the London Opens.
More about the accommodation
The Pollock Halls are next to the venue. It is student accommodation, but nicer than that used for London Opens. For a single room sharing a bathroom (see pic), it costs £25 per person per night including breakfast, assuming a c. 15% discount that we will get if at least 20 people stay there for at least one night. Other options are also available - see here and assume £4 off their 'Standard' rates here if you book with us.
It is advisable to reserve accommodation through us by early December if you want to be sure of getting the discount and the option you want.
Other accommodation is available further away (ask us), but we think Pollock Halls will offer the best combination of convenience, comfort and value for most entrants and it is always good to have most of the players together. The rooms are reasonably sized (for student rooms) and it is right next to Arthur's Seat so there is great scenery, but it is still close to the historic centre with its great mix of shops, pubs and restaurants. Meals are available at reasonable cost in Pollock Halls too.
Timetable
A timetable will be published nearer the time, but play will take place from about 9 am until 6 pm on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 June 2009, though we may start and finish Sunday a bit earlier once the times of the main transport connections become clear. Barring possible byes in one or two rounds, all entrants will play in every round on both days.
You will only need to be able to play on Saturday and Sunday in order to enter the main Open, but for this special event, there will also be an optional pre-tournament day at the venue on the Friday. Some kind of mini competition (e.g doubles, blitz or some other Tantrix variation) will be held and/or you can use the day to get some last minute practice at over the table play!
It will also be a chance for any relative newbies (e.g. local players) to come along and get to know some of the top players before the Open starts, and we're assuming that Mike and some of the other experienced players will be willing to offer them some training to reduce the chances of them being overwhelmed on the Saturday!
There will also be a group meal (optional), most likely on the Saturday evening, and an optional visit or two, e.g. to the place where that pic at the top of the page was taken - details to be confirmed nearer the time.
Entry fee and prizes
The level of the entry fee (which covers part of the cost of the venue and part of the monetary prizes, the rest being subsidised by us) will be set in the near future, but the entry fee will not exceed £20. The exact level of the monetary prizes and whether it is possible to lay on any other benefits during the tournament will be largely dependent on the number of entries, since the cost of the venue is fixed however many entries we have.
As usual, there will also be plenty of non-money prizes as well, with the aim of ensuring that everyone has chance of winning something if they do well on the second day, regardless of which division they have ended up in after day 1. Also, the 2009 WTO will double as the 8th British Open, so the winner will get their name on that cup too.
Registering your entry (or your interest)
If you think you will (or might) want to play at the 1st World Tantrix Open, please fill in as much of the form below as you can, even if you cannot answer all of the questions yet. It will help us to ensure that we have pre-reserved the right mix of accommodation and are planning the tournament for the right number of people. The more definite or likely entrants who provide this info, the better the event is likely to be. Thank you!
We will ask you to confirm accommodation needs later on, before finalising the booking, but if you register at this stage, you can book flights, etc, safe in the knowledge that you will be able to get a room.
|
