World Tantrix Open
Niklas conquers the Tantrix world!
Tantrix takes over the kaleidosphere! Image © Camera Obscura, Edinburgh.
Introduction
The 2009 World Tantrix Open (which doubled as the 8th British Open) took place on 13-14 June 2009 in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the UK. The tournament venue was the Royal Commonwealth Pool, 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.
Entrants came from:
Final results: Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
 Three former British Open Junior Champions won the overall medals, with no. 12 seed Niklas Andersson (SWE), 19, emerging as the overall winner, no. 3 seed Attila 'the Hun' Mikulan (HUN), 21, winning the silver medal and the bronze going to Belfast's no. 8 seed Simon Wright (NIR), 20, who ended up as the highest finisher from the UK.
The Challengers (1800-1900 Elo) gold medal went to no. 17 seed Chris Essex (ENG), who finished 4th overall, the silver to another overall finalist, no. 15 seed Lennart Aspelin (SWE), 46, who finished 6th overall, and the bronze to unseeded Michael Collison (ENG), 19, who finished 7th overall.
 The junior (U18) title was won by 15-year-old Deborah Husmann (NED), who came 10th overall. 13-year-old Robert Mitchell (ENG) won the junior silver medal and 17-year-old Charlotta Klevedal (SWE) took home the bronze, Deborah and Robert won the top two Rising Stars (U1800 Elo) medals as well, with Irene Dyer (USA) winning the bronze in this event.
Many thanks to everyone for coming to the event, and for helping it to be great fun, not least Luorn, Lenny, AgNica & Mali-Lott for coming up with the perfect, crazy way to celebrate their compatriot's win!
More to follow later in the week (including better pics, hopefully!) when we get back to base ...
The original Notes for Entrants can be found below
What is the World Tantrix Open?
Many Tantrix 'Opens' are now held around the world each year and it has been decided to designate one of them as a "World Open" every year or two to act as a focal point, for example 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.
The online World Championship with entrants from 25 countries remains the most accessible Tantrix event of all, but the World Tantrix Open, involving entrants from four different continents, is designed to be the pre-eminent event involving face-to-face play with real tiles.
OPEN DAY and SPECTATOR INFO
Entrants arriving early are having a training / fun day on the day before the event. Maybe you would like to find out how Tantrix is played or maybe you already play and would like to challenge a top player to a game. If so, you are welcome to visit us at the Royal Commonwealth Pool at any time between 12 pm-4pm on Friday 12 June. *
Equally, you can come along and see part of the Championship itself at the weekend, any time between 10 am-4pm on Saturday or Sunday. *
* In each case, just let reception at the Royal Commonwealth Pool know that you are there for the Tantrix event in the Commonwealth Suite and when you get to the event, just ask to see Steven or Julia.
NOTES FOR ENTRANTS AND VISITORS
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 and costs between about £20 - 30 per person per night depending on the type of room. The cost includes breakfast and takes into account a group discount. It is advisable to reserve accommodation as soon as possible 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 8.30 am until 7 pm on Saturday 13 June and from 8.30 am until about 6 pm (including prizegiving) on Sunday 14 June, 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 are 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) at the restaurant 'Blonde' on the Saturday evening, and an optional visit to Camera Obscura (the place where that pic at the top of the page was taken) starting at 5.15 pm on the Friday.
Entry fee and prizes
For those taking part in the World Tantrix Open, the entry fee is £ 20, which covers part of the cost of the venue and the monetary prizes. The exact level of the monetary prizes will be largely dependent on the number of entries, since the cost of the venue is more or less 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.
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