Bochumer Bambus 2011
Writer: Andreas Neumann
On the 8th and 9th of October a total of 122 players participated in the Bochumer Bambus 2011. It is one of the biggest tournaments in Germany and was for the first time part of the European Go-Cup. The tournament was organised under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the middle Ruhr region in the well-suited building of the Landesspracheninstitut (language institute) in Bochum.
The Bochum Go-Club consists of around 50 members. A big part of them actively participated in setting up the tournament location and donating food (salads, cakes etc.). The language institute supported the organisation team during the whole weekend and the director Jochen Pleines as well as Hans Peter Merz from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry deserve our special thanks. For the tournament nine different rooms of the language institute were used: Seven rooms were used for the tournament games (board 1 to 61) so that the players could enjoy a calm atmosphere in each room. One room served as a wardrobe and the last room was used for presentations and a lecture.
For players who arrived already on the 7th of October a gaming night was organised in a restaurant near the tournament building. Players could enjoy the presence of the young Korean professional Ko Ju Yeon (8p) who offered simultaneous games as shown in the picture. Since more than 100 players were expected to register on the next day, players who arrived on Friday could already sign in as to alleviate the whole registration process and avoid delays.
(Ko Ju Yeon is having simul games)
Saturday was the big tournament day that we had been waiting for with excitement for so long. As we promised in advance a shuttle bus service from the main station to the tournament building was offered and the walking way was provided with road signs. To ensure a smooth registration three people welcomed the players at the entrance. For the pairing system a software from Christoph Gerlach, the MacMahon-system, was used by Andreas Ensch, one of the most experienced persons for pairings in the German go-scene. After the registration had finished, a welcoming speech was held in the entrance area. Hans Peter Merz, director for international affairs of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jochen Pleines, director of the language institute, as well as Andreas Neumann, main organiser of the Bochumer Bambus, said welcoming greetings to the players. To not forget this moment an impressing picture with all players was taken.
Thanks to the sponsors who will be listed at the end of this article players could expect a multitude of prizes: More than 1000 Euro of prize money for the top-8 players as well as the best three U-18 players, 15 points awarded to the top-4 players for the European Go-Cup, tsumego cards worth 7 Euro for players with 3 victories, material vouchers worth 15 Euro for 4 victories and 20 Euro for 5 victories, lectures by Franz-Josef Dickhut (6d), Bernd Radmacher (5d) and Jun Tarumi (5d), which were awarded for special categories: Team rating (four players form one team and their number of wins in the main tournament will be summated to decide which team has the most victories), Fighting-Spirit-Award (players who lose the first two rounds but then fight back with three victories), best U-18 players as well as best newcomer. A 9*9/13*13 side tournament offered two go sets for the player with the best win rate and the player who played the most games.
(Delicious-looking food)
In total five rounds with a thinking time of 60 minutes plus a byo-yomi of 20 stones in 5 minutes were played. As already mentioned in the prizes categories a side tournament was held on 9*9 and 13*13 boards. Once the players had finished their games in the main tournament they could use their free time to play in that side tournament. On Saturday three rounds were played. Already after the first round, players were given the chance to listen to a presentation from Hans Peter Merz of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, dealing with the influence of go, chess and poker on economical and political decisions.
(Presentation of Hans Peter Merz)
Two further rounds were played and a surprise happened at the top boards. Three of the best 10 German players attended the tournament: Franz-Josef Dickhut (6d), Benjamin Teuber (6d) and Chen Lei (6d). Lukas Kremer (5d), multiple German youth champion, had to play against two of them on the first day as well as against Bernd Radmacher (5d) who won the Bochumer Bambus 2010. He won each of the games and so ended the day with the leading position and a 3-0 score. Players around the world could see his fascinating play on the gaming server KGS where two Bochum go players transmitted the games with their laptops.
(Lukas's game was shown live on kgs)
Ko Ju Yeon (8p) who already played simultaneous games on the day before welcomed another round of players on Saturday morning for further simultaneous games. After round 1 and 2 she was present for answering the questions of players and commenting their games. In the evening, after the third round had finished, she gave a lecture for Kyu-players on the topics crosscut and endgame.
(Many people are gathered to see Ko Ju Yeon's lecture)
After the lecture a group of 40 players still made a walk through the forest next to the tournament building to arrive at the restaurant which again was set up for a gaming night. Players with a wish of accommodation where then led to their sleeping places and the first day of this big tournament came to an end.
Some pictures of the first day:
(Participants are so serious)
Sunday morning players could get a breakfast in the language institute before the fourth round had started. Another fifth round was played and teams participating in the team ranking as well as players in the side tournament had to give their best to hold their leading positions or to gain points to become the champion. Also the players who started with two losses on the first day had to ensure their victories to qualify for the Fighting-Spirit-Award. While the tension rose during the last rounds, representatives of the German press were present to interview players and the organisers.
Some pictures from Sunday:
Before the results of the top boards will be presented, the special offer by the language institute shall find attention. After the final round, all players could participate in free language lectures of Chinese, Japanese and Korean. In three groups for a duration of 45 minutes an introduction and some basic language knowledge were given to the players.
(Language lecture)
On the top boards Lukas Kramer (5d) lost in the fourth round to Chen Lei (6d). This unlucky result for Lukas created a new tension for the race of the title of the Bochumer Bambus 2011. The fifth and final round had therefore to decide the winner. Franz-Josef Dickhut (6d), Chen Lei (6d) and Lukas all had a 3-1 score. Franz-Josef Dickhut and Chen Lei were paired in the final round. Lukas had to play against Rainer Schutze (2d). The first game was transmitted with a beamer in the presentation room and Ko Ju Yeon (8p) gave her comments on the game. Judging from her comments the game shifted from the favour of one player to the other. In the end Franz-Josef Dickhut could win the game and was then having a 4-1 score. But unfortunately for him Lukas could beat Rainer and had then as well a 4-1 score. Based on the MacMahon-system the scores of the opponents each player had to play against were taken into account and Lukas could pip Franz-Josef at the post. Lukas Kremer (5d) became the champion of the Bochumer Bambus 2011.
As already described above, a multitude of further prizes was given to the players: The top-4 players of the tournament are: Lukas Kremer (5d), Franz-Josef Dickhut (6d), Chen Lei (6d) and Bernd Radmacher (5d). The prize money for the top-3 was awarded by the company Famous Industrial Group GmbH. Patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the company Genius Bytes Software Solutions GmbH further allowed money prizes for the top-8 players and the following three youth players: Best U-18 player was Jonas Welticke (4d), followed by Christopher Lieberum (3d) and Timo Budszuhn (1d). Jonas was also part of the top-8 and since he was best youth player he gained a lecture by Jun Tarumi (5d).
The award for the best newcomer went to the 6-year old Bao Shenlei (30k) who played his first tournament and second game on a 19*19 board.
In the side tournament Marvin Baumgart (1d) and Tim Jakobsmeyer (5k) could win a go-set from go-onlineshop.de
Harald Kroll (3d) was awarded with a special prize by The Nihon Ki-in for his 250th tournament participation.
(Youth)
(Bao Shenlei)
(Various of baduk materials were on sale)
More pictures as well as all information can be found on our club homepage: http://www.dgob.de/lv-nrw/bochum/en/?Welcome
We hope that you enjoyed this article and would be happy to welcome you one day in the vivid German go-city Bochum.
TYGEMBADUK
