Robert Rehm has visited many more congresses than I have and he wrote about them in the congress bulletin of Maastricht. I have put my memories into a Go song which was originally written on my 10th congress in Nis. Since then it has grown by another verse each year.
A lot of today’s players were not around at the congresses in the eighties, so I shall give an annotated version:
In Mali Losinj gab es Strand,Mali Losinj was my first congress. It was also the worst one. There were not enough boards, so we had to play the main tournament in two shifts. My strength was around the border line, so I had to turn up each morning at 8:00 to find out whether I should play at 8:00 or 17:00.
doch Steine waren knapp zur Hand.
Das Baden war nicht schön im Meer,
mich bissen dort die Quallen sehr.
In Linz da war es wunderbar,Linz was the congress of Toni Steininger, it was exceptionally well organized. There was a big discussion about the championship game between Igor Bizjak and Rob Koopman in round 8. Igor played all his games in a kitchen room at the 12th floor while all other players played their games in the lounge at the 13th floor. This was accepted by the referee Mr. Schilp because Igor complained about other players commenting on his game.
der Toni machte alles klar.
Zum Meckern gab es gar nicht viel,
nur einer wollt’ im Fahrstuhl spiel’n!
|
| Rob insisted on playing his game on the 13th floor, so they both played their game on different floors at two different boards. Both claimed a victory by default and the decision of the referee was a win for Igor. The appeal committee then decided that Rob had won the game. The second appeal committee finally decided that both players should get a point. After this decision - silly as it was - Henk de Vries insisted on playing the next round in the elevator going up and down from the ground to the 13th floor! |
Und bei der kleinen Meerjungfrau,In Copenhagen Jaap, Thomas and me produced a congress bulletin. Computers were not yet in sight, so the typing was a lot of work. The rules were very strict. The tournament hall was locked after the round. To enter the room for the championship - at that time still a separate tournament - was strictly forbidden for non players. The clocks were started at 10:00 sharp. We had never seen this before at any tournament.
da war’n die Regeln zu genau.
Svend Eggers hieß der starke Mann,
er stellte alle Uhren an.
In Edinburg gab’s gutes Bier,The Pollock Halls of Residence in Edinburgh had a wonderful pub that opened at 18:00 and closed at 22:30. This was liar dice time and we played it in a truly international round. This congress was one of minimal organization. Richard Granville and Andrew Grant arrived a few hours before the congress and started by buying paper at a stationary shop. They forgot the coffee, so on the third day Andrew went to buy a kettle, coffee, tea and biscuits. Since this was not accounted for in the tournament fee we all had to pay an extra pound.
das Würfeln war am besten hier.
Nach Tagen gab’s erst Kaffee
und man nahm dafür ein Extrapfund.
Das Schwimmen war in PorrentruyPorrentruy was a rather expensive congress (around 200 DM entry fee). We played, lived and took our meals in a boarding school with free access to a simming bath. This lead to the first and only international swimming relays for go players (around 10 teams of 4 swimmers).
ein Renner wie ansonsten nie.
Die Dosen waren ein Gedicht,
chinesisch Zählen war dort Pflicht.
Terschelling brachte Nieks Programm,
die Sonne kaum zum Vorschein kam.
Und was mir ganz besonders lag,
man radelte den ganzen Tag!
| Terschelling was the first congress using a computer program for the draw and it was a success. I stayed at a farm house together with 70 other go players at half board. We rode by bicycle each morning 8 km to the tournament hall, then back at 18:00 for dinner, then again to the tournament hall for the lightning and then back again! |
|
(to be continued…)
 |
  |