In Budapest gab’s Badespaß,In Budapest there were even more thermal swimming pools than in Abano. A lot of Hungarians were playing chess in the pools, so we tried it with go as well. We even played with a magnetic go set beneath the surface! Budapest was an exceptionally big congress, for the first time there were players from East Germany.
da wurd’ sogar das Go-Brett naß.
Man spielte nur sehr langsam Go
durchs Warten auf den Espresso.
Grenoble zeigte manches BildThere was an exhibition with Go related pictures that did not meet everyone’s taste. The photos were rather sexist (i.e. a customer asking a prostitute “How much?” and she answers “Second Dan!”). There were even discussions about this exhibition in several issues of the German Go Journal.
das machte viele Frauen wild.
Die Tische waren viel zu klein,
man hatte kaum noch Platz fürs Bein
In Hamburg gab es viel Geschrei,There was a change in the tournament to make it more interesting for the press. I have not seen more articles in newspapers as during other congresses, so it was not worth the trouble. A knock out tournament for the championship seems a little unfair. There was no bar at the congress site, so the beer vending machine was very important!
um Modus und so mancherlei.
Der Durst, der wog besonders schwer,
Bierautomaten sind schnell leer.
Der Weg nach Nis der war sehr weit,The congress in Nis was very well organized. It was the first time a lot of Russian players could come to the congress. We changed money every day because the dinar lost it’s value very fast (about 10% per week!)
auch viele Russen hatten Zeit.
Bemerkenswert war auch das Geld,
der Dinar fällt und fällt und fällt!
In Wien war Nechanicky dannOnly after the congress started the organisers of the Vienna go congress found cheap accommodation: a cloister opposite the tournament site. But who would open the gate for the late returning go players? The organisers paid Viteslav Nechanicky to be the doorkeeper until midnight. If you wanted to come later, you had to pay him beforehand!
am Klostertor der rechte Mann.
Bis Mitternacht ließ er uns ein,
danach nur noch für einen Schein!
Namur hatte einen PalastThe congress site in Namur was a huge exhibition hall. You felt a bit uncomfortable with a concrete floor and a ceiling about 20 meters above your head. Strange also was the habit of charging a small amount of money each time you went to the toilet. In the second week they even sold season tickets!
von 20 Metern Höhe fast.
Und war man dort nervös beim Go,
dann zahlte man recht viel fürs Ko.
In Canterb’ry man morgens fand,They used a somewhat new pairing algorithm in Canterbury. This led to a lot of protests against the draw. Nearly every morning it had to be changed and Harold Lee stood on a table shouting: “No more protests against the draw? ... First chance ... Second ... Third, the draw is final!”
wie Harold auf dem Tische stand
und umging mit Protesten schwer,
so leicht, als wär’ er Auktionär!
Vier Wendeltreppen gab’s in PragThe Prague go congress was held at a symmetrically shaped building. There were spiral staircases at each of the 4 corners of the building. The playing rooms on the first floor were not connected with each other and we often had to go down to the ground floor to find the correct staircase!
in jeder Richtung eine lag.
Nach Süd, nach Nord, nach Ost und West,
das Suchen gab uns fast den Rest.
Vier Leute hatten in MaastrichtThey made a real show of the opening ceremony in Maastricht. Four actors representing white go stones would surround every speaker at a rate of one stone per minute and eventually capture him, if his speech was too long. The EGF-president Alan Held got a handicap, the speed was increased to one white stone every 10 seconds. He was the only one who was captured!
weiße Kleider und ein weiß’ Gesicht.
Bei der Eröffnung setzten sie
den Präsident in atari!
Die Regeln war’n in TucholaPersonally I liked the congress in Tuchola very much, but I will give no comment on the verse!
nach allen Regeln sonderbar.
Die Komi war’n nicht immer gleich,
Brett 17 machte Weiß sehr reich.
The sheet to the right is the melody of each verse and also the first verse of the song.
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