Gipf: I play the game

World Championship

Organization: Antwerp GIPF Centre
Place: Spellenspektakel, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Date: 30 october 2004
Format: Swiss system, 7 rounds, 25 min. player/game
Participants: 16

He did it... again!

Aha, GIPF! Still my favourite! So I always look in particular forward to this championship. 16 players had registered, 25 minutes per player per game, 7 rounds in a row. Clearly no competition for sissies; the participants were not only going to need sharp wits, but also strong nerves and a good condition. Oh yes! And who appeared to dispose over the sharpest wits, the strongest nerves, and the most altletic body? The same dude who had become the surprising winner of the GIPF World Championship in 2003, in the meantime also known as the terrible *Mr. One GIPF*. This is the first time in the history of GIPF (for complete information: since the first Open GIPF tournament in 1997) that a player succeeds in winning a mayor tournament twice. André De Laet (B) struggled in his first match against Robrecht Claes (B), which he nearly lost - in fact, which he would have lost if only Robrecht would have had a bit more experience in finishing off a prey - but that must have shaken him up. He found his normal cool and from then on kept the others running behind the facts with his unpredictable playing style. I don't mean the fact that he plays with only one GIPF-piece, because by now that has become the most predictable aspect of his play. No, the amazing things is that no matter how much you put his one and only GIPF-piece under pressure, he always finds an escape with it. And not only that, suddenly you find yourself defending your 3, 4, 5 or more GIPF-pieces - with much less success! He lost one game against Allan Merner (DK), but that was not really a loss, rather a gift. André, who was at that moment already 4 pieces ahead, must have thought that it was time for a bit of relaxation, and pushed his GIPF-piece in front of 3 of Allan's pieces. And Allan said "Thank you," of course. That was enough for Allan to end in second place with 5 wins. 3 other players had also scored 5 wins: Ad Rovers (NL), Kurt Van den branden (B) and Romeo Ruyters (B), but Kurt's MB-score was higher than Ad's and Romeo's, so he ended in third place. It had been a hard day for the players, but for me again a fantastic competition to watch.

André (left) and Allan (right), the winners of, respectively, gold and silver, here chatting about their 5th round match against each other. André (playing white) was 4 pieces in the lead. Sure thing that winning the game was a matter of only a few more moves - but then he lined up 3 of Allan's pieces and offered him his one and only GIPF-piece on a *silver* plate. So, Allan has a good reason for that big smile.

Standings

Place  Name                    Nat.  Rtg         Score      M-Buch.  Buch. Progr.
			  
1      De Laet, André           B    1699          6          22.0   30.0   25.0
2-5    Mertner, Allan           DK   1432          5          23.0   31.0   20.0
       Van den Branden, Kurt    B    1751          5          23.0   30.0   23.0
       Rovers, Ad               NL   1787          5          22.0   28.0   18.0
       Ruyters, Romeo           B    1698          5          21.0   28.0   21.0
6-10   Van de Perre, Patrick    B    1775          4          18.0   26.0   17.0
       Knopper, Jan Willem      NL   1372          4          18.0   24.0   15.0
       Ruyters, Raf             B    1687          4          15.0   22.0   17.0
       Wentzler, Angelo         NL   1569          4          13.0   20.0   15.0
       Pauwels, Rita            B    1518          4          13.0   19.0   15.0
11     Claes, Robrecht          B    1343          3          13.0   20.0    8.0
12-13  Mertner, Morten          DK                 2          19.0   26.0    8.0
       Pauw, Brian              NL   1408          2          17.0   23.0   11.0
14-16  Van Schaijk, John        NL   1329          1          19.0   25.0    5.0
       Sanyoto, Fenny           NL                 1          16.0   21.0    4.0
       Stulemeijer, Wynke       NL   1246          1          14.0   19.0    2.0

Cross Table

No   Name                       Nat. Rtg        1    2    3    4    5    6    7  

1.     Rovers, Ad               NL   1787      9:L 13:W 11:W  6:W  5:L  8:W  3:W 
2.     Van de Perre, Patrick    B    1775     10:W  6:L 15:W  9:L 12:W  7:W  4:L
3.     Van den Branden, Kurt    B    1751     11:W  8:W  5:W  4:L 13:W  9:W  1:L
4.     De Laet, André           B    1699     12:W  7:W  6:W  3:W  9:L  5:W  2:W
5.     Ruyters, Romeo           B    1698     13:W  9:W  3:L 10:W  1:W  4:L 11:W
6.     Ruyters, Raf             B    1687     14:W  2:W  4:L  1:L 16:W 11:L 13:W
7.     Wentzler, Angelo         NL   1569     15:W  4:L  9:L 13:W 14:W  2:L 16:W
8.     Pauwels, Rita            B    1518     16:W  3:L 10:L 12:W 15:W  1:L 14:W
9.     Mertner, Allan           DK   1432      1:W  5:L  7:W  2:W  4:W  3:L 15:W
10.    Pauw, Brian              NL   1408      2:L 14:W  8:W  5:L 11:L 15:L 12:L
11.    Knopper, Jan Willem      NL   1372      3:L 16:W  1:L 15:W 10:W  6:W  5:L
12.    Claes, Robrecht          B    1343      4:L 15:L 14:W  8:L  2:L 16:W 10:W
13.    Van Schaijk, John        NL   1329      5:L  1:L 16:W  7:L  3:L 14:L  6:L
14.    Stulemeijer, Wynke       NL   1246      6:L 10:L 12:L 16:L  7:L 13:W  8:L
15.    Mertner, Morten          DK             7:L 12:W  2:L 11:L  8:L 10:W  9:L
16.    Sanyoto, Fenny           NL             8:L 11:L 13:L 14:W  6:L 12:L  7:L