Round 1 – What could go wrong?

In this first round, the top 3 boards were:

• Ting Li 1p (AT) vs Jitka Bartova 2d (CZ) | kifu
• Ariane Ougier 4d (FR) vs Michala Chalmovianska 1d (SK) | kifu
• Manja Marz 4d (DE) vs Alison Bexfield 1d (UK) | kifu

Game reviews by Mateusz Surma 4p

If we simply check the results sheet, the round went very smoothly there, but the reality, as often happens, was much more complex. Manja committed a massive blunder-suicide of too many stones to count them, but Alison didn’t see and resigned!

On the first board, Jitka lost by time to Ting – we found out later that unfortunately, the clock was lying about its own efficiency to make sounds, a pity – whereas the situation was still rather unclear, although starting to turn in Ting’s favor: Jitka surely was a tough opponent, leading for a very long time.

This round’s highlight:

Round 2 – The hanging moves

In the second round, the top 3 boards were:

• Ting Li 1p (AT) vs Milena Boclé 3d (FR) | kifu
• Olesia Malko 4d (UA) vs Manja Marz 4d (DE) | kifu (wrong order after move 240)
• Ariane Ougier 4d (FR) vs Mirta Grigoriu 3d (HR) | kifu

Game reviews by Mateusz Surma 4p (part 1) / (part 2)

The games were just as stressful as in the previous round, with already important clashes. For instance, the Manja-Olesia game was a very important one, since in the past two years both of them had respectively taken second and third place in the Championship without playing each other.

But the most stressful was perhaps for the viewers: indeed, due to an unexpected server error of some kind, the broadcast got stuck at key moments of the games, leaving the commentator, Mateusz Surma 4p, and the viewers, in unbearable suspense.

For example, board 1 and 2 got stuck when White was fighting for their life. On board 1, Black had just played a magnificent intimidating empty triangle, destroying the London eye-shape,

Oops, sorry, wrong picture.

For example, board 1 and 2 got stuck when White was fighting for their life. On board 1, Black had just played a magnificent intimidating empty triangle destroying the eye-shape, while on board 2 White had just played a brilliant contact move. What do you think happened next?

In the Ariane-Mirta game, after a few mistakes by Mirta, Ariane took a lead which kept growing as Mirta was trying everything she could.

Let’s watch the Manja-Olesia big fight as the highlight of this round! Beware that the end (240+) is not correct though, the order of the move is not proper. 

Round 3 – A big double drama

In the 3rd round, the top boards were:

• Ting Li 1p (AT) vs Olesia Malko 4d (UA) | kifu
• Ariane Ougier 4d (FR) vs Manja Marz 4d (DE) | kifu
• Milena Boclé 3d (FR) vs Jitka Bartova 2d (CZ) | kifu

Game reviews by Mateusz Surma 4p

The third round is always the most difficult one for the players physically, as it comes after two demanding rounds, at the end of a long day, when you slowly get sleepy and starving at the same time.
In London, the sun was fading away and the exhaustion from the previous games was stabbing the players one after another. Statistically, this is when the worst happens in the games. And, obviously, statistics called for it, but strangely, the most tired thing was not a human.

Indeed, just as in the first round, the clock’s drama repeated itself: Olesia lost by time. This is in fact when it was discovered that the clock, despite pretending to have sound, did not make any, and thus, it was with great distress that players and referee alike faced the situation. Fortunately, as everyone cooled down, and thanks to help from Czechia, the game could continue following the usual process for tricky material, giving back a few seconds to Olesia, so she could finish a huge semeai (liberty race) against Ting and see the famous giant dragon-that-never-dies fly out of the Go board.

Nyoshi 2d (FR) showing a prestigious British clock which works well, so that everyone remembers that one and not the broken tournament one.

On board two, the blunder-virus hit Ariane in a critical way: Manja’s stones were unquestionably dead, but as she tried what would look like a resign sequence to save the group, it made Ariane think for 14 seconds too long. At the last second (mark the beeping clock!), Ariane placed the stone in a rush, hallucinating completely and offering Manja the chance to realize her dream of saving the group and take the lead.

On board three, what started as an old-school fuseki turned into a street battle with a ko fight and semeai situation and a couple of blunders. That’s often in round 3 as well that you would see the players focusing for 10 minutes on a sequence to play the worst possible move, both missing the obvious spots.

Let’s put the first board as a highlight!

The round finally ended and the atmosphere became breathable again. Perhaps after all these efforts and stressful situations, the brains released chemicals which made people happy, and therefor we all parted ways in a reasonably good mood, to go home or go for dinner. Hostilities were officially on hold until the next day!

A multi-nationality gathering in a nearby restaurant and players with surprisingly enough energy left to play Go.

Round 4 – Half a drama

The Sunday morning looked very promising. A small fog was stretching over the city, giving this vibe of “the world belongs to those who wake up early” although the round was at 10 AM. When we arrived, everything was ready, and in the pre-game time, we made a group photo for posterity.

Time to play!

This fourth round was a very important one, especially for Ting, who faced the strongest challenger of the event, Ariane Ougier 4d (who is just a few points below 5d, by the way). In the past, Ting had won each time, though, but not easily. 

The top boards were:

• Ting Li 1p (AT) vs Ariane Ougier 4d (FR) | kifu
• Milena Boclé 3d (FR) vs Michala Chalmovianska 1d (SK) | kifu
• Olesia Malko 4d (UA) vs Nyoshi Cao 2d (FR) | kifu

Game reviews by Andrii Kravets 4p

In fact, much could still happen, as in the lower boards there were still many possibilities for a few players to end up the tournament with 3 wins, which might cause a SOS battle.
On the last tables, there were also a few double-digit kyus playing handicap (-1) games: a reasonable way to make the games more interesting for everyone, as there was a considerable gap in levels (otherwise, those weaker players would probably never join). 

Board 3 and 2 finished without an upset, and the first board was then the only remaining game before lunchtime. As we were all here and there enjoying London’s cooking, we had our eyes on the online game broadcast. It was super close.

Ariane vs Ting. Try to count?

In the game, Ariane had a good position, but time pressure led to several little mistakes, and eventually Ting clinched the victory by half a point! What a bitter result for Ariane! So close!

Round 5 – Sending out the SOS

Top boards:

• Ting Li 1p (AT) vs Manja Marz 4d (DE) | kifu
• Olesia Malko 4d (UA) vs Milena Boclé 3d (FR) | kifu
• Ariane Ougier 4d (FR) vs Jitka Bartova 2d (CZ) | kifu

Game reviews by Andrii Kravets 4p

The last and final round was to begin on time, with another challenge for Ting, facing Manja Marz 4d (runner-up in the two previous championships). Fighting for potential second place (depending on board 1): Olesia and Milena. The outcomes of many games could drastically change the final standings because of the SOS (Sum of Opponents’ Scores) and SOSOS (Sum of Opponents’ SOS), which would have direct consequences for the qualifications for the SENKO Cup, an international event played in Japan, for which 3 European amateurs from different countries would qualify.