Go in Slovenia in 2002

The history of go in Slovenia can be found in Ranka Yearbook 10, so in the following article we shall deal only with the events occurring in the last year. The 2002 go calendar in Slovenia was much the same as the previous year. The main events are listed below.

The 14th Lado Omejc Memorial

Since 1993, this tournament has the status of a Grand Prix tournament and later Toyota tour tournament or Fujitsu qualification. This year it was held in Bled on April 19 - 21 as Toyota tour tournament. 60 players from 6 countries took part (21 had dan-rankings, 11 of them were 4 dan or stronger). The winner of the tournament was Radek Nechanicky, second was Vladimir Danek and third was Jan Hora, all from Czechia).The best Slovenian players were Leon Matoh (4th place) and Eduard Ekart (6th place).

The 12th Slovenian Team Championship

In the final team tournament four teams (each with 4 dan players) competed. The tournament was held in Novo mesto on May 11th. The team of Novo mesto won, with 10 points. The team of Maribor was second with 6 points, followed by the team of Ljubljana, also with 6 points, but having less wins on the first board, and Kranj, with 2 points.

The 2nd Summer Tournament of Ljubljana

The tournament was held on July 6th .Of the 14 participants, the winner was Andrej Kralj, with 4 points, followed by Rado Pintar, also with 4 points, and Drobez Marjan, with 3 points..

The 15th Maribor Open

35 players took part in the handicap tournament held on September 21st and 22nd . 14 players had dan-rankings, 10 of them were 3 dan or stronger. The winner was Leon Matoh, with 4 points, ahead of Igor Bizjak, also with 4 points, and Mirko Rupel, with 3 points. The main feature of this year's tournament was the participation of 6 young players from Velika Gorica, Croatia, led by their teacher Mladen Smud.

The 34th Slovenian Championship

This championship (the twelth championship since Slovenia became independent) was held from October 17th to 20th in a small town of Cerkno, amidst the mountains of Julian Alps. Only 11 players participated in the seven rounds tournament. The winner and Slovenian champion was Goran Siska, with 6 points, followed by Gregor Butala, also with 6 points and Leon Matoh, with 5 points.

Congress of the Slovenian Go Association

At the same time and place with the Slovenian Championship the annual congress of Slovenian Go Association was held. Peter Gaspari resigned as the president of SGA, and accepted the task as the secretary. Milan Zakotnik was elected as the president of the Association. New ranking list of 55 Slovenian dan players was approved, the schedule for the tournaments in the year 2003 and the report of the Kranj Go Club about the preparations for the Tournament Bled 2003 (19.- 21.IV) was accepted.

The 3rd Open Autumn tournament of Ljubljana - 'Akisen 2002'

The tournament was held on November 9th and 10th, with 17 participants. The winner was Andrej Kralj, with 5 points, followed by Gregor Butala, with 4 points, and Mladen Smud, with 3 points.

The 11th Open Championship of Ljubljana

28 players took part in this handicap tournament, which was held on December 21st The winner was Andrej Kralj, with 5 points, followed by Eduard Ekart , with 4 points, and Gregor Butala, also with 4 points.

The functionaries of Go zveza Slovenije (Slovenian Go Association):

President: Milan Zakotnik, Tavcarjeva 22, 4000 Kranj, Tel.: (--386) 4-2326100

Vice President: Bojan Rojs, Gregorciceva 3, 2000 Maribor, Tel.: (--386) 2-2517286

Secretary: Peter Gaspari, Aleševa 3, 1210 Ljubljana - Šentvid, Tel.: (--386) 1-15127530 GSM: 041-651690

The Slovenian Go Association website: http://slovenia.european-go.org

Report by Peter Gaspari and Eduard Ekart