Go in Slovenia in 2003

The 2003 go calendar in Slovenia was much the same as the previous year. The main events are listed below.

The 15th Lado Omejc Memorial

The tournament was held in Bled on April 25th - 27th. 66 players from 8 countries took part (24 had dan-rankings, 8 of them were 4 dan or stronger). Leon Matoh, from Slovenia, and Tibor Pocsai, from Hungary, tied for the first place with 5 wins, third place went to Vladimir Danek, from Czechia, also with 5 wins, but lower SOS.The best Slovenian players, beside Matoh, were Bojan Rojs and Gregor Butala, taking 6th and 7th place.

The 13th Slovenian Team Championship

In the final team tournament four teams (each with 4 dan players) competed. The tournament was held in Ljubljana on May 17th. The team of Novo mesto won, with 10 points. The team of Kranj was second with 7 points, followed by the team of Ljubljana, with 5 points, and the team of Maribor, with 2 points.

The 3rd Summer Tournament of Ljubljana

The tournament was held on July 5th .Of the 18 participants, the winner was Andrej Kralj, with 5 points, followed byGregor Butala, with 4 points, and Nonne Igor, with 3 points.

The 16th Maribor Open

35 players took part in the handicap tournament held on September 20st and 21nd . 11 players had dan-rankings, 9 of them were 3 dan or stronger. The winner was Gregor Butala, with 4 points, ahead of Leon Matoh, also with 4 points, and Milan Zakotnik, with 3 points. This year Mladen Smud again brought to the tournament 9 young players.

The 35th Slovenian Championship

This championship (the thirteenth championship since Slovenia became independent) was held from October 16th to 19th in a spa town of Dobrna. 16 players participated in the seven rounds tournament. The winner and Slovenian champion was Leon Matoh, with 7 points, followed by Gregor Butala, with 5 points, Igor Bizjak, also 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. There were no changes in the Association's executive. New ranking list of 56 Slovenian dan players was approved, the schedule for the tournaments in the year 2004 and the report of the Kranj Go Club about the preparations for the Tournament Bled 2004 was accepted.

The 4th Open Autumn tournament of Ljubljana - 'Akisen 2003'

The tournament was held on November 22th and 23th, with 15 participants. The winner was Gregor Butala, with 5 points, followed by Marjan Drobez, with 4 points, and Eduard Ekart, with 3 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