About
Links
Final placement:
The top 3 each scored 7-1, and had to be separated by tiebreak:
1. Chang Fukang, Malaysia, 2p Nihon-kiin, 60k yuan prize
2. Li Jiaqi, Chinese 7d (last year's winner), 30k yuan prize
3. Shan Junzhe, Chinese 6d (last year’s runner-up), 15k yuan prize
9. Lukáš Podpěra 7d, CZ, 5-3, 1500 yuan prize
13. Mateusz Surma 3p, PL, 5-3
15. Nikola Mitić 7d, RS, 5-3
17. Rémi Campagnie 6d, FR, 5-3
20. Bartoloměj Dach 4d, CZ, 4-4
24. Stjepan Medak 4d, HR, 4-4
30. Ondrej Králik 4d, SK, 4-4
33. Javier Savolainen 5d, FI, 3-5
34. Zbyněk Dach 4d, CZ, 3-5
41. Jan Komín 3d, CZ, 3-5
42. Bende Barcza 3d, HU, 3-5
45. Zuzana Králiková 1d, SK, 2-6
46. Oliver Seman 1d, SK, 2-6
49. Andrei Razvan 1d, RO, 1-7
Impressions from the players
Lukáš Podpěra 7d from Czechia
Top 10 Europeans by EGF rating got a subsidy of 500 USD. Moreover, we were accommodated in a 5 star Royal Signature Hotel. We could also stay there any extra night for only 40 USD. The venue was just around the corner in another hotel. The only issue was a 20 degrees difference between outside humid weather and the heavily air-conditioned halls. Only for the opening ceremony and first two rounds we had to travel by bus, because it was organised in a Chinese Cultural Center.
There is also a team competition included in the tournament, which is taken very seriously especially by the Chinese players. The team European Superpower (Mateusz, Lukáš, Nikola) finished in 4th place with 15 points and won a trophy. The winner was the team Xian Huyi District (3 top 10 players) with 19 points.
All in all it was a superbly organized event and the only sad thing was a very unfair-play behaviour by a player called Fei Chenggang 2d (from the Karamay Team), who finished at the very last place. In the game against Oliver Seman he called a referee when Oliver stopped a clock in order to capture a large number of stones, which would have led to the game's finish, since the difference was about 100 points. It would be of course impossible to capture 30 stones in 10 seconds of byo-yomi. However, in fact there is a loophole in Chinese rules, that don’t really allow players to stop the clocks by themselves. Unfortunately the referees had no choice but to declare a loss for Oliver. However, everybody around (including the referees) were upset by an unfair-play behaviour of the Chinese player and let’s just hope nothing like that will ever happen again. Especially after we all had to sign a fair-play declaration before the tournament.
We also had an organised sightseeing during the first day when we visited the famous Batu Caves, had a dinner in a local park, that included a lake light show and a ZOO, and finally we went to observe Petronas Towers at night. Besides that, players could also go for a 3-days trip (already paid by themselves) after the tournament to visit other Malaysian places.
I coordinated my trip mainly with the Czech players: my student Jan Komín, then with Zbyněk & Bártík Dach and finally Stjepan Medak from Croatia joined us as well. We had all stayed together in Ge Yuhong Academy in Quzhou, taking one month of training, so we came together directly from China. We also scheduled extra days before and after the tournament for another sightseeing, which definitely also helped us to get a fine performance. Malaysia is a very ethnically diverse country where many cultures blend together which results in a unique place and also a lot of delicious food to taste.
Next year’s edition will be an anniversary one, so it will be held at the place where it all started – Xian. It should be a great event again and I strongly recommend all the European dan players to take part!
Stjepan Medak 4d, Croatia
Kuala Lumpur is the best city I have ever been to. The food is great and I got to see things I might never see again: the second highest building in the world and friendly stairway monkeys. The only thing I didn't like was the temperature because there was a 20°C difference between the playing hall temperature and the street temperature.
Zuzana Králiková 1d, Slovakia
We were 3 players from Slovakia- Ondrej Králik 4D, Zuzana Králiková 1D and Oliver Seman 1D. We formed a team called ZOO according to the initials of our names.
On the first day, there was a nice opening ceremony with musical performance – a lady was playing the sitar. Two rounds followed, with a delicious lunch in an Indian restaurant between them. After the Go programme, there was organized sightseeing – they took us to Royal Selangor – the world largest pewter factory and museum. The Europeans were not very thrilled, because we thought we would go to the top of Petronas Towers and to the Batu caves. However, our guide was very enthusiastic and we had a chance to directly see the work of the employees, as well as learn about the history of the factory. At the end, we could buy some of the products made there. Fortunately, after the museum, the organizers took us to the beautiful Batu caves and this trip saved our mood. We climbed colourful stairs to the top of the cave where Hindu temples are situated. There were monkeys everywhere and I enjoyed it very much, although according to some players, they were aggressive and wanted to attack them or steal some food from people.
After that, we went to the welcome dinner, where we experienced another great piece of music performance and tasted Chinese food. We were also taught how to make a toast.
Everybody from around the table stood up, raised their glasses and was shouting „oooooo...“ until the last person was out of breath. Every table had a chance (or rahter, was forced to) make a toast. After the dinner, we saw an amazing laser show above the lake near the restaurant and made a stroll across the zoo park. On the way back to the hotel, our bus stopped near the Petronas Towers where we could take some photos with the symbol of Malaysia.
Next day, there were 3 rounds and on the last day, there were 2 rounds (8 in total). After the closing ceremony, we had the farewell dinner where we had chinese food and tried to make a traditional toast again.
The tournament was full of emotions and a great experience for everybody.
The next day, five Europeans (3 from Slovakia, Bende Barcza and Alina Barcza from Hungary) and many Chinese players set on an optional 2-day trip across Malaysia with the travel agency. We visited Malacca with its iconic Dutch Square and a museum dedicated to Cheng Ho, a Chinese admiral, diplomat and explorer from the middle ages. In the museum, there was also an old Go board, so myself and a player from Karamay, we slipped in and played a quick game. Later that day, we were accommodated in Port Dickson. Every room had its own swimming pool and the whole hotel was above the sea. The next morning, we went to the sea and did some nice water activities, like boat sailing, banana boat, jet ski riding and swimming in the sea. We visited Batu caves one more time and in the evening, we got accommodated in Genting Highlands, the world’s largest hotel. We got there by a cabin and then could do some shopping or ride on the indoor roller coasters.The next day, most of our company set to the airport, but we 3 from Slovakia had more time, so we also visited an outdoors theme park and enjoyed more roller coasters. For one of them, dedicated to Ice Age, Ondrej was not allowed to go, because he is taller than 190 cm.
Oliver Seman 1d, Slovakia
The Silk Road tournament was an awesome opportunity for me. First, it was a great way to get away from the cruel winter and to once again be able to pull out shorts and short-sleeved t-shirts. Obviously, it wasn’t just about the trip (although that was great motivation), but also experiencing an Asian tournament. Everything was really well organized, including the transport, venue, side activities and obviously the really nice location of Kuala Lumpur.
Although I didn’t achieve such awesome results in the tournament, I still enjoyed the fact that I, as a European 1d, had a chance to beat Chinese 5d players, and I almost did if I hadn’t thrown that game away in the endgame…well, 10s byo-yomi isn’t easy, but that’s on me and my time management.
We even got a fairly good amount of sleep…which may be caused by the fact that my roommate Stjepan and I overslept one day and we woke up just 15 minutes before the round started. To this day, we have no idea how that happened, because we both had alarms set up and neither of us can recall them going off.
Overall, the tournament was great and I would recommend it to anyone who has a chance to participate. We didn’t only play Go but we also saw some cool places and basically had a summer vacation in November.
