Again we have managed to hold a mini-tournament for the Oslo Hex players. Seven players

participated this time: Frode, Jan Arild, Harald, Taral, Tasmanian Devil, Kokosz and me. Everyone

got to play against all the others once. We played on 13x13 with a time limit of 12 mins + 5 seconds

pr. move. It was a bit short in my opinion, and personally I think I prefer a fixed time limit when

it comes to Hex, but I know others disagree :-) Anyway, it was a really nice event!

As for the results, I don't have the exact figures in my head. Perhaps someone else can post them?

I also believe there were some pictures taken.

A question for all you great Hex players who are not so fortunate as to live in the Oslo area:

Would any of you be interested in coming here to play if we were to hold an “international”

tournament, like what was done in Wroclaw ages ago? We are enough players here to house

you, so expenses for hotels would not be necessary. If enough of you are interested, perhaps

we can try to find a time period where this could happen. It might not be until next year. For now,

I'm just trying to find out if there are any interest in such an event at all.

In 2016 this might be possible for me. I hereby whine right off the bat about the fast time control.

I don't see how this would be possible for me in the near future but I am certainly interested!

Grandmaster level chess tournements are typically 120 minutes for the first forty moves and 60 minutes for subsequent moves. This is less than 1/10 that amount of time. Before the advent of computers games could even be adjourned and go more than one day.

I am interested !

Marius and Frode had 5 wins. With best SON, Marius won the tournament, and congratulations for that. Taral and Tasmanian Devil had 4 wins. Taral got the better SON and 3rd place as he beat Marius. I believe Harald got 2 wins, Jan Arild 1 win and Kokosz 0.

It is correct that I got 2 wins and 5th place.

Only great players are invited?:)

It would be a nice opportunity to see Norway again. My last time was 1980 !

what makes hex so popular in Norway? :P

Good question. :-) Apparently there was (and still is?) an environment for it at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, whereas I started playing it independently. In fact it's probably close to 30 years since I first read about it and got interested.

Maybe the FFI people can tell us how they came across Hex? I would like to know too :)

Me, I got a German board game as a Christmas present many years ago, leading me to get involved in that hobby, leading me to discover the GIPF games, leading me to discover Hex on Dave Dyer's Boardspace. I may have read about it in some recreational math book before that, but I think that's where I first tried to actually play it.

There is not really a big community for non-classic abstract games in Oslo, but there is a great one for Euro/German-style boardgames. I think that may help a little. Alsothere are disproportionately many students and math/computing people here, thanks to centralization.

I think the “environment” at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment mainly consists of Frode, Jan Arild and myself. We managed to convince Henrik to try the game, but I don't think he plays anymore. Me and Jan-Arild discoverd Hex in some physics journal back in 2000, I think. I later discovered that  Frode was playing, when I met him at Playsite (I don't know how he first came across Hex).

Anyway. So far, David, Ypercube and Bennok seem to be interested in a tournament next year. Anyone else? We won't really need to be many players to have the largest international Hex tournament through time! I think the Wroclaw tournament still holds that record. We had one in Oslo one or two years later, but then only three players from Sweden appeared besides the Norwegians, so that was hardly very international - nor were we more players than there were in Wroclaw.

Oh, and gametheory: Everyone who wants to play are welcome. I just assumed that in order to be willing to travel here to play Hex, you'd be more than a little enthusiastic about the game :-)

Loony: If you really are interested, let us know why you would have trouble coming here. Sure, I know many schedules are tight, but we're thinking sometime next year, so with a little planning it should be possible to squeeze in (I know MY schedule is tight!). As for money, well, you'd have to pay to get here somehow, probably by plane. We'll see about the possibility of picking you up at the airport (the airport shuttle is actually rather expensive), and I think we'll be able to house most players willing to live with the Norwegian players (we take no offence if you'd rather stay at a hotel, of course, but that can be a bit pricy in Oslo). That leaves food, which I'm sure we can manage to arrange for a rather low price.

Putting together my enthusiasm for Hex and for Norway, I would probably come there too.

I would love to join you in that event. Either this or next year. I'm enthusiastic about playing the tournament, but also about visiting Oslo, as I've never been to Norway. Ofcourse the obstacles are time and cost, but if you could help us with accomodation then it would be very convenient, well, unrefusable to come and visit :) It would be amazingly kind of you ofcourse, thanks! Keep us updated!

There seems to be some interest in such an event, so I think we can make it happen. Let's try to plan it for some time next year, that is, 2016. A question for those of you coming from other nations: Would you prefer this event to be during an “ordinary” weekend, so that you wouldn't have to be away for too long, or would you rather it was in conjunction with some holiday (like the summer holiday), in order to combine it with a vacation in Norway?

for me is doesn't matter when it is, “ordinary” weekend or holiday, given the date is known long enough in advance.

Hey Oslo huys!

I'm gonna be visiting Oslo every other two weaks. We can set up a game if you're still into Hex :)

Cool, I'll try to come if some of the others are in.

What dates will you be in Oslo, Arek? We are several players here.

Oh, I was just there.

I will be back again probably in a couple of weeks. If there are people who would like to meet and play it would be awesome! Just let's establish here who's into that :)

Or I will not be back any soon due to the virus…

Guess so. No travelling for most people for several months, it seems.