23/04/2025
https://en.othellobelgium.be/nieuws?i=287
Resident Dispong Kiatnarongrob wins Oudenaarde Easter Tournament 2025!
Traditions are meant to be honored, and that means an Othello tournament on Easter Monday. Just like the past three years, hosts Tom and Nadja were ready to welcome players into their home, along with freshly made and topped croques (with or without a bit of meat), a fully stocked fridge, freshly brewed coffee, and several Othello boards. This 12th edition of the annual social tournament turned out to be a record-breaking one. Excluding international tournaments (World Championship, European Championship, and European Grand Prix), this was the largest Belgian Othello tournament since 1999. No fewer than 34 players arrived through the front door, back door, or sliding window. Each found their place inside, along with a wrapped gift—following tradition, everyone brought a present to be redistributed at the end.
Between 12 and 1 p.m., the croques were devoured, and here and there, explanations were shared. No fewer than nine players made their debut, ranging in age from 6 to over 60. The advanced players numbered eight, and were outnumbered by seventeen promising players. For the first time, the youth were divided into three groups: U10, U14, and U18, with five, eight, and three players respectively. Sixteen youth players in a single tournament was another record. Fortunately, the weather stayed dry, and they could go outside to have fun (trampoline, basketball, soccer, and even archery).
Advanced Players
There were eight advanced players, but only two had previously won an A-level tournament: Tom Schotte, the highest-ranked and winner of his last three Belgian tournaments, was the favorite. Ralph Reijnders had also tasted victory last year and was a strong contender. The standout of the day was Dispong Kiatnarongrob, who had already shown strong performances in recent tournaments. Other challengers were Dimitri Vaes and Brecht Van Damme, while Frauke Van de Moortel, Nancy Darck, and Nadja De Moor might have played a deciding role.
Usually, you’d expect advanced players to win every duel against promising players, but one surprise emerged from the 32 such matches: youth player Wout Schotte defeated Brecht Van Damme (27–37), scoring the upset of the day. He became the first promising player to beat two advanced players—he had previously beaten Nadja De Moor in last year’s Easter tournament.
Each advanced player played two or three matches against other advanced players. Only Dispong Kiatnarongrob had to play five times against fellow advanced players. The first two rounds had only three such duels, and none in the third, leading to five advanced players still undefeated. Brecht Van Damme had already beaten Nadja De Moor (43–21) but lost to Dispong Kiatnarongrob (52–12) missing a win secured by move 50. Ralph Reijnders prevented Frauke Van de Moortel from staying perfect (21–43).
The undefeated group thinned in the fourth round, where Tom Schotte and Dispong Kiatnarongrob beat Ralph Reijnders (48–16) and Nancy Darck (47–17), respectively. Dimitri Vaes was drawn down and also reached four points. In the fifth round, Tom Schotte was drawn against Nancy Darck and won (20–44), while Dispong stayed undefeated with a win against Dimitri Vaes (50–14). Ralph Reijnders, Frauke Van de Moortel, Nadja De Moor, and Pierre Poliakoff kept the pressure on with four points each after five rounds.
Round six brought triumph for our Thai resident: he defeated Tom Schotte (25–39) for the first time and maintained an unbeaten record. On board two, Dimitri Vaes narrowly beat Ralph Reijnders (33–31), while Nadja De Moor defeated Nancy Darck (50–14) on board four. Pierre Poliakoff fought hard but lost to Frauke Van de Moortel (39–25).
Despite two matches between advanced players in the final round, the results were decisive: the proud leader beat Nadja De Moor (58–6), and Dimitri Vaes defeated Frauke Van de Moortel (56–8). The other advanced players also won and claimed their fifth point. Only Nancy Darck ended with four points, having lost three times to fellow advanced players.
After narrowly missing the final at the recent Belgian Championship and finishing second in Diegem (both with six out of seven points), Dispong Kiatnarongrob scored his first perfect tournament and thus his first well-earned tournament victory.
Promising Players
At the start of the tournament, two youth players were on the verge of graduating to "beginner" status: Pierre Poliakoff (rating 992) and Bart Verstuyft (rating 991) were just a few points short of the magical 1000 mark. It’s expected that with the next update, Pierre will certainly and Bart will likely be promoted. Other favorites were Wout Schotte and Jana Verstuyft, both with enough experience to defeat other promising players. With so many players, a tie in points was likely, making it important to win by a wide margin and avoid heavy losses to advanced players.
All four favorites had four points after six rounds. The importance of the final round’s pairings was evident: Bart Verstuyft (lost 51–13 to Ralph Reijnders) and Wout Schotte (lost 59–5 to Tom Schotte) faced advanced players, while Jana Verstuyft and Pierre Poliakoff were drawn against each other. Pierre won (44–20) and took the title of best promising player. Jana took second place thanks to tie-breaks, ahead of Wout Schotte. Bart Verstuyft had some heavy defeats and dropped to sixth place, behind Eva Terras and Dimitri Burnay, but ahead of Ferre Devriendt and Romain Volvert (also on four points).
Looking at the head-to-head results among these seven promising players:
Pierre beat Jana (44–20) and Dimitri Burnay (43–21)
Jana lost to Wout (29–35), but beat Eva (50–14) and Ferre (50–14)
Wout lost to Bart (10–54), but beat Eva (39–25).
Juniors
Each junior category was decided in the final round.
U10:
Amelie Marichal staged a dramatic comeback. After losing her first four games (ranking last at that point), she won her final three to finish as the only U10 with three points. Norah Janssens came second with two points, and Mats Vancoillie took third after losing to the winner in the final round.
U14:
Wout Schotte lived up to his favorite role. Entering the final round, he had four points, while Ferre Devriendt and Cédric Bogaert had three. Wout logically lost to his father, while Ferre won his last match and took second on tie-break. Cédric lost but held onto third place, also thanks to tie-breaks.
U18:
Everyone on the podium! Jana Verstuyft met expectations and even had a chance for a fifth win against Pierre Poliakoff, but lost. Sander Schotte (vs. Ferre Devriendt) and Anne Légat (vs. Nancy Darck) remained on three points and finished second and third, respectively.
