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Berlin!

Posted By: Carter Mattig
Date: Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 5:36 p.m.

I have been amazingly busy lately, but I wanted to talk about Chiva's tournament in Berlin that I attended last month. I went right after Gibraltar; that was a huge tournament and should be very successful for years to come; they just need to work out some of the timing with so many players.

My wife Christina likes to travel with me, but I get easily distracted by her presence, so we tend to go to tournaments where she will have a lot to do outside the actual event. Berlin is an incredible city, and the hotel was not just reasonable and easy to get to, but a total joy to be in. The bar was open late enough, the breakfasts were included and rivaled the selection at the Nordic in terms of size and quality, and the restaurant had a great menu as well.

The tournament was run exactly on time. Everything was clocked; everyone seemed to be on their best behavior, and even though it was the German masters, they were nice enough to do most of the explaining also in English so this American could follow along. It was the modified swiss, so there was a lot of playing, but the schedule kept very close to the stated times, which at times can be impossible if you get the perfect storm of two slow players who take a lot of breaks. That was solved by adding time, and if a player wanted to take a break they were free to...but their clock ran during their break. No one came close to timing out as far as I could tell..but no one also abused the break taking either.

Everyone was very civil and courteous; it had to be one of the most pleasant experiences I have had at a tournament that I have never gone to before. Christina and I both loved the city with plenty to do, as well as a lot of great restaurants around, but if you like the modified swiss format and have a decision on what tournament to go to around Europe, I would strongly suggest giving Berlin a try. We will be there again next year for sure. Hope to see a bunch of you in 10 days at the Nordic! Auf weidersehen!

Messages In This Thread

• Berlin!
  Carter Mattig -- Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 5:36 p.m.
  • Berlin!
    Carter Mattig -- Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 5:57 p.m.
  • Berlin!
    Mick Z -- Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 10:04 p.m.
  • Berlin!
    mamabear -- Sunday, 13 March 2016, at 11:23 p.m.
  • Berlin!
    Mislav Kovacic -- Monday, 14 March 2016, at 1:27 a.m.