The Austrian championship finals, a class A tournament, took place in mid December and I proudly present to you an interview with the winner, Schayan Hamrah, conducted and translated by the sandmann!
sandmann: So, how does it feel to be the Austrian champion?Schayan: It’s somewhat cool to be the Austrian champion (the youngest of all times:D). It’s a pity though that the previous champion didn’t make it to the finals, I’d rather have seized the title from him than winning it in this manner.
Schayan is the youngest champion in Austrian Go history at 16 years and 3 months, beating the previous record by 8 months. Coincidentally, Schayan is also the current Austrian youth champion.
s: How did the finals go?
SH: It was exhausting and enthralling! After I lost the first game from a favourable position by 1.5 I didn't imagine that I could pull myself together and win the remaining games since I had yet to face the toughest (imho) opponents, but with a good bit of luck and endurance I somehow did it after all.
s: Which was the hardest game?
SH: The one against Lothar Spiegel 4 dan. I ended up viktorious after 4 and a half hours, by 3.5 points.
s: I watched the live relay on KGS. I saw there were many close games.
SH: Indeed! This shows that the best players in Austria are very close in strength.
s: Did you prepare for the finals?
SH: I replayed a few Korean games every day to boost my fighting spirit. Sometimes I had too much of it in my games though.
s: Do you play on the internet?
SH: I do, but I rather play in real life (preferably with shell and slate stones in the Go club which are actually not free to use).
s: How is the Go situation in Austria?
SH: The game is not as widespread as in e. g. France or Germany or the Czech Republic. As a result there are fewer strong players. The Austrian champion is only 3 dan compared to the 6 dans of the above mentioned countries. We need to work on this still.
s: Are your friends more interested in Go than before you won this prestigious title?
SH: Nay, they're more into partying than mind sports.
s: Do you want to say anything else?
SH: Nah.
s: Thank you!
Happy New Year everyone!
