The 2009 Spanish Open was held on 23 - 24 May, 2009 in Granollers, Spain. It was the first ever Spanish Open and it was organized by Xavier Segura and Octavi Sastre. Ten entrants from five different countries took part. The trophy was captured by Marek Reniers who after toiling for years without a podium finish has now won three Opens in six months.



1. Place:  Marek Reniers TTM (POL)
2. Place:  Xavier Segura (ESP)
3. Place:  Rob Morton ITM (GBR)

Full Results

Jasermar: This Spanish Open was very special for me, because I organized it, and for all the Spanish players because it was the opportunity to meet each other. The Open was held as part of a Games fair in my town (Granollers) as one of the fair tournaments, with the purpose to make Tantrix more popular, giving the people a chance to follow the competition. Friday, some local players met with Mike & Britta, and played some games of Tantrix Gobble.

Mikem: I arrived.

Jasermar: The tournament started at 16.00 in a fair pavilion to let the public see the games. The temperature was very high.

Mikem: The Spanish were obviously very afraid when they heard that the 2007 World Champion would be competing as they took harsh counter measures.

Knowing that I tend to take a siesta at about 4pm each afternoon the tournament was organised to BEGIN at 4pm. And someone had turned on the heating.

Jasermar: I started my first game against Britta, and I won. After that game, I felt very comfortable, and as a result I won my 5 first games. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be leading at the end of round 5.

In round 6, I had to play against Marek, who won 4 of 5 games and was in 2nd place. It was a hard game, and Marek played a good game and beat me 29-21. I finished the day at the 2nd position, behind Marek and ahead of Mike.

Mikem: 7 of the 9 games were scheduled to be played the first evening! This would not do. Using my status I managed to negotiate that down to 6. Then I managed to complete the games with just one loss and a draw.

Jasermar: The day ended with a dinner at the Portalet restaurant, when we had time to talk and know us, and…..to play some other games too! It was very enjoyable.

Mikem: The Spanish initiate further counter measures by serving Spanish food. A sumptuous buffet at 11pm?!? The fiends! After that a round of other games designed to tempt the wary into staying awake well into the small hours. Their cunning knows no bounds.

Jasermar: We started at 10.00 at the hotel Granollers for the last 3 rounds.

My first game on Sunday was against Mike (we were joking a lot last night about this game), and I lost it 14-32. It was a good & a funny game, from about the middle of the game there were 3 tiles that fit a forced space of Mike's, 1 closed his loop, the other 2 avoided it. Do you guess what the last 3 tiles in the bag were?? Mike took the correct one and did the loop. I fell to the 3rd place.

Mikem: First up on Sunday morning I was scheduled to play the tournament organizer, an obvious flaw in their plan. Think about it, the former champion at his mental peak at 9am, up against a Catalan player who probably had never risen that early in his life. The outcome was never in doubt.

Justice was not only seen to be done, it was done. A clear victory to me.

Jasermar: My 8th game against Octavi was a difficult game too, but I won it, and I was in 2nd place again. The last game against Guillem was the hardest one: I had practically the game lost, but when there were no tiles on the bag, I did a small loop that used the tile that Guillem need to connect his two lines and I won the game 16-15. I was too happy, because I did it! I came in 2nd place!

I want to dedicate my 2nd place to my wife and my two sons.

Mikem: After that impressive result against Jasermar, the minor details of who won the overall compeition were hardly significant.

Jasermar: Finally, Marek Reniers won the 1st Spanish Open, I was 2nd and Rob Morton was 3th. Congratulations to Marek and Rob.

I want to thank all of the players who come to the Open, especially to those who come from other countries.

Mikem: I shall return.

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