!!!Avalanche 2014

The Avalanche tournament is held in Oulu on 22-23 February 2014. The tournament venue, Cultural Centre Valve, is located in the very heart of the city, and on Saturday there is an additional go players' sauna evening only 50 meters away from the tournament site. In addition, Su Yang 6 dan is holding multiple lectures throughout the tournament. Players of all levels are warmly welcome!

Time: __22-23 February 2014__\\
Place: __Cultural Centre Valve__, Hallituskatu 7\\
Sauna: [Sauna cabinet (in Finnish)|http://www.saunakabinetti.fi/], Hallituskatu 10\\

*[Registration (in Finnish)|Lumivyöry2014Ilmoittautuminen]
*[Accommodation (in Finnish, for now)|Lumivyöry2014Majoitus]

The main organizer of the tournament is Mikko Nevala. If you have questions, please send email to the address: mikkgo ät gmail dot com.

Foreign players may also register by sending mail to the previously mentioned address, providing their full name, rank and club. If player accommodation is required, that can also be asked for. \\

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!!Tournament and rules

The Avalanche is a __four-round__ McMahon tournament.

*Japanese rules '89 and EGF tournament rules are used
*The results are sent to EGF as an A class tournament
*SOS is used as a tie-breaker
*Playing times are 60 minutes each and a one-minute Japanese second reading.
*Komi is 6.5 points for white
*If the difference in players' MMS score is more than one, handicaps are used (for most players, this doesn't mean anything; if eg. a 15 kyu player has to be paired against a 10 kyu player, then a four-stone handicap game is likely)

16 strongest players, judged by GoR, are picked for the tournament's top group. The winner of the tournament will be the top group player who has four wins, and the second place goes to the player who loses the final game against the winner. The third place is decided primarily by MMS and secondarily by SOS.

!!Tournament venue

The tournament is held at the Cultural Centre Valve, located in the downtown of Oulu, at Hallituskatu 7. Most of the games are played at café Mint, but the top games are played in a separate room. Saturday's go players' sauna evening is held right next to the tournament venue, at the Sauna Cabinet at Hallituskatu 10.

!!Entry fees

||Rank||Price
|4 kyu or stronger | 25 euro
|5 kyu - 9 kyu | 20 euro
|10 kyu or weaker | 15 euro

In addition, a 5 euro discount is applicable if the player is under 18 years of age at the time of the tournament.

!!Prizes

|| Placement || Prize
| 1st | 200 euro
| 2nd | 100 euro
| 3rd | 50 euro

In addition, players who did extraordinarily well in the tournament will get special prizes.

!!Schedule

|| || Saturday, February 22
| 9:00 | Registration starts
| 9:45 | Registration ends
| 10:00 | Round 1
| 13:00 | Lunch break
| | Lecture by Su Yang
| 15:00 | Round 2
| | Lecture by Su Yang
| 19:00 | Go players' sauna evening
|| || Sunday, February 23
| 9:00 | Round 3
| | Lecture by Su Yang
| 12:00 | Lunch break
| 13:00 | Round 4
| | Lecture by Su Yang
| 16:30 | Awards ceremony