REPORT ON THE 9TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE WORLD PUZZLE FEDERATION
Rio de Janeiro, October 8-9, 2007
The meeting was called to order by chairman Vitezslav Koudelka (Czech Republic) on October 8 at 14:10. Other board members present were Peter Ritmeester, general secretary (Netherlands); Will Shortz, treasurer (USA); Valter Kvalic (Croatia); and Hüsnü Sincar (Turkey).
The WPF member countries present were Argentina, Austria, Belgium (also representing Denmark), Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Slovakia, Turkey, and United States. Also attending were representatives from nonmember countries Canada and Peru. The meeting was held in two sessions over two days.
Vitezslav opened the meeting by welcoming the participants. The delegates introduced themselves and identified the organizations they represent.
The minutes of the 8th General Assembly of the WPF (Borovetz, Bulgaria), as printed in the World Puzzle Newsletter #12, were approved.
Reports
a) Peter reported that seven new members had joined the WPF during the previous year — organizations representing Australia, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Lebanon, Portugal, and Thailand. Most of these, he said, resulted from the worldwide sudoku craze. The WPF now has 43 members.
b) Peter reported that the World Puzzle Newsletter #12 was again done by Tim Preston (UK), but that this would be his last. He solicited a new editor. Tim was given unanimous thanks and approval for his work.
c) Peter handed out a report on the WPF finances. The WPF has a balance of [so many euros]. Will reported that the expenses of 10 WPC teams in Rio de Janeiro were partly underwitten by the WPF, and that approximately 10,000 euros of the WPF surplus were used for this purpose.
It was announced that the membership fee for 2007-08 would again be 250 euros. As always, members from wealthier countries are encouraged to pay more.
d) Vitezslav mentioned that the WPF still needs to prepare guidelines and rules for organizing and running a WPC. Nick Baxter (USA) proposed that the WPF establish an online “wiki” for this purpose, with WPF members contributing to it and editing it. Nick volunteered to set this up himself. He suggested keeping it simple. Vitezslav volunteered to prepare a document of guidelines for organizing and hosting a WPC/WSC.
Puzzle World Tour
Ferhat Çalapkulu (Turkey) proposed establishing a league of online WPC’s in addition to the annual in-person WPC, incorporating the Turkish, Dutch, U.S., German, Argentine, Japanese, Indian, and other national online WPC-like puzzle competitions. This would be for individual competitors, not teams, and would be the basis for international ratings of participants.
Riccardo Albini (Italy) said that if we do this, information on national championships must be sent to the WPF, and all WPF members should be notified.
Nick said the WPF website should have links to other sites that offer such competitions. Also, he said members should make their puzzles readily available to other WPF members.
Will cautioned that contestants’ honesty is difficult to check in online competitions. Solvers can use electronic help or have multiple teammates without outside detection. He said in the U.S. Puzzle Championship, director Nick Baxter calls the winners after the tournament and asks them to explain some of their solutions so he can verify they did the work themselves. And since the USPC has no monetary prizes, there is little reason for anyone to cheat. With any online competition, though, he said cheating is a constant concern.
Hendrik Hardeman (India) cautioned that the Indian online puzzle championship has limited bandwidth, so in the past the Indian contest has been limited to Indians. Countries should have the right not to participate in the proposed league.
Jaime Poniachik (Argentina) and others recommended that we try the proposed Puzzle World Tour and see if it works. Nick suggested that contestants sign up for the tour in advance and get registration numbers.
Ferhat will oversee the results and ratings for the tour, which, at the end of the year, will be posted on the WPF website.
Combining the WPC and WSC
Jan Lam (Netherlands) proposed combining the World Puzzle Championship and World Sudoku Championship in 2009, because of the cost and time commitment involved in attending both events. The two championships would be held in the same city, one after the other. Alternatively, if members want to continue both events separately, he recommended alternating the events — holding the WPC one year and the WSC the next.
There was much discussion pro and con on the desirability/advantages of combining the events and the practical problems of doing so.
Will proposed that the WPF postpone a decision on the matter until the next congress, in 2008, in order to give members more time to reflect. The vote was 7 in favor of deciding immediately, and 10 in favor of deciding later.
A vote was then held on when “later” would be. In favor of deciding at the WSC in Goa, India, in April 2008 — 0 votes; in favor of deciding by email after Goa, but before the next WPC — 0; in favor of deciding at the next WPC — unanimous.
Finally, an informal, nonbinding vote was held on members’ current leanings. In favor of keeping the WPC and WSC separate as they are — 10; in favor of combining the two events — 5; in favor of alternating them — 4.
“Classic” Sudoku versus Variations
Members discussed what percentage of WSC puzzles should be “classic” sudoku and what percentage should be variations. Nick has set up a forum for discussion online.
Election of Board Members
Two people — Valter Kvalic (Croatia) and Will Shortz (USA) — were nominated to fill the two open positions on the WPF board. Both were seeking reelection. Each spoke for a few minutes about his hopes and plans for the WPC/WPF and why they wanted to continue on the board. Each was reelected unanimously.
Site Selection for the 2009 WPC
Vitezslav reported that no members had offered to host the 2009 WPC.
The board proposed extending the deadline for offers until Dec. 31, 2007. At that time the board would notify all the members of the candidate or candidates. The vote for the 2009 WPC site would then be done by email.
Site Selection for the 2009 WSC
Vitezslav announced two candidates for the 2009 WSC — Croatia and Slovakia. Valter Kvalic spoke in favor of the northern coast of Croatia. Jan Farkas made a presentation for Zilina, Slovakia.
The vote was 18-3 in favor of Slovakia.
Statements from the 2008 WPC and WSC Organizers
Vaidas Rimkus (Lithuania), who could not attend the 2007 WPC in person, reported by email on the 2008 WPC. He announced it will be held Oct. 18-22 at the Reval Hotel in Vilnius. Further details to come.
Hendrik made a presentation on the 3rd WSC, to be held April 14-18 in Goa, India. He said there will be three competitors per country rather than four (to reduce the cost of countries sending teams), and the competition will focus more on classic sudoku than was done in Prague.
Closing
The members thanked Ediouro for a superbly run WPC.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned on October 9 at 13:40.
—Will Shortz
