The World Othello Championship (WOC) is the annual world championship tournament in the board game Othello, organised by the World Othello Federation (WOF) and its member national federations. The first WOC was held in Tokyo in 1977 with representatives from five countries, and has since grown into an international competition attracting players from dozens of nations around the world.
Overview The World Othello Championship typically takes place over several days and determines titles including the World Othello Champion, the Women’s World Othello Champion, the Youth World Othello Champion, and team champions. The tournament format usually includes multiple rounds of play where competitors meet in a Swiss or round‑robin system to determine final standings.
The championship is open to players from all WOF member nations, with federations entitled to send a set number of competitors. In recent years the number of participants has reached around 90–100 players, reflecting the growing global interest in competitive Othello. The event is also often hosted in conjunction with other WOF activities such as annual general meetings or confederation events.
History The first World Othello Championship was contested in Tokyo, Japan in 1977, with Hiroshi Inoue becoming the inaugural world champion. Early editions of the tournament featured a small number of competitors, but by the late 1980s the event expanded to include players from over 20 countries and added team competition categories.
Throughout its history, the World Othello Championship has been hosted in a variety of countries and regions. For example, the 2024 championship was held in Hangzhou, China, where Seiya Kurita emerged as the World Othello Champion after finishing atop the standings in a field of international competitors.
Over time the organisation of the championship became more formalised under the World Othello Federation, which was established in 2005 to promote the game worldwide and oversee international competitions. The WOF continues to coordinate the annual championship along with regional and confederation Othello events to foster competitive play at all levels.
Results The World Othello Championship (WOC), which started in 1977, was first organized by the Japan Othello Association. From 1978 until 2004, the World Othello Championship was organized by the Othello TD group and Anjar Co. In 2005, the World Othello Federation took over the responsibility for the WOC.
From 1977 to 1986, each country could send one player to participate in the WOC. From 1987, each country could send up to three players to participate. In 1987, the title WOC team championship started. In 2005, a female championship category was added to the WOC. From 2006, each World Othello Federation member could send a full team of up to four players. In 2016, a youth champion title was added to the WOC. The WOC was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year Location World Champion Team Runner-up Female Champion Youth Champion 1977 Tokyo Hiroshi Inoue Thomas Heiberg 1978 New York City Hidenori Maruoka Carol Jacobs 1979 Rome Hiroshi Inoue Jonathan Cerf 1980 London Jonathan Cerf Takuya Mimura 1981 Brussels Hidenori Maruoka Brian Rose 1982 Stockholm Kunihiko Tanida David Shaman 1983 Paris Ken'Ichi Ishii Imre Leader 1984 Melbourne Paul Ralle Ryoichi Taniguchi 1985 Athens Masaki Takizawa Paolo Ghirardato 1986 Tokyo Hideshi Tamenori Paul Ralle 1987 Milan Ken'Ichi Ishii United States Paul Ralle 1988 Paris Hideshi Tamenori United Kingdom Graham Brightwell 1989 Warsaw Hideshi Tamenori United Kingdom Graham Brightwell 1990 Stockholm Hideshi Tamenori France Didier Piau 1991 New York City Shigeru Kaneda United States Paul Ralle 1992 Barcelona Marc Tastet United Kingdom David Shaman 1993 London David Shaman United States Emmanuel Caspard 1994 Paris Masaki Takizawa France Karsten Feldborg 1995 Melbourne Hideshi Tamenori United States David Shaman 1996 Tokyo Takeshi Murakami United Kingdom Stéphane Nicolet 1997 Athens Makoto Suekuni United Kingdom Graham Brightwell 1998 Barcelona Takeshi Murakami France Emmanuel Caspard 1999 Milan David Shaman Japan Tetsuya Nakajima 2000 Copenhagen Takeshi Murakami United States Brian Rose 2001 New York City Brian Rose United States Raphael Schreiber 2002 Amsterdam David Shaman United States Ben Seeley 2003 Stockholm Ben Seeley Japan Makoto Suekuni 2004 London Ben Seeley United States Makoto Suekuni 2005 Reykjavík Hideshi Tamenori Japan Kwangwook Lee Hisako Kinoshita 2006 Mito Hideshi Tamenori Japan Makoto Suekuni Toshimi Tsuji 2007 Athens Kenta Tominaga Japan Stéphane Nicolet Yukiko Tatsumi 2008 Oslo Michele Borassi Japan Tamaki Miyaoka Liya Ye 2009 Ghent Yusuke Takanashi Japan Matthias Berg Mei Urashima 2010 Rome Yusuke Takanashi Japan Michele Borassi Jiska Helmes 2011 Newark Hiroki Nobukawa Japan Piyanat Aunchulee Jian Cai 2012 Leeuwarden Yusuke Takanashi Japan Kazuki Okamoto Veronica Stenberg 2013 Stockholm Kazuki Okamoto Japan Piyanat Aunchulee Katie Wu 2014 Bangkok Makoto Suekuni Japan Ben Seeley Joanna William 2015 Cambridge Yusuke Takanashi Japan Makoto Suekuni Yoko Sano Rose 2016 Mito Piyanat Aunchulee Japan Yan Song Zhen Dong Masaki Wada 2017 Ghent Yusuke Takanashi Japan Akihiro Takahashi Misa Sugawara Akihiro Takahashi 2018 Prague Keisuke Fukuchi Japan Piyanat Aunchulee Misa Sugawara Keisuke Fukuchi 2019 Tokyo Akihiro Takahashi Japan Yusuke Takanashi Joanna William Akihiro Takahashi2020 Cancelled 2021Cancelled 2022 Paris Kento Urano Japan Arthur Juigner Katie Pihlajapuro Fuyumi Okudaira 2023 Rome Yasushi Nagano Japan Rujipas Aunchulee Hisako Kinoshita Osuke Kawazoe 2024 Hangzhou Seiya Kurita Japan Yusuke Takanashi Hisako Kinoshita Yo Tomita2025Ankara Seiya Kurita Japan Yusuke Takanashi Miu Hisamatsu Calvin Koh Ding Sheng
References
External links Official website of the World Othello Federation