The 12th Portuguese Tournament of Mathematical Games
During March 4, 2016, around 1400 students (aging 7 to 17) from all Portugal joined at Beja to play six different abstract games. The event was organized locally by professors from the Instituto Politécnico de Beja, namely: Teresa Godinho, Luís Miguel Carvoeiras, Palmira Maria Silva, Maria de Fátima Chaveiro, Filipa Isabel Silva, Sónia Cristina Costa, Sérgio Alexandre Rocha, Maria Filomena Galó, Cesário Paulo Almeida, Carla Afonso Santos, Maria João Lança, Filipe Campêlo.
The event occurred at OviBeja:
The Portuguese Tournament of Mathematical Games started months before in several hundreds of schools, scattered thru all Portugal, with local tournaments to find what students were the best players.
The games were the following:
- Traffic Lights - the 3x4 variant from Alan Parr's original game
- Cats & Dogs - A 1970s game from Simon Norton
- Slimetrail - the Bill Taylor's 7x7 square variant for faster plays during the tournament.
- Breakthrough - The Dan Troyka game, winner of the 2001 8x8 Game Design Competition
- Product - Nick Bentley's game with some adaptations
- Sesqui - A connection game by Bill Taylor and João Neto
The games were divided by students' age:
- First cycle (7-10 years) students played Traffic Lights, Cats & Dogs or Slimetrail
- Second Cycle (10-12 years) students played Cats & Dogs, Slimetrail or Breakthrough
- Third Cycle (12-15 years) students played Slimetrail, Product or Breakthrough
- Secondary (15-17 years) students played Product, Breakthrough or Sesqui
This meant 12 independent tournaments (a tournament per age per game). More information can be found at ludicum.org (in Portuguese).
Here's a video showing the event during the morning:
Some pictures:
The best student of each tournament was selected to the afternoon's final. This last tournament decided the winners. There were 121 students in this phase.
The winners
| 1º Ciclo | Semáforo | 1 | Simão Ribeiro - Colégio de São Mamede |
| 2 | Pedro Pires - Escola Professor António Melo Machado | ||
| 3 | Steven Silveira - Escola Básica e Secundária de Velas | ||
| 1º Ciclo | Cães e Gatos | 1 | Miguel Câmara - Colégio de São Francisco Xavier |
| 2 | Miguel Sousa - Colégio Pedro Arrupe | ||
| 3 | Duarte Lima - Colégio do Sagrado Coração de Maria | ||
| 1º Ciclo | Rastros | 1 | Inês Braga - Escola Professor António Melo Machado |
| 2 | Tiago Leite - Colégio São Francisco Xavier | ||
| 3 | João Gonçalves - Centro Escolar Agustina Bessa Luís | ||
| 2º Ciclo | Cães e Gatos | 1 | Francisco Sousa - Colégio São João de Brito |
| 2 | Diana Santos - Escola EB2 de Moimenta da Beira | ||
| 3 | Guilherme Coelho - Salesianos do Estoril - Escola | ||
| 2º Ciclo | Rastros | 1 | Rafael Santos - Escola EB2 de Moimenta da Beira |
| 2 | Gonçalo Ribeiro - Escola Básica e Secundária D. Filipa de Lencastre | ||
| 3 | Daniela Monteiro - EB23 Dr. Carlos Pinto Ferreira - Junqueira | ||
| 2º Ciclo | Avanço | 1 | Manuel Madelino - EBS Dr. Manuel Fernandes - Abrantes |
| 2 | Duarte Gonçalves - Colégio St. Peter´s International School | ||
| 3 | Pedro Tomás - Básica e Secundária Joaquim Inácio Cruz Sobral | ||
| 3º Ciclo | Rastros | 1 | Nuno Silva - Colégio São João de Brito |
| 2 | Rui Marques - Básica 2º e 3º Ciclo Eugénio de Castro | ||
| 3 | Lia Melo - Secundária Camilo Castelo Branco - Vila Real | ||
| 3º Ciclo | Produto | 1 | Manuel- Escola Básica de Santa Clara |
| 2 | José Oliveira - Básica 2º e 3º Ciclo Eugénio de Castro | ||
| 3 | Pedro Vieira - Colégio do Sagrado Coração de Maria | ||
| 3º Ciclo | Avanço | 1 | João Fernandes - EB 2,3 Alice Gouveia |
| 2 | António Martins - Escola Secundária Dr. Jaime Magalhães Lima | ||
| 3 | André Paredes - Dr. Manuel da Costa Brandão de Arcos de Valdevez | ||
| Secundário | Produto | 1 | João Teves - Escola Secundária Laranjeiras |
| 2 | Luís Agostinho - Escola Secundária de Mem Martins | ||
| 3 | Inês Adão - Externato de Penafirme | ||
| Secundário | Avanço | 1 | Raul - Escola Secundária Gabriel Pereira |
| 2 | João Duarte - Escola Secundária do Cartaxo | ||
| 3 | Daniela Arruda - Escola Secundária da Ribeira Grande | ||
| Secundário | Sesqui | 1 | Marco Santos - Escola Secundária de Leal da Câmara |
| 2 | Beatriz Silva - Escola Secundária Laranjeiras | ||
| 3 | Nuno Canhola - Escola Técnica e Profissional do Ribatejo |
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank all the organizations that made this possible and also the wonderful people that work really hard to make this possible. Also, to the usual suspects: Alda Carvalho, Ana Fraga, Carlos Santos, João Neto, Jorge Nuno Silva, Luís Malheiro, Teresa Santos and all the great professors and assistants that volunteer to help us with this wonderful event.
