The Vienna debaters from Debattierklub Wien (Stefan Zweiker, Rosie Halmi, Andreas Prischl, Jakob Reiter, Melanie Sindelar, Anna Nessmann and Andreas Villareal) release a case for overthinking the new reg reform which was discussed at this year's WUDC council. You can read their thoughts now exclusively on Achte Minute. Stances on the WUDC Reg Reform from an evolving society: How preferring societies in WUDC registration on basis of a break legacy puts back the debaters that train the hardest Executive summary The Reg Reform drives a painful thorn into the flesh of those debating societies who are working hard to reach their first break ...

For the first time Debattierklub Wien set up a tournament for Novices only: Vienna Freshers’ on 10-11 November 2012. The small competition was organised by Madlen Stottmeyer, a novice herself and teams were allowed to participate if the speakers have not been debating longer than one year. four rounds of five minute speeches with 25 minutes of prep-time gave fresh debaters an easy entry into British Parliamentary debating. A large international adjudication core lead by CAs Julia Mikić and Stefan Zweiker ensured that every participant got excellent feedback and could make the most of the tournament. ...

You went to Manila but didn’t see enough of the South Asian region? You can now catch up and fly to Malaysia to the 5th Malaysian Debate Open in the City of Malakka, the capital of the south-east province of Malaysia. The Debating Society of the Multimedia University of Malakka hosts the tournament from the 8th to the 12th of March 2013 and has a team cap of 124 teams. The Promo-Video promises a tournament in a city that is rich of history. The Malaccan 15th century empire had its rise in in this place which was characterized by Chinese ...

Two of the most prestigious debating tournaments took place over the last weekends, the Oxford (November 10 and 11) and the Cambridge IV (November 18 and 19), and Achte Minute was there! Because there is a long tradition of comparison between the two Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, also this report will try to compare both tournaments since IV stands for intervarsity, a competition between universities. The first tournament that took place was the Oxford IV – which started on Friday (for international arrivals on Thursday evening) and took place at the impressive Oxford ...

This is going to be the first in a row of three tournaments to be staged in Austria: The Austrian Open, a first-time competition in Graz open to teams who can master a debate in German language. Read more on this in the German version of this piece. ...

The sparkling sun on wet skin, the smell of sun lotion and tasty food, motions challenging our debater-skills and interesting debates with people from Russia, Germany, Austria, Israel, Greece, England – this year’s Red Sea Open (RSO) was the perfect combination of all of that. ...

The Cambridge Union Society invites to this year’s Cambridge IV – one of the most prestigious competitions in the debating world – from November 17 to 19. Fine judging and motions will be provided by chief adjudicators Harish Natarajan (semi-finalist Koc Worlds 2010, finalist at Amsterdam Euros 2010 as well as at Galway Euros 2011) and Fiona Prowse (current World Champion, twice top 5 speaker at WUCD’s, winner of Cambridge IV 2010). They will be accompanied by their deputy Natalie Smith (European Quarter finalist, WUDC Octo finalist, Winner of Manchester IV and Oxford Womens Open). The Cambridge IV also provides a ...

Debating in London – this year’s SOAS IV is being held from October 21 to 23 in the midst of London at the campus of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Registration fee is 40 pounds, including 6 preliminary rounds, quarter finals and ESL-semis as well as a debating workshop on Friday 21st. All registered debaters will be accommodated in a Hostel. Harish Natarajan (semi-finalist Koc Worlds 2010, finalist at Amsterdam Euros 2010 as well as at Galway Euros 2011) will serve as chief adjudicator, joined by Pam Cohn (Finalist Cambridge IV 2010), Filip Muki Dobranić (WUDC best speaker ...

There is probably only one place where debaters should spend their holidays, and this is a place named Eilat, the southernmost city of Israel directly located at the Red Sea. The Red Sea Open 2011, from 4th to 8th of September offers a unique combination of parties, sun and debating with high-quality adjudicators such as CA Anat Shapira (Best ESL speaker WUDC 2006, best speaker ESL EUDC 2005), DCA Maja Cimerman (EUDC ESL Champion, WUDC ESL 2nd Speaker 2010 & 2011, ESL WUDC Finalist 2011) and DCA Gavin Illsley (EUDC Champion, WUDC semifinalist and multiple IV winner). As Israel has several ...

From 2nd to 5th August you will have the opportunity to once more prepare for the upcoming Euros in Galway.  Istanbul is known for its good tournament organisation, besides various tournaments they were also host of the World Debating Championships in 2010. Quality Adjudication is provided by CA Douglas Cochran (Cambridge), DCA Michael Shapira (WUDC winner 2011, ESL) and DCA Manos Moschopolous (WUDC Best ESL Speaker 2010, EUDC ESL Finalist 2010). Istanbul also announced to have world-class adjudicators besides that, and are glade to have Anat Shapira (Best ESL speaker WUDC 2006, best speaker ESL EUDC 2005) attending as judge. If ...