"Is it ok if we use Debatekeeper?" - words you'll often hear at tournaments, proving that an app supporting the adjudication process is always welcome. However, there was one problem: iOS users had no possibility to use it. An alternative app is now available - New Zealand debater Philip Belesky programmed "Timekept", which is available for 0,99€ at the App Store. Following his invitation, the Achte Minute had Anastasia Kreis check it out. [caption id="attachment_31419" align="alignright" width="400"] © Philip Belesky[/caption] After starting the app you'll first be offered a broad list of national and international debate formats, which you can arrange, prioritise ...

[caption id="attachment_31345" align="alignright" width="163"] Winners of the Manchester IV Open Final 2017: Owen Mooney (left), Eileen De Souza (right) - © Craig McDonald[/caption] Congratulations to the three winning teams of this year’s Manchester IV! The Open Final was won by GUU Clubs of alcohol and depravity (Owen Mooney and Eileen De Souza) in Closing Government. They defeated Oxford HC (Jure Hederih and Louis Collier) in Opening Government, UCL Janeway (Martin Devenney and Leo Yung) in Opening Opposition, and Edinburgh Nevertheless, She Persisted (Ethan Silver and Nishith Hedge) in Closing Opposition on the motion “This house believes that militaries in new democracies should ...

[caption id="attachment_31316" align="alignright" width="400"] Winners of LSESU Open: Joe Mayes (left), Steven Rajavinothan (right) - © Seah Ying Ying[/caption] The team Young, Scrappy and Hungry (Joe Mayes, Steven Rajavinothan) has won the Open final of the LSESU Open 2017 from Opening Government on the motion "This house believes that history curriculums should portray in an overwhelmingly negative light all celebrated historical figures responsible for racially motivated violence. E.g. Winston Churchill, Oliver Cromwell, Charles De Gaulle." They defeated the teams ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Joe Roussos, Tim Mooney) in Opening Opposition, Almodovar Film Club (Annie Williamson, Toby Tricks) in Closing Government and Rake unknown ...

[caption id="attachment_31296" align="alignright" width="400"] From left to right: Lilian Suo, Brian Wong, Rita Chudnovskaya, Jesper Eriksson, Meradjuddin Khan Oidermaa, Eid Jazairi, Ella Jonninen, Ben Shaw and Sara Halonen. - © Lennart Lokstein[/caption] At the grand final of the Ota Open 2017, the team Wolf Pack Alpha (Jesper Eriksson, Rita Chudnovskaya - Stockholm) managed to win as opening opposition on the motion "This house believes that major media outlets should seek to recruit individuals who openly support Donald Trump." They spoke against Otaly Excited (Lilian Luo - Ressu, Brian Wong - Oxford) in opening government, Don't worry, she's just my cousin! (Markus ...

[caption id="attachment_31212" align="alignright" width="300"] Winners of the Swansea Open 2017: Liam Dodd (left), Ieuan Skinner (right) - © Craig McDonald[/caption] The team "Alternative Facts A" (Ieuan Skinner & Liam Dodd, Swansea) won the final of the Swansea Open 2017 from Closing Government. They won over Birmingham That’s So Rosie (Tommy Cave & Rosalie Butcher) in Opening Government, Generic Team Name (Sophie Johnstone, Cardiff, & Ryan F., Hull) in Opening Opposition, and The Craig David Comeback Tour  (Craig McDonald, Cardiff & David Larke, Nottingham Trent) in Closing Opposition on the motion “THR the rise and domincance of aspirational narratives in western politics“. The final was judged by Paige Skinner in chair, together with Marcus Lea, Joe Osbourne, Megan Thomas, ...

Five days ago the WUDC council announced that Cape Town won the vote to be WUDC host for 2019. We took the opportunity to ask the conveners about everything you might want to know. Have fun! Who are you and what's your role at Cape Town WUDC? [caption id="attachment_31168" align="alignleft" width="400"] Matthew Barry: External relations, debating and operations - © private[/caption] Matthew Barry: I'm one of the two co-conveners and I'm going to be hitting up the logistical side of things. I'm communicating with the tab team and doing the more debate-related stuff. That's what I'm handling. I study mechanical engineering and ...

[caption id="attachment_31072" align="alignright" width="242"] Winners of the Inner Temple IV 2017 - © Michael Dunn Goejikan[/caption] The team Fulfilling MDG's Virtue Signalling Quota (Michael Dunn Goejikan & Muhammad Assadullah Khan) has won the final of the Inner Temple IV 2017. The motion was "This house supports a norm where adult children take in their elderly parents, even in cases where their parents have the financial means to support themselves." The final was judged by Steven Ramesh Rajavinothan  in chair, together with Tek Wei Tan, Ibrahim Steele, Mackenzie Tse, Bruce Weaver and Penny S. Best speaker was Michael Dunn Goejikan with an average of 84.25 speaker points. The Novice Final ...

Before the break we asked seasoned veterans for their background and strategies - now the time has come to talk with some of this year's most successful teams. In this article you will find: James Penn and James Rankin, Auckland A Lisa Schallenberg, Leiden C James Penn and James Rankin, Auckland A [caption id="attachment_30968" align="alignright" width="400"] James Penn and James Rankin - © private[/caption] James and James ranked third in the EPL break. They are debaters from Auckland, New Zealand. The interview was conducted by Lennart Lokstein. AM: Hey guys! Congratulations to your break. Did you party a lot? JP: Yeah, too much. Felt it this ...

With debaters from all around the world recovering on their travels back home, it's time to look back at the ups and downs of the tournament. Helena Hecke commented on the Dutch WUDC experience. The debating world has once more crowned the best debaters in the world. This year it's USU A from Sydney in the Open category, Tel Aviv A in the ESL category and Belgrade C in the EFL category. But celebrating the new world champions is not all that has happened at this year’s Worlds. The debating: Of course debating is the most important aspect at WUDC. This year, the Adjudication ...

The tournament is over which means this series is also coming to an end, at least for now. But before that, we still have some debaters we'd like you to meet! Erika Martinez and Alexis Hernando, Peru Aneeq Ali Sawar and Shayan Shaukat, Pakistan Erika Martinez and Alexis Hernando, Peru [caption id="attachment_30880" align="alignleft" width="400"] Erika Martinez and Alexis Hernando - © Johannes Meiborg[/caption] AM: Hi, can you give us a quick introduction of you and how you started debating? EM: I study philosophy at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and have been debating in Spanish for four years now in our debating society called Sociedad ...

After nine preliminary rounds, two days of elimination rounds and three finals, the winners of this years WUDC have been determined. [caption id="attachment_30874" align="alignright" width="302"] EFL Champions 2017: Belgrade C ©DutchWUDC[/caption] In the EFL Final, Belgrade C (Miloš Marjanović, Teodora Rešetar) took the win via unanimous decision against BINUS A (Stella Emada Bestio, Willem Chua) in Opening Government, SKT A (Konrad Gütschow, Philipp Schirmer) in Opening Opposition and SUFE B (Jinting Liu, Miranda Shen Yan) in Closing Government on the motion "THBT the European left should promote a hard left agenda, including the nationalisation of major industry, very high tax rates on the ...

Since we just started expanding our coverage across the European circuit, we are looking for new reporters from as many countries attending European tournaments as possible. This includes IONA, Israel and everyone else feeling part of the circuit. (For members of other circuits there is more information about regional coverage at the bottom of this post.) Basically, all we do is on a voluntary basis and not much is required to become part of the Achte Minute team: You'll need motivation and basic English skills (all articles will be reviewed before publishing them anyways). Everything else, like the technical use of the ...

There are a lot of different people from a lot of different countries participating at the WUDC and we try to introduce you to as many as possible! In this part you will find interviews with the following participants: Beatriz de León and Yolanda González, Spain Charlotte Gabriel and Nathanael Revaldi, Indonesia Jan-Gunther Gosselke, Switzerland   Beatriz de León and Yolanda González, Spain [caption id="attachment_30845" align="alignleft" width="400"] Beatriz de León and Yolanda González - © Johannes Meiborg[/caption] AM: Hello who are you two and what brought you into debating? BdL: I'm Beatriz, 20 years old and I study law and international relations at the University Francisco de Vitania in ...

Three days and nine preliminary rounds into the Dutch WUDC 2017 in Den Haag, the following teams of the 394 participating ones have made it to the final rounds: Open Break (1-16 advance straight to octofinals): Oxford B UT MARA A AKL A (Auckland) Oxford A Oxford C Harvard A Cambridge A Hart House A (Toronto) Durham A Yale A USU B (Sydney) GUU A (Glasgow) Cambridge B Melbourne A Tel Aviv A Harvard C USU A IIUM A (Kuala Lumpur) Bates A UWADU A (Perth) IIUM B USU C UQDS C (Queensland) UCD LAW A (Dublin) Duke A Cambridge D ...

There’s no other time in the year where more outstanding, successful, brilliant, superb, mind-blowing, astonishing, fascinating debaters meet at one location then whilst WUDC. That makes worlds the perfect time to talk to some of these people and get them to share their secrets to success. We have spoken to three more people from The Netherlands, Israel, Bangladesh and Germany. The interviews were conducted by Helena Hecke. In this Article you’ll hear about the tricks of the trade from Marc-Andre Schulz – Aachen Emma Lucas and Gigi Gil – Leiden Monica Forman - Tel Aviv Ratib Ali - Dhaka [caption id="attachment_30787" align="alignright" width="229"] Marc-Andre Schulz - ...

The second day of the World Universities Debating Championship in The Hague is coming to an end and of course the Achte Minute was there once again and has interviewed some of the participants from all around the world. Today six people from three continents were interviewed and there will be more coming the following days. The interviews were conducted by Helena Hecke. In this part you can find the interviews with: Ngozi Sibulele and Inga Macingwano – South Africa Charles Lewis and Alan Chan – Canada Minji Kim and Do Hyung Shin – South Korea   Ngozi Sibulele and Inga Macingwano – South Africa [caption id="attachment_30797" align="alignleft" ...

There is no other time in the year where more outstanding, successful, brilliant, superb, mind-blowing, astonishing, fascinating debaters meet at one location than whilst at WUDC. This makes Worlds the perfect time to talk to some of those people and get them to share their secrets to success. Today on the day of the first rounds, the Achte Minute has spoken to three different people from Sweden and New Zealand. In this article you’ll find the tricks of the trade. Gustaf Lundgren and Johan Båge – Stockholm Sebastian Templeton – Wellington Gustaf Lundgren and Johan Båge – Stockholm Gustaf and Johan are ...

The first day of the World University Debating Championship 2017 in The Hague is coming to an end and of course the Achte Minute was there and interviewed some of the participants from all around the world. Today seven people from three continents were interviewed and more will be coming the following days. Interviewing for the Achte Minute was Helena Hecke. In this part you can find the interviews with: Pradeepta Adhikari and Shreya Josmi – Nepal Roshelle Pinnock, Patrice Minto and Germaine Barrett – Jamaica Tyler Whitney and Lemuel Daher, Northwest University Kirkland – USA Pradeepta Adhikari and Shreya Josmi – Nepal [caption id="attachment_30746" align="alignleft" ...

[caption id="attachment_30739" align="alignright" width="400"] Masters this year: 2 vs 2, five minute speeches - © Manuel Adams[/caption] Traditionally, and before the WUDC pre-rounds begin on December 29th, there area few events worth noticing. These include pre-council meetings, the Women's Forum, and other opportunities for exchange. Amongst them is another event worth noticing: the Masters competition. All interested WUDC judges are allowed to sign up in teams for two rounds to show their speaking skills before they judge those of others. This small competition is adjudicated by volunteer WUDC speakers and judges. As is tradition, the competition can be held in the ...

Is it your first time at the World University Debating Championship? Don't worry - Melanie Sindelar has written down what experiences might await you. [caption id="attachment_28791" align="alignright" width="400"] WUDC in Malysia 2014 - © Matthias Carcasona[/caption] Attending Worlds is an experience like no other. There is so much to learn from each debate, so much excitement from travelling to a new place, and above all: so many new friends to meet. I myself have made many friends from different corners of the world despite not being the most forthcoming person in a competitive setting. Jokes aside: even as you pace back and ...

[caption id="attachment_30718" align="alignright" width="400"] This lovely picture from Warsaw EUDC 2016 can now be seen at the new facebook page. - © Kuba Mozolewski[/caption] In the new year the Achte Minute will strongly expand the international (English) section. Changes include the following areas: The international editory is growing In preparation of our expansion we recruited some editors for the international section over the last months. Those are not necessarily German speaking because we want and need voluntary editors all across Europe. We are looking forward to introducing Achte Minute at WUDC and hope to meet more future editors soon. If you are reading ...

At the Winter Holiday Open in Zagreb, a World Schools Debate tournament, USA Debate A (Liz Yount, Josh May, Aditya Dhar and Ella Michaels) participated the final in proposition against Bežigrad Green Stars (Matija Pušnik, Reja Debevc, Filip Korošec in Opposition on the motion TH regrets the commercialization of feminism. [caption id="attachment_30642" align="alignright" width="400"] The winning team bežigrad Green Stars - © WHO[/caption] The proposition debated the intersectionality of feminism, secondly the limitation of political action and lastly the resulting commodification and need for opposition to the system. Opposition argued against this with the arguments that the commercialization will lead to popularisation of feminism and ...

The team Bailey orders asian Teck-a-Wei (Teck Wei Tan & Bailey Reid, Oxford/KC London) won the final of Centrale Open 2016 from Opening Opposition. They won over Tilbury House Minions (Agnes Putri & Leonard Münstermann, Cologne) in Opening Government, There is but one God and He is not called Jesus (Dan Lahav & Muhammad Asadullah Khan, Tel Aviv/Cambridge) in Closing Government and Cardiff A (Raphael Hill & Calan Eskandar) in Closing Opposition on the motion "THBT the Democratic Party should take on a much more centre-leftist position and support a mass redistribution of wealth agenda". The final was judged by Harish Natarajan in chair, together with Sharmila Parmanand, Nika ...

„We are here because we didn't have a cancellation agreement“ (Jeroen Wijnen and Roel Becker, Leiden) won the final of the Lund IV in Opening Opposition. Debating the motion "THB that nuclear weapons have made the world a safer place.", they defeated "Belgrade A" (Ilija Ivanišević and Đorđe Jovićević) in Opening Government, "UCD Law A" (Adam Stairs and Aodhan Peelo) in Closing Government and "Cambridge CK" (George Clay and Muhammad Asadullah Khan) in Closing Opposition. The full debate is available on Youtube. Best speaker was Aodhan Peelo (UCD Law A) with an average of 82.6 points. [caption id="attachment_30505" align="alignright" width="400"] From left ...

Since yesterday, December 5th, 2016, judge test and debating and judging manual (to be read before completing the test) of the upcoming Dutch WUDC 2017 are available online. Consisting of a video debate and a multiple choice section, the test has to be completed by all participating judges before December 22nd 23:59 (GMT). Failure to do so will, according to the organizers, result in a "noticeable impact [on one's] allocation to rooms in the competition." Further, it has been announced that the Warsaw Speaker Scale will be applied throughout the tournament. Also, all judges have kindly been asked to enter any ...

[caption id="attachment_30437" align="alignright" width="300"] Philipp Müller and Calyxx Peucker  - © Katharina Heinrich[/caption] „Such a nasty team“ (Calyxx Peucker, Friedrichshafen and Philipp R. Müller, Munich) won the final of the Tilbury House IV in Closing Government. They defeated Münster F (Marc-Andre Schulz and Marcel Jühling) in Opening Government, TU Delft (Wissam Chalabi and Ina Vollmer) in Opening Opposition and Nerds on Tour (Lucy Lester and Alex, Maastricht) in Closing Opposition on the motion “THR the decision of Clinton supporters in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 US election to frame the Trump victory as the result of misogyny and racism and ...

Maastricht Novice 2016 was won by "The Dynamic Duo" (Helena Hecke, Tilbury House and Diogo Silva, Lund) in Closing Government on the motion "THW press the button" (Infoslide: There is a button. If pressed, nuclear weapons no longer function. This would be immediately detected by owners of said weapons. If you do not press the button immediately, it will disappear.) They competed against Debate Duo (Asena Baykal and Helena Depaepe, Maastricht) in Opening Government, RDaweSome (Rayo Vermeij and Moon van der Pas, Maastricht) in Opening Opposition and Team Gualg (Dino Wildi and Milec Gadzala) in Closing Opposition in the final, which was adjudicated by Srdjan Milec (chair), Lucy Lester, Jelte Schievelz and ...

The team TCD Hist A (Lorna Staines, Catherine Prasifka, Dublin) won the open finals as Closing Opposition at the UCU Open 2016. They prevailed against Utrecht United (Danique van Koppenhagen, Florine Rombach) in Opening Government, X in Opening Opposition and Jules and Tom (Jules Boog, Tom Pouw)  in Closing Government on the motion "Assuming the technology exists, THW remove the fear of death from all (human) individuals." The final was adjudicated by Simone Landman (chair), Katharina Jansen, Mike Weltevrede, Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair,  Nishith Hegde and two others whose names we weren't provided. The novice finals were won by The Backup (Becky Mikova, Pelle Keulen, ...

[caption id="attachment_30238" align="alignright" width="400"] The winning team of this year's Munich Open: Calyxx Peucker & Philipp Müller - © Jan-Gunther Gosselke[/caption] From October 28th till October 30th, the first Munich Open took place after substantial preparations by conveners Katharina Heinrich and Christian Rausch. CAed by Monica Forman, Ben Shaw and Melda Eren, it extended the former trio of important international tournaments in the German circuit (Berlin IV, Tilbury IV, Vienna IV) by a fourth. Following five preliminary rounds, 'Berlin B' (Stefan Torges & Julian Stastny) , 'Clash and Burn' (Friedrichshafen/Munich, Calyxx Peucker & Philipp Müller), 'Heidelberg Rennehardt' (Benedikt Rennekamp & Martin Reinhardt), 'My minority ...

From December 27th to January 4th the WUDC, the world's largest debating tournament, takes place in The Hague in the Netherlands. As with most international tournaments, debates will be held in British Parliamentary Style and in English. The CA team consists of Syed Saddiq, Karin Merckens, Hyewon Rho, Michael Dunn Goekjian, Omer Nevo, Jodie O'Neill, Veenu Goswami, Yashodhan Nair and Ingrid Rodríguez. Bionda Merckens is the equity officer; Andrea Bos is in charge of language-related topics. Any questions can be directed to info@dutchwudc.nl. Overview: Date: December 27th - January 4th Conveners: Bionda Merckens, Andrea Bos Accommodation: Holiday houses Registration: Closed Registration ...