On Sunday November 23rd 2014, the first Cambridge Women’s Open will take place right after the Cambridge IV 2014 on the weekend before. It is a one day tournament featuring four rounds with seven minute speeches, semi-finals, and a final as well as a Novice final. During lunchtime, there will be open discussions on women in debating. Chief Adjudicators Chief Adjudicators (CAs) will be Emilia Carlqvist, winner of the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013 in Manchester in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the Vienna EUDC 2015, and Srishti Krishnamoorthy, breaking judge and speaker ...

The Cambridge IV 2014 will take place on the 21st and 22nd November in Cambridge, England. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, quarter finals, semi finals, and a final, as well as semi finals and a final for teams in the category English as a Second Language (ESL). It will start at 3 o'clock on Friday with team registration and will end with a Black Tie Social on Saturday night. On Sunday, the first Cambridge Women's Open 2014 will take place. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the tournament will be Madeline Schultz, Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) of the ...

From October 31st  to November 2nd, the Ρητορική Εταιρεία - Debating Society of Greece invites the debate community to the Thessaloniki Open 2014. As the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2016 takes place in Thessaloniki as well, the Thessaloniki Open will give a first impression of what Worlds could feel like in Greece. According to the Debating Society of Greece, the tournament is an official event of the European Youth Capital 2014 programme and is supported by the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe and the Association for Democracy in the Balkans. The Thessaloniki Open will feature five preliminary ...

From the 14th to the 15th November 2014, Molly McParland and Jamie Jackson of the Oxford Union will organise the annual Oxford IV in England. For international participants, the tournament offers a program already starting on Thursday the 13th November. The program comprises the Oxford Union Debate and an International Social on Thursday evening as well as a tour of Oxford and debating workshops on Friday. The tournament will feature five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, quarter- and semi-finals and a final. There will also be semi-finals and a final for speakers with English as a Second Language (ESL) as ...

From the 24th to the 26th October 2014, conveners Khanh Van Le and Beenish Waris from the Jacobs University Bremen Debating Society will host the annual Jacobs Open in Bremen, Germany. Henrik Maedler, whom Chief Adjudicator Niels Schröter called the "007 of debating", will also be part of the organisation team. The tournament features four Chief Adjudicators (CAs) and three Independent Adjudicators. The CA-team consists of the following: Peer Klüßendorf, European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) winner in the category English as a Second Language (ESL); Niels Schröter, EUDC ESL finalist; Cerys Bradley, EUDC semi-finalist; and Bionda Merckens, CA of ...

From the 9th to the 10th of August, the Westminster IV will take place in London and gives debaters another opportunity to prepare for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) in Zagreb. Only participants from the same university are allowed to compete at Westminster IV. The tournament features five rounds, an open final as well as an ESL final, if at least 12 ESL teams register. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Matt Handley, EUDC finalist and a two time semi-finalist of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), and Amanda Moorghen, designated Deputy Chief Adjudicator of the EUDC 2015 in Vienna. Becki Howarth, ...

From the 2nd to the 3rd of August, the Imperial IV will be hosted by the Imperial College Union Debating Society in London. The tournament features five preliminary rounds with seven minute speeches, a break to semi-finals and a final. The two out of three Chief Adjudicators (CAs) already announced are Ruairidh Macintosh and Daniel Bramble. Registration costs £45 and does not include accommodation. For all those who need accommodation, the organisers can provide contact details of hostels in the vicinity. Everybody who goes to the Imperial IV as well as the Westminster IV one week later will receive a 20 ...

From the 22nd to the 30th of November, the 12th International Debate Academy Slovenia (IDAS) will be held in Kranjska Gora and in Ljubljana. In the year before, over a hundred students from four different continents attended the Debate Academy, according to the organisers. The first part of IDAS consists of a training program taking place in Kranjska Gora. The second part from the 28th on will be a tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital. [caption id="attachment_23644" align="alignright" width="280"] Ljubljana[/caption] Videos of past debates and training sessions can be found in the Academy's vimeo channel. During the first days, debaters will listen to lectures ...

From the 17th to the 19th of October, the University of Turku Debating Club hosts the Turku Open for the second time in Finland. The tournament features 5 preliminary rounds of BPS debating with a break to semi-finals and a final. Speeches will be 7 minutes in length, the team cap is 32 teams. The Chief Adjudicators (CAs) are Harish Natarajan, CA of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) 2014 in Chennai, Peer Klüßendorf, European Champion in the category English as a second Language (ESL) and ESL finalist at WUDC 2014, and Helena Ivanov, ESL Finalist as well as Best EFL ...

From the 9th to the  12th of August, the Riječka Debatna Unija will organise the RiOpen 2014 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournament offers debaters heading for the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) in Zagreb another possibility to prepare and train. There will be five Chief Adjudicators (CAs) for the tournament: Viktor Prlja, best speaker at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) 2013 in Manchester in the category English as a Second Language (ESL) and CA for the Cork EUDC 2016 bid; Tijana Mijalković, ESL quarter finalist at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2013 in Berlin and Deputy Chief Adjudicator (DCA) ...

From August 29th to August 31st, the third Athens Open will be hosted by the Deree College Debating Club. The tournament takes place merely one week after the European Universities Debating Championship in Zagreb and welcomes all debaters who want to extend their holiday stay in the South East of Europe. The Athens Open will be held in British Parliamentary Style and features 5 preliminary rounds with 7 minute speeches, Semi-Finals and a Final. Chief Adjudicators (CAs) will be Christine Simpson, CA of Zagreb EUDC 2014, and Michael Shapira, CA of Vienna EUDC 2015. Registration is open. Registration Fee is 60 Euros ...

From the 21st until the 25th of July, the Erasmus Debate Society (EDS) invites debaters from all over the World to join DAPDI 2014, the annual debate training camp held in Rotterdam. The training week is meant to give beginners as well as advanced debaters training for the European Debating Championship 2014 in Zagreb an opportunity to improve their skills. Like in the previous years, trainers from the Oxford Debating Union will offer trainings to participants according to their specific skill levels from beginners to advanced debaters. After a three day training period, there will be a two day tournament, ...

From June 21st to June 22nd the Durham Debating Society will host the Durham Open 2014. The tournament in the North of England features 5 rounds with 7 minute speeches, semi-finals and a finals. As a special feature, all motions debated will be open motions. The policy on motions will soon be announced. Chief adjudicators (CAs) will be Rosie Unwin, finals judge at the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC) and CA of, amongst others, the Oxford Women's tournament, and Steven Rajavinothan, breaking speaker at the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) and the EUDC and finals judge of many tournaments, Sam Block, ...

From May 30th to June 1st, the SSE Riga Debate Society and the non-governmental organisation QUO tu domā? will host the third Debate Academy. The Debate Academy aims at debaters from different countries who want to learn more about debating and improve their skills. It consists of seven workshops given in four rooms simultaneously to account for different levels of debating proficiency of the participants. Afterwards, a tournament with four rounds and a final will be organsised so that the debaters can apply what they have learned. The trainers for the workshops will be Michael Shapira, Chief Adjudicator (CA) of the ...

On May 31st the Tilbury House Novice will take place in Cologne, Germany. After the Magdeburg Novice Tournament it is the second English Fresher's tournament in Germany this season. It aims to encourage all those who want to make their first experiences with English Debating without having to fly to a foreign country and compete with experienced native speakers. Accordingly, speakers should not have debated for more than 1 year and should not have broken at an international tournament. The tournament will be held in BP and features 4 preliminary rounds and a final. Chief Adjudicator (CA) is Leo Münstermann, Semi-Finalist ...

From May 2nd to May 3rd the first international tournament in the history of Danish Debating will take place in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Open 2014 will be hosted by the CBS Debating Society, Convenors are Erik Thompson (Convenor) and Jeen Chun (Deputy Convenor). It features 5 preliminary rounds with 7 minute speeches, Semi-Finals and a Final. “The tournament is designed to help foster the small debate circuit in Scandinavia”, the convenor explains on facebook. Therefore at least one of the speakers in every team has to be in their first year of university debating. The Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of the Copenhagen Open ...

From July 11th to July 13th the BBU Open will take place in Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania. To give a first taste of the city and the tournament, the Babes-Bolyai University (BBU) Debate Society published this video on their website: The tournament features 5 preliminary rounds, semi-finals and a final. The Chief Adjudication team comprises of Anser Aftab (WUDC grand finalist 2011 and EUDC champion 2013), Fred Cowell (best speaker at EUDC 2010 and twice WUDC grand final judge), Karin Merckens (ESL grand finalist at WUDC 2013), Michael Shapira (future CA of the EUDC 2015), Milan Vignjevic (future CA of the ...

On the 19th of April 2014, the society "Aberdeen University Debater" will host the "Debater: University of Aberdeen Open". The one-day tournament in the Scottish city of Aberdeen features 4 preliminary rounds and a direct break to the finale and will be CAed by Joe Dyer and Heather Whiteside. The organisers promise that the registration fee will be 20 pounds or less. It includes food, accomodation, and a social. Registration is possible until the 17th of April via this registration link or by emailing Finia Kuhlmann, who is from Hanover, at finia.kuhlmann@googlemail.com. Those who have any further questions or are interested in ...

From Augst 15th to August 17th 2014, the Splitska Debatna Unija will host the Split Open 2014 in Split, Croatia. The city, founded in 300 A.D., is the second biggest city in Croatia and is situated directly on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The hosts promise beach parties and historical venues for everyone not only interested in debating. 3,5 hours by car from Zagreb, the Split Open is also designed as a preparatory tournament in the run up to Zagreb EUDC 2014. With the Ljubljana IV taking place at the same time, debaters now have a choice of tournaments ...

For the very first time, the University of Ljubljana Debate Society, Slovenia, will organise the Ljubljana IV from August 15th until August 17th 2014. The date, as well as the proximity to Zagreb (1,5h by car) make it a good prep tournament for Zagreb EUDC 2014. The tournament features 5 rounds with 7 minute speeches, a semi-final and a final. Chief Adjudicators (CA) will be Anna England-Kerr (semi-finalist at Manchester EUDC, winner of Zagreb Open, CA of Newcastle IV 2013) and Viktor Prlja (broke at Chennai Worlds, best ESL speaker at Manchester EUDC, CA of the Budapest Open). Reg fee will be ...

From the 14th to the 18th of September 2014, the Red Sea Open 2014 (RSO) will once again take place in Eilat in the south of Israel. This tournament invites debaters to combine high-level debating with a relaxing holiday trip. In the last years, participants were accommodated in an all-inclusive hotel in vicinity of the beach. Apart from that, the RSO features workshops offered by experienced debaters covering debate theory as well as various topics relevant to debating. The tournament itself will have 6 preliminary rounds, semi-finals and a final. The Chief Adjudicator will be Anat Shapira from Israel, who was CA ...

From July 16th to 27th, 2014, the second Pécs Debate Summer Academy will be held at the University of Pécs in Hungary. The Academy aims at encouraging students from many different countries to engage with topics concerning a "transnational and glocal world" throughout debating. Over the course of 12 days, participants will develop and train their debating skills, practice debating and listen to lectures. At the end of the Summer Academy, a British Parliamentary Style tournament will be held. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="242"] The University of Pécs library, by C. Mike, via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The Summer Academy also is an International Studies ...

From Friday May 16th to Saturday May 17th, the Oxford Union will once again host the annual Women's Open Debating Competition. The tournament aims at encouraging women, who are still in the minority in the global debating circuit, to participate more actively in debating. Especially after the incidents in Glasgow last year, where female debaters in a final were publicly insulted, the Oxford Women's Open also became an important event to adress misogyny and gender-related issues in the debating world. The tournament will comprise of five preliminary rounds and a break to the semi finals. Furthermore, there will be workshops and ...

From the 11th to the 13th of April the Estonian Open 2014, one of the largest tournaments in the region, will take place in the beautiful city of Tallinn. The Estonian capital has also been the battleground of the European Universities Debating Championships 2008. The tournament, hosted by Rasmus Raag and Selene Gnadenteich, will have 5 preliminary rounds with 5 minute speeches, open semis and final with 7 minute speeches each. For all novice debaters, that is to say for those who have not been debating British Parliamentary Style for over a year, there is a special novice final. (c) Ralf Roletschek via ...