The grand final of the Kyiv Open 2020 was won by DU Players (Jack Williams, Gabrielle Fullam) of Trinity College Dublin, speaking in Opening Opposition. Concluding the tournament as finalists were TBC (Lucie Slamova, Triinu Jogi; Warwick/Sheffield) in Opening Government, Both of us actually wanted to speak with Jack (Caoimhin Hamill, Olja Bosnjak; TCD/Zagreb) in Closing Government, and Maastricht A(ges Past) (Katharina Jansen, Alwin Bakker) in Closing Opposition. The final was chaired by Lucy Murphy, judging alongside Shruti Deb, Tin Puljic, Arie Mora and Harmen de Jong. The top speaker was Caoimhin Hamill, with an average of 81 speaker points. The Break: 1. Both of ...

[caption id="attachment_36956" align="alignright" width="455"] The Dutch victory celebration featuring European champions Katharina Margareta Jansen (4th from left), Emma Lucas (5th f.l.) Louis Honee (6th f.l.) and David Metz (7th f.l.) - © Louis Honee[/caption] The Astana EUDC 2020 has come to an end and it has been a successful tournament for the Leiden Debating Union. The Dutch debating society was able to win both the ESL and Open final and topped the ESL speaker awards as well. In the grand final, Leiden A (David Metz, Emma Lucas) took the victory out of Closing Opposition against the Opening Government Leiden C (Louis Honee, ...

At the Imperial Online IV 2020, hosted on June 27th and June 28th, 2020, the team Hybrid Statoosh (Lucy Murphy, Maurice Coutiel) has emerged victorious in the Open Final out of Opening Opposition. They spoke against Imperial IR (Ivan Kapelyukh, Rhys Steel) in Opening Government, LSE BD (Katya Broomberg, Andrea D'Souza) in Closing Government, and Stop talking about erectile dysfunction and start talking about female orgasmic dysfunction (Gabrielle Fullam, Jack Williams) in Closing Opposition. The motion read "THBT universities should establish "dangerous spaces (incl. Infoslide)". The debate was judged by Jacklin Kwan as chair, together with Gwen Stearns, Joseph Lewis, ...

The open final of the Astana Debate Union Online Tournament 2020 was won by LSE HC (Hamza Chaudhry, Ciara Mitchell) in Opening Opposition, speaking against GUU A (Emma Chan, Julie Nyerges) in Opening Government, Trying to get my ducks in a row (Lucy Murphy, Miri Muntean) in Closing Government, and Short and to the point (Neta Portal, Miriam Kalman) in Closing Opposition on the motion "THP the rule of the governing AI, with elections on priorities over, traditional representative democracy." The final was chaired by Hadar Goldberg, judging alongside Tin Puljic, Alicja Filbier, Dana Green, and Ron Leizrowice. The top speaker ...

The Utopian Final of the Cyberpunk IV was won by The zoom where it happens (Gil Peled, Ido Kotler; Tel Aviv) in Opening Government, speaking against [KDA] the Real ULU A (Maurice Coutiel, Nick Zervoudis; London) in Opening Opposition, Team Underscore Name (Areeb Sherwani, Jacklin Kwan; Sheffield/Manchester)  in Closing Government, and To die hating OO, that was freedom (Josh Freeman, Joseph Lewis; LSE) in Closing Opposition on the motion "Assuming the technology exists, this house would allow people to buy and sell years of their life." The debate was chaired by Emily Frizell, judging with her were Arie Mora, Lucy ...

The Grand Final of the Trinity Open 2020 Online was won by Cambridge Cromwell's Men are Here Again (Matt Hazell, Alasdair Donovan) in Opening Opposition. Debating against them were BDU The prancing ponies (Josef Moscovici, Calyxx Peucker) in Opening Government; Open Break the tab not the quarantine (Hadar Goldberg,  Nadav barak) in Closing Government; and Open [KDA] Thanks Jacklin :D (Milla Huuskonen, Ron Leizrowice) in Closing Opposition. The motion read "This House Supports rioting as a means of fighting for social justice in the U.S." The debate was judged by Marta Vasic as chair together with Katharina Jansen, Nicole O'Sullivan, Lovro ...

NU A (Tashkenbayev Mukhtar, Alisher Juzgenbayev) won the 2020 Parassat Open. They were speaking from Opening Opposition against ULU A (Maurice Coutiel, Przemek Stolarski) in Opening Government, Ateneo AV (Luigi Alcaneses, Mikko Vitug) in Closing Government, and Stay hear hear (Hadar Goldberg, Lior Sokol) in Closing Opposition on the motion: "This House Opposes the commercialization of competitive debating (such as for profit debate training, paid workshops, paying IAs a salary, paying pros to speak with wealthy beginners, etc)". The adjudication panel was chaired by Milla Huuskonen. Judging with her were Alikhan Kazinov, Josef Moscovici, Katharina Margarita Jansen, and Miri Muntean. The Pro-Am final ...

The Central European Cyberspace Open 2020 has been won by We're used to no audience debates (Tin Puljić, Lovro Šprem; Zagreb) in Closing Opposition, speaking against UDS Trivium GDS LDU Chronos Coalition (Joris Graff, Daan Spackler; Utrecht/Nijmegen) in Opening Government, Bristol A (Ron Leizrowice, Timothy Lo); in Opening Opposition, and This house would stay in this house (Hadar Goldberg, Ido Kotler; Tel Aviv) in Closing Government on the motion "THBT all countries should implement legislation similar to the US Defense Production Act to combat the Covid-19 pandemic." The adjudication was chaired by Emily Frizell. Judging with her were Joona ...

[caption id="attachment_36348" align="alignright" width="264"] The winning team: Tin Puljic and Miri Muntean - © Berlin Debating Union[/caption] The Berlin IV 2020 (Online edition) is over. The final was won by the team in Opening Opposition named Quarantined, Scrappy, and Hungry (Tin Puljić, Miri Muntean), a mixed-team by the Zagreb Student Debate Forum and the Debattierklub Wien. The other final teams were real pandemics have curves (Amichay Even Chen, Roy Schulman; Tel Aviv) in Opening Government, A License and a Penance (Srishti Krishnamoorthi-Cavell, Tudor Musat; Cambridge) in Closing Government and LSE CM (Ciara Mitchell, Hamza Tariq Chaudhry) in Closing Opposition. The debate ...

[caption id="attachment_36025" align="alignright" width="300"] The winners: Tin Puljić (left) and Luka Petrović (right) - © Matija Pušnik[/caption] In the final of the Ljubljana IV 2019, the team We don't know any stuff like this (Tin Puljić, Luka Petrović) of the Zagreb Student Debate Forum was able to take the victory out of Closing Opposition. They defeated Bulshit EPL IONA Principal (Lucy Murphy, Filip Stanarčić) in Opening Government, Remember Round Two (Katharina Jansen, Uzair Tajuddin) in Opening Opposition and It's not racist, it's fiscally responsible (Nick Zervoudis, Miri Muntean) in Closing Government. The debate on the motion "THW release the evidence (incl. ...

[caption id="attachment_35221" align="alignright" width="400"] From left to right: Winners of the Open Final (Lucy Murphy, partner Dawid Bartkowiak missing) and the Novice Final (Marina Kojić & Mira Eberdorfer), best speaker Tin Puljić and best novice speaker Louisa Broeg - (c) Debattierclub München[/caption] In a final jugded by Aisling Tully (chair), Huyen Nguyen, Matt Hankin, Przemek Stolarski, Miri Muntean, Joona Suhonen and Seyoung Jeon, the team Trauma All-Stars (Dawid Bartkowiak, Lucy Murphy) in Closing Government won the Munich Research Open 2019 against teams Bonaparte Zeno & Marike (Marike Breed, Zeno Glastra van Loon) in Opening Government, Oxford BS (Jack Solomon, Louisa Broeg) ...

The team Mary Berry (Tudor Musat, Iona Covei) was victorious at the UDP Open 2019. Out of Opening Government, they defeated the Opening Opposition Sciences Proles (Daniel Chouchena, Hao Juan Tan), the Closing Government 5,000 Troops to Paris (Olivia Sundberg Diez, Guillermo Serrano) and UDS please don't start a revolution (Joris Graff, Marthe Wijfjes). The motion read: "TH as a Yellow Vest, supports attempts by Les Emergents to run for elections in European and French elections (incl. infoslide)".  The final was judged by all breaking judges with Lucy Murphy as chair as well as Emily Frizell, George Hames, Huyen Nguyen, Klaudia Maciejewska, Milla Huuskonen ...

[caption id="attachment_34894" align="alignright" width="400"] Tommy Peto and Gigi Gil - © UoB Debating[/caption] The team Oxford GP (Gigi Gil, Tommy Peto) was victorious at the Birmingham IV 2018. They won the final motion "TH prefers a world where co-parenting is primarily non-romantic (conducted by consenting partners who have no romantic or sexual relationship, eg. friends)" out of Opening Government against Only here so Luke gets moved up a squad (Luke Dunn, Jamie Johnson) in Opening Opposition, LSE B (Abhinav Reddy Bathula, Keshav Arvind) in Closing Government and 240 nuts cracked, 752 to go (Becky Elkington, Gwylim Taylor) in Closing Opposition. The ...

As the 2018 European Universities Debate Championship progresses, the break is now online. ...

[caption id="attachment_33123" align="alignright" width="225"] The Winners of the Cork IV 2017 bringing the christmas cheer - © Matt Hazell[/caption] Cambridge (Alasdair Donovan and Matt Hazell) won the Cork IV 2017 from Closing Government on the motion From behind a veil of ignorance, THW rather be born in the City of Omelas than a city in this world where you would have an average standard of life (eg: London, Dublin, Amsterdam, etc). They won over TCD Hist SD (Daniel Gilligan and Sam Browne) in Opening Government, TCD RR (Ronan Daly and Rory O'Sullivan) ind Opening Opposition and TCD Phil B (Eoin O' Gorman and Christopher Costigan) in Closing Opposition. The final was chaired ...

Tel Aviv L&H (Dan Lahav & Ayal Hayut-Man) won the first ever UCD Law Soc IV from Opening Opposition on the motion "THBT the Catalonian Government should have cancelled the independence referendum after it was ruled unconstitutional".  [caption id="attachment_32806" align="alignright" width="400"] Tel Aviv L&H (Ayal Hayut-man and Dan Lahav ) - © UCD Law Soc[/caption] They debated against We Gonna Rokc Dwon Two Dyslexic Avenue (Cian Luddy & Caoimhe Meaney, UCC Philosophical Society) in Opening Government, I'm fine. It's fine. We're fine. (Chris Costigan & Amy O'Sullivan, TCD Philosophical Society) in Closing Government and Bailey orders Asian Teck-a-Wei II: The Chopstick Chronicles (Bailey Reid, KCL &  Teck Wei Tan, Oxford) in Closing Opposition. The ...

On the third day of the European University Debate Championship 2017 the pre-rounds come to an end, meaning: The break happens. We've gathered all the information available for you and will edit more once we get our hands on it. ...

Day one is over and the participants of Tallinn EUDC are still hopeful and excited. At least it seems like it. The Achte Minute went around asking participant to deliver their best case for either Government or Opposition on the motions “TH supports coming to Tallinn EUDC” The overwhelming majority proposed that it was a great idea to join and also the voice who regrets coming, can’t really been taken seriously. Some of the arguments focused on the beauty of the city: I generally like traveling. The city and the old town is fun to go around and the waterfront is beautiful. There is ...

[caption id="attachment_31538" align="alignleft" width="152"] Winners of the Liverpool IV - Owen Mooney (left), Skye Brettell (right) - © Bethany Garry[/caption] Congratulations to GUU Bush (Owen Mooney and Skye Bretell, Glasgow) for winning the Open Final of the Liverpool IV 2017. They won the final from Closing Government defeating The unwarranted irrigation extension (Michael Davidson and Cameron Cross, Edinburgh) in Opening Government, Never Speak At Your Own Competition (Jack Stanley, Strathclyde, and Patrick Collins-Price, Liverpool) in Opening Opposition, and I came here for Lucy Murphy because I love her. That is all (Dafe Orugbo and Daire O’boyle, Maynooth) in Closing Opposition on ...

[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_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, ...

On the 19th-29th Juli the World Schools Debating Championships take place in and around Stuttgart, Germany (an article about the WSDC 2016 can be found here). The Achte Minute was visiting the event and we’ve interviewed some of the participating debaters from all around the world. Because of the large number of interviews the first part of this Mittwochs-Feature was already published yesterday. In this part you can find the interviews with: Naz Gocek, Branksome Hall - Canada Barbara Krumpholz, Europäisches Gymnasium Bertha-von-Suttner - Germany Thomas Murphy, Dubai College - United Arabic Emirates Abhaya Gauchan, Ratobangala School - Nepal   Naz Gocek, Branksome Hall - Canada [caption id="attachment_29517" ...

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 ...