Calgary foosball tourney showcases ‘high-speed chess’
CALGARY - A weekend foosball tournament at a northeast sports bar attracted more than 60 world-class and amateur players from across Western Canada, but the opportunity to gloat among themselves seemed to hold more attraction than any of the gold-plated trophies or $4,000 in cash prizes.
The tourney took place at Juliet’s Castle, 440 16th Ave. N. E.
“We’ve managed to attract 10 of the top 25 players in Canada in our first year,” says co-promoter Brian Loeppky, who organized the event with Andrew Udell. “We have players from Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Regina, and we have maybe 15 from Edmonton.”
Though tabletop soccer, or foosball, is hardly considered a highbrow game, the occupations of some of these players might make you re-evaluate the mental strength it takes to win consistently, Udell says.
And what’s more it’s just like chess …. really.
“Some of the best players in Canada are in Calgary,” says Darrel Popowich, a Calgarian who is ranked nationally in the Top 5. “And a lot of us guys from Calgary tend to do really well in these events down in the States. So we’re starting to build up some respectability.”
Popowich has a theory why that is.
“It’s engineering,” the former engineering student says.
“It’s the popular past time of engineers, and engineering is a big profession here. This game is high-speed chess, it challenges you mentally as well as physically. And with Calgary being so big in oil and gas, you can see why there’d be so many competitive players in our city.”
