Participants of the small, insignificant, local tournament were left furious after a tournament organiser’s error. After falling for an April Fool’s joke the organiser changed the rules of play, causing the games of several players to be ruined.

It was with an unsuspecting mind that François Rabeleis (6-kyu), the organiser of the longstanding Tournoi de Montcul read his emails in his kitchen early one Friday morning. With his tournament only a few weeks away, the subject “Updated tournament regulations” naturally caught his attention. Reading the email he learnt that komi had been changed to 8.5 points. Such a small change seemed completely non suspicious, particularly as the email came from a trusted source such as Billon Simmonet (4-dan), longstanding head of the French Federation’s Rules Committee. “How was I to know it was a joke?” wept François.

Of course the competitors themselves had little sympathy for his crass gullibility. More than 10 games had their natural result reversed due to the perverse nature of Montcul’s rules.

“Everyone knows komi should be 7.5 in the French rule.” Arnaud Kniggel (2-dan)

“The only think I got out of le tournoi de Montcul was shit.” Fabien Slips (3-dan)

“I never will come back. Next year I go to tournoi de Fion instead.” Thomas Sebarre (7-dan)