After a tournament with extreme amounts of rocks (editors note: Don't the Norwegian players know that "Rock is for Rookies?") , the player that never retreated to scissors won - and won big. Vegard Berg will join Team Norway Vikings in next month's Yahoo! RPS World Championships in Toronto. This will be the fifth year in a row that Norway will compete for the world title, with a well prepared and diverse team with skills in both
street, physique, psyche and endurance.

Norway has publicly stated that they aim for a Norwegian world champion by 2010.

Photos of the winner are up on Flickr :

Link to the official site of the Norwegian RPS Federation or Norsk Forbund for Stein, Saks Papir 

 Every year, the World RPS Society releases a set of  online trading cards to promote the upcoming 2008 Yahoo RPS World Championships taking place in Toronto on October 25 . This year, of course, is not different with a set new 22 cards . You will notice that we have put the cards on Flickr.com because when you have a great sponsor like Yahoo! Canada and they have great properties like Flickr, it only makes sense to use them. And we are not saying that simply becuase they are a sponsor since we have had an RPS  Group Photo Pool on flickr for years. We find it is an excellent way for everyone to share the great shots they get from the event. 

Click here to check out all the cards

We received a great email the other day with a very cool story of how a group of friends all the way from Argentina figured out a way to send someone from the group to the 2008 Yahoo! RPS World Championships.

We are a group of 15 friends that have been gathering for the last 9 yeasrs every Thursday to have dinner after playing a soccer match. After paying dinner we always used to round up the bill and the remaining was given to the winner of a “one on one” lightning RPS tournament. Last year, we heard about the event and what started as a dream is now about to become true. We decided to play a 1 year tournament and the winner would have  the chance to represent us in the RPS 2008 World Championship in Canada. Most of the money came from rounding up the dinner’s bill. After one year of tournaments, Martin “Chingo” Ingolotti was the winner and will be representing our group of friends in Canada.

Now, all we need to know is if 'Chingo" has what it takes to compete at the world class level of RPS when he has the dreams of his friends and the entire country of Argentina.

You know that the 2008 Yahoo! World Rock Paper Scissors Championships are getting close when the Scandanavians start crowning their champions. For those that don't know, Scandanavia loves competitive RPS and Denmark now loves Hans-Jacob Arndt Nielsen who won the title at this years Skanderborg Festival where the Danish Championships were held at Captain Morgans bar.

The story starts to get interesting here becuase Hans-Jacob got his chance in the competition on a wild card when one of the other regional winners did not show up. It gets a little more interesting when Hans-Jacob ended up in the finale with his best friend, who won one of the regional events. It gets even more interesting when it  turns out Hans-Jacob won over his best friend beating him with scissors - but, in typical style of an honourable RPS player, Hans-Jacob dislays true friendship and is bringing his friend/opponent to see the World Championship in Toronto with him on October 25th.

click to play

Years ago, someone noticed that both Churchill and Hitler had identifying jestures that not only looked remarkably similar to two particular RPS throws, but also related an accurate historical fact: England beat Germany in World War II.  A photo depicting this historic match has made the rounds of the Internet for years, so we thought (or rather our Hamburg, Germany based advertising agency) thought it time to bring this RPS battle to life in fun video to support the 2008 Yahoo! World RPS Championships taking place on October 25th in Toronto.

If there is a country that has done more to promote RPS, it would have to be Norway. NFSSPP has been sending some of the best and most enthusiastic players to the World Championships since way back in 2003. On September 20th, in Skein, Norway a new champion will be crowed who will travel with the rest of Team Norway  to compete at the 2008 Yahoo! Rock Paper Scissors World Championships on Oct. 25

Other events on the Norway circuit include:

• Tromsø: 27. august kl 21:00 på Driv
• Lillehammer: 28. august kl 21:00 på Bingo'n
• Bergen: 6. september kl 19:30 på Kvarteret
• Oslo: 11. september kl 21:00 på Betong (Chateu Neuf)

After months of gruelling, mind numbing, war of nerves competition the cream of Australia's RPS players imploded at the 4th annual 2008 'Australian Rock Paper Scissors Championships' (ARPSC) National Final, Saturday 9th of August at' Fisherman's Wharf Tavern', Gold Coast, QLD.

The final 16 players in the main event were made up of Eight StateTerritory/NZ finalists who qualified via respective qualifying rounds and eight wild cards that progressed via the Australian Qualifying round held earlier on in the day.

Only one player would concur this war of attrition and inturn claim the prestigious title & take home the major prize of a trip to Canada to attend & compete in 7th annual 2008 World RPS Championships (WRPSC) in Toronto, 25th October.

This player was none other then 2008 Victorian state champ, 'Lisa Rose' who played a game of courage and skill from start to finish
as she battled his way to Australian RPS glory and folk law. When it came time for the final, 'Rosey' appeared surprisingly calm as she
entered the arena to face off against her challenger, 23 year old wildcard Emily 'Tags' Keating from the Gold Coast.  The tension in the main arena the pair battled for the title was extremely intense for the very vocal & appreciative crowd.  

Preparation is already underway for the 2009 'ARPSC' .  Players, coaches and trainers are now encouraged to hone their skills in the off season in order to put their best hand forward for the 2009 series.

We always love it when artists use RPS as a theme for exploration. Probably because for those that really understand what competitive RPS is about will understand that the World RPS Championships concept is probably equal parts: living breathing art installation as well as a sporting event. 

So it is great to see that Scottish artist Alec Finlay  is currently creating a series of art projects on the theme of RPS. These include a neon, currently being existed in the exhibition 'thoughts within thoughts' at ARC gallery (Sofia, Bulgaria). The neon versions of the traditional hand symbols flash on-and-off in a never ending game. Finlay has also produced a series of prints, using specially made RPS rubber stamps, in which he plays the game with every visitor to his studio. Here, though the symbols represent oppositions in conflict they also appear as a beautiful interpenetration of line over line, a single image.

This RPS project is ongoing and represent Finlay's interest in play and systemicity – for instance, he has also created poems as word-puzzles and a number of art projects based on cryptic crosswords. He comments:

'One of the interesting things about using the RPS rubber stamps is that they can run counter to the competitive aspect of RPS, as usually when we play we choose our rubber stamp randomly, so rather than getting the 'hit' of throwing in competition, what you get instead is a quieter thrill, as one outline symbol appears stamped over the other, is caught within the other.'

Proving that not only does Norway have gobs of offshore oil, but it also has mobs of RPS players all throughout the country and region. So much so that the Sami community ( ie: Lapplanders) are staging their first RPS event on July 12th in Gammalkroa, Bjerka, Norway. 

Tickets are 50 Nor. Kroner and spectators are 30 Kroner.

Event starts at 1:30pm (or 13:30 for you Europeans)

You can read more about the sami people here

The 3rd Annual 2008 ‘NZ Rock Paper Scissors Championships ’ (NZRPSC) Regional Qualifying Rounds begin in May with the NZ Qualifying Round & NZ National Final TAKING PLACE ON Friday 13th of June at the ‘Vesbar’, AUT, Auckland.

Please see 2008 competition & venue details below.  

Along with a wealth of fame and admiration from RPS peers, some great prizes are up for grabs including trips to the NZ National Final for regional champs, &, a trip to the Gold Coast for the NZ champ along with the chance to secure the major prize of an overseas Trip for one to Toronto, Canada to attend and compete in the 7th annual 2008 World RPS Championships & vie for the title & the CAN$10,000.00 prize pool.

NZRPSC competition entry is free, unless charity fundraiser, and registration will be accepted on the day/night of competition.  Players are encouraged to enter a team, themed if desired, or just fly solo.  

2007 Christchurch & NZ National Champ ‘Cameron Blair’ aka ‘Cam’ aka ‘The Baby Faced, put his best hand forward at the World Champs managing a place in the top 16.

NZRPSC competition rules are governed, maintained and approved by the World RPS Society (WRPSS) under the guidance and authority of the World RPS Steering Committee.  

For full 2008 NZRPSC details & other essential RPS info, please visit: www.rpsnewzealand.com
    
Thank you for your time.  Kool Hanz Luke - NZRPSC Coordinator.  CELL#0061 417 706537

List of cities and dates available here