21 Feb 2010 No Comments
| March 5, 2010 | ||
| 4:00 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
The Melbourne University Students Playing Go collective are kicking off first semester with their traditional Beginners’ Night from 4pm on Friday the fifth of March. If you’re around Melbourne Uni then, RSVP via Facebook or just turn up. Here are some pictures of last year’s beginners night.
13 Feb 2010 2 Comments
The Australian Go Association will be running its quarterly problem competition again in 2010. The first installment is up on the AGA web site in two divisions: kyu and dan. Entries are open now for all Australian go players, and close on the fifteenth of March. The prize is a go book from JW&S Hardy.
01 Feb 2010 1 Comment
On the twelfth of December, Mile Gu from Auckland and Matthew Crossman from Brisbane played a game on IGS to determine who goes to the eighth World Students Go Oza Championship this year. The game was even, with Mile taking black and Matthew taking white:
.
White resigned at that point. Mile Gu will represent Australia and New Zealand in the championships on the second and third of March in Japan.
18 Jan 2010 No Comments
Yesterday in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server a team from the All Keio Igo Association met a team led by the Brisbane Go Club in the second of what is becoming a series of annual friendly matches. Of the ten games played, Brisbane won eight, Keio won one, and one went to jigo. The games played were (with the Keio players listed first):
Etsuko Hoshino 15k did not get to play, unfortunately, as her opponent from the Brisbane team, Dr Peter Hexel, was a late scratching due to illness. The shortest game was Jason Mackay’s (15 minutes):
and the last to finish was Alex Hanysz in a thrilling arm wrestle in the endgame:
An afternoon of good clean fun, and hopefully a stepping stone on the way to many more such matches in the future. Kudos to John Hardy from Brisbane and Kiga-san from Keio for organising the event.
13 Jan 2010 3 Comments
| January 17, 2010 | ||
| 3:00 pm | to | 6:00 pm |
It’s back. The All Keio Igo Association will meet the Brisbane Go Club (and connections) in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server for the annual friendly team vs team match on the afternoon of Sunday the seventeenth of January. Come and watch. If you’re a Brisbane player, or know someone who once played go against someone who once had a beer in Brisbane, contact John Hardy and see if there’s still a place or two open on the team.
Kickoff is at 3pm Brisbane time, 2pm Tokyo time. Games will be played in tournament time and at tournament strength.
20 Dec 2009 1 Comment
The 2009 Brisbane rengo champions are Larry Wen 3d and Andrew Gray 9k. The three rounds of pair-ish go on Saturday started a little late, and finished a lot late, but that was alright, because it doubled as the Brisbane Go Club’s Christmas party, and there was plenty of BBQ and salad and delicious desserts to keep the membership occupied. We had eleven teams:
up from eight competing last year. Second place went to team A (Tim and Rene) with three wins and 2 points SOS, and third place (with a box of Christmas crackers as the prize) went to team L (Andrew and Matthew) with 2 wins and a bye. As always the draw was a mutant Swiss with initial slide pairing, ably executed by Amelia Gray with a bare spreadsheet and mysterious incantations, then funneled through whichever BGC committee member was handiest as a front man:
The consensus is that Yanis is indeed not a fifth kyu, Fumiko Hulme is indeed not a tenth kyu, and that go on a thirteen by thirteen board is much deeper than it looks. Many thanks to club president Mark Bell for his house as the venue and the barbeque (and the beer), John Hardy for donating the first prize, and the players for turning up and joining in in such good spirits.
19 Dec 2009 No Comments
The World Pair Go Association is holding a Pair Go World Cup to mark the twentieth anniversary of modern pair go. The tournament itself is in Hangzhou, China, from the 20th to the 23rd of March, 2010. Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) have been invited to send a pair, accommodation and travel paid. The Australian Go Association invites expressions of interest from pairs of players (male and female) to represent Oceania; please make these to your nearest club or national association. If more than one pair makes itself known to the AGA and NZGS, there will be playoffs held on the Pandanet Internet Go Server. We want as many as possible.
The WPGA would like us to select a representative by the end of January. We are looking to close expressions of interest by 8 January and hold playoffs circa 23 January. These dates will vary depending on what comes in. Tournament details and prize money are here.
12 Dec 2009 No Comments
| December 13, 2009 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
At the very last minute, we’ve arranged a teams match between Melbourne (MU-SPGO and the Victorian Go Club) and Brisbane (Brisbane Go Club and QUGS). It’s on at 2pm Brisbane time tomorrow (Sunday the thirteenth of December) in the Australia Room of the KGS Go Server. More details at Sensei’s Library.
12 Dec 2009 No Comments
The third annual M&H Go Cup was held at Campsie RSL in Sydney on the twenty-ninth of November. Being a Sydney event, they had approximately fifty competitors and An Younggil 8p as referee. Guyu Liu 7d won Division A (6d and above) with K. Song 7d second and David He 7d third. Fenfeng An 5d won Division B (4d to 5d) with Huan Liu 5d second and Xuedon Lu 5d third. Harry Wi 1d won Division C, with Hao Shi 3d second and Xinyi Lu 3d third.
02 Dec 2009 1 Comment
The representative from Australian and New Zealand to the 2010 World Students Go Oza championship in Japan will be determined by a playoff between Mile Gu and Matthew Crossman on December the twelfth, on IGS. More details as they come to hand.
29 Nov 2009 No Comments
On November 15, Neville Smythe attended the closing ceremony of the 20th World Pair Go Championship in Tokyo. IGF vice-president Thomas Hsiang presented Mr Taki Hisao (inventor of pair go) and Mrs Taki Hiroko (major force behind the Japanese Pair Go Association), with a plaque “with appreciation from the World Pair Go community” but specifically signed by the American Go Association, the European Go Federation, the Ibero-American Go Federation, the Canadian Go Association and the Australian Go Association.
The Australian Go Association by prior invitation contributed substantially to the cost of the plaque, in “deep appreciation of (their) pioneering effort and leadership in the development of pair go”. Mrs Taki was reported to be very happy indeed.
13 Nov 2009 No Comments
| February 6, 2010 | to | February 7, 2010 |
The thirtieth Queensland Championships will occur over Saturday 6 February and Sunday 7 February, 2010, in the Holt Room at the Student Union on the University of Queensland campus at St Lucia in Brisbane. There will be an open division for dan players (attracting AGA representative points) and a handicap division for kyu players. First round of six starts at nine o’clock, and there is a published schedule running until five o’clock both days.
Please RSVP to your nearest Brisbane Go Club officer – use the registration form or write an email. If you’re interstate, that’s horatio@go.org.au. Because this is an AGA-sanctioned championship, competitors will need to either have current Australian Go Association membership or be prepared to acquire some during registration (club membership will do nicely), and will accrue AGA credit points from their placings. Entry is five dollars for students and juniors (thank QUGS for this one) and thirty-five dollars for everyone else. Anyone and everyone who plays any sort of go in the greater Brisbane area is welcome and strongly encouraged to turn out and play.
The 2010 annual general meeting of the Brisbane Go Club, including elections, will take place on the Sunday of the tournament, during lunch.
12 Nov 2009 No Comments
| November 21, 2009 | to | November 22, 2009 |
The Wellington Go Club is holding the 2009 Wellington Open on Saturday the twenty-first and Sunday the twenty-second of November in New Zealand. Contact Teruhisa Yanagihashi for more information.
As always, photos and kifu and amusing anecdotes and results can be sent here to the Journal, and we will even publish them. :)
02 Nov 2009 No Comments
The results of the fourth Korean Prime Ministers Cup this week are in. Xuqi Wi 3d of New Zealand took twelfth place with five victories in seven rounds. Yiming Guo 7d of Australia came nineteenth with four victories, out of a field of sixty-six countries.
Xuqi Wi lost to Zoran Mutabzija 5d of Croatia, defeated Sebastien Ott 1d of Switzerland, Charlie Akerblom 4d of Sweden, Sin-Voon Chin 2d of Brunei, Cesar Sanchez Munoz 4d of Spain and Dusan Mitic 5d of Serbia, and lost to Yuan Zhou 7d of the United States in his final round, to score 5 points, 27 points SOS, and 190 points SOSOS. Zhou subsequently placed fifth in the competition, so not a bad player to be defeated by.
Yiming Guo defeated Ott and Ruechagorn Trairatananusorn 5d of Thailand, lost to Chun-Yen Lin 6d of Taiwan, defeated Ralph Spiegl 5d of Australia, lost to Cristian Pop 7d of Romania, defeated Wan-Kao Lou 5d of Macau, and lost to Victor Chow 7d of South Africa to score 4 points, 28 points SOS, and 197 points SOSOS.
Congratulations to both representatives for a strong showing, and thanks to Sensei’s Library for a proper English translation of the official results, and Jayden Sia for the photos.
22 Oct 2009 1 Comment
If you’re a strong go player and full-time university student under thirty years old, please have a go at the eighth World Students Go Oza happening in March 2010 in Japan. Unlike the previous seven, this one has a slot for a player from Oceania (i.e. Australia and New Zealand and the islands) and a qualifying tournament for same (played on IGS). Registrations for the tournament are reported as closing on Sunday the twenty-fifth of October (or not: updated below).
Word has already been sent to most Australian go clubs. But the qualifying round needs at least ten games played in it, with no doubling up, which means at least five players, and if there are a lot of players from one region, they will adjust the slots for competitors accordingly, possibly upward. If you know anyone who fits the bill, please make sure they know about this before Sunday.
Update: according to Keiko Sota from Pandanet, the deadline is now November 12th for the Oceania contestants to register for the preliminaries in December.
19 Oct 2009 4 Comments
| December 19, 2009 |
…and barbeque (alright, mostly a BBQ) at our president Mark Bell’s house (55 White Street, Wavell Heights), on the northside of Brisbane, on Saturday the nineteenth of December. We will be playing rengo (teams of two) on 13×13 boards, in order to fit sufficient rounds into one day. BYO pairs (also your own alcoholic drinks and desserts) and RSVP to your nearest Brisbane Go Club member, mentioning if you are a vegetarian or similar. Any go player within range is cordially invited to turn up and join in. Please pass the word to anyone unlikely to read it here.
Play starts at nine o’clock. A BBQ lunch will happen around noon, and there will be tea and coffee and soft drinks laid on. We anticipate finishing around three o’clock, but our mileage will vary.
The draw will use the Gray & Mackay algorithm pioneered last year, and any leftover unpaired entrants will be paired quasi-randomly, or left free to play side games. The event does not attract AGA representative points, however if we get any traditional mixed pairs playing better than average, this will be noted for future use in selecting Australian pair go teams. :)
14 Oct 2009 1 Comment
About 6 people turned up for the UQ meeting this week including two stalwart QUGS members.
James the younger vs Jonathan and Horatio vs Claire were the going matches when I arrived.
Horatio and James and I looked at the joseki of the week variations.
14 Oct 2009 No Comments
Photos from the 2009 Nationals have been appearing online.
Here are the albums that i have found so far.
John Hardy
Matthew Crossman
Shamim Khan general
Shamim Khan – prize winners
Shamim Khan – general – players
spgo on facebook
If you have photos from the Nationals, please upload them and tell us about it!
06 Oct 2009 1 Comment
The 2009 Australian open champion is Zack Zhou 7d. Second place in the open division of the thirty-second Australian National Go Tournament on the weekend went to Kevin Chen 7d, and Raphael Shin 7d placed third. All three players won five of the six rounds, and were separated on the sum of their opponents’ scores.
All the competitors
The second division was handicapped, with eleven competitors between second dan and third kyu. Yong Heng Li 3k won with a clean sweep, Jeremy Wen 1d of Brisbane came second with five victories, and Tridat Tran 1k placed third with four wins.
Bill Wen winning third division in the 2009 Nationals
The third division (four kyu and under) was won by Bill Wen 15k of Brisbane, with Masahide Yanagi 5k and Warrakun Mangrai 8k placing second and third.
An Younggil 8p playing simultaneous games on the teaching day
In all, a good tournament, with a strong field (110 dan!) of forty competitors, and a good turnout for An Younggil 8p’s teaching afternoon on the preceding Friday. The BBQ didn’t hurt, either. Kudos to the host Melbourne University Students Playing Go collective, and the newly announced Victorian Go Club for helping out.
Shining Yin, tournament director for the 2009 Nationals
A full report with shiny photos will be in the summer edition of the Journal. If anybody has any interesting kifu from the tournament and wants to send them to us, we will be happy to turn them into SGF files for your use and and see about getting reviews of them from strong players for later publication.
24 Sep 2009 1 Comment
Neville Smythe has posted some photos from the 2009 ACT Championships on Picasa. If you have any photos around from an Australian or New Zealand tournament, please upload them to Picasa or Flickr and share with the community, or mail them to us, who will do it for you. :)
05 Sep 2009 No Comments
The AGA ran a go problem competition during August, sponsored by David Mitchell. Entries have now closed. Guyu Liu 7d has won the dan division with five correct answers. James Kaaden 2k has won the kyu division with five correct answers. The AGA will be in touch with the winners regarding which book prizes they want.
01 Sep 2009 2 Comments
Game Rules
Each game is 60 minutes main time for each player with one period of 30 seconds byoyomi thereafter. (updated from 30 minutes per side, which was a typo – 6/9/2009)
Division One- Open (no handicap)
Division Two- Handicap rules
Divison Three- Handicap rules
Nationals Programme
Itinerary for Saturday and Sunday, as well as game rules will be explained during Opening Ceremony.
Registration opens at 8a.m on Saturday, please ensure you arrive early with your registration details (payment in cash/payment details) and to collect your badges.
Closing Ceremony and Presentation of Prizes is set to take place at 6pm Sunday.
Friday’s Teaching Day
Begins at 9. For those flying in on Friday, feel free to make your way to the event when available. There will be nearby eateries for lunch options including Subway, KFC and China Bar.
Students Playing Go committee members are likely to be busy in the evening in preparation for the Nationals, for those wanting dinner in the city, they’ll be happy to recommend some awesome places.
Please direct all questions to mail@spgo.org.au.
29 Aug 2009 4 Comments
Friday’s Teaching Day (2nd October)
Students Playing Go is holding a Revision/Teaching Day before the Nationals Tourney and all players are welcome to join (free event) on Friday. Professional players An Younggil (6p) and Zheng Hong (9p) will be present if you have any questions and for reviews and teaching games. This is a phenomenal opportunity for go players so do come along (come rain or hail or high winds)
Time: 9am-5pm. Friday 2nd October.
Location: Room 109, Alice Hoy Building, Melbourne Uni. (This room is located downstairs, entrance from Monash Road. Get off the tram and walk into uni, it should be the second set of stairs going down into the building on your left)
Tournament Fee
SPGO now have a DIRECT DEBIT system for players to pay their entry fee. Please send your payment to “Students Playing Go”, BSB: 803143, Account number: 9083. (Melbourne University Credit Union Limited).
Once you’ve sent your payment, please email SPGO (mail@spgo.org.au) with your registration details and the reference number of your payment. It is vital that you include your NAME and REFERENCE NUMBER of payment.
You can also ensure a quicker registration on tournament day by buying your AGA membership from the AGA now. Please include your membership number with your registration details.
Tournament Prizes
Players will be competing for some awesome prizes!
Trophies for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Placements + 2 Runner Ups
Cash Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Placements
Gifts for Winners and Fighting Spirit Awards
9×9 Fun Tourney- Gifts and Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Placements + Fighting Spirit Award
Game Rules
For Divisions 1, 2 and 3.
Absolute setting, 45 min per player- 90mins per game, Japanese rules, 6.5 komi. Handicap system in place.
Accommodations
Accommodation in Melbourne during the Australian National Go Tournament 2009 may be in peak-season prices, due to the Spring Racing Carnival. It is advisable to book early.
Here’s a website you can browse through for hostels around Melbourne: http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/australia/melbourne/
Here are the easiest-to-navigate-from hostels for those who are not confident using the public transport or maps (but be warned, these may be the most expensive due to its location):
City Centre Budget Hotel - 22-30 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/australia/melbourne/8415/
The Greenhouse Backpacker (Melbourne) 228 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia website: www.greenhousebackpacker.com.au
email: greenhouse@friendlygroup.com.au
phone: 1800 249 207 (freecall, within australia)/ (613) 9639 6400 (overseas)
Dormitory of 4-8, $28 per night
Double (2 people maximum) $78 per night per room
Single $65 per night per room. No group bookings discounts available.
This one is in walking distance (5 minute walk):
Victoria Hall Accomodation – 380 Russell St, Melbourne, Australia 3000
phone: 1800 670 611(within australia)
website: victoriahall.com.au
private or dorm rooms, with shared bathrooms
twin room: from $75 a night (private)
single room: from $59 a night (private)
Dorm rooms: 4-bed dorm: from $28 a bed
6-bed dorm: from $24 a bed
Bookings from website, or phone call with credit card (VISA or Mastercard) details.
Please have a look through the Go Journal Forums for home stay possibilities. If you’re in Melbourne and can offer homestay, please add to the forums.
Maps/Directions
The Univeristy of Melbourne is easily accessable by public transport. Every tram at the Flinders St Train Station tram stop and along Swanston Street will stop or pass by the university. These trams have “Melbourne University” displayed on the front, but if in doubt, just ask the tram driver.
Included are a map of Melbourne (follow the RED line I’ve marked), and a map of the Melbourne Uni campus (the Union Building is in grey and circled in RED). Trams will stop right outside the Arrow marked 1, please walk into the campus via Monash road and look for the Union Building. Alternatively you can walk a little upwards to Arrow 2 and walk straight towards the Union Building. Members Lounge is on the ground floor.
We hope to see all of you at the Nationals.
If you have any questions please contact the organizers at mail@spgo.org.au
23 Aug 2009 No Comments
The final results for both divisions of the 2009 ACT Championships have been published on the Australian Go Association web pages. Neville Smythe posted on the AGA news page:
The ACT Open Championship was won by Guyu Liu, with 6 straight wins; Yiming Guo and David Ormerod came 2nd and 3rd. The Handicap section was won by Jordan Ceglinski. The tournament was run as a McMahon, so after the second round the kyu players were mixed in with the dan players; Jordan’s record indicates we have to upgrade his ranking significantly!
If anyone has any photos or kifu or amusing anecdotes from the event, we would like to include a proper tournament report in the spring issue of the Journal.
10 Aug 2009 6 Comments
The Australian Korean Ambassador’s Cup championship, qualifying tournament for selection of the Australian Representative to the 4th Korean Prime Minister’s Cup to be held in Korea in October, was held on Saturday August 8. This is a 1-day event, with 5 rounds packed into an exciting day for the 42 participants, ranging from 7 dan players in Section A to kyu players and beginners in Section C.
Two of the strongest players at the 2009 Korean Ambassador's Cup in Sydney
Organised by the Sydney Korean Baduk Association, the venue was as usual the Shilla Restaurant in Campsie and included a delicious Korean lunch. Our “pro-in-residence”, Younggil An 6p, was in attendance and provided commentaries for the players as well as helping with the organisation. Younggil has been living in Sydney for the last year, and is hugely popular with everyone who has benefitted from his generous and lucid commentaries and teaching games — I am comforted by his style of commenting along the lines of “Yes, that’s a way to play; another way might be …” instead of the put-down “What! You can’t play that ridiculous move!. You should play…” (Younggil will be coming to the Nationals in Melbourne, October 3-4, so come along and meet him.)
Play at the Korean Ambassador's Cup, 2009
Section A had a major upset in round 1, with 5 dan Joseph Choi defeating Yiming Guo 7d by 1.5 points. By the end if round 4, it was looking good for Miao Zhao (2008 AGA Champion) on 4 wins; the other strong contenders Guyu Liu (winner of both the the Sydney and ACT 2009 Championships) and David He (2009 Australian WAGC representative) were on 3 wins. But the final round produced two very exciting games, with Guyu Liu defeating Miao Zhao, and Yiming defeating David He in an upset. In the end Yiming, Guyu and Miao each had 4 wins, the same SoS, and only 1 point of difference in SoDoS in each case to determine the top 3 places. Yiming becomes our representative for the KPMC.
The winners at the 2009 Korean Ambassador's Cup in Sydney - and friends
08 Aug 2009 2 Comments
| September 20, 2009 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
A few of us will be holding a friendly go afternoon at Gen Con Australia, a rather large gaming convention on 18-20 September, 2009 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. We’ll be in the gaming area on Sunday afternoon from 1pm to 4pm, playing random go and teaching all comers. If you’d like a game or you’re at the convention anyhow, feel free to drop in.
Next year, if this idea holds water, we might actually take up their offer to hold a tournament there. Watch this space.
06 Aug 2009 No Comments
The Australian Go Association is running an inaugural go problem competition for kyu players and dan players. Closing date for entries is 31 August. Details at the link.
28 Jul 2009 No Comments
The perfect opportunity for Australian Go players and enthusiasts to gather, compete and learn more about go, and overall have a grand ol’ time.
As this year the Nationals are being held in Melbourne, interstate players will be able to sample the cultural feast that is this very beautiful city and also to meet the unique bunch of people over at Students Playing Go and Melbourne Go Lovers (your lovable hosts) (I hear they’re very friendly) (and enthusiastic)
The Tournament is held on the weekend of 3rd and 4th October, running all day from 9.30am-5pm. Registration begins Saturday at 9am and closing ceremony is on Sunday 5.30pm.
Players are encouraged to be in Melbourne by Friday night (feel free to persuade your hosts to dinner) and to arrive early for Registration at 9am on Saturday.
There will be (hopefully) shops opened in Union House for food and drinks, but if there are not, your hosts will be providing tea, water and light snacks (and a free BBQ lunch on Sunday) and there are plenty of nearby eateries to ensure you get the needed energy to play go!
Players will be competing for prestigious trophies and prizes and of course for the sheer pleasure of testing your skills and having fun with players from all around Australia.I hear tell that there are also some very interesting things planned by your hosts (all quite mysterious), so you’ll just have to wait and see ;)
If you’re interested thus in participating (you should be by now), please send in your entry forms (or any enquiries) to mail@spgo.org.au or by post to Box 11, Union House, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010 care of Students Playing Go.
If you’re having trouble with your entry forms, you’re welcome to type out and send all the relevant information via email (mail@spgo.org.au)
Entry fees can also be paid by cash during Saturday’s morning registration period.
It’s vital that participating players send in your entry forms in advance so that things can be planned sufficiently to accommodate. So get filling in those forms (or emails) now!
For interstate players looking for weekend living arrangements, your hosts are planning a short list of possible motel/hotel accommodations. If you need any particular help please contact Students Playing Go at mail@spgo.org.au.
See you all there!
27 Jul 2009 No Comments
| September 12, 2009 | to | September 13, 2009 |
The 2009 New Zealand Open Go Championships have just been announced on the NZGS mailing list. They will be held in Auckland on the weekend of 12-13 September. As well as the open division to choose the New Zealand champion, there will be a handicap division for kyu players. Both divisions will be run in six rounds using a McMahon draw. There will be a social function on the Saturday night, and any go players in the area are welcome to drop by for a game.
For more information, contact Colin Grierson or fetch the entry form from the New Zealand Go Society wiki.
26 Jul 2009 No Comments
| July 29, 2009 | ||
| 4:00 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
The Melbourne University Students Playing Go club are holding their biannual beginners night on 29th July in the Graham Cornish Room at Union House. If you’re on campus, or even if you’re not, come down from 4pm-7pm, be sociable, learn some go. See the entry on their blog for more details, or contact shamim@go.org.au.
03 Jul 2009 5 Comments
| October 3, 2009 | to | October 4, 2009 |
Details of the Australian National Championships are confirmed as follows:
Venue: Members’ Lounge, Ground Floor, Union House, University of Melbourne
Registration form is here
On-the-day registration begins at Saturday 9:00am, but please register in advance!
AGA Annual General Meeting begins Saturday 5:30pm
Closing ceremony begins Sunday 5:30pm
Contact: SPGO or or Box 11, Union House, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010
The Tournament Referee will be An Young Gil 6p.
28 Jun 2009 1 Comment
| August 8, 2009 |
The 4th Korean Ambassador’s Cup in Sydney will be held at Sila Restaurant (161 Beamish Street, Campsie, phone 9718 1029) by the Sydney Ki-Won on Saturday the eighth of August. This is a one-day tournament and the open division will determine the Australian representative in the Korean Prime Minister’s Cup. For more details, contact Raphael Shin at the Sydney Korean Go Club.
(This is a placeholder for the event calendar. Will someone actually at the club please come forward and give us some more details to post?)
28 Jun 2009 No Comments
Just a reminder of the three Australian tournaments in the last half of 2009:
Also there’s the Brisbane Christmas pair go tournament coming up in December, and the ongoing Australia Room Friendly Series – Brisbane v Sydney fixture has better-than-even odds of happening in early July.
10 Jun 2009 No Comments
08 Jun 2009 No Comments
The NSW Go Championships was played in at the Sydney Go Club rooms in Surrey Hills on the weekend of 6 – 7 June 2009. Twenty players entered the dan division – a massive 82 dan aggregate! Fifteen players from the Chinese go community boosted the numbers, and Guyu Liu 7 dan was first with 6-0, while Miao Zhao 7 dan was second with 5-1.
The kyu division was not so blessed, with four entrants including tournament director Robert Vadas playing as 1 dan. Only four rounds were played due to one withdrawal, and Robert was first with 4-0, while Guo Liang Xu 1 kyu was second.
The event ran smoothly under Robert’s guiding hand. Lunches were provided for participants. Popular professional Younggil An 6P provided commentaries on some of the key games, adding to the overall fun and excitement.
A young lady who did well was Cuiying Xu Tring 2 dan (2-4), the only female and also the youngest participant at about 14 years. We remember her from one of the early Toyota Cups, still barely able to reach across the board. Another young entrant Edwin Tang 2 dan (2-4) also did well. It is just so great to see young players joining in and chasing the older ones.
For those interested, full results will be available on the AGA website very soon. Thanks to Robert Vadas for organising the event, and to all participants who made this such a memorable occasion.
01 Jun 2009 No Comments
At the end of the thirtieth World Amateur Go Championships on Saturday, the Australian representative David He 7d of New South Wales placed thirteenth with five wins and three losses (sum of opponents scores 39), and the New Zealand representative Longyang Li 4d placed twenty-first with the same record (but an SOS of 33). David lost his fifth round game against Juyong Koh 7d of Canada, won the sixth against Dimas Cabre Chacon 4d from Spain, won the seventh against Paisal Thunthaduluk 4d from Thailand, and lost the last against Korea’s Shin-wan Yoo 6d. Longyang in his last four rounds won against against Israel and Hungary, and lost one of the remaining rounds.
IGF Oceania director Neville Smythe was on the spot, and has posted some pictures (above). He wrote at the time:
David was disappointed to lose by 0.5 to Singapore, he was 10 points ahead for until near the end when Tan pulled off something desperate. He also lost to Canada after a good game; the Canadians always seem to be our nemesis (and I’m afraid he may also be losing at the moment to Thailand, and I think he must be feeling discouraged). LongYang Li from NZ had a very good win against Hungary, who had beaten USA.
Shortly after this, David He did indeed pull off a win against his Thai opponent, leaving him to face the second-placing player in the tournament. China took first place, and Hong Kong third, with Finland’s Antti Tormanen taking the Shizuo Asada Fighting Spirit Prize. Full results are posted by the Nihon Ki-in here, kifu of selected interesting games here.
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