sydney

13 Sep 2010 1 Comment

Thirty-third Australian National Go Championships

November 27, 2010toNovember 28, 2010

The thirty-third Australian National Go Championships will be played on Saturday the twenty-seventh and Sunday the twenty-eighth of November, 2010. The venue will be the Young Go Academy in Strathfield, Sydney. The organisers are Robert Vadas of Sydney Go Club (ravadas@yahoo.com) and An Younggil of the Academy (anyoungkil@gmail.com). Third dans and stronger will play in the open division, second dans and under will play in the handicap division.

To register, contact one of the organisers with your name, rank, club, and AGA membership number if you have one, or ask your club secretary to pass the information along. The tournament fee (to be announced, but around $55) will be collected on the Saturday. As always, you must be a member of your national go association to compete in this tournament; for most of you that means the Australian Go Association, who will be happy to sign you up on the day if need be. The annual general meeting of the Australian Go Association will be on the Saturday evening.

Korean lunch and refreshments, tea, coffee and wireless internet will be provided. There will be at least three Korean professionals and one from Japan. We will try to broadcast the open division on EurogoTV, and there will be liveblogging. :)

by aguido in Announcements, Tournaments Tags: , , , , ,

15 Aug 2010 No Comments

Day Two of the 5th Sydney KAC

After yesterday’s dramatic end to Division B (Tring Xu losing the deciding game to Sun Woong Choi 1d, letting him catch up to her and tie for first place on score, SOS and SDS), the kyu players got to have some fun in division C.

As I write this, the third round is about to finish up. When the round started, Tae Sun Min 1k and Lee Kang Hyun 2k were tied for the lead. Sixteen players are competing in C Division, three 1k, three 2k, two 3k (including your humble author, who apparently got promoted when he wasn’t looking) and the rest 4k and under. Notable in the first round was a jigo

Meanwhile, the A Division is finishing up the fifth round. At the start of the round, Bi Jang 7d and Miao Zhao 7d were sharing the lead on four victories and equal SOS and SDS, with Guyu Liu 7d in third.

Update 2:50pm: Third round started early and finished even earlier. Tae Sun Min 1k is in first place after easily crushing his third opponent. Lee Kang Hyun 2k is close behind in second place with three victories and a half a point less SOS. Oh Ryoon Kwon 1k is third, sort of.

Update 6:03 pm: ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! The Sydney KAC Champion is Bi Jang 7d from Korea. Meanwhile in division C Oh Ryoon Kwon 1k has taken first place on four wins, beating Tae Sun Min 1k on SOS, who in turn beat Lee Kang Hyun 2k. Going to go listen to the trophy presentations now…

by aguido in Tournaments, Visiting Tags: , , ,

14 Aug 2010 No Comments

Day One of the 5th Sydney KAC

The fifth Korean Ambassador’s Cup in Sydney started ninety minutes ago. The A division has twenty players (nine 7d, three 6d, and eight 5d) in it, and the first victory of the first round has gone to Hae Taek Choi 6d, who defeated Kang Yong Lee 5d.

Meanwhile, in the B Division there are sixteen players (six 1d, four 2d, five 3d). This is a handicap division, which must make Hak Beom Seo 4d very happy. :) First blood in round one went to young Yelson Qian 1d (Australia’s representative at the recent Children’s Baduk Cup in Korea), defeating the visiting Gilbert Kim 3d. Also competing in this division is Tring Xu 3d, half of this year’s Australian team at the world pair go championships, who defeated Mark Law 1d.

Between them the two top divisions fill the room and then some, so C Division (1k to 9k) will be playing five rounds tomorrow. It’s quite an atmosphere here, what with a sizeable Korean delegation led by Sang-Dae Hahn and at least four professionals on the floor. I’ve counted half a dozen cameras, so there should be some pictures coming up soon, although as befits an intrepid go reporter I’ve left my camera cable behind, so they won’t be mine.

More updates as the weekend goes on…

Update 2:35pm: round 3 of B Division has just started; Tring Xu 3d, Duc Cho 2d, and Changup Son 1d are tied for first place. A Division is still grinding through its second round of games.

Update 6:50pm: the third round of A Division has finished, with Guyu Liu 7d, Miao Zhao 7d and Bi Jang 7d tied on three wins and separated on SOS. Meanwhile, Tring Xu has maintained her lead through to the final round of Division B and is playing out a thrilling endgame against Sun Woong Choi 1d. If she wins the game, she takes first place in the division, if she doesn’t…

by aguido in Tournaments, Visiting Tags: , , ,

08 Aug 2010 No Comments

Teaching evening before Korean Ambassador’s Cup

August 13, 2010
7:00 pmto10:00 pm
7:00 pmto10:00 pm

An Younggil 8p sends word: the two Korean visiting professionals in Sydney will hold a teaching evening on Friday the thirteenth of August, the day before before the fifth Korean Ambassador’s Cup this weekend. Kickoff is at seven at the Young Go Academy; cost is $30. Details in the flyer posted on the AGA web pages.

by aguido in Announcements, Visiting Tags: , , ,

19 Jul 2010 2 Comments

Fifth Korean Ambassador’s Cup

August 14, 2010toAugust 15, 2010

The fifth Korean Ambassador’s Cup will be held on Saturday the 14th of August and Sunday the 15th of August at the Young Go Academy in Strathfield, Sydney. Attending as guests are An Younggil 8p and Kyung-Min Yu 6p from the YGA, and Youngmin Yoon 3p and Sohyun Park 3p from Korea.

  • Division A (fifth dan and stronger) will be played in six rounds over the two days.
  • Division B (first dan to fourth dan) will be played in five rounds on the Saturday.
  • Division C (ninth kyu to first kyu) will be played in five rounds on the Sunday.

Registration is 8:30 to 9:30 each morning, play starts at 10am each day. Prize money is $300 (first place), $200 (second place) and $100 (third place) for each division. Registration is $10 for seniors and students, and $30 for everyone else. Lunch and refreshments will be provided on both days. AGA representative points will be granted to members who compete, on the usual basis. For interstate visitors, remember that the YGA is open for play 2pm to 10pm, seven days a week.

For more information or to preregister, please contact Jungwoong Lee (0410 910 600) and Yoonguk Noh (0430 273 393) of the Korean Baduk Association of Australia (who are organising the tournament) or An Younggil of the YGA (anyoungkil@gmail.com).

Play at the Korean Ambassador's Cup, 2009

A report from last year’s KAC was posted to the Journal. It looks like this year’s will be even more fun.

by aguido in Announcements, Tournaments Tags: , , ,

14 Jul 2010 13 Comments

Young Go Academy opens in Sydney

Local professional An Younggil has just opened the Young Go Academy in Strathfield, Sydney. He sends through this report:

“Last Sunday was the opening day for of the new club. There was a friendship match between Korean and Chinese go players in Sydney as the opening event. Participants are 3d to 7d and each dan has three or four players each team. The team members are 17 each, and there were two rounds in the afternoon.

On the first round, Chinese team won by 10 to 7, and after the round, there was a review between Rain Jang and Miao Zhao. Rain beat Miao, and he came to Australia three weeks ago, and he seems to be the strongest amateur player in Australia I think. Kyung-Min Yu reviewed the game in fluent Chinese; he’s a 6p Korean player and has lived in Taiwan about 5 years before coming here. After the short review, the second round had begun and the Chinese team won by 11 to 6. Finally, the friendship match ended with the result Chinese won by 21:13. There were three foreigners in the Korean team (Norman Wildburger 5d, Ciaran Pearson 5d and Barry Jay 3d) although actually, we count as foreigners too. They won 5 games and one lost, and they also seemed to enjoy the time so much. There were many other go players who came to watch the games and the new venue.

After the event, the players and watchers were all coming for dinner together and people enjoyed the Korean style of buffet. There was also raffle time for some concert tickets, and the Chinese took all five. The event was so successful and I really thank the visitors including players. :-) As the Australian government is letting me stay here longer for Go, I hope to contribute something with Go and this is the first step to do it properly. By the way, the new club will be opened every single day from 2pm to 10pm.”

The YGA has An Younggil 8p, Kyung-Min Yu 6p (come here from five years in Taiwan teaching go), and Rain Jang 7d (fresh from a year in Seattle) as teachers, and seems to be exciting a lot of interest. Here are some photos of the open day tournament:

by aguido in Club updates, Events, Other, Tournaments, Visiting Tags: , , ,

15 Jun 2010 1 Comment

NSW State Championships Report

The NSW State Championships were played on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June. The tournament was held in Sydney. The New South Wales state champion is Guyu Liu 7d with a clean sweep of all six rounds in the open division, with Yiming Guo 7d second on five victories and Jianghong He third on four victories (plus SOS and SDS to see off Ciaran Pearson 5d and Miao Zhao 7d, also with four wins each). Unfortunately David Ormerod 5d had to withdraw injured in the fourth round.

The New South Wales kyu champion is Michael Thompson 2k, with five victories and one defeat. Second in the handicap division was Daniel Filan 5k on three wins. This year’s handicap division was small, but kudos to the four of them for playing. The full results are in PDF format here and on the AGA web site.

Here are some pictures of the day, taken by An Younggil. Can anyone supply captions?

by aguido in Tournaments Tags: , ,

10 May 2010 2 Comments

2010 New South Wales Championships

June 12, 2010 9:00 amtoJune 13, 2010 7:00 pm

This is just a reminder that the 2010 New South Wales Go Championships are in Sydney on the Queen’s Birthday weekend, Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of June. This year they’ll be run by An Young Gil 8p, Sydney’s resident professional, assisted by Robert Vadas and a stalwart band of other volunteers from the city’s go clubs. Players from out of state are welcome.

Venue and other details will be announced closer to the date. Contact anyoungkil@gmail.com or ravadas@yahoo.com to preregister or ask questions.

by aguido in Announcements, Other, Tournaments Tags: , ,

12 Dec 2009 No Comments

Third Annual M&H Go Cup results are in

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.

Many thanks to the generous sponsors of the Cup, Ming Cheng Xu from M & H Paints Pty Ltd, and to David He for sending in these photos and the tournament report.

by aguido in Tournaments Tags: , , ,

07 Nov 2009 1 Comment

Visit to Sydney Baduk Club

At the end of October I visited a few Sydney go clubs, including the Sydney Baduk Club (SBC), located at 19 Railway Pde. Eastwood. It is extremely easy to find and to visit, being situated directly across from the Eastwood railway station.

The SBC is in the heart of the Korean community, and is surrounded by many Korean restaurants. On the other side of the rail line is a Chinese community, with a great choice of chinese restaurants. In other words, the SBC would be a magnet for go lovers and foodies alike.

By now, many of Australia’s go players have at least heard of Younggil An 8P, the friendly Korean professional player who is trying to make a life for himself in Australia. Younggil is the “master” of the SBC, where he also offers go lessons to young and old. There’s a $10 attendance fee, but there are special arrangements for regular players.

The main meeting is on Saturday from about 2.00pm until late, but when keen players like the well – known amateur Hae Taek Choi come to town, it might be open all night. Players can get tea, coffee, or soft drinks to keep up the fluid intake.

If you are in Sydney, head over to Eastwood sometime for a game or three. To find out more about the SBC, contact is through the AGA website.

 DSC00439

by John Hardy in Visiting Tags: ,

10 Aug 2009 6 Comments

Report from the Fourth Korean Ambassador’s Cup

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

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

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

The winners at the 2009 Korean Ambassador's Cup in Sydney - and friends

by neville in Photos, Tournaments Tags: , ,

28 Jun 2009 1 Comment

Fourth Korean Ambassador’s Cup

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?)

by aguido in Announcements, Events, Tournaments Tags: , ,

10 Jun 2009 No Comments

Bits and pieces

  • Some of the Perth go players will be meeting on the first Sunday of every month at Clive Hunt’s place from the fifth of July. Play starts from two in the afternoon, more details closer to the date. If you want to RSVP, contact Clive at clivehunt@bigpond.com or 0415-619046.
  • The NSW State Championships have just finished. Does anybody have any kifu or anecdotes or photos from the tournament they would like to share? Send them in and we’ll blog ‘em.
  • The Australia Room Friendly Series on KGS has its second fixture on Sunday the fifth of July 2009: Sydney vs Brisbane. Both cities have the core of a team, although Sydney’s is at this point stronger. If you want to play, contact David Mitchell (Sydney) or Horatio Davis (Brisbane). If you’re in Melbourne or Adelaide and want to join in the fun, put a team together and scribble down a claim to a month on the SL wiki page. Currently Adelaide leads the table with two points, with Brisbane in second place on half a point. All other cities are equal last on zero points. :)
  • The biennial Toyota and Denso Cup World Go Oza, including the Brisbane qualifying tournament has been cancelled as the sponsors aren’t going to support it any more. Rumours have been going around for several days on various forums; the Australian Go Association has just been formally notified. The fifth tournament was going to be next year. If you have any suggestions for what to replace it with, please do tell the AGA…

by aguido in On KGS, Other, World Championships Tags: , , , ,

08 Jun 2009 No Comments

New South Wales Go Championships report

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.

by John Hardy in Tournaments, Visiting Tags: , ,

29 Jan 2009 No Comments

2009 New South Wales State Championships

June 6, 2009toJune 7, 2009

The Sydney City Go Club will be holding this year’s New South Wales State Championships. It’ll be held on  Saturday 6th June to Sunday 7th June (which is conveniently the Queen’s Birthday long weekend). The venue is Philas House. This is AGA-sanctioned, with all that implies: representative points, etc. For more information, registration, questions, contact Robert Vadas at ravadas@yahoo.com.

by Amelia in Announcements, Tournaments Tags: