Redmond Sensei will visit SGC again this year, 23-24 MAY. He was very popular last time he came. There is no pre-registration this time, and we will have a normal two-day workshop, roughly 10am-5pm Sat and Sun.
We will do our usual pizza lunch ordering, cheese or pepperoni, or you can come prepared with your own lunch.
If you have any questions, please email use at programs@seattlego.org
Thanks to all that made it out and supported this years Spring Tournament. We had 14 players in this year tournament. A special congrats to our winners from left to right, Quincy Costello (for youth), Jacques Trepanier (for handicap), Drew Barnett (for second in open), and Wenhuan Shu (for first in the open).
This year, we had a very successful Cherry Blossom Festival and Sakura-Con. These are two of our bigger events and we have successfully taught over 750 attends the game of Go combine. We have also partner up with our Shogi friends to help expand the events we have done at Sakura Con this year to include a Shogi Handicap Tournament. Congrats to Riko for getting first and Match for getting second at the Shogi Tournament. And Congrats to our own Anthony To for getting first, and Alex K who just learn the game for getting second at our 13×13 Handicap Tournament.
I also like to give a big thanks to all our volunteers this year for making this years festivities so successful. The Seattle Go Center could not have done this without your hard work and time. Thanks from the bottom of our heart, and may next year be as successful
We are hosting our Spring Tournament this April 19th. We will have both an open (all even games) and handicap tournament. The open being our 4-8 strongest players facing off in even games for prize money of $100 for first place and $75 for second. The handicap tournament will have $50 prize for strongest band winner of 3 games, and $20 for the lower band winner of 3 games. There is a youth prize of $20 to the youth winner of 3 games or the youth who won the most games.
Registration:
9:00am-9:45am (an hour earlier than monthly ratings)
The Entrance fees:
$20 for non-voting members
$10 for voting members
$10 for youth under 18 (entrance fees will be paid by the AGF)
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR AGA MEMBERSHIP IS UP TO DATE AHEAD OF TIME. If you are not an AGA member when we pair the first round, you cannot play.
We will also order pizza if participants want. It costs $15, and we will order 4 slices per person.
There will be no Monthly Rating Tournament this April 5th.
I want to congratulate the Bellvue Crossroad meet up on a successful blitz tournament this last weekend, and thank all that could make it down to take part in it. We are always looking to help get more Go activities in the surrounding area and this is a big step in the right direction.
We hosted the 4th annual WA State Championship tournament at the Seattle Go Center. It was a happy reunion for many folks and fun to see some new faces too. A few folks came from out of state, and it was nice to meet them. Everyone had lots of fun and took a break from the emergency rain conditions sweeping western WA State recently. We had 16 participants over two days.
We’ve had four state champions, and no one has held the title more than once yet. This year Kenny Jin, 6d, won by winning all five rounds. There was an exciting finish when Michael Wanek lost by only one point, but Kenny kept a clean win of the title. Second place was Zhihong Yao, 3d, and in third place was Michael Wanek, 4d.
Bryan Walsh won all five rounds in the handicap division, and Woody Lai took the youth prize for most won games by someone under 18 years old.
Thanks to the American Go Association for supporting state championships, and thanks to the American Go Foundation for supporting youth events.
it’s been a while since our last pair go game, so as we slip into this winter season why not enjoy some silly fun with some pair go.
This will be the original form of pair Go without gender requirements, no fees, but also no banquet license or cake or donuts … just the fun and goofiness of pair Go. This is a pure fun event, and it is great to bring life partners, significant others, beginners, etc., to make Go accessible and fun to them.
We would love to see 32 or 40 (or more) folks show up and join in for fun. You can bring a pair partner, ask someone during registration time, or we can make pairs from singletons. Pair Go works best with multiples of 8, so that each table with two boards can have two games, with round 2 being composed of winners playing winners, and there being a winning team for the table who win both games. We can work with multiples of 4 if need be. PLEASE come and play!!!
Event time is 29 NOV, Sat — registration 1-2pm, round 1 is 2-3:30, and round 2 is roughly 3:30-5:00. There will be 40 min of main time with no byo yomi.
I like to thank our volunteers and the Geek Girl Con event organizers. Geek Girl Con is an event we did several years ago and we were able to return and host at table where we were able to teach 70 new people the game of Go. This wouldn’t been possible without the hard work of the event organizers for help setting us up and getting us badges. And even more, the hard work of our volunteers.
Because of you, we have been able to increase the number events that we are hosting this year, and with your support, we aim to find more events to spread the game of Go. So from the bottom of my heart, Thank You to any volunteer that has help us out with any event this year.
We are glad to announce that on Dec 13th and 14th, we will host the fourth annual AGA WA State Championship. There will be an Open Tournament for strong, qualifying attendees (all even games to determine the state champion) and a Handicap Ratings Tournament. There will be 5 rounds — two rounds Saturday and three rounds Sunday. SGC will order pizza for attendees’ lunch convenience, and the cost is $15 per person per day (for 4 slices of a cheese or pepperoni large pie cut into 10 slices).
The top scoring player in the Open Tournament who has lived in Washington state for six months or more will win the 2025 Washington State Championship title and trophy.
The top scoring players in the Open Tournament that are employable in the United States win the championship prize money — $300 for top score, $150 for second top score, and $75 for third top score.
Handicap Tournament cash prizes and youth prizes depend on registrations.
You must have a current AGA membership. Please renew ahead of time to make registration easier and to make starting on time possible. Go to AGA membership join/update page to check your membership status, renew, or join. Parents, you must make sure your kids are valid members. If someone cannot become an AGA member before the first round of pairing, you cannot play because we submit all game records to the AGA.
Tournament Details:
* Registration time: December 13th, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
* Saturday First Round Starts: December 13th, 10:30 AM (second round around 2:00pm)
* Sunday Third Round Starts: December 14th, 10:30 AM (fourth around around 1:30pm, fifth round around 3:30pm)
* Entry Free: $20 for non-voting members, $10 for voting members, Youth (under 18) are free (the $10 fee is paid by a grant from AGF), and spectators are free.
* Time Controls: 45 mins main time with 5 byo-yomi periods of 30 seconds.
* Tie-Breaker: SOS (sum of opponent scores), SODOS (sum of defeated opponents’ scores), and lastly a tie-breaking game
This event is sponsored by the AGA State Championship fund, the AGA Tournament Support Program, and the Seattle AGA Chapter. Big thanks to the AGA for their support.
Thanks To all that could make it out and also those who played in our 30th Anniversary Tournament. A special congratulation to our 2 tournament winners, Harrison Dow (Open) and Woody Lai (Handicap).
