Table 3 players express their mirth (Catherine Ozols Photography)
Some people have asked about organizing a time for pair Go, just a low-key time/event. 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 16 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.
We are glad to announce that on Dec 7th and 8th, we will host the third 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 2024 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 7th, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM * Saturday First Round Starts: December 7th, 10:30 AM (second round around 2:00pm) * Sunday Third Round Starts: December 8th, 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.
Seattle Go Center hosted their 29th Anniversary Tournament on 21 OCT. There were a total of 23 attendees and 18 competitors playing in the tournament. Congrats to Kenny Jin, 6d, for taking first place in the open with an intense final round game that took almost 3 hours with byouyomi. Yuancheng Yuan 1D (Cody) won the high handicap bracket, and John Lelivelt 6k won the low handicap bracket. Sadly, there was only one youth, so there was no kids prize as usual.
We are glad to announce our upcoming 29th Anniversary Tournament October 20th.
We will have both open (all even games) and handicap tournaments. The open tournament is for the 8 strongest players and will have a cash prize of $150 for the player winning 3 games. Our handicap tournament will also have cash prizes for those who win 3 games (or divided over those who win 2 games if no one wins 3). There is our usual kids prize of $25 for the person under 18 years old who wins the most games (playing with higher ranks break ties).
Tournament Info
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Registration: 9:00am – 9:45am sharp
3 Rounds — First Game: 10:00 am. Second Game: 1pm. Third Game: 3pm.
Entry Fee: $20 for non-voting members, $10 for voting members. Free if under 18 years old (due to AGF grant).
Time Controls: 45 minutes, 5 periods 30 second byomi
Rule set: Japanese counting, AGA guidelines (just like the monthly ratings tournament)
Please make sure you have a current AGA membership so that we can submit results for ratings (https://www.usgo.org/content.aspx?page_id=60&club_id=454497 ). We will not pair you if you are not an AGA member.
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We hope to see a lot of people join us for our traditional Anniversary Tournament.
We are opening registration for Michael Redmond Sensei’s workshop, 14-15 SEP, Sat and Sun. He is the only westerner to achieve 9 dan status in Japan. He has not won any major titles, so given the non-linear scale to get to 9 dan, he has won many many games in his career. He achieved 9 dan when he was 33 yrs old. He was voted best commentator for NHK and has many videos on his Youtube channel. He also has a series of reviews on all the AlphaGo Masters games, as well as some other AlphaGo reviews.
This event is PRE-REGISTRATION ONLY. Please send an email to me or manager@seattlego.org to register.
For Saturday, we will limit the class to the first 20 people to send mail. We will form a waiting list. We will take payment online (https://www.seattlego.org/paid-instruction/) or at SGC by 24 AUG. If you have not paid by then, we will start pulling people from the wait list to replace you. Anyone attending Saturday is welcome to attend Sunday to watch the strong players class. The price for Saturday is $30 for non-voting members and $20 for voting members. Class will likely be 10am-5pm-ish. More details to come later in AUG.
For Sunday, we will limit the class to the strongest 12 peopleto send email. There will be two rounds of 6 people playing simuls, and Redmond Sensei will review the games at the front of the room (you may need to help remember your games in the beginning). The price for Sunday is $30 for each game for non-voting members ($20 for voting members), but because I expect at least 12 people, I expect everyone will just pay $30 or $20. Registrants should wait to pay until 17 AUG when I confirm the 12 highest ranked. You need to pay by 24 AUG online (https://www.seattlego.org/paid-instruction/) or at SGC, or I will start taking people off the waiting list. The first round simuls will start at 9am to allow one hour and 45 min per game (total time, no clocks). Redmond Sensei plays quickly, but he wants to give students time to think.
Please respond to me or send mail to manager@seattlego.org to register for the class.
This year’s Japan Fair, we were able to teach over 250 people the game of Go. This was only possible due to our volunteers, the staff at the Japan Fair, and the support of you, the SGC Community. So to all of you, thanks for your hard work and support.
Chihiro Sensei will visit Mon and Tue, 08-09 JUL, before the Go Congress. She is a 1p who teaches at the Kansai Ki-in and runs a children’s program at a school in Osaka. If you have attended the Osaka Go Camp, you have met her before. We will likely just do simuls, random Go questions or game reviews, and possibly a lecture. Simuls will be $10 for voting members and $20 for non-members. There will be 1-2 reminders as we get close due to the Mon time being atypical.
This May 26th (Sunday), We are hosting our Spring Tournament. We will have both and open (all even games) and handicap tournament. The open being our 4-8 strongest players facing off in even game for prize money of $150 for first place and $75 for second. The handicap tournament will have $50 prize for strongest band winner of 3 games, and $25 for the lower band winner of 3 games. There is a youth prize of $25 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)
Make sure your AGA membership is up to day a head of time.
Starting this January 24, Drew Barnett is hosting a weekly class aimed at helping DDK and mid SDK deepen there understanding of the game. The class will be every Wednesday from 6:00pm-8:00pm and will focus primarily on game reviews, with an emphasis on fuseki analysis, tsumego problems, and fighting strategies. There will be homework assignments for those who wish to push themselves harder.
Please come by and participate, should be fun and good learning. Â Drew is looking forward to improving along with folks who join in.
