News

Membership Meeting, March 24

The Annual Membership Meeting will be Sunday, March 24, starting at 1:00 PM.

Voting members who are not coming to the meeting—please give your written proxy to a voting member who is coming, so that we can meet our quorum requirements.  This can be done with email. 

The meeting will be at the Go Center. It will include a slide show, yearly reports, election of three members of the Board of Directors, and snacks.  The meeting will last about an hour, and will be followed by a meeting of the Board of Directors. If you are not elected to the Board of Directors, you may spend the rest of the afternoon playing Go. 

The Seattle Go Center has nine Directors.  Each Director has a term of three years.  This meeting, three positions will be filled. The Directors are elected by “voting members”:  lifetime members, yearly members and quarterly members who have had a membership for at least 93 days.  Ten-visit members and new members are welcome at the meeting, but cannot vote. 

If you are interested in standing for the Board of Directors, please contact Brian Allen (Operations Manager) or Lee Anne Bowie (President of the Board of Directors).  Members of the Board of Directors do not have to be current voting members of the Go Center, although they usually are.  We have enough candidates to fill all our Board positions but we are still accepting nominations.

–Mike M.

Thank you, Yuto!

Mr. Yuto Tajiri (“call me Yuto”), 5 Dan professional Go player with the Nihon Ki-in, visited Seattle Go Center, March 4 – March 7, and engaged in many activities with us.

Monday, despite several hours of airplane travel, Yuto took over Nick Sibicky’s DDK class, and reviewed a game vs. Hideo Otake, professional 9 Dan. Then Yuto and Nick played a demonstration game together and reviewed it.

Tuesday, Yuto met with Weiqi students at UW on campus at Red Square. In the warm sunshine, he played public teaching games on 9×9.

Then in the afternoon, with the stamina of a true professional, he played simultaneous games — then did it again in the evening!

Yuto Tajiri 5P playing simuls in the afternoon, and into the evening.

Wednesday, Yuto taught Go to 2nd-grade students at University Child Development School. These kids visit senior citizens living at Nikkei Manor — and now Go is one of the things they can do on their visits!

Smiling Go players face each other for casual and teaching games in a food court.

Wednesday evening, Yuto visited the Go Center’s long-running outreach project at the Uwajimaya food court.

1 Go player takes on 2 opponents while another watches.

Yuto played teaching games and simuls at Uwajimaya.

Thursday, Yuto taught Go at the McDonald International School Go Club. In the evening, one more lecture at the Go Center; then Friday, back to the airport.

Yuto Tajiri 5P with the instructors of McDonald International School Go Club

The Go Center is deeply grateful to the Nihon Ki-in and to Tajiri-sensei for the visit and so much hard work. Thank you!

–Mike M.

Mr. Tajiri, 5 Dan Professional, March 4 – March 7

Mr. Yuto Tajiri, 5 Dan professional Go player of the Nihon Ki-in, will be visiting Seattle!  Here is his profile page.

Mon. March 46:30-8:30 PMMr. Tajiri takes over Nick Sibicky’s “Double Digit Kyu” class!
Tue. March 52:00-4:30 PMSimultaneous games! $10 donation requested ($5 Youth / Voting Members). Sign up in advance.
Tue. March 56:00-8:30 PM Simultaneous games! $15 donation requested ($10 Youth / Voting Members). Sign up in advance.
Wed. March 66:00-7:30 PMVisit to the Uwajimaya Go outreach project.
(600 5th Ave. S., Seattle 98104)
Thu. March 76:00-8:00 PMMr. Tajiri lectures about Go! No charge (donations gratefully accepted; and ordinary Go Center admission applies).

Mr. Tajiri departs Friday; no weekend seminar this time around.  Mr. Tajiri will also visit two Go programs at Seattle schools on this trip. 

Seattle Go Center is incredibly fortunate that professional players share their expertise with us. Please enjoy these special events.

Closed Monday Feb. 11

Seattle Go Center will be closed Monday, February 11, 2019 due to expected inclement weather. Nick Sibicky’s “DDK” class is canceled for the day. Snow is forecast for Tuesday also, so watch for announcements about whether the Go Center will be open February 12.

The Go Center also will be closed Monday, February 18, for the Presidents’ Day holiday. The DDK class will resume on February 25. Meanwhile, you can see previous lectures on Nick’s YouTube channel.

Snowmageddon 2019

Advanced GO Class, Winter-Spring 2019

Yue Zhang’s new Advanced Go class, for players single-digit kyu and stronger, is now running weekly. Please pre-register either in person at the Go Center (a sign-up sheet is on the reception desk), or via the online registration page. Register by Monday evening prior to the class. (For example, to attend the Thursday, March 28 session, you should register no later than Monday, March 25.) Sessions that don’t have six or more registered may be canceled. (So get a bunch of your Go rivals to sign up too!)

Yue (Vincent) Zhang

Classes will run Thursdays, 7:00 – 9:00 PM at the Go Center. Tuition for these unique two-hour classes is $25 per class, including Go Center admission ($20 per class for Youth under 18, and Go Center voting members). Scholarships are available for players for whom the tuition would be a burden, bringing the cost to just $10 per class; and the application process is simple — email or talk to Mike (the programs manager) for info.

The class will feature group games and AI-assisted review, among other things. Rated 7 dan in the AGA, Yue has twice won the Open section at Seattle tournaments, and has years of experience teaching college.

New (and Familiar) Classes Starting Jan. 2019

The Go Center schedule is settling down after the holidays, with exciting new additions to our educational offerings.  Here are our regularly scheduled weekly classes:

(Note – informal instruction for beginners is also available Tuesdays and Saturdays.)
[ Read more… ]

Tournament Report: 6th Pair Go Gala

Saturday, December 8, 2018 was the Go Center’s 6th annual Pair Go Tournament — the Gala Night of Pair Go!  Thirty Go players teamed up in pairs, seeking to beat the other pairs at their table.

Go players smiling and laughing in the middle of their games.

Table 3 players express their mirth. (Catherine Ozols Photography)

Each table had four teams — so, two games going at once. The winners of Round 1 faced each other in Round 2. At the end of Round 2, each table had one undefeated pair.

Final results – 2018 Pair Go Table Winners:
Table 1 – Lee Anne Bowie, 4k and Bill Chiles, 3k
Table 2 – Xiangnan Chen, 3k and Brian Dai, 7k
Table 3 – Monique Nickerson, 15k and Rick Campbell, 14k
Table 4 – Ann Thompson, 18k and Bill Thompson, 13k

Go players pose in a group, displaying prize folding fans.

Seattle 2018 Pair Go Table Winners. (Catherine Ozols Photography)

Fun fact: Hajin Lee, professional 4 dan, and her partner defeated popular Go Center lecturer Nick Sibicky and his partner, in Round 1. Here’s Nick’s review of his Pair Go match vs Hajin Lee.

Go players gaze fiercely at the board in the early midgame.

Hajin Lee and Dan Maas vs. Nick Sibicky and Sonny Cho (Table 1, Round 1). (Catherine Ozols Photography)

–Mike M.

Schedule Change – Closed Wednesdays until January 2019

Beginning December 12, 2018, the Go Center is closed on Wednesdays (due to recent low turnout, expected to be exacerbated by the winter holidays).  Regularly scheduled Wednesday operations will resume January 16, 2019, with interesting new classes — announcement coming soon.

–Mike M.

Lending Library

Shelves of books about the game of Go / Baduk / Weiqi

Seattle Go Center’s lending library

Seattle Go Center has library of books, magazines, and other media available for members to use.  There are materials in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.  Some of these items (the ones for which we have duplicates) can be checked out for a period of a month by any youth member or any paying member.

Frank Brown has recently completed a volunteer project to catalogue the portion of the library available for lending.  See sgc-lending-library for the catalogue.

–Mike M.

Fall Youth Tournament Nov. 18

Sunday November 18, 2018, Seattle Go Center held our annual Fall Youth Tournament. It was a fun event where the kids could choose whether to play their games on 19×19 or 13×13. Eight kids played three rounds on 19×19, and thirteen played four rounds on 13×13.

A girl and a boy studying their game of Go moves

Intent 13×13 players

For most of them, it was their first tournament ever. The youngest player was in preschool! The oldest players were in 7th grade.

All participants got to choose a prize from a pool of Go equipment, toys, and interesting items, awarded in order of results. Players with more wins and higher SODOS statistics got to choose their prize sooner. The Go sets went very quickly! (Go equipment prizes were donated, so if you have a board in good condition that you just don’t use anymore, consider donating it to the Go Center.)

Smiling boy holds game of Go equipment

Go equipment – most popular prize

Deep thanks go to Sonny Cho, Peter Kron, and Brian Allen for making it smooth and satisfying; also to the families who make it possible for their kids to play!

Kids and an adult observe a Go game in progress

Competitors and onlookers

–Mike M.