News

Labor Day Weekend and Beyond!

The Go Center will be open Saturday (September 1, 2018) as usual, 1:00 PM – 8:00 PM. (Instruction will be available for beginners.)

Sunday (September 2, 2018) is the monthly ratings tournament — three rounds of Go intensity! Register in person, 10:00 – 10:45 AM. First round starts at 11:00 AM. There’s no charge to play (though you do need AGA membership, and Go Center admission policies apply). More details: www.SeattleGo.org/events/

Monday (September 3, 2018) is Labor Day, and the Go Center will be closed. Also, the Go games hosted at Hurry Curry in South Lake Union are canceled for Labor Day. The Hurry Curry restaurant is open though. Go games will return the following Monday.

Tuesday (September 4, 2018), regular operations resume, and the Go Center will be open 1:00 PM – 10:00 PM for the largest weekly gathering of Go Players in North America!

The following Monday (September 10, 2018), 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, Nick Sibicky returns with his series of classes structured for players ranging roughly from 20 kyu to 5 kyu! Nick posts many of his lectures on YouTube, so come be part of the live studio audience.

Yang Yi, 6P, simuls in July

Saturday, July 7, 2018, Seattle Go Center was honored and delighted to receive a visit from Mr. Yang Yi, Chinese Professional 6-dan and Vice Chairman of Chinese Weiqi Association.  Mr. Yang is a widely respected Go player and teacher in China. Many famous Chinese Go players, including Gu Li, have benefited from his instruction.

The simuls event on July 7 was very successful. Mr. Yang engaged seven players in simultaneous games of Go, and reportedly won all games. The Go Center is very grateful to Mr. Yang for making time to visit and teach!

One Go player faces off against six other players seated at a U-shaped table arrangement.

Mr. Yang Yi, 6P, playing simuls at Seattle Go Center

Open Mondays; New Class: “Go Basics” (for new and DDK players)

Seattle Go Center is again open on Mondays!  The Center is open for casual games, 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM.  Come on down, and bring some friends!

Also, Drew Barnett will teach a series of classes aimed to help double-digit kyu players play better Go.  The Go Basics classes will be Mondays in July and August 2018, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.  Registration is not required — just walk on in — and there is no cost (aside from the usual Go Center membership costs).

Man in forest gazes at camera

Go Teacher Drew Barnett

Japan Fair 2018 in Bellevue

Seattle Go Center had volunteers introducing the game of Go at Japan Fair 2018 in Bellevue, Saturday July 7 and Sunday July 8.  We saw old friends and made new ones, and saw many exhibits about Japanese culture.

Saturday, we got the booth set up, using some Hikaru no Go posters and hangings that continue to attract attention.  The kids who enjoyed Hikaru when it was new, now are adults with children of their own, curious about Go.

Posters decorate a convention booth

Seattle Go Center booth at Japan Fair

Two players arrange stones on a 9x9 Go board

Dave introduces Go at Japan Fair

Three experienced Go players face three new players on small Go boards

Kyle, Mike, and Dave on 9×9

Sunday seemed even busier than Saturday.  Frank Fukuda sat with us and taught for a while, and Connie Hayashi brought some friends.  Some people mentioned that they know about the Go Center, and wish they had more time to come play.  Others were surprised to learn the Go Center exists.  Hopefully, they will come visit soon!

Two men play Go, one with his daughter on his lap

Two old friends learn Go together; in the foreground, two experienced players, one with his daughter, strike up a new friendship

Schedule Update

Seattle Go Center has had some schedule changes recently.  Here are the updates.

 

  • Thursday July 5, we are open 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM — shorter hours than usual, because of the July 4 holiday.  Larry Eclipse will be offering his “Complete Beginner” class.
  • Mondays we are closed, but watch for announcements.  Nick Sibicky’s “Double Digit Kyu” class will return in September, and other teachers are planning a class for the Monday slot in July and August.
  • Wednesdays we are closed, but we expect the “Breaking into Single Digit Kyu” class to resume in late August or early September.  The “Advanced Go” class, for SDK and dan players, happens on July 11 and July 15, but the Go Center is not open for casual play on those Wednesdays.
  • Most Thursdays we are open from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM, with Larry’s class for beginners going 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Advanced Go Class last Wed.

7 players wait at their Go boards as 1 player walks from board to board.

Yue Zhang teaching Advanced Go Class

Yue (“Vincent”) Zhang 7d taught the first of eight sessions of the Advanced Go Class on Wednesday, June 20. Seven eager students attended. Yue discussed how the value-per-move changes over the course of the game, and how strong A.I. players have changed our thinking about joseki. He played all students simultaneously, many moves through the opening and early middle game, giving individual instruction, with some of the students recording their games.

The next sessions will be Sunday, June 24, and Wednesday, June 27. More information or to sign up for the class: www.seattlego.org/2018/06/15/advanced-go-class

Advanced Go Class

Yue Zhang offers a series of classes to accelerate the learning of players 9 kyu through 6 dan.

Classes will meet twice a week for 4 weeks — Wednesday and Sunday evenings, 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM — at the Go Center, beginning June 20, 2018 and ending July 15, 2018.  Attend all 8 sessions for the most efficiency in learning (and the most favorable pricing).

Yue’s relatively novel classes will be composed of whole-class lectures, games, and game reviews. Compared to traditional teaching which emphasize whole-class lectures, the Advanced Go Class series will focus more on individualized instruction, which will be offered during the games and game reviews.

Register for the whole series of 8 classes:  $200
Register for one or more classes separately:  $35/class

More information and registration: Advanced Go Class

Strong Go player seated at a Go board

Yue (Vincent) Zhang

About Yue Zhang:  Currently rated 7.8 in the AGA, Yue placed 1st in the 2016 Seattle Anniversary Open and the 2018 Spring Open.  Yue holds a PhD from Ohio State University, and he has extensive college teaching experience.

Rengo with Pie and Coffee at Seattle Go Center

Twenty-eight players — fourteen teams of two — competed in the “Rengo with Pie and Coffee” tournament on Saturday, June 9, 2018. Pair Go stalwart Bill Thompson organized the event, brought the fancy pies, directed the tournament, and even played in it.

Man refers to paper, talking to audience

TD Bill Thompson explains the rules

The event was run with the International Pair Go Association rules, but with no restrictions to team composition. [ Read more… ]

Tuesday — Amazing

There was fresh bread (THANK YOU, Chris!).  There were visitors from far places (Bellingham, Japan by way of Los Angeles, Germany).  There were fond farewells (good-bye to Peter Nelson, and thank you for your service) and new representation to the AGA (hello Nick Wilmes, and good luck at the national meeting).

And there were players who didn’t want to wait for the weekend to play Rengo.

Four Go players, one in a bunny hat, playing a team game of Rengo

Couldn’t wait for Saturday

A couple hours later, the board looked like this:

Go board nearly filled with complicated patterns

Rengo board two hours later; Black to play

The corner held some surprises.

Go life-and-death problem from actual play

Black to play

Cullen Mott provided a kifu that covers from game start to early endgame: TheArgoGame (getting JagoPlayer working on the website will be a project for the future).

Join us Saturday for Rengo with Pie and Coffee!  $10 to register ($5 for persons under 18, and for voting members of the Go Center).  Registration opens 5:30 PM, and play starts at 6:00 PM.  More info at www.seattlego.org/events

Rengo Tournament poster for June 9, 2018

June 2018 Ratings Tournament

It was a pleasant Sunday at the Seattle Go Center, with 19 players present for the monthly AGA ratings tournament. TD Daniel Top got the pairings out on time, and ran the tournament with his customary aplomb. Rounds 1 and 2 each had nine games. But two players in the second round fought deep into byo-yomi, and only a half-dozen players stayed until the bitter end; so round 3 had three games.

There were no three-game winners. Winning two games were Zhihong Yao 2d, Steve Ling 2k, Christian de Oro 4k, Brian Dai 8k, George Schmitten 8k, and John Johnson 9k.

 

Go players thinking deeply about their games.

Lucy Lu Wang vs. Tyler Michael Moore, and Nick Collins vs. Xiangnan Chen

A woman drinks juice during a game of Go.

Lucy Lu Wang vs. Tyler Michael Moore, and Emma Huang vs. Abigail Chen

Join us for the next monthly ratings tournament, Sunday July 1st!  It’s free to play (but you do have to be a member of the AGA, and you do have to be a member of the Go Center or pay for your visit — under 18 is free, and adults first 10 visits are free).