(Japanese translation of previous post)
ニューヨーク碁センター
ニューヨーク州法人である日本棋院アメリカ及びニューヨーク碁
センター（現在閉鎖中）はシアトル碁センターが継続して活動する事を支持致します．シアトル碁センターはその創設以来、地域の
News
The Board of Directors of Nihon Ki-in America and the New York Go Center (now closed) supports the continued operation of the Seattle Go Center. From its founding, the Seattle Go Center has been particularly successful in uniting players from all cultural backgrounds and in drawing broad support from the Go community. In that sense, the Seattle Go Center has been the most successful of Iwamoto-sensei’s four Go Centers. [ Read more… ]
We had two very successful weekends of outreach this month at the Sakura Con April 6-8, and the Cherry Blossom Festival April 13-15. At Sakura Con, a festival for Japanese anime and manga, our members provided 90 hours of instruction and teaching games. Dan of Bellingham, and the guy in the rabbit outfit also did a lot of teaching. The next weekend, we provided over 80 hours of instruction at the Center House of Seattle Center. Thanks to these efforts, we have some new faces at the Seattle Go Center, and we renewed our connections with old friends.
The Seattle Go Center was made possible by a generous donation from Kaoru Iwamoto 9 Dan. Frank Fukuda recently provided this translation of Mr. Iwamoto’s letter of 1996, which followed his visit to the Seattle Go Center:
—dated Oct. 10, 1996
Dear Mr. Fukuda,
I would like to express my appreciation for your thoughtful arrangements and wonderful hospitality rendered to me while I have been in your area in September.
The two weeks stay there was now felt so short and I feel like it passed like a blink.
But while I was there, I had a pleasure of watching the one year anniversary tournament at the Seattle Go Center where American, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Go players getting together and enjoying the Go in the same room and I felt that this must be the very symbol of international friendship.
– – – – – – –
I could see that the management of the Go Center now moving on the firm rail and I ask you to continue your leadership for the success of the Center.
– – – – – – –
I have left United States on 30th and arrived Narita safely.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your arrangements and also to Mr. Wang(Andy) for furnishing accommodation for the period of two weeks.
Lastly but not least, I would be most happy if you could convey my deepest gratitude to all the directors and players of Seattle Go Center.
Yours sincerely,
Kaoru Iwamoto
The Annual Meeting of the Seattle Go Center will be this Sunday, March 18, starting at 1:00 p.m. Everybody who plays Go at the Center is welcome to this important meeting. We now have received an official letter from the Nihon Ki-in indicating their intention to sell the Go Center building in the near future. The Seattle Go Center Board of Directors is currently determining how to respond to this notice.
The Annual Meeting will include the election of three individuals to the nine member Board of Directors. The election will be limited to “voting members”: lifetime, annual and quarterly members. However, any individual can stand for election to the board if they are nominated. They can be nominated by the current Board, the President of the Board, or by 10% of the voting membership.
We hope to see you at this important meeting. There will be time for go playing afterwards, if you have not been elected to the Board, which will be meeting immediately after the annual meeting.
Posted March 6, 2012: We are aware that rumors are circulating that the Nihon Ki-in has decided to sell the Seattle Go Center building. At this time, we have not received any communication from the Nihon Ki-in regarding these rumors. In view of the fact that the AGA E-Journal has published an article about this situation, we expect that the Nihon Ki-in will provide us with an official statement of intent. When we do receive official information from the Nihon Ki-in, we will notify our membership.
The Seattle Go Center recently celebrated its 16th anniversary and is currently in a strong financial situation with an active and vibrant membership. We look forward to serving the Go community well into the future.
The annual Iwamoto School Team Tournament has been postponed until Sunday April 29, at 1:00 o’clock, so that our young players have more time to practice. Teams have three players, enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 12. Official teams have both boys and girls, and are all from the same school. Unofficial teams can be formed too. The event has free pizza!
Iwamoto School Team Tournament Winners
2002 – Kimball Elementary School
2003 – Bellevue High School
2004 – Bellevue High School
2005 – Hamilton International Middle School
2006 – Hamilton International Middle School
2007 – Tournament moved to Feb 2008
2008 – Home Schoolers
2009 – Roosevelt High School
2010 – Meadowdale High School
2011 – Betcher Home School
Ms. Chizu Kobayashi 5D from Japan will be visiting the Seattle Go Center on Tuesday, Jan. 24. She will be playing simultaneous games at 3:30 p.m., and give a lecture in the evening, at 7:30 p.m. Ms. Kobayashi is also representing the Nihon Ki-in, which provided the funding for the Seattle Go Center. We look forward to her visit.
It is still possible to join our winter classes. Jon Boley’s winter Youth Classes meet Sunday Mornings at 9:00 a.m. Nick Sibicky’s Monday evening class for beginners and double digit kyu players meets 6:30 p.m. Jon Boley’s Tuesday Intensive class meets at 6:00, and his Wednesday class for intermediate players meets at 7:00 You do not have to register in advance for these classes. More information is on the instruction page.
Congratulations to Jordan Betcher, one of our Go Center youth players, who won the “J” section (3 kyu) of the U.S. Open this August with a 6-0 record. Jordan, his brother Job, and Daniel Zhao of New Jersey also won the kyu section of the Youth Team Tournament at the U.S. Go Congress. Jordon and Job often come to our local tournaments, so watch out!