This August 1st, we will be holding a face to face rating tournament.
Registration is from 10:00am – 10:45am sharp, and first game will start at 11:00 am.
AGA membership is required; please check to see if your membership is current, and try to renew it online if it needs to be updated. More info on membership is at www.usgo.org.
If you have any questions, feel free to email programs@seattlego.org
Next week on June 26 at 3:45 PM – 4:30 PM PDT, the Seattle Go Center will be presenting a remote seminar called “How to play Go” for the Japan Fair. We will be teaching attendants the game of Go and about the Seattle Go Center. We will be using zoom and OGS to host this event. To Register for this event please visit: https://jf2021_seattlegocenter.eventbrite.com
For more information checkout out the Facebook Event and the Japan Fair site.
As of June 1, the Seattle Go Center will be opening up for in person games. We will be open on Tuesday nights from 3pm to 9pm and Saturday afternoons from 1pm to 6pm. We will still be having our remote zoom Game Night.
Until we fully re-open, we ask that in addition to the regular Code of Conduct, you acknowledge the following:
We are still closed to the public due COVID-19 precautions. However, we have several online opportunities for you. Our Tuesday evening meetup on Zoom is a good place to find a game, no matter what your level. And on Saturdays, a group meets on Discord. We can also arrange lessons with private instructors, for a fee. Here, Cullen Mott teaches a student remotely in March of 2019. For more information about our Paid Private Instruction, contact our Program Manager Kyle .
We are pleased to announce that Kyle Burg is our new Program Manager. Kyle has been our lead volunteer at Uwajimaya (taking over from Dennis Wheeler) until COVID precautions shut that down. He has been an enthusiastic teacher at many outreach events, including Cherry Blossom, Sakura Con, U District Street Fair, and Bon Odori. He also has an extensive background in software engineering. Kyle will have responsibility for outreach events and school Go clubs when they become possible again, and for classes, lessons and tournaments at the Go Center, when we reopen. In the meantime, he will be helping with our online events, website, and social media. Welcome Kyle!
The Seattle Go Center is looking for a part time Program Manager, who can work up to 50 hours a month. If you are interested in the position, we would be glad to send you more info.
Sadly, SGC is shuttered now due to COVID, so this role is limited to on-line events until the SGC and Seattle return to some sort of normalcy with an open Go Center and visits to school clubs, community centers, street fairs, and ethnic festivals.
The Program Manager will have use of a desk and computer in the Go Center office, but almost all the work can be done remotely while we are under COVID restrictions. For more detail on the position, please contact manager@seattlego.org.
We will take applications at least until March 1, 2021.
We have been expanding our on-line offerings, since face to face play is still not possible at the Seattle Go Center, due to COVID-19 precautions. Our events page has the details.
Plans are proceeding for the development of the Seattle Go Center property. The project has passed the “Early Design Guidance” phase, so now many of the parameters of the building have been established. The building will be 23 stories high! We will have the 2nd floor space marked “office” on the plans. The rest of the building will be apartments. The big cork tree next to our entrance will be protected. We will have some parking on the basement levels, accessed from the alleyway, also know as Roethke Mews.
The Go Center is currently closed due to COVID-19 precautions, while our tenant, Caring Pet Clinic, is open with social distancing guidelines. If the development plan goes ahead, the Go Center will be able to occupy the current building at least until the end of 2021, once the pandemic is under control. Then we move to a temporary location while the new building is being constructed.
The Seattle Go Center has been closed due to coronavirus precautions for over two months now. Brian still goes there to check on the building, and to do office work. The neighborhood is much quieter, due to a huge reduction in traffic on nearby I-5, and in jets crossing above. The veterinary clinic downstairs is still open for urgent care, so the building doesn’t feel too lonely. They recently changed their name to “Caring Pet Clinic”, and put up new signs.
Our financial situation is stable for now, but we worry about the effects of a long closure on the Go Center. Meanwhile, the plans for developing the property, with space for us in a new building, are proceeding energetically, despite COVID-19 worries. The property is owned by our benefactor, the Nihon Ki-in of Japan.
Tuesdays were our big days, with 20-40 visitors each Tuesday this winter. All that has changed. Some of those Tuesday players are meeting on go servers now at the same time of the week. Go Center Member Bob (Mingcun) Fan reports that he is now playing Mr. Yao on OGS, and then they have a phone call to review the game. This is happening with some of the meet-ups too. The Zoka coffeehouse group that used to meet in person on Monday and Friday mornings now meets on KGS, using the Go Center “room”. Member Frank Brown writes that about six players have made the transition.
Seattle Go Center members have been taking advantage of online Go education for years. Some have private online lessons with pros, while others are part of the American Yunguseng Dojang.
Our Wednesday SDK class with Jonathan (Chin Jung) Cheng has now gone completely online. This class is designed for 9K – 1D players. He is doing a series on using opening moves suggest by AI. Jonathan teaches the class live on Wednesdays from 6-7 pm PDT through Zoom, and later posts the lectures on YouTube.
Before COVID-19, Nick Sibicky used to give his DDK lectures in front of a live audience at the Go Center on Monday nights, and then post them on YouTube. Now he is recording them at home. He is up to lecture #388! Nick’s popular lessons were originally intended for double digit kyu players, but his scope has widened to include many issues of interest to stronger players as well. His most recent lecture at the Go Center was with Nihon Ki-in Pro Daiki Komatsu in early March.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee recently announced “Washington’s Phased Approach” to reopening, with four phases. The Go Center Board of Directors will meet online to decide how our organization fits into the opening rubric. The earliest the Go Center might be able to reopen would be late June 2020. In the meantime, Brian is working on washing all the go stones.
Seattle Go Center remains closed due to the COVID-19 emergency. On 3-23, Governor Inslee issued a proclamation, that (among other measures) closed all non-essential businesses and banned all recreational gatherings regardless of size, for at least two weeks. This means the soonest the Go Center might be able to re-open would be April 9.
Accordingly, the April monthly ratings tournament (that was scheduled for April 5) is canceled. The annual Spring Go Tournament, scheduled for May 3, is uncertain at this time.
Every year, volunteers from the Go Center share the game with attendees at certain festivals. We’ve received confirmation that the following events, originally scheduled for April and May, are canceled: Sakura-Con, Cherry Blossom Festival (at Seattle Center), and University District Street Fair.
The online community resources for playing Go and chatting have been getting increasing use. The Discord server in particular has about 40 users, and the players who meet up regularly at Zoka Coffee on Monday and Friday mornings have been finding each other in the “Seattle Go Center” club room on KGS.
— Mike M.