News

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.

I love to thank all those who could attend this years Spring Tournament. In total, we had 20 players in our tournament.

A Special Congratulations to our wins,

Open 1st: Kenny Jin

Open 2nd: Yichun Kong

Upper Bracket Winners: Meghan Hyland, Michael Thomas, Thomas Gehrt (missing in the photo)

Lower Bracket Winners: Panya Cogburn, Jacques Trepanier

Thank you all for coming and I hope to see even more of you at the next tournament.

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.  Drew is looking forward to improving along with folks who join in.

This January 13-14, Maeda Sensei 6p (from the Kansai Ki-in Japanese professional organization) will visit Seattle Go Center. He is very popular at the Go Congresses for many fun and entertaining lectures.  He has attended the Go Congress almost every year for the past 20+ years.  He usually stops in Seattle on his way to or from the Congress.

We are still working on details, but I think the Saturday workshop will run noon to 5 or 6 pm, and the Sunday workshop from 10am to 5pm or so.  In a couple of weeks, we will confirm the start times.  We will charge $60 to non-members and $40 to voting members (lifetime or annual).

Please email us for early registration and more information.

This year State Championship we had over 40 participants. Congratulation to Fuzhi Huang on becoming this year State Champion and our 3 second place players.

Also thanks for all those who could make it this year for making it as successful as possible. I wish to see you all next year.

This Dec 9th and 10th, we will host the second annual AGA WA State Championship at our new location (see seattlego.org/directions for a map). 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. 

The top scoring player in the Open Tournament who has lived in Washington state for six months or more will win the 2023 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 — $500 for top score, $250 for second top score, and $125 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, 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 9th, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
* Saturday First Round Starts: December 9th, 10:30 AM (second round around 2:00pm)
* Sunday Third Round Starts: December 10th, 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 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.

November 5th, We will be hosting our Anniversary Tournament.

We will have both and open (all even games) and handicap tournament. 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 some cash prizes for those who win 3 games (or divided over those who win 2 games if no one wins 3).  There is also our usual kids prize of $25 for the person under 18 years old who wins the most games (playing with a higher ranks break ties).  We will provide pizza for lunch, see below.

Tournament Info

=======================

Registration: 9:00am – 9:45am sharp (NOTE: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends this day at 2am when we turn clocks back one hour)

First Game: 10:00 am. Second Game: 1pm.  Third Game: 3pm.

Rounds: 3

Entry Fee: $20 for non-voting members, $10 for voting members. Free if under 18 years old.

Time Controls:  45 minutes, 5 periods 30 second byomi

Rule set: Japanese counting, AGA guidelines (Like the monthly)

 =======================

We will provide free pizza for lunch.  A big thanks to the AGA for helping provide pizza for our tournament.  We will count how many slices people want before the first round (cheese or pepperoni), and we will have the pizza delivered around noon.

To learn more email programs@seattlgo.org.