We play the oriental board game Go – Japanese: 囲碁 (Igo), Chinese: 围棋/圍棋(WéiQí [Wei-Ch'i]), Korean: 바둑 (Baduk/Paduk).

Visitors, and spectators are always welcome, as are complete beginners – we provide free teaching.

N E W S   : 
Saturday, 18th February: Oxford Go Tournament 2012
 
Sunday, 19th February: Oxford-Cambridge Go Match 2012

Where we meet

We play in Freud Cafe.

Please check venue details in the table below before every visit!.

Freud Cafe

Thursdays is our main Club night, and we try always to meet in the Freud cafe, Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6AH (Tel 01865 311171) – see , , , Panoramio, and Oxford Guide, — this is a building which looks like a Greek temple, and was built as St. Paul's church in 1835-6 (see British History Online, and Jericho Echo Online).

Freud's is about one kilometre north west of the City Centre. It is about ten minutes' walk from the bus station, fifteen minutes' walk from the railway station, and fifteen minutes' walk from the city centre.

Parking is easy to find nearby, is free, or costs about £1 for the whole evening.

Freud's on Google Maps with Streetview:

View Larger Map

Here are some other styles of map that you may prefer:

• Bing – Bird's eye view, from an angle (3D).
• Streetmap maps: normal map( print-friendly version), which indicates Freud's with a yellow arrow, or in wider context( print-friendly version), or in widest context( print-friendly version).

When we meet

We normally meet on both Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

Thursday is our main Club night, and we almost always meet in Freud Cafe.

We normally meet from about 19:00 to closing time. Closing time in Freuds on a Thursday, is variable – 23:00 to 02:00.

Tuesday is our secondary club night, and the meeting is also held in Freud Cafe.

Please feel free to check the venue with Harry Fearnley by telephone, or email (see below). Please note: The best way to get up-to-date information about availability is to join the oxgo email list.

Our meeting schedule is as follows

Who meets

When we meet there are usually about five to ten players. The regular players range in strength from 2-dan to 20-kyu, but we often have beginners, and occasionally players as strong as 6 dan, or even professionals.

Visitors, of all strengths, are very welcome, as are spectators. Complete beginners who have never played, are very welcome – we will provide free teaching.

Our members on Go Servers

Some of us also play on Go Servers – mainly the KGS Go Server. We maintain a table of present/past members, showing their various aliases on the servers.

Contact information

The club secretary is:
Harry Fearnley:
Email: harryfearnley@gmail.comZZZ (sorry - remove "ZZZ" from email address)
Address:
38 Henley Street
Oxford
OX4 1ES
Tel: +44 1865 248775
Webpages: Home page: bestiaries - studies on seki, etc., and Go-related bookmarks.

Oxgo Mailing List

The oxgo email list is used mainly to send out late-breaking information about club meetings, as well as other club news/info. Any subscriber to the list can post to the list – no-one else can post to the list.

To join the oxgo mailing list, please email harryfearnley@gmail.comZZZ (sorry - remove "ZZZ" from email address). You will be sent an invitation, and further information

Costs and Benefits

Costs

The club is affiliated to the British Go Association (BGA). We have no attendance charge. However, if you become a regular member, you will be expected to join the BGA, which has a relatively cheap subscription – 2010 annual subscriptions: full: £18; concessions: £11.

There is no entrance charge – Freud's very kindly let us meet there for free. In return, please expect to buy your evening meal (maybe a cheap pizza) there – or at least buy some drinks. This is particularly important on Thursdays.

Benefits

• Freuds Cafe offers us:
  • Easy access to the City Centre
  • An interesting, and pleasant, environment, and occasional exhibitions of paintings, with rare live music performances.
  • The basic food menu is centred on pizzas/calzone, and there is also some side dishes and a few simple puddings.
  • Specialises in cocktails.
• The club has its own equipment – boards (including 9x9, 13x13), stones, and clocks. It also has a small library – members may borrow these books.
• Members of the BGA get a number of benefits – check out the BGA Membership application page. These include issues of the British Go Journal, newsletter, and discounts on books and equipment.
• Free Teaching
  We take people from the very beginning – the rules! You can start playing Go within minutes. To learn the basic tactics, we normally start by using small (9x9) boards – games are quicker, more fun, and more instructive. The handicap system used in Go means that you can immediately start playing on even terms with all the other club members. Until you have become a much stronger ("Dan") player you will be able to find stronger players for teaching games, if desired. If you want to study the game seriously, we can offer advice on available books, software, and online resources.

Other Go things in Oxford

• OUGoS
  The University Club (Oxford University Go Society) meets in the Town Centre, normally only in term-time. All OUGoS members may also freely attend the Oxford Go Club, just as we can visit their club. Its details are on the OUGoS web site.
• Books and Equipment
  There are several shops and mail order suppliers in UK and other foreign suppliers. There are two specialist boadgames shops in Oxford which stock Go books, and equipment:
  • Hoyle's (72 High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BA) on 01865-203244/ phil@hoylesonline.com. They have a good selection of Go material, and have been frequent sponsors of the Oxford Tournament.
  • The Gameskeeper (105 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1HU) on 01865-721348/ enquiries@gameskeeper.co.uk.
• Annual Tournament
  Oxford normally has a Go tournament in mid February – not an alternative to St Valentine's Day! This popular event attracts players from accross the South East of England, and is usually organized by the Oxford University Go Society, with substantial help from Nick Wedd and others from the city club.
• Some past events
  
  • 9–10 April 2011: Go stall at Helping Hands for Japan cultural event at Marlborough School, Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

    The Go Club had a stall at the event, where we played /demonstrated Go, and taught anyone who wanted to learn. We also sold some books, and booklets, as well as cheap Go boards, donating all the proceeds (£76.00) to the fund. Most of the money raised at the week-end – about £10,000 for the whole event – was raised by selling admission tickets.

  • Oxford-Cambridge Match 2011 – Sunday, 13th February 2011. Result:
    Oxford 0 : 6 Cambridge
  • Oxford Go Tournament 2011
    Here are the results of the 2011 Oxford Tournament held on Saturday 12th February, 2011. This was followed by an (optional!) meal in a local restaurant – a chance to meet other Go players from the South East of England, and to remember Simon Eve.

  • NAGAO Kana and Kentaro visit: 2009-10 to 2010-02
    Kana, and her husband Kentaro, were one-time Pair Go representatives for Japan. Kana was tireless as the unofficial teacher for both our club, and the student's club. Her experience teaching in schools in Japan, and of presenting Go on a TV programme for the Nihon Ki-in, made her an ideal teacher.
  • Oxford Tournament 2008
    Here are the results of the 2008 Oxford Tournament held on Saturday 16th February, 2008. This was followed by an (optional!) meal in a local restaurant – a chance to meet other Go players from the South East of England, and to remember Simon Eve.

  • Korean Pros visit, March 2007
    Korean Professionals visit Oxford, March 2007: Two Korean pros – An YoungKil, and Lee JungWoo – visited UK as part of a European tour. Mr An, and Mr Lee, visited Oxford, and played simultaneous games (with handicap) – players from other clubs in S.E. England joined us. The professionals won all their games! There are further details of their UK visit.
  • Korean Pros visit, April 2006
    Korean Professionals visit Oxford, April 2006: On Thursday 6th April 2006, HaJin Lee, a new young female star of the Go-playing world – together with another woman Go professional, and well-known TV presenter/commentator, HaeWon Han – were guests of the Oxford City Go Club. We were joined by players from many other clubs, and played a total of 20 simultaneous games.

Other Go Clubs in the Region

There are other Go clubs nearby. See the British Go Association's map.

For further information, phone/email Harry Fearnley.

Please send any comments or suggestions by e-mail to the maintainer of this page at harryfearnley@gmail.comZZZ (sorry - remove "ZZZ" from email address)