BGA Newsletter 313 April 2024

FROM THE EDITOR

This issue, and previous newsletters, are available in the Newsletter Archive in the Members' Area.

Contributions are always welcome, both from our members and others. We ask that they be Go-related and "newsy". The place for debate and general discussion is the BGA open mailing list Gotalk. However, an introduction to a new topic is fine in the Newsletter. A brief introduction to Gotalk, with a link for joining, is on the BGA page Go on the Internet.

Instructions for Contributors: Please use plain text not file-attachments. Keep it fairly brief, and give web-links and contact details. It's good to include pictures. If they are on the internet, send me the URL, otherwise attach the picture files to your email. Send your contribution to newsletter@britgo.org to arrive by the first day of the month.

Jil Segerman

NEWS

The full set of recent news items, including further details of some of the items shown here, are on our News Pages.

Derek Hunter RIP

We regret to inform you that Derek Hunter died at the end of March aged 76. He was almost a founder member of the BGA; he was the Association's secretary from 1968 until 1977, then Membership Secretary until 1984. He did a lot to make the BGA what it is today.
Richard Hunter is compiling an obituary to appear in the forthcoming BGJ 208. Contributions please, to Richard by the end of May.

European Youth Go Championships

The 2024 Championships were held in Hamburg, with 98 entrants from 13 European countries – 38 of whom were under 12. There was a total of 23 dan strength players, 4 of whom were Under-12.
Of the UK contingent of 5 players, Ryan Zhang (3 dan) took 3rd place in the Under-12 group with 4/6, losing to 2 dans from Hungary and Czechia. Spike Shamoon (3 kyu), our only representative in the Under-18 category, finished with 4/6, as also did Rachel Chik (15 kyu). Ryan Zhang, playing with Violeta Gorbulska (5 kyu) from Ukraine, also came 3rd in the Pair Go.
We thank the Youth Go Trust for providing financial support to each of the UK participants.

Pandanet: Matches Against Kyrgyzstan and Slovenia

Our team in the Pandanet Go European Team Championship played and beat Kyrgyzstan on 12th March. Then on 9th April beat Slovenia by three games to one, which put them in an unbeatable lead at the top of the C-League. The last match will be against South Africa.

Pandanet Youth Go European Team Championships

Message from Alison Bexfield, UK Youth team manager:
The UK youth team won their third match in the European Youth Go Team Championship. The format for this tournament is the top four teams in League A with an all play all twice (so six matches in all). At the half way mark the UK is unbeaten and leading the tournament. But the matches have all been tight and could have gone either way. So the pressure remains for the remaining matches.
In this round against Romania Blake Shamoon, in his debut appearance, finished first on board 5 with a comfortable win against an opponent one rank lower than him. Zoe Walters, also playing for the first time, started well on board 4 but could not hold off her higher ranked opponent. Ryan Zhang on board 2 and Michael Mitcham-Harding on board 3 were evenly matched against their opponents with Ryan winning by 7.5 and Michael losing by 7.5. It all came down to the final game on board 1. Scott played another exciting and long game, ultimately clinching victory (and the match for the UK) by just 1.5 points.

Well done to the team. They are top of the A-League.

ADMIN

EGM/AGM 2024

Reminder this is on Thursday 23rd May at 20:00. The meeting will be by ZOOM video call, for which a link will be provided nearer the date.
The EGM will be held first in order to consider some small changes to the Company Articles concerning the election of Directors. The AGM will follow immediately after, and will include amongst other things the election of Officers and Directors, and members of the Disputes Panel.
As he announced last year this will be Toby’s last meeting as President. We have two nominations to succeed him: Colin Williams (the current secretary) and Gerry Gavigan, so an election will be held at the AGM. Please do attend if you can, but if that isn’t possible you can still have a say by nominating a member who is attending to have your proxy vote.
In order to be able to vote you must be a member of BGA CLG, and have guaranteed £1 in the unlikely event of the BGA becoming insolvent. If in doubt about your status please contact the membership secretary.

EVENTS COMING SOON

This Month: Rip-Off (Dublin)
May Candidates' (Leicester), Not the London Open
June Durham, Pair Go (Leicester), Tonbridge, Welsh Open (Barmouth)
July European Go Congress (Toulouse, France)
August Youth Camp, Mind Sports Olympiad (London)
September Nottingham, Swindon, Edinburgh