A few simple rules ... limitless possibilities

The European Go Federation, the French Go Federation and the Go Seigen Club of Toulouse are happy to announce the 2014 European Student Go Championship that will be held at Balma near Toulouse, South West of France on September 27th & 28th 2014.

Our city has one of the largest number of students in France: around 100,000. It is as well a major place in Europe for Aeronautical, Space & Defense business.

All Go playing students are invited.

Despite problems in some parts of England caused by flooding, there should be no weather problems affecting Bognor Regis this weekend. Friday is predicted to be 6C but quite wet, with 4C and dry at night. Saturday is showery but Sunday is predicted a sunny 7C! Monday is predicted showery, at 8C. (Updated Thursday)

There should also be no problems with travelling by train to Bognor from London or Gatwick Airport. Information on services and fares can be found at the Southern Railway website. Note they offer reductions for groups and children under-16 travel for just £2 off-peak with an adult.

We managed to repeat our result from 2011, although we're now both in League C, not League B...

Andrew failed for us on Board 1. His opponent, whom he had beaten in the first season of the league in 2011, played some rather strange and bad moves in the opening and Andrew spent rather too long trying to punish them. Andrew didn't get much advantage (if any) and got annoyed.

He then got a group in trouble and lived in ko instead of unconditionally, losing some stones in the process, but then his opponent, presumably thinking Andrew was an utter moron based on the play so far, played some nonsense overplay of his own and created some dead stones. Andrew then missed a tesuji, so some more stones died and then the group that should have been alive had to fight the ko, as Andrew was trying to kill his surrounding group. Andrew lost that ko, but saved another group and then died instead of living in his corner because he played 3-3 instead of 3-2 by mistake...

Report by Ben Murphy (edited by Tony Collman)

I attended the Rocket Complex in Holloway Road, London for the first ever combined London Anime and Gaming Convention on Sunday 9th February and quickly set up the table. It was expected some attendees might be familiar with go from the anime Hikaru No Go.

Francis Roads was with me and we showed people the rules of Go and then played a 9x9 game with them either with or without a handicap, depending on their preferences. I brought some Go sets (9x9 boards with 13x13 on the other side) with me and some copies of the book Teach Yourself Go, by Charles Matthews. These were provided by Roger Huyshe, the BGA's seller of books and equipment.

I managed to sell three of the Go sets and four copies of the book. Many people liked Go and found it very easy to learn and there were many strategy game fans at the demo. One man said he was in the Navy and was looking forward to teaching and playing against his friends on his ship.

The 2014 Irish Go Congress occurred over the weekend on 14th -16th February, with 44 players attending in a surprisingly sunny Dublin. Celebrating 25 years of Go in Ireland, the main tournament, the 3rd Confucius Cup, was well represented with a strong field of players.

Fan Hui (2p France) won with a perfect 5/5 score. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places all had three wins with the order decided with SOS, resulting in Csaba Mero (6d Hungary) in second place, Antoine Fenech (5d France) third, and Ondrej Silt (6d Czech Republic) fourth.

As we have already announced we are pleased to receive two professionals from the Nihon Ki-in to the UK, with the assistance of the The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

They will be visiting Oxford and Bognor Regis. Chizu Kobayashi will then go on to visit London and Edinburgh.

The Professionals

Kobayashi Chizu (小林　千寿), 5 dan, born 28th September 1954 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. She is the sister of several professionals and was a student of the very famous Minoru Kitani and became 1 dan in 1972, 2 dan in 1973, 3 dan in 1974, 4 dan in 1976 and 5 dan in 1978.

As we have already announced we are pleased to receive two professionals from the Nihon Ki-in to the UK, with the assistance of the The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

They will be visiting Oxford and Bognor Regis. Chizu Kobayashi will then go on to visit London and Edinburgh.

The Professionals

Kobayashi Chizu (小林　千寿), 5 dan, born 28th September 1954 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. She is the sister of several professionals and was a student of the very famous Minoru Kitani and became 1 dan in 1972, 2 dan in 1973, 3 dan in 1974, 4 dan in 1976 and 5 dan in 1978.

As we have already announced we are pleased to receive two professionals from the Nihon Ki-in to the UK, with the assistance of the The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

They will be visiting Oxford and Bognor Regis. Chizu Kobayashi will then go on to visit London and Edinburgh.

The Professionals

Kobayashi Chizu (小林　千寿), 5 dan, born 28th September 1954 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. She is the sister of several professionals and was a student of the very famous Minoru Kitani and became 1 dan in 1972, 2 dan in 1973, 3 dan in 1974, 4 dan in 1976 and 5 dan in 1978.

We'd like to apologise for the excessive delay, but the minutes of the 2013 AGM are now finally available online, via the Members Area.

Mark Elliot (1d Manchester) won the Cheshire Tournament. This was his first tournament for 30 years and a good test of whether his grade from the 1980s was still accurate. He beat Helen Harvey (1k Manchester) in the final of the 8-player top group. Two players of the 12-player handicap group ended on four wins. Based on CUSS tie-break (and he had also beaten the other player), the winner was the Cheshire Tournament's founder, Brian Timmins (8k Shropshire). Brian's comment on receiving his prize was "Not bad for a 78-year-old". The player in second, by the broken tie, was Ron Bell (5k Borders).

Results