Promoting Go in the UK and beyond
The British Go Championship 2008
The 2007 British Go Championship title match was between Bei Ge and Alex Selby. Bei Ge won.
Bei Ge decided to skip the 2008 Championships as his partner was pregnant, so the top two from the Challengers' League would play the title match.
Title Match 2008
Hui Wang 5d has been in the UK studying for a Phd, and has only been playing Go seriously since completing his studies. Matthew Macfadyen has an unbroken run as Champion from 1997 till 2005 so after a complete year's rest, this promises to be an exciting series. The best-of-five series will take place on the following dates in locations ranging from Leicester through Cambridge to Oxford and back:
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Sunday August 10
In Leicester, hosted by Stephen Bashforth. Phone 0116 2395919
Won by Hui Wang by resignation. Game One commentary by Li Yue. -
Sunday August 31 *changed date*
In Cambridge, hosted by Geoff Kaniuk. Phone 01223 710 582 -
Saturday September 13
In Oxford, hosted by Nick Wedd. Phone 01865 247403 -
Saturday November 1
In Cambridge, hosted by Geoff Kaniuk. Phone 01223 710 582 -
Sunday November 16
In Leicester, hosted by Stephen Bashforth. Phone 0116 2395919
You are welcome to observe these games, but as space is limited, please contact the championships organiser ahead of time. Note also that all the games will be broadcast live on KGS!
The start time is 10am and each player has a time limit of 3 hours with generous overtime of 10 moves in 10 minutes. There is a 1 hour break for lunch at 1pm and games are generally finished by 6pm.
Challengers' League, London 27/06/08-30/06/08
With defending champion Bei Ge deciding not compete in this year's Championships, Alex Selby joined the remaining qualifiers to participate in the 7 round all-play-all League held at the Nippon Club. The results are shown with wins in [..].
- Matthew Macfadyen 6d [6]
- Hui Wang 4d [6]
- T Mark Hall 4d [5]
- Matthew Cocke 5d [4]
- Nick Krempel 2d [3]
- Desmond Cann 5d [2]
- David Ward 4d [1]
- Alex Selby 4d [1]
So Matthew Macfadyen (former champion) and Hui Wang go through to compete in the Title Match - a best of 5 series to be played in the coming months and broadcast live on KGS.
Candidates' Tournament
The Candidates' Tournament was again on the May Bank Holiday weekend and in the Diamond at Selwyn College in Cambridge. There were 26 players from 6 dan to 2 kyu taking part. At the half way point the players on three wins were Matthew Macfadyen, Matthew Cocke and Hui Wang. In round 5 the two Matthews played and Cocke won and also won his last to come first. Macfadyen came second with 5 and, having lost just his first game, Nick Krempel came third. Hui Wang lead the group on 4 wins. Equal fifth were Des Cann, T Mark Hall and David Ward. First reserve joining the above seven in the Challengers' League was Alex Selby, also on 4 wins. Francis Roads 3d was the next reserve.
The list of players qualified for the 2008 British Go Championship was based on their performance in tournaments played during 2007. The qualifying achievement for the Candidates' Tournament 2008 was to have an EGF rating of 1900 or higher immediately after the end of at least one tournament in 2007 in which the candidate played in all rounds.