European Youth Go Congress, Kiev, Part 2

Day 1 (of 3) of Kiev Tournament (continued from part 1)

The remaining three squad members and their three mothers arrived safely on Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of the main tournament. We all went to a pizza restaurant, for some squad players to get to know newcomers.

On Thursday 29th, the tournament kicked off with an elaborate opening ceremony. This featured firstly a long and colourful Chinese dragon, then a superb circus troupe of youngsters. There were gymnasts, trapeze artists and girls climbing up silk ropes, acrobatically spinning back down, all very well rehearsed. The local Go pro Artem did some translation into English of words from various Ukrainian dignitaries who wished all players good luck and enjoyable games.

Then came the first of the day's two rounds of games. UK girl power ruled in the morning, with all four females winning their games. This put the lads to shame as only Jayden won, out of the six. In the second round, in the afternoon, sisters Amy and Megan won again, with Zaki and Daniel picking up their first wins, leaving the UK on a reasonable 9 wins out of 20 thus far.

The team kept paper records of their games, enabling Alison Bexfield (squad captain), coaches and strong players to give some review/analysis teaching feedback to several players.

Results (off-site)