General News: 2004
Death of Kato Masao 30/12/04
It is with great regret that we announce the death of Kato Masao, pro 9 dan and President of the IGF and Chairman of the Nihon Kiin. Mr Kato had been in hospital for a few weeks following a brain haemorrhage and operation, but passed away lunchtime (Japanese time) on 30/12/04. He was 57. This is a double blow as past President Toshimitsu Matsuo died on 09/11/04. Mr Kato was well known in the west through his many title wins and two books in English. He visited London for the Kisei match in 2001. He had been juggling a professional career with the role of Chairman/President since the spring. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
UK Go Challenge Report 2004
The UK Go Challenge 2004 was entered by 23 schools who played qualifying heats. The largest event was Loughborough with 80 players. It is thought around 400 children took part in all. The national finals took place at in the Renold Building at UMIST in Manchester on the weekend of 12/07/04. 19 players took part (see Tournament News).
British Go Championship 2004
Challenger David Ward (4 dan Cambridge) won the first game in London on 14/08/04. Playing White
against Matthew Macfadyen (6 dan Leamington), David finished level on the board so won by the 6.5 komi
in a long game that lasted over 6 hours. The second game was held at the MSO in Manchester on 27/08/04.
In a complicated game involving two dead groups, Matthew won evening the match at 1-1. Game 3 was
on 29/08/04, also at MSO and also won by Matthew Macfadyen.
Game 4 planned for the Milton Keynes Tournament
was postponed until during the Wanstead Tournament on 09/10/04. This was held in Bill Streeten's flat and
relayed to the tournament by text message. Matthew Macfadyen won the game to retain the title and become
British Champion for the 20th time. In recognition the BGA made Matthew an Honorary Life Member.
British Go Association EGM 19/09/04
20 members approved the audited accounts for 2003 at an EGM during the Milton Keynes Tournament. The accounts had not been ready in time for the AGM, also in Milton Keynes last April.
Youth Grand Prix 2004
The Youth Grand Prix ended with the London Open. William Brooks managed to hold on to his lead.
A great result at London for Ken Dackombe saw him making third ahead of his older sister. A total
of 60 young players took part. Final places:
1. William Brooks (1 kyu) 1423 2. Jonathan Englefield (9 kyu) 1360 3. Ken Dackombe (22 kyu) 662 4. Kay Dackombe (18 kyu) 644 5. Paul Blockley (13 kyu) 599 6. Li Shen (5 dan) 478
American Go E-Journal Members Version
BGA members can now receive the weekly American Go E-Journal Members Edition, without being members of the AGA. The members edition includes game commentaries, problems and articles that the non-members version does not. This is a special service offered to BGA Members by the AGA to improve communication between world organisations. To subscribe and unsubscribe use the link above (BGA membership number required).
GoGod Seminar Report 12/06/04
A GoGod Seminar was held at the Open University in Milton Keynes. Leaders T.Mark Hall and John Fairbairn covered the subject of thickness in a new and interesting way.
Pros Rated
Using information from the GoGoD database created by John Fairbairn and T. Mark Hall, Ales Cieply has created a rating list for the professionals so recorded.
Weddings
Congratulations to the following:
04/06/04 Matthew Macfadyen and Kirsty Healey
07/05/04 Des Cann to Wendy Adams
20/05/04 Chris Pooley and Mihoko Isoda
Go Players On TV
Cambridge Club member, Chris Cummins, won the Autumn 2003 series of Channel 4's
Countdown. He scored 11 wins and won the final 122-86 shown on 19/12/03. On 29/11/04 on BBC2, Chris captained Trinity
College's University Challenge team in a 110-195 defeat to Corpus Christi Oxford.
Also from Cambridge Club, Andrew Walkingshaw was a
member of the Jesus College team in BBC2's University Challenge. His second appearance in the second round was
on 09/02/04 when Bangor were beaten 215-110. In their quarter-final on 22/03/04 they lost 210-225 to London
Metropolitan.
On BBC2 on 05/05/04 from 21:00 to 22:00 and 23:20 to 00:20 "In Search of Genius", a two part documentary, featured Tony Buzan, sometime Go player and
founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad, trying to turn 6 underperforming children into geniuses, and Go and Mind Sports player Demis
Hassabis who created the computer game Republic.
Natasha Regan appeared on Channel 5's "BrainTeaser" show on 12/08/04.
Dan Gostelow
Eddie Smithers writes: I am sorry to announce the death of Dan Gostelow. He passed away peacefully after a long illness on Saturday 8th May 2004. For many years Dan was an active member of the Leicester Go Club and was well known to many go players for the boards that he made. A cabinet maker by trade, the Go boards were a useful sideline for him. Dan and his wife Sylvia used to help run the Leicester Tournament when it was held at the 66 Club. In later years he came to enjoy playing computer games and became a handy C++ programmer. And especially, he was devoted to Sylvia and his grandchildren. I first met him when I moved to Melton Mowbray in 1974 and started playing Go at Leicester. He was a good friend for 30 years and I will miss him a lot.
Founder of Edinburgh Go Club
Bill Fox died early in 2004 at the age of 92. His son passed his Go materials to the Edinburgh club. There was a long obituary in the Scotsman which unfortunately did not mention Go. It is not sure how he discovered Go, but he must have been nearly 60 when he founded the club, which was one of Britain's biggest during the 1970s.
Scottish Championship 2004
In the semifinals, the 2003 champion Jim Cook beat Colin Robertson 2-0 while Allan Crossman beat Donald Macleod 2-0. In the final Allan beat Jim 2-1.
Stacey Points 2003-2004
At the British the final Stacey points were decided. Winner of the Terry Stacey Trophy was Young Kim on 26. He over took leader Francis Roads who ended second with 25. Alistair Wall on 19 and Li Shen on 17, previously in third and fourth, were not at the British.
BGA AGM 03/04/04
The Annual General Meeting was held during the British Go Congress in Milton Keynes. Bill Streeten replaced Tim Hunt as BGA Secretary. Fred Holroyd and David Ward joined council. Tim Hunt has now become Web Master.
Promotions
The BGA Council ratified the following grades/promotions
on 26/09/04:
2 dan - Jonathan Chin
on 08/05/04:
4 dan - Min Yang
1 dan - Kunio Kashiwagi
1 dan - Paul Taylor
on 14/03/04:
5 dan - Young Kim
2 dan - Masashi Sugiyama
1 dan - James Aspden
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