A few simple rules ... limitless possibilities

Tony started working full time on Go in 2004, but has plenty of previous experience promoting and teaching the game. He was BGA Secretary for many years and was elected to the executive of the European Go Federation in 2000, serving a period as President. He is an amateur 3 dan player having learned the game over 30 years ago. He lives in Reading.

The KisekiGo web site, kisekigo.com, describes Tony’s introductory workshops and his sessions for players who have just started to play Go and who want to know more.

2007

Barry first encountered Go at 6th form after a friend found it in Lasker's Go and Go Moku. They played on a vertical maths classroom chequered chalkboard.

At Oxford Freshers Fair he found a Go club, even two. Too many names to mention from that period - but Matthew was still a kyu player in the first year and mostly taught Barry up from beginner to 6 kyu. Late 1976, for a few years in Reading he remained the junior at about 3 kyu to the collection of dans that met in their houses.

Sometime in the mid 1980's Geoff Kaniuk persuaded Barry to call himself 1 kyu at tournaments; but that was probably a step too far. Family and work were always limiting any Go study, and later on Bridge became his favoured social game.

In 2007 he hosted the Challengers League weekend at his house in Winnersh.

He was Journal Editor for Issues 140 through 150, but only co-editor for 146! Still an email voice in the BGA, though rarely plays Go. He was close to cracking 6*6, by experience alone on KGS, but inevitably the computers raced ahead. Hopefully his current building project in Shropshire will one day host another Go event. "You don't have to be good to love Go"

May 2012

Jonathan is a member of the Cambridge Club and has been BGA Secretary since 2010.

April 2013

John encountered Go vaguely in 1969, at Cambridge in 1972 and again in 1976 and always meant to get into it seriously but never quite got round to it until 2005 when he rolled up at St Albans Go club from which they haven't yet found an excuse to chuck him out.

He's sort of crawled out of the DDK pit painfully slowly since then. He would like to reach a sensible playing level before his dotage.

Until the summer of 2013 he ran an Open-Source software company in Welwyn Garden City, founded in 1986.

John admits responsibility for the online league software which he started in 2009. Because of (or in spite of) this, he was elected to the council as Online Chairman in 2010.

4th January 2011

Jon is a retired IT professional living in East Sussex and learnt to play Go at school at the tender age of 14, becoming 1 dan and British Champion in 1965. He was Champion for 11 of the next 12 years, ending up by being promoted to 6 dan, but retiring to spend more time with his family (as they say) in 1977. In retirement he did represent the UK at the first World Amateur in 1979 and has been part of the UK team from the start of the Pandanet European Go team Championship.

As well as being on the BGA Council for many years in the 1970’s Jon founded the Go club at Cambridge University, started the British Go Journal and was editor for several years. More recently he produced the now obsolete BGA CD. (Barry Chandler insists he was co-editor of BGJ 146, focussing on the World Mind Sports Games - Jon isn't so sure...). He returned to playing Go competitively a few years ago, but is only playing at about 4 dan strength (on a good day) and represented the UK at the World Mind Sports Games in 2008 and 2012.

When at University Jon was one of the early pioneers in Computer Go and his programme was one of the two involved in the first inter-computer game of Go in 1970.

He was elected President in 2009.

29th November 2010, revised April 2013

Although I was born in Scotland, I spent most of my childhood in Africa, my parents being in the Colonial Civil Service. Though I don’t really mind the cold, I still find British winters ridiculously dark. Still, the London Open always cheers things up a bit.

I think I first encountered Go in the early 1970s. Roy Nelson and I started a club at the Open University, Milton Keynes, in about 1978 as I recall, which (as the OU and Milton Keynes Go Club) is still afloat.

I was Minutes Secretary of the BGA for three years between the 2004 and 2007 AGMs, and edited Issue 152 of the Journal in 2010.

My first and only job, from which I recently retired, was as a mathematician at the aforesaid OU. I’m still an Honorary Visitor at this excellent institution. Currently I have the (probably) completely mad self-imposed task of proving that something that was proved in the 80s not to be provable, actually is provably provable (if you see what I mean). Maybe my re-election to the BGA Council will cure me of this!

Up until 2005, the OU had maths summer schools and I always brought along a set or two, introducing Go to several good people over the years. A variable player, I seem to have peaked at 2k in 2001 and been wandering in the 5k-8k region in recent years. I no longer possess the hat in the photo. If anyone has picked it up at a tournament since 2009 or so, please let me know . . .

May 2013

British Champion 2012-3

I first encountered the game of Go way back in the 70s. A colleague at work, a keen chess player, one day brought in a Japan Airlines leaflet about the game and suggested we try it out in our lunch break. So that is what we did, using squared paper and drawing circles that we shaded or not to represent stones.

It was a cumbersome way to play and we did not get far, although we did begin to realise that building walls enclosing watertight areas in one part of the board while your opponent did the same in another part was probably not the best strategy. But it was enough to stimulate me to visit a Go club that was currently meeting in a house in Croydon. It was a long way from where I lived, and I only managed a couple of visits before family pressures took over and I relegated Go to the "RIP" section of my brain.

Years later, after I retired from the Department of Transport (I was a traffic engineer), I took over the chess club at our local junior school which my youngest daughter attended. Her initial interest in the game soon evaporated, but by that time I was locked to running the club and it was several years before I got away!

I thought about taking up the game myself, but a couple of visits to the local chess club discouraged me. At this point I recalled my brief encounter with Go all those years before. A trawl on the Internet, which we had just installed, and I was soon visiting the Twickenham club on a regular basis. The rest, as they say, is history.

May 2011

Lee Brook, Wood Lane, Sutton Weaver, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 3EN.

Andrew, 26, first learnt Go from a school-friend but never got past the surprise of seeing his stones, apparently in atari, being captured. During the summer after his first year at Cambridge University he discovered he could play online on KGS, joined the University club on his return and has been an avid player ever since.

He skipped his graduation to go to China for a 2 month Go holiday where he progressed from around 1 dan to 3 dan, but hasn't got much better since. He lives in Cambridge where he works for Autonomy, a software company.

He represented the UK at the second World Mind Sports Games.

August 2012

I was taught go at the age of 14 by my dad, Paul. Shortly after learning, I attended my first tournament at the Isle of Man, where I was introduced to the friendly community of Go in Britain. This inviting atmosphere is what encouraged me to go to tournaments often.

Throughout the last 8 years I've attended many BGA tournaments. In 2006 & 2008 I was U16 & U18's UK youth champ. My biggest achievement to date was playing in the GB woman's team in the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Beijing. In 2010 - 2012, I was a part of the team that ran Nottingham Go tournament, which was great fun and I would recommend anyone interested in the game to become a part of running a tournament.

Maria was a Council member in 2012/3.

May 2012, revised April 2013