British Go Congress, 1970

British Go Journal No. 12. August 1970. Page 1.

The Third British Go Congress was held at St. Johns College, Cambridge, the weekend before Easter, which seems to be becoming the traditional time for this event. The best attended Congress yet, with 60 players taking part, the Organisers also had to contend with the problems caused by the institution of the British Open Championship. But under the cool leadership of Graham Priest and John Robinson, such problems as arose were dealt with with efficiency, leaving the players free to enjoy the Congress. Also prominent on the side of the organisation were Penny Hunter and Stephanie Diamond.

The Open Championship looked from the start a four man competition and, after two rounds, when Akiyama had beaten Hokari and Anderson, he looked certain to win, as Diamond had lost to Hokari. Diamond, however, contrived to force a three-way playoff with Akiyama and Hokari by beating Akiyama in a very difficult game in Round 5. He was therefore proclaimed British Champion as the only native in the playoff. Of the other players in the top group, Dunn was the most successful, with four wins, but Hall did sufficiently well to have his provisional Shodan rating confirmed by the Handicaps Committee.

In the main section, the better consistency of national gradings was reflected in the results, only the isolated Edinburgh club being obviously much underrated. Prizes for 6-0 records were awarded to T. MacDonald of Edinburgh and to D. Prescott and S. Heavens, both of Cambridge.

The Handicap Committee made no recommendations for demotion, and only ten for promotion in the main section. These were:

• F Roads (Enfield) - 5 wins - 2 kyu
• R Dennehy (University of East Anglia) - 5 wins - 4 kyu
• I Young (Edinburgh) - 5 wins - 7 kyu
• C Rix (Cambridge) - 5 wins - 8 kyu
• D Prescott (Cambridge) - 6 wins - 8 kyu
• T MacDonald (Edinburgh) - 6 wins - - 8 kyu
• D Pickup (U.E.A) - 5 wins - 10 kyu
• C Bradbury (Liverpool) - 5 wins - 11 kyu
• S Heavens (Cambridge) - 6 wins - 13 kyu
• D Mascord (unattached) - 4/4 wins - 17 kyu