Go Promoted at London Anime and Gaming Con

Report by Ben Murphy (edited by Tony Collman)

I attended the Rocket Complex in Holloway Road, London for the first ever combined London Anime and Gaming Convention on Sunday 9th February and quickly set up the table. It was expected some attendees might be familiar with go from the anime Hikaru No Go.

Francis Roads was with me and we showed people the rules of Go and then played a 9x9 game with them either with or without a handicap, depending on their preferences. I brought some Go sets (9x9 boards with 13x13 on the other side) with me and some copies of the book Teach Yourself Go, by Charles Matthews. These were provided by Roger Huyshe, the BGA's seller of books and equipment.

I managed to sell three of the Go sets and four copies of the book. Many people liked Go and found it very easy to learn and there were many strategy game fans at the demo. One man said he was in the Navy and was looking forward to teaching and playing against his friends on his ship. He bought a set and a book. Another man had an interesting opinion on Chess and Go and he commented on how he feels like an army commander when playing Chess, but Go doesn't give him the same feeling. One man remembered our demo from when I did it with Tony Atkins at the London Anime Con in 2013.

I really enjoyed doing the demo and I played a few games against Francis Roads and it was an amazing experience teaching people. I'd like to give a big thank you to everyone at London Anime and Gaming Convention and the British Go Association for helping me with the demo. Many people enjoyed playing Go and I think we made a good number of Go fans during the day.