First Tournament at Tonbridge School

Feeling a bit isolated from the rest of the Go community, John Shafer, teacher at Tonbridge School in Kent, ran the first Tonbridge Tournament with the support of Colin Williams, president of the BGA.

As a first time event this was very well run, and well prepared. There were 22 players on the day ranging from 4 dan down to 25 kyu (or thereabouts). The venue was excellent, and very comfortable, with good and plentiful coffee and biscuits laid on by the in-house catering service. Parking on the school grounds was convenient, and the High Street and the town centre is no more than five minutes walk away. It is strongly recommended to support this tournament next year by attending and increasing the numbers.

Artur Gascon (1k) from Spain was the overall winner, and he and local pupil James Dodson (23k) both won all four of their games. Prizes were also given for the five who won three of their games, namely Peikai Xue (4d UCL), Carlos Han (3k) and Nathaniel Chan (15k), both from the school, William Peterson (22k South Cambridge) and Victoria Gray (22k Sheffield University), as well as the 13x13 side event winner Nathaniel Chan. The winners are picture below. Results

The end of Round 2 was pretty notable: the final three games to finish – Alistair Wall vs Carlos Han at the top, Stig Petersen vs Justin Leung in the middle, Dylan Tam vs James Dodson at the bottom – were won by half a point, one and a half points, and half a point respectively. It just goes to show that it is worth taking your time even at the end of the game, thinking it through, and maximising the value of every stone played.