BGA Newsletter 288 March 2022

FROM THE EDITOR

Contributions are always welcome, both from our members and others. We ask that they be Go-related and "newsy". The place for debate and general discussion is the BGA open mailing list Gotalk. However, an introduction to a new topic is fine in the Newsletter. A brief introduction to Gotalk, with a link for joining, is on the BGA page Go on the Internet.

Instructions for Contributors: Please use plain text not file-attachments. Keep it fairly brief, and give web-links and contact details. It's good to include pictures. If they are on the internet, send me the URL, otherwise attach the picture files to your email. Send your contribution to newsletter@britgo.org to arrive by the first day of the month.

Jil Segerman

NEWS

The full set of recent news items, including further details of some of the items shown here, are on our News Pages.

Bob Bagot

BGA stalwart Bob Bagot sadly passed away on Friday 4th March. Bob reached the grade of 2 dan, and his many services to Go include teaching, acting as book distributor, and organising the 3 Peaks Tournament. Martin Harvey has published an obituary on Gotalk.

Bob's wife Lesley, and sons Sam and Rob, have chosen a family send-off rather than a public funeral. Martin and his family will be attending the lunch buffet on 30th March.

European Youth Go Team Championship

The UK youth team won 3-2 against Russia B in round 4 of the European Youth Go Team Championship in February. Details here. This gave the team the bronze medal, behind Russia and France. Congratulations to them!

Pandanet Go European Team Championship 2021/2022

The next match for the UK team was on 8th March against Austria; the team lost three games to one with Jamie Taylor taking the only win. After 6 rounds, the UK team was down to 9th place (out of 10) in League B. On 12th April they will play Finland.

ADMIN

BGA Congress

Details of the 2022 British Congress are now available on its web page Congress Info.

2022 AGM

The AGM will be held online by ZOOM at 19:30 on Thursday 26th May 2022. An invite will be created and published a week or so before the meeting.

Any member’s resolutions are to be submitted to the BGA Secretary (secretary @ britgo.org) not later than Thursday 14th April 2022. Each such item will require the support of two BGA members.

The agenda will be published to members via the website no later than Thursday 28th April 2022.

Once the agenda is published anyone wishing to register a proxy vote may do so by contacting the Secretary (secretary @ britgo.org) by the end of Tuesday 24th May, stating their name and address, the person who will be the proxy, and confirming it is for the 2022 AGM. If you wish you may specify how the proxy appointed is to vote (or is to abstain from voting) on one or more resolutions, otherwise the proxy will have full discretion.

Conversion to a Company Limited by Guarantee.

Message from President Toby Manning (previously emailed to BGA members)

"On 27 January I wrote to you to initiate the consultation process concerning our detailed proposals to convert the BGA from an Unincorporated Assocviation to a Company Limited by Guarantee. Our proposals were published at www.britgo.org/conversion, and we asked for your comments by the end of February. We received several thoughtful and helpful comments, which can be seen at www.britgo.org/council/comments. Also shown on that page are our responses to those comments, shown in italics.

There are still a couple of comments to which responses are in preparation, so we are extending the period for comments by a week. We then intend to publish our revised proposals, which will take account of the comments which we have received. We still intend to put forward a substantive motion to the AGM which we are scheduling for late May."

EGF Suspends Russia

There was an emergency online meeting of EGF members on Thursday 3 March. Most European Countries were present.

The meeting agreed to suspend Russia and Belarus from the EGF, but not to expel them. All EGF events currently scheduled for Russia and Belarus were to be re-allocated. Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to participate in EGF events under a neutral banner.

EVENTS COMING SOON

Tournament organisers will be responsible for Covid-19 safety and legal compliance. Restrictions are currently lifted, but Government guidance continues. Both of these may change if the risks change. See "Guidance for people who work in settings related to events and visitor attractions" All attendees are referred also to NHS advice "What to do if you have or might have coronavirus"

April: Rip-Off Dublin; British Congress Lancaster; Ulster; Not the London Open
May: Sheffield University (provisional); MSO Grand Prix 9x9 and 19x19 (online)
June: Candidates; Durham; Cheltenham
(provisional); Welsh Open, Barmouth
July: European Go Congress, Romania
August: Youth Go Camp Caythorpe; Mind Sports Olympiad; Doki Doki Festival, Manchester
September: Confucius Dublin