BGA Newsletter 319 October 2024

FROM THE EDITOR

This issue, and previous newsletters, are available in the Newsletter Archive in the Members' Area. This is the most reliable way to view the Newsletters, as some email clients can corrupt the formatting of the pictures.

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

New British Champion Yaoling Yang

On the weekend of 14th and 15th September 2024, Yaoling Yang beat Ho-Yeung (Damen) Woo 2-0 to win his first British Go Championship!

Milena Boclé has written up an interview with Yaoling Yang and runner-up Ho-Yeung (Damen) Woo and posted it here on the European Go Federation front page. Thanks Ai Guan for your posting on Gotalk.

British Achievement in the Korean Prime Minister's Cup

Our representative Ho-Yeung (Damen) Woo had a great result, with 5 wins from 7 games and finishing 14th overall. Full results here

Newcastle: a new 2-day Tournament

Newcastle Go Club hosted around 30 players from across the UK for the inaugural Newcastle Go Tournament, reports organiser Tom Coulthard. The winner was Peikai Xue (4d) from UCL Club, and Cambridge’s Paul Smith (1k) was the runner up, narrowly beating third placed Zhan Shi (3d) from Manchester.

Youngster Clinton Yu (18k) from Manchester scored three straight wins from his three games played and Jayme Ehlers (6k) from Edinburgh won four games.

The Saturday night social was well attended with over 20 players enjoying a Chinese meal in a city centre restaurant. Newcastle Go Club hope to organise another competition next year and make it an annual event.

BGA Robot at Swindon

Colin Williams reports that the BGA robot was much in use as a non-competitor at the recent Swindon Tournament. Ryan Zhang was the overall winner, with Changhao Huang in 2nd place and Jake Game 3rd.

The robot was there to be passed on to Paul Smith for use with youngsters in the various societies and school clubs he supports. It can play 9x9, 13x13, or 19x19, and you can set the level of skill it uses by choosing an appropriate kyu or dan grade for it. See the "SenseRobot Go" video on YouTube.

Its next outing is to be at the British Small Board/UK Go Challenge Tournament in Cambridge on 20th October.

Celebrating 30 years of Youth Go in Cambridge

This year the above-mentioned British Small Board/UK Go Challenge event will be celebrating 30 years of youth Go in Cambridge. From a beginning as the Cambridge Junior Chess & Go Club, youth Go has flourished in the city. The Junior Chess & Go Club now has two branches; there are five school clubs and a weekly online meeting, also some teaching led by university students, and popular Go days in the summer holidays.

The Small Board competition is for all ages and playing standards; currently the entries range from beginner to 4 dan. Strong junior players can also compete for UK Go Challenge age-band titles. Further information is here and on the Events page.

To celebrate, there will be lots of cake, cash prizes for winners, and some great Go-themed prizes including posters, cards and books designed by the artist Camille Leveque. And an opportunity to play Go against the BGA robot.

ADMIN

Logo Competition

So far, we have several entries, but it would be wonderful to have a few more - hence we have extended the deadline to 12:00pm on the 1st November 2024 and allowed two entries per person. Sam Bithell has already contacted all the current entrants to let them know they are allowed a second design. So once again, if you haven't already shared the links with your club, and beyond, please do so!

EVENTS COMING SOON

This Month: Sheffield, British Small Board / UK Go Challenge Finals (Cambridge), Wessex (Bath)
November Bar Low (London), Three Peaks (Yorkshire), British Youth (Leicester), Northern (Cheadle Hulme)
December T Mark Hall Rapid Play Tournament (London), London Open
January MSO GP (Online)
February London Youth, Lancaster
March Cheshire (Frodsham), Cambridge Trigantius
April British Go Congress (venue TBA), Mind Sports Olympiad (Majorca, Spain)