Go in Britain: 1970

The 1970 British Go Congress was held at St. Johns College in Cambridge. John Diamond was declared British Champion after the event was tied with Akiyama and Hokari. Most of the prize winners were local or from Edinburgh. President John Barrs chaired the AGM; subscriptions were increased to 4s for club members. In club matches early in 1970: Enfield beat Imperial College 5-1 and later 5-0; UEA beat Bristol 16-9; Newcastle lost to Edinburgh 4-3-1. The first advance copy of Modern Joseki and Fuseki volume 2 by Sakata had arrived; the price was to be 37s6d. The Ariel Go Set was in shops at 47s6d.

At the European Go Congress in Vienna, Jon Diamond won three out of six to be placed third and earn promotion. Winner was Jurgen Mattern, 5 dan from Berlin, and second was the previous champion Manfred Wimmer of Austria. John Barrs, Fred Hall and Tony Cooper played in the shodan section (Tony failing to win it on tie break) and Mike Digby played in the 1 - 2 kyu section. Felix Dueball, one of the first players in Germany, died in the Autumn aged 90.

In the UK at this time the only regular tournament was the British; the first Wessex was held as a handicap event on 1st November 1970. M. Roberts (4 kyu) of Bristol won. The event was reported on Radio 4's "Today" programme, including an interview with Francis Roads.

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