In the Dark? Grand Prix and Trophies

Terry Stacey was 5 dan and was British Champion in 1986 and 1987. He died the following year as the result of a motorcycle accident and in his memory it was decided to present a trophy to the player winning most "above the bar" games in UK tournaments each year. A Stacey point is collected for each such game won. The trophy was made with a Stowe estate yew base and a white polished marble go stone top. It has been won, up to 2006, by Francis Roads (eight times), Alistair Wall and Harold Lee (twice), Matthew Macfadyen, John Rickard, Des Cann, Tim Hunt and Young Kim (once each).

Thanks to the Japanese word for "two", there has long been a tradition of "weak kneed dannery" in the BGA, immortalised in a famous go song. The WKD Grand Prix was an annual competition to reward the "ni dan" who lost the most games in open tournaments in the UK during a year. Usually four or five second dans fought hard for the coveted trophy, the record number of points scored being 44. The trophy features the Manx three-legged symbol, as the extra leg is needed to make up for the weak knees. It was won twice each (by the end of 2001) by Tony Atkins, Simon Goss and Alan Thornton. Referee was Colin Adams (1 dan). It was won again in 2002 by Alan Thornton who kept the trophy and title "Honorary Weak Kneed Dan", as the competition then stopped.

Simon Rudd launched the Youth Grand Prix in 1992 and at that time it ran congress to congress. Young under-18 players earn points by attending tournaments and winning at them. Forty percent of the points for an event are for just turning up. The British Youth Go Championships counts double. Originally getting promoted scored points as well. Players of 1 kyu and 23 kyu are just as likely to win the trophies for first, second and third. Other prizes are often awarded too. Currently the year is the calendar year and the prizes are presented at the British Youth Go Championships. These include trophies and cash prizes for the top three players, given in memory of John Rickard.

More correctly called world amateur qualification points (once the event was in China), Japan Points are earned in the Challenger's League and British Championship title match. Places 1 to 8 in the League get assigned points 8 to 1 (shared if there is a tied position). The champion gets 9 points and a defeated champion gets 5 points (was 4). Points get spent when the World Amateur is attended, but otherwise do not decrease. Usually about 25 points are needed to go, which fits in with the requirement of no player attending more than once in three years and also gives those who take the middle League positions a chance to go occasionally. Council uses the points as a guide as to which current active player to select, but a new champion would normally take precedence. Since they were introduced in 1985 eleven players have attended (the points retrospectively would have accurately selected the players who attended earlier). Other points systems exist for the International Amateur Pair Go Championship and the World Women's (not currently held).

Presented by the Go section of the Nippon Club in London, this trophy has been awarded at every British go Congress since 1986. It goes to the team from a BGA recognised club with the highest percentage of wins in the British Open. Fifteen clubs had won it up to the 2006, Bristol, Furze Platt and Brakenhale winning it twice each and Wanstead four times.

The BGA has various trophies that it presents for its championships and events, some of which are described above. Others are presented by clubs for their own events. Pictures of some of the trophies are elsewhere on the BGA site.

This page is one of a series of In The Dark articles.