The 21st Irish Open was held as usual in the Teachers' Club in Dublin and again was part of the Pandanet Go European Cup. There attendance was 41, the strongest being the winner Ondrej Silt (6 dan Czechia). Second was Wei Wang from UCC; third and fourth were members of the large Dutch contingent Willem-Koen Pomstra and Willem Mallon.

Results

The Irish Rapid handicap tournament on the Friday evening ended in a four-way tie. After braking it the winner was Edwin Brady from St Andrews. Second was Justyna Klezcar, third was Willem-Koen Pomstra and fourth Bernd Sambale.

Results

The Nihon Ki-in have announced that Noriyuki Nakayama, 6 dan professional, died on 16th February 2010 aged 77. He was a well known and much loved professional teacher at many European and American Go Congresses and author of the book "The Treasure Chest Enigma".

When President Obama visited China in November 2009 he presented Preident Hu Jintao with a Go or Weiqi set. It consisted of a US-made wooden board and Chinese jade stones in American glass bowls, showing a fusion between the culture and skills of the two countries. You can see see the board being made in the AGA E-Journal report. No doubt Obama's knowledge of Chinese culture gained through this gift helped when he met the Dalai Lama on 18th February 2010.

The 2009 Youth Grand Prix has now finished, with Matthew Hathrell coming first, Roella Smith second, and Michael Webster third. Well done to those three, and to everyone else who earned points. Full standings for the year can be seen here. Matthew and Michael will both be too old to play this coming year, so we will have at least two new prize winners in 2010. Good luck to everyone in their tournaments this year.

Clive Hendrie died on 28th January 2010 at 6 pm in the Windsor hospice of Thames Hospicecare. Clive had been battling cancer for over a year, and despite treatment and operations was taken worse just after the New Year. Uncle Clive, as he is known to Bracknell Go Club (because of his two nieces), will be sadly missed by those who knew and played against him.