David Silver (Team manager of AlphaGo team @ Deepmind) shows the graph… AlphaGo (Version #18) which won against Sedol Lee 9P in March 2016 (result of five round match: 4:1) is four stones stronger than Version #13, which has beaten Fan Hui 2P Dan in October 2015.
In Korea it’s tradition to reunion with the whole family from 18th till 20th February 2015 to celebrate Seollal… and to give tribute on first day of the new year (following the mooncalendar) to the ancestors by practising special rites… and to extend to the elder family members the new year’s greetings (Sebae).
On Seollal it is celebrated to become one year older. Eating Tteokguk (soup with rice cake) celebrates the purety and long living. White is the colour of Tteok and symbolizes purity, the longish form of it represents a long life.
The Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival,isa family eventandby farthe most important datein thecourse of the yearandthus the most importantChineseholiday. The public holidaysare laid down for 18th till 24th February 2015.
2015 is the yea of the “wooden goat“. In China the goatstands forgentleness, peace, love, cooperation and helpfulness, and wood for creativity andproductivity.Politically 2015 gives hope forpeaceful and diplomaticsolutions.For private life Chinese expect in 2015 to have moretime for loveandfamily.Aconciliatoryand lovinginteractionis favoredforlonely heartsandthe chancesof falling in love.
I wish all my Asian friends in Korea and China a happy new year ! – Have more time for playing GO/Weiqi/Baduk… 🙂
Many tks to all the visitors and Go friends this Go blog has seen over last two months from all around the globe. – Yours, LinuxGooo
On 11th November 2014 the MySanRenSei blog opened to the public being linked with social medias (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit) and since then received tremendous interests from many, many countries (Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, Belgium, Singapore, Austria, Germany, Russian Fderation, Turkey, Romania, Chile, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Japan, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Israel, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom, USA, France, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Ukraine, Denmark, Argentina, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, Norway, Venezuela, South Africa and others):
November 2014: 989 views / 307 Blog visitors + 2,584 Twitter impressions (1.5% engagement rate)
December 2014: 8,116 views / 3,452 Blog visitors + 5,890 Twitter impressions (2.7% engagement rate)
January 2015: 1,539 views / 687 Blog visitors + 1,332 Twitter impressions (1.5% engagement rate)
In total:10,644 views by 4,446 Blog visitors and 9,806 Twitter impressions.
As you can read frrom the BritGo Report of 31st December about the London Congress / London Open (28th-31st Dec 2014) the capital of England/UK on the Thames seems an excellent place for spending year’s end with Go + Rengo/Pair Go.
Congrats to Benjamin Teuber (6Dan / Vice National Go Champion of Germany) for 2nd place, who came from Hanseatic City Hamburg/North Germany to London. – Benni played together with Hajin Lee (3P Dan/Kora) who works for the IGS (Intern. Go Federation) and whom we remember well as “official Go embassador” of the 4th World Mind Games which shortly took place in Beijing/China. (Rec.: See the results and Kifus (SGF transcriptions) of all games from 11th till 15th Dec 2014 here.)
London seems a good place for spending year’s end with Go + Rengo/Pair Go… Vize National Champion from Germany, Benjamin Teuber (6D) and another Go friend of mine (11k) visited London. – Congrats to Gudrun for the prize she got as best placed DDK player 🙂 (Rec.: We both have played on32nd Rahlstedter Tengen Tournament and KIDO CUP)
The 41st London Open Go Congress took place at International Students House at the end of December 2014. As well as the main seven-round tournament, there were Pair Go, Doubles, Lightning and Rengo side events, and the tournament culminated in 40 participants attending a New Year’s Eve Dinner.
The main tournament was won by Chi-Min Oh (7d, Durham, UK) on seven wins, and prizes sponsored by the British Go Association were also awarded to YoungSam Kim (7d, BIBA, Korea) coming second with six wins, Mateusz Surma (7d, Dzimierz, Poland) coming third with five wins and Xiao Ma (7d, Nuremburg, Germany) coming in fourth with four wins.
The David Ward Cup was awarded for the first time, in memory of long-standing UK player David Ward who sadly died late in 2013. It was donated by his widow, Helen Ward, and presented by professional Hajin Lee from Korea to Matthew Cocke, who was the highest-placed UK player in the tournament on three wins above the bar.
Prizes were awarded, by sponsorship from the Central London Go Club, to the two best-placed players who started below the bar; these went to Mikko Siukola (4d, Yligo, Finland) who came in eighth overall, and Andrew Kay (4d, Birmingham, UK) who came in 15th overall.
A prize sponsored by the City of London Go Club was awarded to the best-placed player who had started as a double-digit kyu player by European Ranking; this was won by Gudrun Breitenbauch (11k, Hamburg-Harburg, Germany).
Certificates were awarded to Johannes Siven (3k, Central London, UK) on six wins and to those on four and five wins.
The thirty-player Lightning tournament was won by Chi-Min Oh (7d, Durham, UK), with second prize to Zebin Du (5d, China).
The Pair Go tournament was won by Chi-Min Oh (7d, Durham, UK) and Lova Wåhlin (2k, Stockholm, Sweden), with second prize to Hajin Lee (3p) and Benjamin Teuber (6d, Hamburg-Harburg, Germany).
The Doubles section was won by Jitka Bartova (1d, Prague, Czech Republic) and Ngoc-Trang Cao (2d, 67se, France).
We Go lovers and folks from medias mostly think in categories of communication. A word of wizzard in the 90th had been content syndication (or content exchange). The question behind is how to link different and interesting content ?
Wouldn’t it be interesting as Go player and student if you can find in one place all interesting content of Go blogs (audio / video / text) ? – And get from there a lively discussion about GO ? – Some adresses you might already know, e.g. …
Indeed, there exist some “closed communities” about GO, e.g. the wonderful Go Forum known as lifein19x19 (with 3,713 members for now). No doubt, such places are excellent to get access to interesting content and find answers about Go questions…. as a “closed system”.
What about a more open news platform which can be read and commented from everybody, more easily and quickly ? – And herewith get orientation about interesting Go content by a simply voting system. 🙂
Reddit is a news based platform (for links and comments) which was founded in June 2005 with now more than 174 million users ( source wikipedia.org). Users have access cost free. This web site is ranked on place No. 35 in the world (Source: Alexa.com).
Reddit for now has a variety of News channel (so called subreddits), e.g. for Go under the name baduk (Korean term) with a total of 5,552 readers. – But this commity of Go players is restricted too heavily and does not give an adequate frame for Go bloggers as too often their posts are seen by users and admins as spamming – with the lack of a real understanding about copyright issues (see latest domain blacklisting on 8th Dec 2014 with the announcment for using AutoMod function).
So here we are… today we open the new subreddit MyGoBlognon-commercially and specificly for Go bloggers around the globe, without any heavy restrictions as our philosophy is “sharing” and not keeping, driven by our love and passion for Go (Weiqi/Baduk/Igo).
Give it a try as reader or blogger… 🙂 and let know other GO bloggers (audio/video/text) around the globe about this News platform ! 🙂 – Tks for your interests… and have fun with GO.
P.S.: Herewith its not our intention to promote illegal content. But it’s in the hands of each blogger himself/herself (as idinvidual) or as group (publisher/editor) to follow the relevant copyright issues which can differ from country-to-country and for different kind of media formats. We just use reddit as technology / IT platform to link different sources of content to have a more easy access, sharing and voting. Nothing more.
1st test game I lost as white (b+21.5) my late attack on black’s bottom right corner failed…
2nd test game I won (b+resign)… white’s top left corner didnt survive and the centre oriented style worked
Mostly I felt comfortable during the playing… the board design, the sound clicking, the chat window… the timer… inclusive the counting, all works fine. Luckily I had some help from Eng speaking moderator/developer to get some orientation with the “chinese voice announcments” and “chinese buttons” 🙂
LKGS is a young GO server and if the Go community around the globe has the patiency to wait till some essentials are programmed further on by the smal team (3 developers), e.g. reviews and a fully English translation of the menus, then LKGS might have a future.
Java free and browser based GO servers are something many are waiting for so I see it. They have a future, e.g. seeing the problems with KGS registration because of Java security issues. The concurrence OGS is an American Go server (the both developers/owners are US guys) which has some specific issues in positive and negative, as all online Go servers have (so experienced on my own on KGS, Tygem and Wbaduk).
Another aspect is the server stability… I had different disconnections during the 1st and more during 2nd game as I have known it from OGS (online-go.com), too. Maybe it is helpfully that this server with *.cc domain is mirrored continental, e.g. Europe + America to have lower latency.
Lets see how Asian/Chinese brain power can bring this new project forward… 🙂
Everyday in my very young Go studies of little bit more than 10 months (since 26th January 2014) is something new to discover and learn. For a real beginner in 21st century it’s one of the biggest challenges to find a path of practicability through the vast number of sources we have available with one click nowadays via Internet, from videos, webstreams, eBooks to workshop programmes, apps for smartphones, Online Go servers and huge databases for fusekis, tsumegos (death & life) and reviews of Pro games (SGF kifus) etc. …
Personally I like the way of studying by correspondence games. To think about one move for 2-3 days, analyse about it by studying in books and laying alternatives following-up patterns can deepen one’s understanding about GO. – Herewith I started on OGS (online-go.com) but my experience with the heavily increasing number of users (a plus of 28% from April 2014 with round about 89,000 to now >114,000 members): (too) many of them don’t take it very seriously with a good time management and manoever into time-out. That way an unfinished game being played over many weeks or months can become worthless.
With the demise of legend GO Seigen at the age of 100 on 30th November 2014 I fell over following specific GO server INGO which was designed exclusively for correspondence games. GO Seigen was supreme advisor for INGO. – Today I have registrated and I like to give it a try… and will report as soon I have something concrete.
Isao Yamashita (INGO president)
INGO stands for “International Network Go Organization“. It was founded on May 15, 2011 to facilitate playing this fascinating game from all over the world.
Go is being known as a sport of intelligence, as well as a great tool for communication via games. The president Isao Yamashita (citiation): “I think Go is the best game in the world and it has been my best friend enriching my life for years. INGO is a place where you can play Go regardless of time zone differences or language barrier. I earnestly hope it also serves as a place that contributes to world peace in whatever means.“
INGO Supreme + Special advisors…
(f.l.t.r.) Supreme advisor : Go Seigen 9 dan (Nihon Kiin) – 12th June 1914-30th Nov 2014 | Special advisors: Rin Kaiho 9 dan (Nihon Kiin), Cho Hunhyun 9 dan (Korean Baduk Association), Wang Runan 8 dan (Chinese Weiqi Association) and Michael Redmond 9 dan (Nihon Kiin)
INGO counted on 3rd December 2014 in total 794 members.
About the Ingo Membership:
INGO is completely free.
INGO is the browser version of so-called postal Go or Mail Go, where you play Go with friends via postal or email.
There is no time limit in the games of INGO. Usually it takes a few months to finish one game.
Anyone is welcome to INGO.
Registration:
Your real name and email address is required to register.
An email will be sent to your registered email address for confirmation.
Click the link in the email and registration is complete!
Rec.: The IT system of Ingo has been revamped in August 2013 to adapt almost every browsers including smartphones. With a much eash-to-use interface and better system INGO helps to connect Go fans in the world.
All infos I got for now from the developer team that three enthusiastic Go players worked on programming a new GO server. A complete new version 2.0 is up since today (2nd Dec).
It is called LankeWeiqi or as short form LKGS (Lanke Go Server).
Similar to OGS (Online Go Server) which is owned by two software developers in the USA (matburt and anoek) following a merger with nova.gs in October 2013 the new Go server LankeWeiqi seems to be owned by the company Xining Vidoo Information & Technology Co. Ltd. and is purely web-browser based (without Java).
So another “…GS name” in the market of Online GO Servers beside the existing (e.g. OGS – Online Go Server, Pandanet-IGS, DGS – Dragon GO Server, KGS etc. …) ?? – For pure beginners this landscape might become little bit confusing. 🙂
These days this very new server with a .cc domain (registrated on Cokos (Keeling) Islands/Australia) is accessable and simply to surf via web browser (on my own I only did a test with Google Chrome). No extra desktop client must be downloaded as we know it from Wbaduk, Tygem and Pandanet-IGS (and best to do so with KGS). For now LKGS mainly is available with it’s front end in Chinese language. – The English version is being translated these days and up very soon so I was told today. Another language this server will be available is Japanese.
It is very teachable for Non Asians to learn the fighting oriented Asian style and visit specific Online Go servers herefor. This new Go server LKGS gives hope that Go players from Western world get the chance to meet Asian players as we know it from Tygem, Wbaduk and Pandanet-IGS but have a more direct inter-action, e.g. English based Chat communication (Rec.: On Wbaduk and Tygem mainly play Asians from Korea and China with very few Japanese and a regular English communication isnt possible for 95% of all games (by my own experience).)
After registration and login which worked within seconds giving a uniquly User name, Nick name and password here the look and feel of the central menu, with the chat room (botttom left), games list (top left) and players overview (right side):
Some more features are “Class room“, “Discussion Group“, Club, “Go News” and a link to the Quing Hai Go Association (Rec.: Qinghai Province is the fourth largest province in China.). Some other features might be interesting too, e.g. Team Ranking lists.
Here two screenshots of the game pages, one still running, another just finished:
If you want give it a try on your own and you should not be confident with Chinese (as I am) use the “Translate to English” function of your browser (e.g. available in Google Chrome). It will show you following: http://www.lanke.cc/pages/userReg.html
(Rec.: Similar to OGS for registrating on LKGS there is not needed an email addess for completing the registration process (which I see it as critically if you should forget the password or the account should be hacked.))
You can find me on LKGS with same user name as you know me on most other online GO Servers (e.g. KGS, Tygem, Wbaduk, IGS and OGS): LinuxGooo .
… and pls give feedback with a short comment (clicking the reply button) about your own experiences.
Counting down till 11th December: World Mind Games 2014. – Still 28 days to go till start in Bejing!
How is Go like travelling? – Watch the international Go ambassador, Hajin Lee (Go Pro from Korea) of the IGF (Intern. Go Federation), explaining it to you…
Go at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014
The Go events at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 are held under the auspices of the International Go Federation (IGF). Thirty players (18 men and 12 women) will participate.
The competition format will comprise a Men’s Team and Women’s Individual event and Pair event. For all matches, the China Weiqi Competition Rules are used.
The Men’s Team event is composed of 6 teams and each one has 3 players. Single Round Robin system will be applied with a total of 5 rounds. The time allowance is 2 hours per player, followed by 5 renewable 60-seconds overtime periods.
The Women’s Individual event is composed of 12 players. Double Knock-out system will be applied with a total of 7 rounds. The time allowance is 1 hour per player, followed by 3 renewable 30-seconds overtime periods. The top 4 teams in the 1st edition team event are allowed to have one player receiving a bye in first round. Players’ will be matched according to numbers determined by drawing during the Technical Meeting before the competition starts. Players from the same country or region may be matched against each other except in the 1st round.
The Pairs event is composed of 8 pairs (4 from Asia, 3 from Europe, 1 from North America), single knock-out system will be applied, with a total of 3 rounds. The time allowance is 1 hour per player, followed by 3 renewable 30-seconds overtime periods.
Participate in the Online Tournament 2014 of the 4th Edition of tthe WMG …
Come play in the Go Online Tournament. Different divisions for all levels of play. Cash prizes, Samsung Tablets, Rado Watches for the winners and some great lottery prizes for those who register and participate. Click below to get playing!
Introduction to Go
Go is a board game that combines a very simple rule set, an ancient history, and yet a level of sophistication unrivaled by any mind sports. Played on a 19×19 grid, players alternate in placing stones (black and white) on the intersection points of the grid. The object of the game is to surround the most empty grid intersections (points) by surround them or by capturing the opponent’s stones that occupy these grid points.
Go is the most popular game in Asia where it originated. In China and Korea, Go exceeds golf and ALL other sports in capturing TV audiences. Go players command prize moneys enjoyed in the West only by the top golf, football, and basketball players.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of Go is that to this day Go remains the ONLY mind sport as yet unsolved by artificial intelligence. Computer playing programs, for example, remain unmatched by even the modestly strong amateur players. As such, it can be said that Go is the last stronghold of “human intelligence” against its “artificial” counterpart.
More infos here for the Pandanet Cup (Online GO Tournament):ENG @ Pandanet
9 higher competitions which will be held from 14 – 16 Nov 2014 at Mae Fah Luang University (in the province of Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand)…
MFU Hosts the 19th Asian University Go Tournament 2014
On 14 to 16 November 2014, Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) by Student Development Division and Go Association of Thailand organized the 19th ASIAN University Go Tournament 2014 at the Police General Pao Sarasin Building (C5).
On the opening ceremony 14 November 2014, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vanchai Sirichana, MFU President, welcomed all participants from 60 institutions and thanked the Go Association of Thailand for their encouragement and support. He is stating that “Go is a good game, a game of skill that challenges player’s analytical skills”.
In this occasion, Mr. Korsak Chairasmisak, the Chairperson of the Go Association of Thailand (also serving as Vice Chairperson of CP All Public Co., Ltd.) reported that the Go game became a tertiary-education level competition in 1994, and has been played as an annual tournament since 1995. Currently, 23 universities in Thailand teach Go as an elective course for students. Thailand is home to approximately one million Go players (ranking 5th from 74 countries in the world). As Go has become so popular in Thailand, next year’s “World Go Tournament” will be held at the Montien Bangkok Hotel, and will be the first time that it will be hosted outside of China, Korea, or Japan, an indicator of Thailand’s success.
Afterward, the Chairperson of the Ceremony,Phra Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi, provided the audience and participants with background history, informing that the “Game has been developed in China more than 3,000 years ago, then spread to Korea and Japan, and now worldwide. Go is not only entertaining, but also helps the player practice strategy, planning, and decision making using logic and analytical skills while also helping players control their emotions. Go requires the practice of a combination of strategy and focus, and changes with each move. Phra Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi compared Go-playing to real life, in which we must think about every move and action, accept the results of our actions, and plan our next moves accordingly, remembering that “One person cannot win everything, but they can learn from their antagonists”.
Miss Tipanya Mothaniyachat, a fourth year student from the School of Cosmetic Science and a participating Go competitor, led the participants in giving their vows. Miss Tipanya Mothaniyachat said that Go helps her focus, pay attention, and plan her life with increased awareness. She has been playing Go since high school, and had enrolled in the Chinese-Go class available from the School of Liberal Arts while studying at MFU and had participated in many competitions. Recently, she had received first place for the team category in the “41st National Sporting Games (Chiang Mai Games)”.
Mr. Kimura Kiyonari, a professional Go player from Waseda University, Japan also participated in the competition. He has been playing Go since he was 9 years old, and also said that Go has helped him think more carefully and have better focus in his education, work, and daily life.
Tks to Avavt (4k/OGS) sharing this interesting info. As Avavt mentioned, I can follow her to believe that Go at least can help in improving one’s ability to remember & recognize patterns.
THE PLEASURABLE WAY TO A SUPERIOR MIND (1:1 reprint)
Milton N. Bradley with Clayton Wilkie assisting, giving an outdoor demo of Go at Coindre Hall, Huntington, N.Y. during the Huntington Fall Festival, 1995
SIMPLE, ELEGANT RULES.
○ Rules as simple as checkers. Strategy more profound than chess.
○ No different piece moves to master.
○ No fixed starting setup. Each game uniquely structured by the players themselves.
○ Integral handicap system allows even players of widely different ability to enjoy truly competitive games.
○ Suitable for age 3 – Ph.D.
NO “LUCK” OR CHANCE. Just outsmart your opponent to win.
A GAME OF EXQUISITE SUBTLETY.
○ Profound Strategy. (Like football, many different plays from the same initial “set”.)
○ Dazzling Tactical Magic. (Like Judo, use the opponent’s strength against him.)
○ Features pincer attacks, ambushes, feints, diversions, traps, and “airborne” invasions behind enemy lines.
VAST SCOPE, ALMOST LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES.
ALWAYS CHALLENGING. Every game different, never routine or boring..
ABSTRACT MODEL OF REAL WORLD BUSINESS/ECONOMIC COMPETITION.
CHILDREN/STUDENTS
DEVELOPS GOOD STUDY HABITS.
EACHES VITAL REASONING SKILLS.
Creates an enjoyable, mentally stimulating environment in which even very young children learn how to:
○ Objectively appraise a competitive situation.
○ Identify what’s important and what’s not.
○ Evaluate the feasible alternatives.
○ Recall/apply pertinent facts and techniques.
○ Develop appropriate alternative strategy and tactics.
○ Calculate the value and risks of each alternative.
○ Prioritize them.<p
○ Make and implement decisions.
○ Observe the outcome, cope with the consequences, and then
○ Repeat the decision making cycle, as appropriate.
TEACHES REAL-LIFE REASONING/JUDGMENT SKILLS
○ Long term planning succeeds, “instant gratification” fails.
○ Greed is counter-productive. The opponent must always get his due.
○ No simplistic, fixed plan can succeed against competent opposition. A balanced, flexible approach is the only possible route to victory.
○ Rote memory is useful but insufficient.
○ Deep positional analysis, understanding and sound judgment dominate even the best tactics. No “quick kill” is possible against competent opposition.
ADULTS
ABSTRACT MODEL OF REAL WORLD BUSINESS/POLITICAL COMPETITION.
Overall strategic judgment and patient development dominate tactics.
Investment for the future is generally superior to emphasis on immediate profit, but ultimate success almost always requires a carefully balanced set of tradeoffs between both objectives.
The game that taught Japan the strategies that have moved them into leadership in such fields as automobiles and semiconductors!
SENIORS
AIDS MEMORY, REVERSES SENILE DEMENTIA, MAY HELP PREVENT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE.
In his regular column “The Empty Board” in the American Go Journal, Vol. 34, #3, Fall 2000, William S. Cobb reports:
“Last June (I visited) Japan to participate in a symposium on the educational benefits of teaching Go in schools. ……. On this trip I discovered that the Japanese have become seriously interested in the possibilities of using Go as a therapy for people with mental problems.”
And Cobb goes on to say:
“In recent years, Dr. Kaneko Mitsuo, a Japanese neurosurgeon with an international reputation, has been working with older people suffering from senile dementia. Using PET scans he has shown that there is substantial area of the right brain that begins to atrophy in people who suffer from dementia. This turns out to be essentially the same part of the brain that is most active when engaging in musical activities and in playing Go. To research this further, Dr. Kaneko has been teaching Go to patients in the beginning stages of dementia. (He) is now convinced that learning to play Go can reverse the development of dementia in virtually all patients in the beginning stages of the disease. Of course, this does not apply to Alzheimer’s, which is still an incurable condition, but it does work for common dementia.”
Other recent medical research indicates that older individuals who vigorously and consistently exercise their REASONING abilities also have a far lower incidence of Alzheimer’s Diseasethan those who do not!
And, as you may have gleaned from the foregoing, for this purpose the 4000 year old game of Go is far superior to any other known mechanism! Why? Because playing Go regularly is not only enjoyable but also results in intense exercise and integration of both left and right brain function to a degree not otherwise achievable!
The number of Alzheimer’s cases in the US has been estimated at 4 million in a total population of about 280 million. But because Alzheimer’s is essentially found only in the elderly, the true basis for comparison is really no more than half that number, or 140 million at most, yielding an expectation of Alzheimer’s incidence in the general population on the order of approximately 3%. Given that there are currently approximately 400 recognized Go professionals in the world, and that there have been many, many thousands in the period from 1612 when Go was institutionalized in Japan under the rule of Shogun Tokugawa until the present time, if their incidence of Alzheimer’s disease was the same as that of the general population there should be at least 6 current sufferers in their ranks, and a long history of those who contracted Alzheimer’s in the past. But in fact there have never been even a single one!
This was validated by the following email I received on Monday June 14, 2004 in response to my enquiry on this subject:
Dear Mr. Bradley,
To our knowledge, there have been no professional go players who have ever suffered from Alzheimer’s. In a note President of the World Bridge Federation recently gave me are put these lines: “Very serious medical studies carried out by universities in California have proved that groups of bridge players, for example, are much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s than non-players.” It appears that the same goes with Go. There have been published since a couple of years books by Japanese neurologists regarding Go and mental health of the aged persons, all of which have proved positive effects on aged go players. It is related to the function of “right brain”.
One of the best websites with a fully (and cost free) GO Curriculum is online again… its www.321go.org .
The Website is hosted and maintained in Netherlands, but available in six languages (incl. ENG). – A good GO friend of mine started to play Go in November 2013, and with the help of 321go.org he made it till May 2014 to 7kyu (on KGS). Its a very worthfully source to learn the basics and to play successfully up to 10kyu minimum.
The fully GO Course has more than 3,700 exercises, organized well in 6 main chapters… registration is cost free. You can do the excercises as often as you like, and it has a controlling tool (with To-Doe List) you know which ones you should repeat till you have “0 faults” (see my own statistics in last screenshot).
The Website even has Go instructurors (coaches) you can contact via the website if you should need some support or you have some questions you can send them a SGF indivdiually.
The exercises are inter-active, e.g. clicking the correct moves or as multiple choice… for double digit kyus (DDKs) its an excellent tool to learn all basics, e.g. counting, (Double) Atari, creating living groups, understanding the basics of “life and death”, KO, Seki, Ladder, Net, conneting and cuttting, catching, openings, josekis, tesujis etc. ….
As you see I still have to make part of chapter 4, and fully chapters 5 + 6…
American Go E-Journal: EGF inks deal with Chinese to promote Go in Europe
Friday July 5, 2013
The European Go Federation has signed a far-reaching and lucrative contract with a group of Chinese investors to promote go in Europe. The deal aims to improve the strength of European amateurs, establish a professional system in Europe and support the European Go Federation, all to achieve the overall goals of enhancing go’s popularity in Europe, as well as developing new cultural contacts between Europe and China. “I think the AGA and EGF efforts will complement each other in a number of ways and give both organizations an even more forceful story to tell to potential sponsors,” said American Go Association President Andy Okun. “EGF President Martin Stiassny deserves a lot of credit for almost single-handedly bringing about this contract,” added Thomas Hsiang, the longtime International Go Federation and American Go Association official who was elected General Secretary of the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) earlier this year. “I congratulate him on a job well done. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but with the efforts in Europe as well as in US, the future of go in the West looks bright and promising.” The investor group is known as the Beijing Zong Yi Yuan Cheng Culture Communication Co. Ltd. (called CEGO), and is comprised of investors who “believe on the future development of European Go and are willing to commit themselves to promote Go, a great representative of Chinese traditional culture, in the West,” according to the document. In addition to a “Go Academic System” that will send 4-6 players annually to study in China, the contract envisions a new professional go system in Europe in which the EGF will certify up to two players annually as “European Professionals” through new European top tournaments, including a yearly promotion tournament for the aspiring professionals. In addition to financial support for these initiatives, the contract pledges CEGO to contribute yearly payments to enable the EGF to become a “more professional organisation” – including setting up an office and hiring staff – in order to develop and implement these and other goals over the next decade. News of the contract, which was posted on the BGA website, originally broke on Lifein19x19, where there’s been extensive discussion of the deal.
Our preparations for the 2014 Turkish Go Camp are complete. This year the camp will be taking place in Çıralı, Antalya. As usual we will be hosting Kim Seung-jun (Blackie) and Diana Koszegi but as a surprise we will also have some of their students at BIBA (Kim Seung-jun’s go school in Korea, Blackie’s International Baduk Academy, see more on FB: http://goo.gl/LqcwbP ). So we have practically teamed up with BIBA joining the TGOD (Turkish Go Players’ Association) Summer Go Camp with BIBA Summer Camp. Further more we are expecting many high level Chinese, Japanese and Korean players along side some players from Europe. We are anticipating the camp to be both entertaining and educating for all participants.
As this year’s camp will be between the 18th and 25th of July -right before the European Go Congress- Blackie and Dia are preparing workshops targeted at players 5 kyu and above as a training program for the EGC Main Tournament. The fee for the workshops will be determined by and directly paid to the teachers. TGOD will also be organizing workshops for players 5 kyu and weaker free of charge.
Accommodation options and their fees shall be as below*:
Emin Pansiyon – Bungalows with bathroom and air conditioner. 90TRL ppn 2 person room, 70TRL ppn 3 person room.
Off Road Camping – Kapsül (no bathroom – like a tree house but smaller) 60TRL ppn for 2.
Off Road Camping – Tent 50TRL ppn
— *All fees include breakfast and diner.
All fees are directly from their respective places and do not include any hidden fees or commissions for TGOD. We would like to kindly urge our members and participants to make donations to the Association as it will greatly enhance our input to the Camp.
Please make note that places are limited as we have reserved 13 rooms from Emin Pansiyon and 30 places from Off Road Camping. Transportation from Antalya to Çıralı may be provided on request.
If you would like to participate, please email Gözde Taşkın (gozdetaskin@gmail.com) stating your date of arrival, date of departure, accommodation preference, transportation requirement and which workshops interest you.
We’re looking forward to seeing everybody in July!
Go game = Go Oyunu in Turkish… as German(-Bavarian-Polish), and mostly as German naturally over decades I had steady contact with our Turkish neighbours who immigrated to Germany already in the 60th… to develope a totally bombed country after end of 2nd world war into an export world champion and high industrialized country. – Nearby 2 million (of 82) have Turkish background nowadays living in Germany as 3rd or 4th generation, the strongest ethnical group.
I love yummiee Turkish food (Kebab, Lahmazun (Turkish Pizza) or very sweet Baklava (desert))… and Turkish music (especially the SAZ). The mentality of Turkish people I like a lot… in my quarter in Hanseatic City Hamburg very often I go shopping in Turkish supermarkets. Turkish Joghurt (Ayran), little bit salty is very refreshing and Lamb meat bought from Turkish butcher is the best. The Doener Kebab Grill round corner is my surviving guarantee, with the owner since many years I am ain good friendship.
Turkey is a wonderful country for summer holidays. Very friendly people (in tendency), wonderful coasts in the Medditeranian Sea still warm you can swim till late October, and crazy taxi hell drivers.
I have been in Turkey different times for my (former) profession as skipper of sailing yachts, cruising along Turkish coasts. Best I know the region around Antalya, Marmaris and the Cyclades (sea area between Greek islands and Turkish South West coast).
I have friends in Turkey… one of my best is a Turkish film maker and writer living in Istanbul, which is the bridge between Europe and Asia. Its a huge growing mega city with now round about 14 million inhabitants.
Turkey goes through difficult times with a regime under Erdogan who surpresses heavily democracy. But I have the confidence, that the 80 million Turkish inhabitants will find a way to have a more peacefully living together.
Its astonishing, that GO receives high attraction in Turkey these days… being learnt and played from young and elders… here some pics I collected which document this increasing interests.
(Rec.: It might give OGS some motivation to setup the whole website in Turkish, even most of the young Turkish people have excellent English skills.)
GO board in a Turkisch school yard…
— Playing GO late night at 11:00 pm in a Cafe in Istanbul…
— GO Summer Academy on Turkish beach
— Turkish seniors playing 13×13
— Turkish Go match…
— GO Tournament in Ankara*** (17th-18th May 2014, 9. Ulusal Hacettepe Go Turnuvası)
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Turkish contacts with Go players in Thailand…
Feel free to post more infos about GO Oyunu in Turkey… 🙂
All about Influence in GO/Weiqi/Baduk 