August

The staycation edition

Very little to report this month. Even the Pandas at IGS are taking a break until PGETC 11.

Looking forward… August

Korean Prime Minister’s Cup
This will be held on Tygem this month

2020 e-Go Congress Schedule
The organizers have published a list of Broadcast events and group lessons with pros and strong amateurs.

Weekly Meetings

All local meetups are on hiatus. The IGA encourages people to play online.
Galway – visit their club on OGS
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00

Looking back… July

Irish Summer Go Cup
Results so far for this new online tournament
Round 6 – commentary and game records
Round 5 – commentary and game records
Round 4 – commentary and game records
Round 3 – commentary and game records
Round 2 – commentary and game records
Round 1 – commentary and game records

On the continent…

EGF AGM
This took place a few days ago. Minutes are not yet available but should appear here soon.

EGF Rating System Commission Report 2020
The outcome of proposals put forward last year to modify the EGF rating system

Tenuki

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • Yep, that’s all of them.
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July

Looking forward… July

Irish Summer Go Cup
A new online tournament which started last month and looks set to run through September.

Further ahead… August

Korean Prime Minister’s Cup
This will be held on Tygem in August

eGo
The AGA has announced the 2020 eGo Congress to take the place of the cancelled US Go Congress.

Weekly Meetings

All local meetups are on hiatus. The IGA encourages people to play online.
Galway – visit their club on OGS
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
Ireland lost out on promotion by the smallest of margins. There is a brief summary on the IGA site, a mention in the BGA article, and a results table on Pandanet.

Looking back… June

Irish Championship
Matei retains his title for the second year running.

Irish Summer Go Cup
Round 1 – commentary and game records
Round 2 – commentary and game records

On the continent…

European Pro Online Go League
Season 2 started last month with some important changes, including a best-of-three match format, patreon perks, and two commentators for every game. Progress can be tracked here.

European Go Congress 2021
EGC 2021
Postponed until 2021. (Romania will host 2022.)

Tenuki

AlphaGo vs the World
A new series on Michael Redmond’s Go TV

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • The previously postponed World Go Championship 2020 and Senko Cup World Go Women’s Strongest Player 2020 have now been cancelled.
  • The Ask Island Go Retreat has been cancelled for this year. The organisers plan to try again next year.
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June

Looking forward… June

Galway Tournament
Given the continuing epidemic, a physical tournament will obviously not be possible. Awaiting further updates.

Weekly Meetings

All local meetups are on hiatus. The IGA encourages people to play online.
Belfast – Monday 19:00
GalwayTuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans visit their club on OGS
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
A 4-0 victory over Norway allowed Ireland to finish in second place in League C, securing a playoff against Sweden. This has been scheduled for the 16th at 20:00 on IGS and will consist of 5 rounds (to avoid a draw).

Looking back… May

Correspondence Championship
Final results now available

On the continent…

European Pro Online Go League
Progress can be tracked here

Recent News
The EGF has posted a summary of some recent events, including trivia such as the Corona Cup having 361 participants.

European Go Congress 2021
EGC 2020 2021 Update
This has been postponed until 2021. Romania will now host 2022.

Tenuki

Through the Years
When they say Long Correspondence, they are not kidding… Over 1200 players have signed up to this +1 week per move tournament.

Love Letter to KataGo
Go AI past, present, and future

KGS adds web registration
Helping you avoid Java completely.

Weiqi Wonders
Conversations about Go in China

Professional Go resumes in Japan
The Nihon Ki-in resumes tournament activity this month.

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • The WAGC won’t be happening in Vladivostok this June – it’s now postponed until 2021.
  • This year’s Korea Prime Minister Cup will be played on Tygem.
  • The Ask Island Go Retreat has been cancelled for this year. The organisers plan to try again next year
  • According to the IGA, the Nihon Ki-in board is holding meetings to discuss whether to cancel or postpone international Go tournaments which are planned to take place in Japan in the coming months.
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May

COVID-19 Episode II

The restrictions continue…

Physicality is Overrated
All local meetups are on hiatus.
The IGA encourages people to play online.
Galway have set up a club on OGS
Dublin will be meeting in the Irish room on KGS at their normal time (Weds 19:00)

Looking forward… May

Correspondence Championship
21 players across 4 divisions. Keep tabs through the OGS Ireland group

BGA Online Tournament
The BGA is running a members-only online tournament on OGA Friday 8th to Sunday 10th

Further ahead… June

Galway Tournament
Currently scheduled to take place June 13th/14th – details to follow

Weekly Meetings

Belfast – Monday 19:00
Galway – Tuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
No matches in April. Ireland is currently placed second and will face Norway in the final round on the 5th. Retaining second place would mean a chance at promotion by challenging the second-last team in B League (currently the Netherlands).

Looking back… April

2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
After a postponement, the 2020 Irish Championship series began on Saturday. Matei started his title defence with a win by resignation over challenger James.

The Corona Cup
Results table here

On the continent…

European Pro Online Go League
Progress can be tracked here

1st China vs Europe Online Go Tournament
Artem has detailed China’s win on the EGF site. Of note are the 9 consecutive victories by Yu Suhao 6d.

1st China Junior vs Europe Online Go Match
Another new competition started last month on Tencent Fox Weiqi Server

European Go Congress 2021
EGC 2020 2021 Update
This has been postponed until 2021. Romania will now host 2022.

Go Retreat at Ask Island
The IGA has received an invitation from Antti Törmänen 1p to a unique Go retreat in Bergen, Norway, this August

polgote promotion
EGF pro Mateusz Surma is running a promotion “Stay at home. Study Go online. Don’t spread the virus.” This brings the hourly price for individual lessons to under €30

Tenuki

China-US Internet Go Tournament
A brief summary on the AGeJ. Briefer summary: China 11 – USA 1

New York Go Honor Society takes New York Go League international
Entry and play is free and open to any player with a stable rank with any association or credible Go server – AGeJ

Go Club Simulator
Linked without comment

2020 Cross-Server/Federation Rank Survey
2 years since the 2018 surveytime for a redo – kindly share and repost!

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • The World Amateur Women’s Go Championship, scheduled for early May, has been cancelled due to uncertainty of the Coronavirus.
  • The 49th Amsterdam International Go Tournament will not now run in May as the Dutch government had forbidden all events until June 1st. It is set to return in 2021.
  • According to the IGA, the Nihon Ki-in board is holding meetings to discuss whether to cancel or postpone international Go tournaments which are planned to take place in Japan in the coming months.
  • The WAGC won’t be happening in Vladivostok this June – it’s now postponed until 2021.
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April

The COVID-19 edition

I hope this month finds everyone well and adapting to the new remote-working paradigm that has been hastily rolled out.

Physicality is Overrated
All local meetups are on hiatus given the current situation. With the IGA encouraging people to play online, some clubs are ramping up their virtual presence in response:
Galway have set up a club on OGS
Dublin will be meeting in the Irish room on KGS at their normal time (Weds 19:00)

Looking forward… April

The Corona Cup
JIGS is sponsoring an online open tournament on KGS. Registration closed with over 350 signups. Rounds continue weekly through the end of April. Progress can be tracked here.

Correspondence Championship
21 players across 4 divisions. Keep tabs through the OGS Ireland group

2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
The championship match between James and Matei has been postponed. Updates to follow.

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
The first board of round 6 against Greece was brought forward a few days and won by Karl. Two of the remaining three boards were also wins for the team. This will apparently put Ireland back in second place once the leaderboard is updated.
Ireland faces Norway in the 7th and final round on 2020-05-05. A win there could mean a chance at promotion (possibly depending on other match outcomes) by challenging the second-last team in B League (currently the Netherlands).

Looking back… March

IGA website overhaul
The new incarnation is now live!

Irish Go Congress
Lucas Ye won both the Rapid and the Open, continuing to rack up wins after his victory in the Cork tournament at the end of last year. The BGA gave the occasion a brief mention.

2020 AGM
The minutes from this year’s AGM are now available

On the continent…

European Pro Online Go League
Artem has posted an article introducing this new professional league. Due to the cancellation of the Pro Championship, the League is now already underway. Progress can be tracked here.

European Youth Championship
Russia’s winning streak (all 5 previous tournaments!) has finally been broken by Germany.

1st China vs Europe Online Go Tournament
1st China vs Europe Online Go Tournament
An introduction to this new tournament is available over on the EGF site, again by Artem.

European Go Congress 2020
EGC 2020 Update
The 2020 European Go Congress will take place in Ukraine from July 25th to August 9th

Go Retreat at Ask Island
The IGA has received an invitation from Antti Törmänen 1p to a unique Go retreat in Bergen, Norway, this August

polgote promotion
EGF pro Mateusz Surma is running a promotion “Stay at home. Study Go online. Don’t spread the virus.” This brings the hourly price for individual lessons to under €30

Tenuki

2020 Cross-Server/Federation Rank Survey
2 years since the 2018 surveytime for a redo – kindly share and repost!

AlphaGo to Zero
AlphaGo to Zero
Redmond and Garlock have released Volume 1 of AlphaGo to Zero, the first of a 4-volume EPUB series. More info in this AGA article.

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • Due to start in April, the Ing Cup has been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Ing Chang Ki Goe Educational Foundation said “the exact time will be announced after the epidemic is under control”.
  • The World Amateur Women’s Go Championship, scheduled for early May, has been cancelled due to uncertainty of the Coronavirus.
  • The 49th Amsterdam International Go Tournament will not now run in May as the Dutch government had forbidden all events until June 1st. It is set to return in 2021.
  • According to the IGA, the Nihon Ki-in board is holding meetings to discuss whether to cancel or postpone international Go tournaments which are planned to take place in Japan in the coming months.
  • The WAGC won’t be happening in Vladivostok this June – it’s now postponed until 2021.
Posted in Europe, Ireland, Online, World | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on April

March

The bumper 2020 Irish Go Congress edition

A lot of random bits and pieces this month, most of it not actually relating to March…

Irish Go Congress
Lucas Ye won both the Rapid and the Open, continuing to rack up wins after his victory in the Cork tournament at the end of last year.

2020 AGM
The minutes from this year’s AGM are now available

Looking forward… March

IGA website overhaul
Niall is hard at work bringing the new incarnation of the site online

Correspondence Championship
21 players across 4 divisions. Keep tabs through the OGS Ireland group

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College
Cork – every other Sunday* 20:30 at Mr Bradleys, Barrack St

* The rebel county alternates between two venues and nights. Best to check in advance if planning to attend.

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
Ireland did not fare well against South Africa in round 5 and so slipped slightly on the leaderboard. To be fair, the team’s performance thus far has been outstanding given that they were only promoted to league C for the current championship. They will face Greece in round 6 on March 31st.

Looking back… February

2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
After winning his game against Alex, James will advance to face Matei in the championship series

lights, camera...
Action!
The Cork group was visited by a team of film students from UCC. They have chosen Go as the focus of their term project. Two of them learned the rules at their first meeting and returned with recording equipment for the following two.

On the continent…

European Youth Go Yearbook 2019
European Youth Go Yearbook 2019
Artem has posted a review of the SEYGO 2019 yearbook. A 140-page pdf version is available for purchase.

European Go Congress 2020
EGC 2020 Update
The 2020 European Go Congress will take place in Ukraine from July 25th to August 9th

Go Retreat at Ask Island
The IGA has received an invitation from Antti Törmänen 1p to a unique Go retreat in Bergen, Norway, this August – brochure

Tenuki

Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments

  • Due to start in April, the Ing Cup has been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Ing Chang Ki Goe Educational Foundation said “the exact time will be announced after the epidemic is under control”.
  • The World Amateur Women’s Go Championship, scheduled for early May, has been cancelled due to uncertainty of the Coronavirus.
  • According to the IGA, the Nihon Ki-in board is holding meetings to discuss whether to cancel or postpone international Go tournaments which are planned to take place in Japan in the coming months.


Not Go
Simon in Cork is looking for people or groups interested in mahjong. If you play, or would like to learn, check out his facebook page

Shanghai Ing Foundation International Collegiate Tournament
This year’s tournament will be held in Shenzhen, China, from July 7 – 13 and is open to any current undergraduate or graduate level college student. Deadline for applications is March 15th. Interested parties should contact Eoghan – president@irish-go.org

Uncommon Creativity
A list of Go books and other content that have been released under Creative Commons licenses.

Janice Kim's Learn to Play Go
Learn to Play Go now available in ePub format
This expands Janice Kim’s five-volume series to users of Android and Windows.

Nakamura Sumire receives Kansai prize
Sumire has been awarded the 2019 Kansai Area New Power Prize. She also won the Japanese 2019 Journalists Prize for both her personal performance and contributions to the spreading of Go. With 21 wins, 11 losses to date, Sumire may see promotion in 2020, though her win rate has dropped to 50% since the new year. There is an active thread over on L19 tracking her progress.

Posted in Cork, Europe, Ireland, Online, World | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on March

February

Looking forward… February

Irish Go Congress
The Rapid and the Irish Open will take place in Dublin over the weekend of February 28th – March 1st

2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
James is tentatively scheduled to play Alex on the 15th at 14:00 on KGS to decide who will face Matei in the final

Correspondence Championship
21 players across 4 divisions. Keep tabs through the OGS Ireland group

Further ahead… March

2020 AGM
This year’s AGM will be held on March 1st, after the prize-giving ceremony at the Irish Open. IGA members are invited to submit motions to Carol – secretary@irish-go.org

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College
Cork – every other Sunday* 20:30 at Mr Bradleys, Barrack St

* The rebel county alternates between two venues and nights. Best to check in advance if planning to attend.

Pandanet Go European Team Championship
10th PGETC
Ireland retains lead position in league C after a 3-1 victory over Slovenia in round 4. They will face South Africa on the 25th.

Looking back… January

2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
Defending champion Matei was undefeated last weekend, securing his place in this year’s final. A summary of results so far can be found on the IGA site.

Philippe has shared a behind the scenes look at the event.

On the continent…

Go Retreat at Ask Island
The IGA has received an invitation from Antti Törmänen 1p to a unique Go retreat in Bergen, Norway, this August – brochure

3rd European Grand Prix Finale 2019
An article by Antonius Claasen about the Grand Prix Final

Book Review
Antonius Claasen has posted an overview of EGF 2p Mateusz Surma’s You won’t get dumber while thinking series as well as Shapes of Minds, which are available from polgote

European Youth Go Yearbook
The 140-page pdf version of the SEYGO 2019 yearbook is available for purchase. A limited paper edition will be on sale at several events during the year.

Västerås Open 2020
A two-day tournament in Sweden on 8th-9th Feb.

Tenuki

Shanghai Ing Foundation International Collegiate Tournament
This year’s tournament will be held in Shenzhen, China, from July 7 – 13 and is open to any current undergraduate or graduate level college student. Interested parties should contact Eoghan – president@irish-go.org

Ing Cup Postponed
Due to start in April, the Ing Cup has been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Ing Chang Ki Goe Educational Foundation said “the exact time will be announced after the epidemic is under control”.

Posted in Europe, Ireland, Online | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on February