Number 160 Summer 2012 Price 6 - British Go Association · for the Kindle – The Life of Honinbo...
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Number 160 Summer 2012 Price £6.00
Transcript of Number 160 Summer 2012 Price 6 - British Go Association · for the Kindle – The Life of Honinbo...
Number 160 Summer 2012 Price £6.00
PHOTOGRAPH AND SCAN CREDITS
Front CoverFrom the Skye Tournament in March — Francis Roads.
AboveSue Patterson demonstrates Go at the Arundel Jubilee Showcase — Jil Segerman.
Photos in UK News were provided by Francis Roads and Tony Atkins.
All other photographs were provided by the article authors.
British Go Journal 160 Summer 2012
CONTENTSEDITORIAL 2LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 2BGA NEWSLETTER JULY 2012 NO. 182 Jil Segerman 3GAME FROM THE BRITISH PAIRS Matthew Cocke 43-3 INVASION OF THE 4-4 POINT Chris Oliver 8UK NEWS Tony Atkins 10BRITISH TEAMS – WMSG, LILLE 2012 Jon Diamond 15PROFILE: PAUL BARNARD Paul Barnard 16VIEW FROM THE TOP Jon Diamond 17CONSIDERING THE POSITION: PART 2 David Ward 18DOUBLE-DIGIT KYU PROBLEMS 19THREE PEAKS TOURNAMENT — 20 YEARS Bob Bagot 20ANGEL OR DEVIL? Nick Wedd 22FELIX WANG V. FRANCIS ROADS Francis Roads 24ARUNDEL JUBILEE SHOWCASE Jil Segerman 27BOOK REVIEW: THE MEIJIN’S RETIREMENT GAME Helen Harvey 28WORLD NEWS Tony Atkins 30PROFILE: MARIA TABOR Maria Tabor 32CONSIDERING THE POSITION: ANSWERS David Ward 33BGA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE - OCTOBER 2012 Colin Maclennan & Paul Smith 36BOOK REVIEW: PATTERNS OF THE SANRENSEI Francis Roads 38BGA ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2011 Toby Manning 40DOUBLE-DIGIT KYU PROBLEMS - ANSWERS 42SOLUTIONS TO THE NUMBERED PROBLEMS 43CONTACT INFORMATION 44COLLECTING GO XIII: GO SETS Tony Atkins — Rear Cover
Copyright c� 2012 British Go Association.Articles may be reproduced for the purposes of promoting Go and ‘notfor profit’, providing the British Go Journal is attributed as the source andthe permission of the Editor and of the authors have been sought andobtained in writing.Views expressed are not necessarily those of the BGA, nor of the Editor.
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Welcome to the 160th British Go Journal.
CreditsMy grateful thanks to the many people who have helped to produce thisJournal, including the authors of the articles and letters: Tony Atkins, BobBagot, Paul Barnard, Matthew Cocke, Jon Diamond, Helen Harvey, ColinMaclennan, Toby Manning, Chris Oliver, Francis Roads, Jil Segerman, PaulSmith, Maria Tabor, David Ward, Nick Wedd and our anonymous cartoonist;and our hard-working proof-readers: Tony Atkins, Barry Chandler, MartinHarvey, Richard Hunter, Neil Moffatt, Chris Oliver, Isobel Ridley, EdmundStephen-Smith and Nick Wedd.
Pat Ridley
ErratumIn BGJ 159 there was a mistake in the solution given to Problem 5, in whichBlack is to play and live: as pointed out by Richard Hunter, the given solutionfails. For the correct solution, see the sgf file at www.britgo.org/bgj/issue159.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Entry Fee Concessions
I was glad to read in the article BGAFinances in BGJ 159 that the Councilintends to consult on concessions,certainly as regards the retired. Notminding my own business, I wouldguess that most retired Go playersreceive a professional pension as wellas the old age pension. However,when one is queuing to pay at atournament and slipping into Go
mode for the first round, one ismore likely to be thinking of victorythan generosity. Retired playerscould therefore be given a jog by theinclusion of the word ‘optional’ on theline about the concession, or a jab inthe ribs with *OPTIONAL*. After all,some of the smaller tournaments arefinding it hard to break even.
Brian [email protected]
The .sgf files for problems and games printed in this journal appear onwww.britgo.org/bgj/current
Links to electronic versions of past issues of the British Go Journal,associated files, guidelines for submitting articles and information about
other BGA publications appear on the BGA website atwww.britgo.org/pubs
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BGA NEWSLETTER JULY 2012 NO. 182Jil Segerman [email protected]
Deadline: for contributions for the next issue: 23rd August.Distribution: Printed Newsletters in the Journal will alternate with copiesemailed to members. The Membership Secretary, Paul Barnard ([email protected]),will email you shortly, so that you can check that he has your preferred emailaddress. Please, only contact him if you do not receive that email, or if youwould prefer him to use a different address.
Greetings from the EditorThis is our first BGA Newsletter to appear within the Journal. I plan to publishthe Newsletters every six or seven weeks. The aim is to alert members totopical items, with web-links replacing the more detailed information in pastNewsletters.
Future TournamentsFor the next six months, the Tournament Calendar(www.britgo.org/tournaments/index.html) features:
Mind Sports Olympiad, Saturday 18th – Sunday 26th AugustBelfast – Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd SeptemberNorthern Tournament, Sunday 9th SeptemberCornwall Tournaments, Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th SeptemberSwindon Sunday 23rd SeptemberShropshire, Saturday 29th SeptemberEast Midlands, Sunday 14th OctoberInternational Teams Autumn Match, Sunday 21st OctoberWessex, Sunday 28th October (provisional)Three Peaks Tournament, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th NovemberEdinburgh Christmas, Saturday 8th DecemberLondon Open, Friday 28th – Monday 31st December
Tournament not yet decided: Coventry.
New BooksThe GoGoD partnership of T Mark Hall and John Fairbairn is well knownto British Go players for their GoGoD database and books. They have nowbranched into e-books and have recently announced their first two major titlesfor the Kindle – The Life of Honinbo Shuei and Gateway To All Marvels.The Life of Honinbo Shuei is Volume 1 of a trilogy, The Life, Games and Commentariesof Honinbo Shuei. For more details, see the Go Books forum athttp://www.lifein19x19.com.Gateway To All Marvels is a special edition of the 1347 Chinese classic XuanxuanQijing (or Gengen Gokyo by its Japanese name), which John describes as‘. . . surely the most significant Go book ever produced. It has become thefoundation for virtually every problem book since, as well as being the mainsource for early Go theory’.
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GAME FROM THE BRITISH PAIRSMatthew Cocke [email protected]
This is a game from the British Pair Go Championship, played on Sunday, June 10th.Matthew Cocke and Natasha Regan, champions for the third successive year (see UKNews), are Black; Ingrid Jendrzejewski and Alex Selby are White.Commentary by Matthew, with contributions from Natasha, Alex and Oscar Selby.
Diagram 1 (1-50)
This is a little heavy: playingat 15 is another possibility.
Maybe a little slow.
See Variation 1.See Variation 2.Crawling once at 31 is avalid alternative.As Alex suggested afterthe game, extending at 39instead would lead to anextremely complicatedfight, which is why it wasdangerous for Black to tryand kill everything! SeeVariation 3.
Because of all White’s local ko threats, fighting the ko looks like a validalternative.This incursion is a bit dubious.
Variation 1 (26-30)This may be simpler.
Variation 2 (29-42)
This variation is playablefor White so Black shouldavoid it.
Variation 3 (38-56)
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Playing at 58 looks stronger.
Taking the stone would haveworked well for Black – seeVariation 4.Playing at A would be better.
This is a very good multi-purpose move by Natasha.
Matt is getting carriedaway trying to kill stuff,a recurrent theme for thisgame. (But in this caseit looks fairly sensible asBlack is strong and in anycase is attacking from auseful direction.) A sensiblealternative is B. Diagram 2 (51-100)This is a good move.Ingrid has a good habit of playing a big move when not sure what’sgoing on.This is another good move by Natasha.Maybe an overplay, but it’s very complex. 99 would be a safer alternative.See Variation 5.Instead, C looks comfortable for White.
Variation 4 (55-67)
Variation 5 (98-113)
If White plays this way, it looks likeBlack can sacrifice the stones on theedge to take the centre group.
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Instead, A looks quite strong.
See Variation 6.Matt is in berserker mode –Black is ahead, so there is noneed to try to kill this group.Natasha was worried!Playing at B would becalmer.Stuff happened in thecentre and both sides lived.(Moves omitted.) Then Blackreturned to the upper leftcorner.This is an overplay, Blackshould play at 128, andWhite will play at 127 andlive, but Matt REALLYwanted to kill! Diagram 3 (101-137)
Tricky life-and-death situation. In practice White needs to kill Black outrightto keep the game countable, but that is a tall order.See Variations 7A and 7B.Black is connected, so White dies. This is where White resigned in the game.
Variation 6 (112-150)
Cutting here looks promisingfor White. If Black tries tosave the cutting stone thenthere is a danger of dying inthe centre en masse.See Sub-Variation 6A for asafer way of playing.
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If White had cut with 112, as inVariation 6, it would probably besafer for Black to back down a bit andlet White live in the centre, rather thanrisking the entire centre group.
Sub-Variation 6A (115-118)
Variation 7A (136-150)
This looks like it might be a more-or-less unconditional life for White,though small.
Variation 7B (136-157)This may lead to a ko – complicated.
See also Sub-Variation 7B1.
This line also seems to be ko.
Sub-Variation 7B1 (142-150)
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3-3 INVASION OF THE 4-4 POINTChris Oliver [email protected]
This article, aimed at double-digit kyu players, looks at a standard sequencefor invading a corner. It introduces the main lines learners should know ratherthan all the possible tricks opponents may try to confuse them.The 4-4 point is the most-used opening move in modern Go. Surprisingly formany beginners, the 4-4 point alone doesn’t guarantee territory in the corner. Acommon additional move to secure the corner is the 4-3 point; the 3-3 point isless common. Conversely, the 3-3 point can be used to make territory inside anopponent’s 4-4 stone:
Diagram 1
White invades Black’s corner with . Black’snext move at (or ) chooses the side on whichto build a wall – often a critical decision.strengthens; jumping could result in White’s stonesbeing cut and killed.
The proverb says ‘At the end of two stones, hane’,and here, the hane at puts pressure on Whiteand reduces the amount of territory White gains bycontinuing the wall along the side.
prevents White escaping on the leftside or cutting at the triangle point.
gives White more space to makeeyes. prevents the white hane andmeans that each further white movealong the edge makes only one pointof territory.
threatens to escape into the spacebehind Black’s wall, closes the gap,
and defend against significantcuts.
Diagram 2The sequence normally ends here with White having sente, alive in the cornerbut completely enclosed. Black has a very strong wall, which works well inconjunction with black stones at A, B or C, but less well with stones around D;this is the main factor that will determine the side on which Black chooses toplay .The right time to play (or prevent) this sequence can be difficult to judge anddepends greatly on the outside situation. The territorial value of the sequenceis around 20 points, making it significantly more valuable than most smallcaptures or monkey jumps. However, the influence of Black’s wall on theoutside can often be worth more than White’s gains in the corner, so otherapproaches such as the 6-3, 6-4, 7-3 and 7-4 points should be considered,especially if the board is relatively empty.
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Diagram 3
There are several variations to the sequence above.For example, to take sente, Black can play as inDiagram 3. White follows with as shown andBlack can then play elsewhere (‘tenuki’).
In the following variations, Black plays‘double hane’.Diagram 4 shows another sequence for Blackto take sente.
Diagram 4
Diagram 5
Diagram 5: alternatively, Black can cut with totake the corner in gote instead of taking sente.
Diagram 6: in this variation, after , Whiteshould play on the left side (or top).
If White makes the mistake of trying to savethe corner with , the sequence to showshow Black can chase down White’s group.
Diagram 6
Diagram 7
Diagram 7: White plays this if escaping to thetop is better. is necessary to prevent a doubleatari and so can be captured, but Black has agood result.
These variations show an aggressive approach resulting in White escaping tothe sides and so illustrate the concept ‘the more you tighten your grip, the morewill slip through your fingers’. (Go proverb? – Star Wars actually, but it seemsappropriate.)
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UK NEWSTony Atkins [email protected]
Cambridge Trigantius
The Trigantius Tournament washeld on 10th March at its now usualvenue of St. Columba’s Church inthe centre of Cambridge. It was wonby Andrew Simons (3d Cambridge),beating Alex Rix (3d London) in hislast game. Also on three out of threewere Sue Paterson (4k Brighton),Roger Daniel (5k Central London) andRichard Mullens (6k St Albans). FrankVisser won the prize for the furthesttravelled (coming from Amsterdam).
Anna Griffiths won the quiz byidentifying landmarks, visible andinvisible; Simon Bexfield came anhonourable second and also wona prize. Alistair Turnbull won thecontinuous 13x13 tournament. TheNovices’ Tournament was won byAnthony Ghica of Newmarket.
British Youth
The 2012 British Youth GoChampionships returned to BloxhamSchool in Oxfordshire on 18th March.The modern library block servedagain as a great venue. It had 13competitors aged from 6 to 18, withstrengths from 2d to 30k. Tian-Ren Chen from Loughboroughregained the youth title, the previousyear’s winner Mazhar Warraich notcontesting it this year. Silas YufuShi (2d Loughborough) was thestrongest player taking part, but hehas Chinese nationality; he got a prizefor winning all his games. To winthe Castledine Trophy for anotheryear, Loughborough Grammar beatBloxham School with three straightwins.
Prizes and places went to:Youth Champion: Tian-Ren Chen,
2nd: Adan MordcovichU18: Tian-Ren Chen (Loughborough),
2nd: Adan Mordcovich (Wanstead)U16: Aidan Putman (Swindon)U14: Thomas Meehan (Solihull),
2nd: Richard Showler (Bloxham)U12: Dylan Zhu-Dong (Leamington)U10: Anthony Ghica (Newmarket)U8: Edmund Smith (Milton)Open/Handicap Winner:
Silas Yufu Shi (Loughborough)
Skye
After a year’s break, the secondSkye Tournament was held again atthe Tongadale Hotel in Portree, onthe 17th and 18th March. MatthewMacfadyen (6d Leamington) was thebest of the 30 players, again winningall six games. Second with four winswas Francis Roads (2d Wanstead)and third was Edwin Brady (1k StAndrews) with three wins. ColinMaclennan (11k Twickenham) wonfive games, and winning four wereLudan Fang (4k London), QuintinConnell and Wilf Dell (both 9kGlasgow). A large cheer went up at
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prize giving when it was announcedthe event would hopefully be runagain in two years’ time.
WelwynThe second Welwyn Garden CityTournament was held again at theGosling Stadium, on 24th March.Andrew Kay (4d South London)was the best of the 22 players, beingundefeated winner. Also winningthree games were Ludan Fang (4kLondon), and Jon Robson (10kSwindon). Prizes were presented byBarbara Kime from the local Bridgeclub, whose room was used for thetournament.
ArundelPaul Tabor (1d Epsom) was thesurprise winner at the ArundelTournament, held again in ArundelFootball Club, on 31st March. Paulbeat tournament favourite AndrewKay (4d) in the second round and thenbeat Tony Atkins (who had previouslybeaten Jon Diamond) in the final.Unusually, despite 22 players takingpart, nobody else won all three games.Jonathan Reece (2k Oxford) won the9x9 side event and Jil Segerman, ina team with Roger Daniel, won theinventions quiz.
Thames Valley
Easter Monday, 9th April, sawthe usual Thames Valley TeamTournament, this time at BurphamVillage Hall near Guildford.Originally planned for three playerteams, some quick mathematicsdecided that four teams of four wasthe best way of organising the day.The Wanstead team of Francis Roads,Adan Mordcovich, Richard Leedham-Green and Roger Daniel only lost onegame to win the Broken Go Stone
Trophy. Second was the home team,West Surrey, with Bracknell third andLottie’s Lovers from Swindon fourth.
London InternationalThe spring London International TeamTournament, held on 15th April at theNippon Club, had 36 players in 12teams and two divisions. The Opendivision was very closely contestedthis year, with Nippon (three teamwins and eight individual wins)pipping Cambridge (three teamwins and seven individual wins) into second place; China (two teamwins but eight individual wins)was third. This was a particularlysurprising result as China won theirfirst six games, whilst Cambridge onlymanaged two.In the handicap division SouthLondon Go Club won with four teamwins and ten individual, beatingTwickenham, with four team winsand nine individual wins, into secondplace.In the Open division only Felix Wangmanaged to win all four games,whilst in the Handicap divisionRippei Hayashi, Gerry Gavigan,Colin Maclennan, Dan Peace and PaulLangley all won four games and extraprizes.
British Go CongressThere was a pleasingly high turnoutfor the 2012 British Go Congressin Durham, held between 20th and22nd April. It was last in Durhamin 1996, and it was good to go backand explore again this ancient city, orsample it for the first time.On the Friday evening, 30 playersgathered in the magnificence ofDurham School’s dining hall forthe British Lightning. This year
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held as a five-round handicap Swisstournament, the last round saw twoformer Durham players battling itout to win: Andrew Kay (4d SouthLondon) was ultimately victoriousover Alex Kent (2d Bristol).
On Saturday morning 63 playerscongregated in the more prosaicconcrete environment of the Students’Union for the British Open itself.After three rounds of Go, the BGAheld its AGM. The meeting was sounexpectedly short that San Marco’srestaurant, booked for a meal for 30players, was not ready for the Gogroup when it arrived.
Sunday’s games provided someunexpected results, as a player newto the UK, Malcolm Pang of Teesside,entering below the bar, looked setto win all his games when no oneabove the bar was able to do so.However, Andrew Kay fought to anarrow victory over Malcolm, andwas declared the tournament winnerby tie-break over Andrew Simons(3d Cambridge), who was also onfive wins out of six. Richard Mullens(St Albans) and James Brownrigg(Chester) also won prizes for fivewins.
Not content with winning the BritishLightning and the British Open,Andrew Kay also won the DurhamLightning self-paired side event,was winner of the annual StaceyGrand Prix (36 points, four aheadof Andrew Simons) and was onthe London team that won theNippon Club Cup with a 73% winrate. His teammates there wereAndrew Simons, Richard Mullens,Ludan Fang and Julia Woewodskaya.The Small Board side event was wonby Alice Ambrose-Griffith of Durham.
Candidates
The Candidates’ Tournament washeld over the Bank Holiday weekend,5th-7th May, at ISH in London;twenty-two players took part. Thebest players were Andrew Kay(six wins), Felix Wang (five wins),Desmond Cann, Andrew Simons,David Ward, Alex Selby, NickKrempel, Chong Han and FrancisRoads (four wins). Most of thesewould be playing in the Challengers’League on the Bank Holiday weekendin June, since there were eight placesavailable after Matthew Macfadyendecided not to defend his title.
Bar-Low
Central London’s Florian Borchers(3k) won the Cambridge Bar-Low,held in Trinity’s Whewell’s Court on6th May. Second on tie-break wasRoger Daniel (5k Central London) andthird was Juan Leonardo Martinez-Hurtado (5k Cambridge), all on threeout of four. The junior prize went toMelchior Chui (12k) from Cambridge.Eleven players took part.
Bracknell
Andrew Kay (4d South London)added a ninth title to his currentcollection by winning the BracknellTournament. Held on 20th May, it wasas usual in the Woosehill CommunityCentre, with the usual real coffeeand side events, but only using thedownstairs hall because of fallingnumbers. Only one other of the 26players won all three games andthat was Daniel Peace (12k Oxford).Jil Segerman won the 13x13 with 2/2and Jim Clare won the Go problemcompetition as the only entry (theOlympic sports quiz was just for fun).The Black Rabbits from Arundel won
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the team prize and Paul Barnard wonthe caption competition.
Scottish
As the Mason’s Hall in Dundeewas not available on the normalweekend, the Scottish Open movedearlier by a week to the 19th and20th May. Despite two playerstravelling from Skye and two fromEngland, a combination of reasonscaused an unfortunate drop ofattendance from 23 to 9; this causedthe bar to be a record low of 10 kyu.Matthew Crosby (3d Edinburgh)won all five games to take the titleand David Lee (3d Dundee) wassecond with four wins). On the Fridayevening before, it was one of the Skyeplayers, John MacDonald (15k), whowon the 13x13 event.
Separately, in the finals of the ScottishChampionship, David Lee and GlynnForsyth had played on KGS, as Glynnhad moved to Australia. David wontwo games to nil.
Challengers’ League
Eight of the nine best players fromthe Candidates’ Tournament (it wasChong Han who was missing) spentthe first four days of June at theNippon Club in London’s Piccadilly.Hopefully, the Jubilee celebrationswere not too distracting to the playersor to the kind hosts and referees.
Andrew Kay won his first six gamesto take first place, losing only toAlex Selby in the last round. His gameagainst Andrew Simons in round fivewas the most entertaining; AndrewSimons made a wonderful dangoin one corner with lots of excitingfighting to follow.
Andrew Simons tries out a newjoseki against Andrew Kay
There was nearly a four-way tie forsecond place, but in the last roundNick Krempel beat Andrew Simonsto take a fifth win and clear second.Felix Wang and Alex Selby shared thethird spot with four wins. AndrewSimons and David Ward had threewins, Francis Roads two and DesCann one.
Mirror Go is one thing,but Mirror Lunch?
So Andrew Kay will play the best-of-three Title Match against the 2011defeated finalist Nick Krempel. Thesegames were scheduled to be heldover the summer and to be broadcastonline as usual.In recognition of Andrew’s winand his ten current titles, he waspromoted to 5d. Felix Wang also waspromoted to 4d. The only other recentpromotion was Alex Kent, to 2d inMarch. B
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British Pair GoThe British Pair Go Championshipon 10th June was held again at theFoxcombe Lodge Hotel, in Boars Hillnear Oxford, and again organised byFrancis Roads. However this year, the22nd, there were a few changes, suchas an increased entry fee for some andonly prizes for winners (other playersreceiving a certificate). One thing thatwas a change for the better from theprevious year was the weather, beingfine enough for the children to playin the garden and to have the groupphoto again.
Matthew and NatashaChampions again
Natasha Regan and MatthewCocke retained the British Pair GoChampions title for a third year. Theybeat Jenny Radcliffe and FrancisRoads in the final of the eight pairtop group. Winning the fightingspirit prize were Jackie Chai and JohnJohnstone.In the handicap group there weresix pairs, including several childrenand a 5d Korean lady. Winners wereHelen and Martin Harvey, playingin the handicap section as Helen wasstill recovering from injury. They beatthe youngsters Rebecca Margetts andOscar Selby in the final, proving that26-stone handicaps can be overcome.The handicap fighting spirit prize waswon by Yvonne and Paul Margetts.Sam McCarthy and John Collins wonboth the best-dressed couple prize andthe chemistry quiz.
PROBLEM 1
Black to play and kill
SIDEWAYS LOOKING PERSONS
Go joins the ranks of extreme sport
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BRITISH TEAMS – WMSG, LILLE 2012Jon Diamond [email protected]
The British team for the events at the forthcoming World Mind Sports Games inLille, France during August is:
13th-16thMenChong HanAndrew SimonsPaul TaborHenry Manners
WomenVanessa WongNatasha ReganAnna Griffiths
17th-19thTeam AVanessa WongChong HanMatt Cocke
Team BAndrew SimonsJon DiamondPaul SmithReserve: Alison Bexfield
20th-23rdYouthVanessa WongTian-Ren ChenHenry Clay
PairsMatt Crosby & Martha McGillSimon Bexfield & Alison Bexfield
The observant will have noticed that we are allowed to enter five players in theMen’s, Women’s and Youth events, so if there are any people who wish to beconsidered for the remaining places, please contact me as soon as possible.Since we have no sponsor this year, unlike Beijing in 2008, all our playersare paying for their travel, accommodation and uniforms. We’d like tobe able to help defray some of these costs, especially for those who are infinancial need. If you’d like to help, please visit our WMSG donation page:www.britgo.org/wmsg/donation.The logo shown above, designed by Jonathan Chin, will appear on the team’suniforms, in Red, White and Blue.
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PROFILE: PAUL BARNARDPaul Barnard [email protected]
Paul became our Membership Secretary atthe AGM in Durham in April.I discovered Go in 1984/5 when I wasin a house-share in Swindon. One ofthe other residents had a Go set andknew the rules but not how to play,and for months, games consisted ofputting stones randomly on the boarduntil fighting started. Eventually, Idiscovered the BGA and Go books,and I was awarded a shodan diplomain 1996. My first club was Reading.After a few years in Devon, theMiddle East and London, in 1991 Imoved back to Swindon, where therewas a Go club teetering on the brinkof folding. Together with a few otherlocal-ish BGA members with whom Imade contact, we provided enoughenergy to keep the club alive andgrowing a little. Today, the club has
around ten members, meets twice aweek and runs the annual SwindonOpen Go Tournament.
Apart from playing in the localclub, I enjoy teaching the game (Itaught at the West Surrey tournamenta few times) and playing intournaments. I have attended 108British tournaments, plus one inFrance, one in Romania and one USCongress. I was briefly a memberof Houston Go Club during a three-and-a-half year stint in America. Myfavourite tournament is the Isle ofMan Congress. I have not taken toplaying online.
I am a chartered civil engineer, buthaven’t done any actual engineeringfor many years, having workedin project development, businessdevelopment and project managementover the last 15 years – often all threesimultaneously. Taking redundancyfrom an international electricitygenerating company in April 2012after 21 years, I now work on apart-time basis for a civil engineeringcontractor.I met my wife, Stella, at the CentralLondon Go Club in 1987. Not a player,she had wandered into the room justcurious about what all the strangemen were up to. She was just aboutto leave again when I insisted she sitdown and learn the game. She didn’ttake to the game, but did take to meand we now have two children intheir twenties.
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VIEW FROM THE TOPJon Diamond [email protected]
The British Go Congress in Durhamwas a great success, with even the rainmostly holding off, and attendancewas up on 2011. The AGM was alsosuccessful, with Alison and Toby ableto present accounts for both 2010and 2011, despite our accountingfailures for the last few years. I’mconfident the finances are now undercontrol, but unfortunately we’ve hadto increase our subscriptions.The AGM minutes are publiclyavailable on the website, and theaccounts are available if you write tothe Secretary. Finally on this topic,I’d like to welcome Maria Tabor asour new Council Member; she willprovide some balance to us retirees onCouncil.Details of the World Mind SportsGames were eventually releasedat the end of May, so we’ve beenbusily trying to get our team togetherfrom the requests that I’ve had sincethen. It looks like there may be somespare places available in the Men’sand Women’s Individual events, soplease consult the website for currentselection details, and contact me ifyou’re still interested in playing.Since we don’t have a sponsor thisyear, we’re expecting our players to
pick up the costs. If you’d like to helpdefray some of these there’s a specialdonation page on our website for thispurpose:www.britgo.org/wmsg/donation.Speaking of donations, pleasewelcome David Carter as ourSponsorship organiser. He’s alreadyhad some success for the LondonOpen later this year.The Pandanet European TeamChampionship has finished foranother year, with an improvedperformance by our team, up from7th to 5th in Division 2. Hopefullyour captain Andrew Simons willcontinue for another year and ensurethat we get promotion to Division 1.Congratulations to Matt Cocke andNatasha Regan for their performanceat the European Pairs, and also SamAitken for his, as a late entrant to theWorld Amateur.By the time you read this, two Koreanprofessionals will probably havevisited us at part of a European tour,at short notice. I hope some of youhad a chance to meet them. We’realso hoping for a visit by two Japaneseprofessionals in October, and we willlet you know their itinerary in duecourse. Hopefully, they’ll be able tohelp with our Recruitment Drive.Last, but clearly not least, therewill be a new name on the BritishChampionship trophy this year; justthe eighth in nearly 50 years! MatthewMacfadyen has decided to take abreak, and so the Challengers Leaguewas even more competitive this year.Andrew Kay and Nick Krempel willbe contesting the Title in a three-gamematch over the summer. Watch thewebsite for details.
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CONSIDERING THE POSITION: PART 2David Ward [email protected]
This is the second instalment of ‘Considering the Position’, based on a Chinesetranslation of a Korean text by Cho Hun Hyun. Here is an example of thecorrect direction of play by White when possessing a strong wall.I suspect most of our readers would prefer to play Black in the position shownbelow, but it is instructive as to how to make best use of the seven-stone wallin the top left. Walls are not primarily used for making territory, as this willoften lead to an over-concentrated shape, but a wall without a base can easilybecome a weak group. White has to tread the fine line between these twoconsiderations to get good value.
The starting position
How should White play?
Cho says is a declaration of war and - are preparation for the battle.has a secret aim to attack the seven stones on the top left.Consider the possibilities A to E: what are the whole-board considerations andhow should White play? The answers are on page 33.
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DOUBLE-DIGIT KYU PROBLEMS
We are grateful to the Dutch Go Journal and its Editor, Henk Mourik, forpermission to use the eight problems below.In each case, it is Black to play and find the best move. The answers are givenon page 42.Some are quite difficult, so don’t worry if you don’t get them all. You can learnfrom the answers.
PROBLEM 1
PROBLEM 2
PROBLEM 3
PROBLEM 4
PROBLEM 5
PROBLEM 6
PROBLEM 7
PROBLEM 8
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THREE PEAKS TOURNAMENT — 20 YEARSBob Bagot [email protected]
November 2012 will see the 20thedition of the Three Peaks GoTournament. The first was inNovember 1993, following thecancellation of the proposedBirmingham tournament. TimHazelden, the licensee at the MartonArms Hotel in Thornton in Lonsdale,stepped into the breach and at shortnotice arranged a tournament at hispub. Tim was a former BGA treasurerand a strong 2d. There were only24 at the first tournament, won bySimon Shiu, but it was sufficientlyattractive to continue year afteryear. Thornton is a typical andbeautiful Yorkshire Dales village nearIngleton. The title of Three Peakswas appropriate to the dominantmountain, Ingleborough, overlookingIngleton. The Ingleborough Challengein 1993 saw Simon Goss beatAlison Jones (now Bexfield) in sub-zero temperatures on the top ofIngleborough. I have no records ofany other winners, but for manyyears a party of Go players climbedIngleborough on the Saturdaymorning (and usually arrived late forthe tournament!).In 1995 Tim Hazelden died in a tragicroad accident. The 3rd tournamentbecame the first Memorial tournamentand a fund was started to raise £20,000for cutting equipment for the localfire service. Colin Elsdon, the co-licensee, wanted the tournament tocontinue and for many years, withToby Manning organising, it raisedmoney for the cutting equipment andother local causes.Toby continued as organiser until2003, but when Colin retired in 2005the new owners at the Marton Armswere not so welcoming. To some
extent the tournament was a victimof its own success. In 2002, 66 playerssqueezed into the playing room,with an overflow in the bar. In 2007,Martin Harvey played his matchesin his bedroom and Pat Ridley in hiscamper van. The playing room wasalso the breakfast room and a functionroom. In 2008 they could not give mea commitment that we could havethe room and so we moved to theStation Inn near Settle. Within viewof Pen-y-Ghent, another of the “ThreePeaks”, it had, if anything, betterplaying conditions than the MartonArms. Unfortunately, The Station Innwas hit by the recession and closedin 2009. A third home was foundat the Commodore Inn in Grange-over-Sands, where the playing roomis probably the best of the lot. Thelink with the “Three Peaks” was nowrather tenuous, but the name has beenretained, partly for the recognition ofa successful tournament and partlybecause we have a lovely little ThreePeaks trophy. This is a miniatureGoban, presented to the tournamentin 1998 by Graham Telfer.Over the years many strong playershave won the Three Peaks. The firstfour years saw four different winners— Simon Shiu, Toby Manning, JohnRickard and Alistair Wall. In 1997,Francis Roads had the first of his threewins, a record that has been equalledby John Rickard and Matthew Cockeand bettered by Tony Goddard (6d),who won four times from 2004 to2007. In 2011, Matthew Cocke losthis first ever game at the tournamentto Andrew Kay, who emerged as anew winner and current holder of theGoban.
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The Three Peaks has always been oneof the more successful tournaments,with numbers usually well over 50.While attendances are down at eventsin general, it still attracts over 40players. One of these, Toby Manning,has been a winner, an organiser, awalks leader and, I suspect, an ever-present. I have no figures on this butmaybe Brian Timmins or the Harveysare also ever-presents or nearly so.
It is likely to continue in its presentvenue. Grange is hardly by the sea(the sheep graze on the grassland ofthe bay) although those with goodeyesight can see it. The tournamentstill makes a profit and in recent yearshas donated to the Friends of LondonOpen and the Castledine-Barnes Trust.There are plenty of places to stay, sowhy not give it a try? It is always niceweather in Grange, even in November.
THE BGA ANALYST [email protected]
David Ward would like to remind BGA members about the AnalysisService.
Would it be helpful to have your games analysed?
The Shodan Challenge is a great idea and enables mentors to helpweaker players improve. However, the BGA Analysis Service is stillavailable. Should you wish to use it, just send me an .sgf file of arepresentative game by email; I usually return the annotated gamewithin a week.
Many Go players become stuck at one particular level and end upplaying essentially the same type of game over and over again. Thatis fine if you are happy to just enjoy playing, but if you have the desireto improve, then you will probably need to learn to “see” the game in adifferent way.
I try to pitch my comments to the level of the player; never too technical,because there are many reference guides available for joseki and life anddeath. I pick out two or three positions where I feel the individual playerwould benefit from looking at the game slightly differently.
Hopefully, one day this leads to a eureka moment, “Ah, I get it”.
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ANGEL OR DEVIL?Nick Wedd [email protected]
This article has two purposes. It introduces the ‘Empty Triangle’ cartoons of‘chidori’ to readers who do not already know of them, and it describes why, inmy opinion, the dilemma experienced by the girl in the cartoon below shouldnever be a genuine one.
First, I introduce chidori. She is aSlovakian-born artist, now living inPrague. ‘chidori’ is the pseudonymshe uses for her artwork (she alsoplays and chats on KGS as ‘chid0ri’).Her web sitewww.emptytriangle.com has, amongher other work, a series of cartoonsfeaturing the fluffy-haired girl you seeabove, who does not much resemblechidori herself. At the time of writingthere are 73 of these cartoons: if
you have not seen them before, Irecommend looking at them in order.They show Go and Go-players fromthe point of view of a sympathetic, buthuman, observer.Now I will discuss the thoughts of thegirl in the cartoon.
I believe that her dilemma, whether todefend or to attack, is very commonamong kyu players. I used to feeltorn by it myself, but I now believe
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that my dilemma was based on amisunderstanding. I will explainhow, for me, this misunderstandingarose. The following account is largelyfictional in its details, but is in essenceaccurate.At a tournament, after losing a game, Ishowed it to a strong player and askedfor his comments. He went throughthe game, and identified what heconsidered my most clearly bad move.He commented on it, ‘This move is fartoo aggressive. It is deep inside youropponent’s territory. He will probablyanswer by cutting it off from all yourother stones, so that it is dead, andhis group is even stronger and evenbigger.’Some time later, at anothertournament, I showed another lostgame to a different strong player, andhis answer was something like, ‘Thismove is far too defensive. It makesno territory, it destroys no territory,it threatens nothing. All it does isconnect together these two groups,which are already connected togetheranyway.’Now this was all good advice. Itmight have been even better if the firstsentence, in each case, has been ‘Thismove is completely worthless’ – butthat would have been undiplomatic,and might have put me off listening.Unfortunately, like many pupils, Ihad a limited capacity for taking ininformation. As so often, all that Iretained was the first sentence of eachexplanation: ‘This move is far too
aggressive’, and ‘This move is far toodefensive’. I was left thinking: that’sweird. Sometimes my play is far tooaggressive, and sometimes it is far toodefensive. It must be really hard toachieve the right balance. For yearsafterwards, I believed that achievingthis balance was an important aspectof playing Go better.One day, I realised that the firstteacher had not picked out mymove for comment as an example ofaggressive play, but as an example ofstupid play; and likewise the secondteacher had meant to draw attentionto the pointlessness of my move,not its defensiveness. The way toimprove at Go has nothing to dowith a balance of aggressivenessand defensiveness; rather, it is aboutavoiding bad moves. So the fluffy-haired girl above is thinking along thewrong track. Instead, she would dobetter to ask herself three questions:
1. What does this move aim toachieve?
2. Is that a sensible thing to try toachieve?
3. Is there a reasonable chance thatthe move will in fact help toachieve it?
If the answer to 1 is ‘I don’t know’,or to 2 or 3 is ‘no’, she should stopthinking about that move andconsider a better one.
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FELIX WANG V. FRANCIS ROADSFrancis Roads [email protected]
This game was played between Felix Wang (3d) and me (2d) in the 2012Challengers’ League. The comments are based on a post-game discussion withFelix, who had the black stones.
Diagram 1 (1 – 19)
I wasn’t sure what to dohere. I could expand mymoyo at A in Diagram1, leaving behind the 1-5sequence for Black later, butI wasn’t sure what to doabout the stone at .
We agreed that this wasthe largest move, at thejunction of two moyos. Felixconsidered a move therehimself, but didn’t want meto play at A.
B is joseki here, but thismove worked quite well.
This is the way I like to play,making a large moyo in thecentre right.
Felix thought I should haveplayed at C, leading to thealternative sequence shownin Variation 1. This wouldmore-or-less commit me tocapturing the entire group. Diagram 2 (20 – 38)
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Variation 1 (38 – 49)
Diagram 3 (39 – 52)
This move is very bad. Ithought that a spare eyeat might be handy.However, this was a casewhere liberties were moreimportant then eyes. Ishould have played at A.
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Diagram 4 (53 – 100)
My bad move at enabledFelix to take the initiativein getting his group outin good shape. I had littlechance of winning now.
The marked stones were dead,so White resigned.
Diagram 4 (101 – 109)
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ARUNDEL JUBILEE SHOWCASEJil Segerman [email protected]
Saturday, June 2nd was the start of theQueen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend,and Arundel organised a showcase oflocal clubs and activities in the TownHall. This was a big local event, withentertainment throughout the day,and special buses bringing people infrom nearby towns and villages.
The town crier was there in a splendiduniform, and the mayor in a slightlyless splendid chain of office. Theexhibitors included gardening,swimming, poetry, zumba, kids’theatre group, at least two choirs andof course the Arundel Go Club.
Sue Paterson had organised a mini Goexhibition, and set up a table with Go
posters and space for two games. Agreat many people stopped by to talk,and we were both kept pretty busy. Ilost count of how many people playedtheir first ever 9x9 game, and we shallhope to see some of them at the nextclub meeting.
Sue and I also managed to play a19x19 against each other, and althoughshe is about four stones strongerthan I am, I opted for an even game,hoping that with so many friends inthe town she would get distracted andnot notice my rip-offs. Sadly, that didnot work out.
Incidentally the Arundel Go club isunique so far as I know, in that themeetings last all afternoon and intothe evening (in some ways like theCentral London Go Club), but thereare other games besides Go, and ameal. There are some excellent cooksamong the club regulars.
So it is well worth a visit if you areanywhere in the area, and if youdecide to bring non Go-playingfamily, there is plenty for them todo: a castle, a boating lake, a birdsanctuary, beautiful country walksand interesting shops.
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THE MEIJIN’S RETIREMENT GAMEHelen Harvey [email protected]
Author: John FairbairnPublisher: Slate & Shell1
ISBN: 1-932001-58-1
The book consists of 142 pages relatedto the famous game between HoninboShusai and Kitani Minoru, playedin 1938. It marked the retirement ofHoninbo Shusai and became a sixmonth grind for both players, playedover 15 sessions. The entire game waschronicled for a Japanese newspaperby the Nobel prize-winning novelistKawabata Yasunari, but this did notappear in book form until 1954.The initial 25 pages are a briefbiography of Honinbo Shusai’s life,with historical and cultural accountsand then a short chronological accountof Kitani Minoru’s life.The actual game is commented over73 pages, which covers the game’s237 moves with over 128 diagrams.It is a comprehensive account withvery thorough commentary, detailed
moves and extensive variations. Mostof the original commentaries on whichthe book is based were by Go Seigen,Kitani and Shusai.There is a 27-page Appendix,addressing Kawabata’s novel,The Master of Go. John Fairbairnsummarises the novel chapter bychapter from his viewpoint as a Goplayer. You do not need a copy of theoriginal novel or the translation toappreciate John’s book, but he doesrecommend you read one or the other.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed readingthe book and it was easy to follow thegame commentary and numerousdiagrams without the aid of a Goboard. The interest was not just whathappened on the Go board, but alsowhat happened off it. Not wishingto spoil the story, I won’t reveal thewinner or summarise the eventscovered, which occurred before,during and after the six months of theactual game. Suffice it to say that theseevents were equally interesting to readabout.I found the author used clear andunderstandable language, and itwas easy to follow the step-by-stepmoves and variations shown. As therewas not much Go jargon used, lessexperienced players may also find iteasy to follow.I would say that some of thevariations are rather long and drawnout. I did come across a point in thebook when about 14 diagrams ofvariations were being shown. This feltover the top for me and a bit too deep– they were variations on life and
1www.slateandshell.com
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death of both players’ groups with ako. Even the commentary stated thatthis is a rather long and jaw-droppingdigression, which shows us that noteverything in Go is black and white.Nevertheless, the book provides youwith many possibilities to ponder overand the reader is given a good insightinto the actual game. Great fun for thedan players and for some of the strong
kyu players, but perhaps, many kyuplayers might wish to skip over someof the variations.
To summarise, I found it a highlyinteresting read and I wouldrecommend it. There is plenty in thebook for all readers.
The review copy was kindly provided bySlate & Shell.
SIDEWAYS LOOKING PERSONS
I am thinking about buying thisbook ... but the only thing about the
game that I am good at is notplaying it properly
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE JOURNAL
The copy date for the next issue of the Journal may be found on the frontpage of our website, at www.britgo.org.Contributions are welcome at any time. Please send them [email protected] Editor will be glad to discuss the suitability of any material you mayhave in mind.
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WORLD NEWSTony Atkins [email protected]
Pandanet Teams
The UK team followed up their firstvictory of the season in the B-Leagueof the Pandanet Go European TeamChampionship with another win.This time, on 20th March, it was afour-nil win over Slovenia. ChongHan on board one was again the firstto finish, when Leon Matoh resigned.Des Cann won a semeai by one libertyto beat Gregor Butala, and Alex Selbywon against Tamar Cefarin withouttoo much difficulty. Jon Diamond gotinto a contest of weak groups againstAndrej Kralj and won after killing oneof his opponent’s in the yose.
The match on 17th April saw atwo-two draw against Slovakia. Onboard one, Chong Han suffered in atough game against Pavol Lisy 6d,under-20 European Youth Championin 2011. Des Cann also lost againstMaros Kral, however David Leedid well in his debut game for theteam, with a comfortable win againstMiroslav Poliak. Andrew Simons’game against Marian Hrdina was athree-and-a-half hour marathon, wonby a fitting three-and-a-half points.
The ninth and final match of theseason was against Denmark on20th May. Chong Han won onboard one against Kasper Hornbækand Des Cann beat Thomas Heshe.Andrew Simons, however, lookedlike winning against Uffe Rasmussenbut lost a group in time trouble.David Lee won the fourth game byforfeit as his opponent did not turnup.
This left the UK in fifth position with10 points, behind Belgium on 11,
Finland 12, Israel 14 and the B-Leaguewinners Serbia on 15 points.
Ireland had a good end to the seasonas they drew with Norway, then beatKazakhstan and Spain, both four-nil. All countries ended up withmaximum points for two matches asBosnia and Belarus failed to completethe season, and after the dust settled,Ireland was placed third with 15points. Italy was second with 17 andNorway won the C-League with 18.
The A-League was dominated byRussia, which ended five points clearof Ukraine and the Czech Republic,with France in fourth. These fourcountries will play the over-the-boardfinals at the European Go Congress inBonn.
European CupMany top European events continueto be part of the European Cup,buying in at one of five levels. TheLevel Three event at Nijmegen(Netherlands) in March was wonby Rudi Verhagen, and in AprilOndrej Silt won at Maribor (Slovenia).The first ever cup event in Estonia, atTartu, was won by Matti Siivola.
Amsterdam made a change this yearby running a Rapid Play on a boaton the second day of the tournamentweekend. The Level Five cup eventwas dominated by Koreans; ChoSeokbin was first with Lluis Ohsecond, so the Cup points went toLukas Kraemer in third.At this point Csaba Mero was leadingthe points table with 51, Kraemer wassecond on 27 and Verhagen was thirdon 24.
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WAGCThe World Amateur made one ofits trips out of Japan with the 33rdedition, known as the GAC TrumpchiCup, being held in Guangzhou(formerly Canton) in China. Thevenue was a modern Chess and GoInstitute with very pleasant gardens.Due to an administrative oversight,it looked like the UK would not besending a player when it was realisedthat Matthew Macfadyen was notgoing, and it was too late to arrangeflights and visa for a replacement.Luckily, Sam Aitken had been livingin China for a while and could easilyget there, and the organisers allowedhim to join in despite it being afterthe entry deadline. He did very well,winning four of his eight gamesto end 30th. He beat the playersfrom Mexico, Norway, Belgium andSpain, but lost to strong players fromFinland, USA, Russia and Canada.Colin MacSweeny for Ireland wonthree to come 48th, beating SouthAfrica, Brazil and the reserve playerfrom China.Qiao Zhijian from China was thewinner, with Korea second andChinese Taipei third. Top Europeans
were Pal Balogh from Hungary andJuri Kuronen from Finland in fifth andseventh places.
European Pair GoThis year the European Pair GoChampionship was held in Franceon the 2nd and 3rd June. The venuechosen was in Lyon – not in themodern bustling part near the stationsor in the bland suburbs, but in thehistoric old town, pleasantly locatednear the river, old buildings andscenic Fourviere Hill.Natasha Regan and Matthew Cockefinished a very creditable seventhout of 24. They won three of their sixgames, losing to a pair from the CzechRepublic and two French pairs.The tournament was won with aflawless record by the professionalRussian pair, Svetlana Shikshinaand Alexandre Dinerchtein. Secondwere the Czech Republic’s KlaraZaloudkova and Jan Hora, whoearned a seat at the InternationalAmateur Pair Go Championships inJapan. Former European championsNatalia Kovaleva and Dmitri Surinfrom Russia were third, and the nextthree places were taken by Frenchteams.
PROBLEM 2
Black to play and kill
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PROFILE: MARIA TABORMaria Tabor maria [email protected]
Maria was elected to Council at the AGMat Durham in April.
I was taught Go at the age of 14by my dad, Paul Tabor. Shortlyafter learning, I attended my firsttournament, at the Isle of Man,where I was introduced to thefriendly community of Go-playersin Britain. This inviting atmosphereis what encouraged me to play intournaments often.
Throughout the last eight years I’veattended many BGA tournaments. In2006 and 2008 I was U16 and U18sUK youth champion. My biggestachievement to date has been playingin the GB Women’s Team in the 1stWorld Mind Sports Games in Beijing.
From 2010 to 2012, I was a part of theteam that ran the Nottingham GoTournament, which was great fun; Iwould recommend anyone interested
in the game to become a part of such ateam.The thing that interests me mostabout Go is the way that people’spersonalities are displayed in theirgames. Due to this, I believe thatimprovement in Go can be linked toself-improvement. For example, it is inmy nature to enjoy problem solving,and in Go this results in my havinga strong middle game. Combinedwith my keenness to over-achieve, itleads me to take a high-risk approachand start unnecessary fights, usuallywhen I’m already ahead. Therefore, toimprove I should work on reading theboard, and not allow myself to over-try and unnecessarily fight into defeat.I also believe the game of Go isimportant for all ages: it developsintelligence through problem solving;discipline, by increasing concentrationand persistence; and team work,by encouraging those that learn toconsider other people’s opinions andgame plans.I believe it has the power to make thebest of people, and so one shouldstart teaching people as young aspossible. As tournaments offer aperfect environment to test yourself aswell as learn from your mistakes, in afriendly and supportive environment,it is vital to encourage new and youngplayers to attend as soon as they feelcomfortable.
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CONSIDERING THE POSITION: ANSWERSDavid Ward [email protected]
Here are the answers to the questions posed in Considering the Position onpage 18. ‘(DW)’ indicates a comment by me rather than one translated fromthe book.
Variation AWhite enters too early. Theresult to leaves Black thick,and White is not satisfied withthe amount of territory.
A failure.
Variation B1White would like to map out alarge framework with and
, but after Black plays thevital point of White is introuble. If White continues with
then looks keenly at the‘big dragon’ in the top left: thewhite stones are now floatingand a liability.
A failure.
Variation B2If instead White plays this ,it’s even worse.After - , White can live in alow position.
After , Black has a goodposition and attacks withandWhite lacks a good strategy.
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Variation Cignorantly jumps to the
centre at a bad time.is a vital point. and
follow, but White suffers asBlack takes territory in the lastcorner with .The result is a Whitemiscalculation.
Variation DFinding trouble. This is theworst choice: is vital, andafter White is in danger ofa splitting attack on the twowhite groups.
Variation E1Good direction; first looks tothe top to settle the shape.
If - , White is in a goodposition for the battle ahead.
(DW) I take the main point to be that after the top is settled, White will be ableto attack very strongly without ever worrying about the seven stones on the topleft, which will turn the wall from a question mark to an exclamation mark forthe rest of the game!
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Variation E2Black may choose to go formore solid territory with - ,but importantly White is able toplay the last large point of .White gets a full position and issatisfied.This is the correct line; best forWhite.
Variation E3In the real game, Whitemiscalculated and playedthis .
is a great move; attemptsto make up for the mistake byattacking the two black stones,but Black plays to escape.
After the continuation to ,Black has a thick position andcan’t be attacked. White’sstones are not best placed.
Black won by resignation after 199 moves.
PROBLEM 3
Black to play and kill
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BGA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE - OCTOBER 2012Colin Maclennan & Paul Smith
BGA Council members have beendiscussing how we can encouragemore people to take up Go. We thinkthe most important areas to focus onare universities and junior players.There are some things we can do tohelp set up new clubs in these areaswhich are described below in thisarticle; but we also welcome any otherideas for involving more people in Go.If you have an idea for an event whichcould be run by your club or in yourlocal area this autumn please let usknow.
University ClubsWe wish to encourage more clubsto form in universities. Only a fewuniversities currently have Go clubs,but those that do are relativelysuccessful.To give new students a taste ofthe opportunities open to them,universities lay on “Freshers’Fair” events, usually just beforethe academic year starts, at whichuniversity clubs and societiesintroduce themselves and competefor members among the new students.We would like to encourage as manyof our existing clubs as possibleto set up a Go stall at their localuniversity Freshers’ Fair, with a viewto attracting enough new students toform a university club. We will dowhat we can to support any eventclubs set up, for example by gettingsomeone to visit and help on the day.For clubs willing to give this a try, thisis what they should do:Step 1: identify a Go player in theuniversity, staff or student, who is
willing to take the lead, nominallyat least, in arranging a stall at theFreshers’ Fair; some clubs may alreadyhave such a player among theirexisting members. If not, they willneed to find someone by advertisingon notice boards, or in universitynewspapers, or by word of mouthenquiry.Step 2: apply to the university torun a stall at the Freshers’ Fair inOctober 2012. Clubs may already haveenough equipment to demonstratethe game at such an event, howeverI can provide some 9x9 laminatedcardboard boards and plastic stones(five sets for £20) plus some Play Gobooklets. These sets are useful at abusy event as interested students cantry the game for themselves. Sign upas many students as possible as beinginterested in joining the new club.Step 3: on the basis of the interestshown, apply to the university forfunding to buy equipment. We havearranged with Pentangle Gamesto offer a ‘Go club starter pack’consisting of five good quality 19x19wooden boards and stones plus oneor two books for beginners for a totalprice of £250. Of this, we will provide£50 in the expectation that the newclub will be able to get the remaining£200 from the university.Step 4: support the new club until it isself-sustaining.Clubs that think they could set up anevent at a local university are invitedto email me with an ‘expressionof interest’ or telephone me on020 8941 1607.Colin Maclennan
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Clubs For Junior PlayersThe BGA runs two main events eachyear for junior players – the BritishYouth Go Championships and the UKGo Challenge. The numbers of playershave gone up and down quite a bit inrecent years, with the high point being73 players at the British Youth a fewyears back.What makes the biggest difference tothe attendance is the number of activeschool and junior clubs that can bringa group of players to these events.For this reason we are very keen toincrease the number of active clubs forjuniors in the UK.School clubs have been run byteachers, teaching assistants, schoollibrarians, parents, visiting localGo players (if they have the timeand enthusiasm to make a regularcommitment) and even sometimesby school pupils. If you may beinterested in starting a Go club ina school then we can help and wewould be very interested to hear fromyou.The Chess & Go Club in Cambridge isdifferent in that it is run in the earlyevening, not in a school, with thehelp of local chess organisers. But ithas also proved very successful, keptrunning for almost 20 years so far andregularly provided a good number ofcompetitors for junior events. If wehad five or six clubs like this in thecountry instead of just one we wouldbe in a lot better position to run moreand bigger junior Go events. Thereis an article on the BGA website1
about how to run a club like this. Ifyou would be interested in startinga junior club of this sort please getin touch, as there is a lot of help andadvice available.
Some of the things we can do to helppeople starting a new junior club are:
• we can provide you with advicefrom other junior clubs on how torun and advertise your club;
• we can give advice on how toteach Go at the club including howto run ladders and tournamentsand how to take part in the UK GoChallenge;
• we can provide some teachingmaterials such as puzzle sheetswith certificates for reachingcertain levels or kyu gradingcertificates;
• we can provide BGA publicitymaterials such as leaflets to help toexplain to teachers and to parentswhat Go is about;
• we may be able to lend you someGo equipment to get you started,or help you to buy some cheap Goequipment;
• we may be able to provide a visitfrom someone with experience atorganising Go for juniors;
• we can help you to arrange CRBchecks for people helping at theclub if necessary.
Many people, even some who initiallydoubted their teaching ability, havefound it very rewarding to introduceGo to young people. If you areinterested please get in touch with meon 01223 563932 or by e-mail.Paul Smith
1www.britgo.org/youth/chessandgo.html
37
PATTERNS OF THE SANRENSEIFrancis Roads [email protected]
Author: Michael Redmond (9p)Publisher: Slate & Shell2
ISBN: 1-932001-63-83
I discovered the San Ren Sei pattern(Black’s moves in the diagram) in1970, when I opened my copy ofModern Joseki and Fuseki, Vol. 2 byEio Sakata, then recently publishedby the Ishi Press. I was immediatelyattracted by it, and have been using itin tournaments on and off ever since.The opening was virtually unknownin professional even-game Go beforethe Shin Fuseki experiments of the1930s, when the old ideas abouttaking a firm grip on territory in thefuseki were being challenged by thetechniques of building strength andinfluence in the centre, often resultingin large side or central moyos. It hasremained in professional use since
then, though in recent years it hasbeen rather displaced by the Chinesefuseki, with its balance betweenterritory and influence.
Michael Redmond, originally of theUSA, is the only Western playerto have reached the top level inprofessional Go. He too is a SanRen Sei enthusiast, and has sharedhis knowledge and experiencewith amateur players in this newbook. It benefits from having beenwritten by a native English speakerwith a good understanding of themindsets of Western amateur players.Translations, however well done,often read like translations.
The book is in two unequal parts.Part 1 classifies the fuseki into sixbasic types, and shows a few verycommonly played variations forthe first few moves, explaining thepurpose of each.
The much longer Part 2 shows twentyof Michael’s games in which oneplayer, usually himself, chose to playthe San Ren Sei. They represent allthe patterns described in Part 1, andare analysed in some detail. Mostdiagrams cover only a few moves;some only a single move; and most areannotated, though the notes tend tobecome more sporadic in the endgamestage. The author includes some of hislosses as well as wins, and is happy tocriticise his own moves as well as hisopponents’.
2www.slateandshell.com
3The eagle-eyed reader will spot that the picture above has the board position displaced one lineupwards – but that is how it is on the cover.
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It is interesting to see how theprofessional view of the San Ren Seihas changed in 42 years. In the lineshown in the diagram above, Sakata’sbook recommends the two-point highsqueeze at A. This usually leads to aBlack wall facing outwards towardsthe other two stones, while White
takes the corner and side territory. Bwas a simpler alternative answer to
. Nowadays, C is recommended ifyou want to play a squeeze, and D ispreferred to B. Also recommended isthe tenuki move at E.The book’s format with its numerousdiagrams makes it suitable forreading when no Go set or electronicequivalent is available. It would benice to be able to call it a useful pocketbook, but its size (21 x 27 cm) preventsthis. Nonetheless, I shall study it indetail, as should any other San RenSei enthusiast. You might also findit useful if you think you might beplaying against one.
The review copy was kindly provided bySlate & Shell.
PROBLEM 4
Black to play and rescuethe four marked stones
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BGA ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2011Toby Manning [email protected]
In the last Journal I wrote about the BGA’s financial position, and its need foradditional income (or less expenditure), and a proposal to increase subscrip-tions was passed at the AGM in Durham in April.The two pie-charts here, which are derived from the 2011 accounts, show theposition in more detail. The first one shows the BGA’s expenditure, brokendown into categories. Council has already announced that it will cease topublish the Newsletter, saving about 10% of the Association’s total expenditureof £12,000; Council also intends the London Open to break even in future years,which will save a further 6%.The second chart shows the Association’s income needed to match thisexpenditure. It can be seen that there is a deficit of 21%; a further 8% (in the‘Miscellaneous’ category) consisted of a one-off windfall income unlikely to berepeated.Because the subscription increase will have little effect on the overall 2012income, I am predicting a further loss for 2012, but the position in 2013 andonwards should show a significant improvement.
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SIDEWAYS LOOKING PERSONS
Now then, this is a nice little mover... as used by professionals atLightning Go Tournaments
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DOUBLE-DIGIT KYU PROBLEMS - ANSWERS
Here are the solutions for the problems on page 19.Only the first move is given in each case; you should be able to work outthe rest from there, but if you want to see some follow-up sequences, go towww.britgo.org/bgj/issue160.
PROBLEM 1
PROBLEM 2
PROBLEM 3
PROBLEM 4
PROBLEM 5
PROBLEM 6
PROBLEM 7
PROBLEM 8
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SOLUTIONS TO THE NUMBERED PROBLEMSThe .sgf files for these problems, showing a fuller set of lines and includingfailures, are to be found at www.britgo.org/bgj/issue160.
Solution to Problem 1
Dia. 1
This is the move that kills White. Itwould be suicidal for White blockto the right of 1 to prevent theconnection as it would be self-atari;capturing the other single stone allowsthis one to escape, leaving a false eyeon the edge.
Solution to Problem 2
Dia. 2
This diagonal move catches White inbad shape. If White connects with 2to avoid the snap-back, Black simplyplays atari on the bottom half of thegroup.
Solution to Problem 3
Dia. 3
The wedge is the correct first move. IfWhite plays atari with 2, Black dropsto the edge and the special propertyof the corner means White is stuck fora move. Capturing one of the pairs ofblack stones only makes one eye forWhite, of course.
Solution to Problem 4
Dia. 4
Black 1 threatens to catch White beforeWhite can fill the four liberties onthe black stones. Black 3 next is thekey move to keep White’s libertiesdown. If White plays atari with 4, then5 catches White short of liberties. IfBlack plays 3 at 5 instead, then Whiteconnects and has no liberty problems.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Journal comments and contributions: [email protected] for general BGA enquiries: [email protected] website: www.britgo.orgGotalk general discussion list: [email protected] (open to all).BGA policy discussion list: [email protected] (open to BGAmembers only).Use the links on the Help page of our website to join these.President: Jon Diamond 01892 663837 [email protected]
Secretary: Jonathan Chin [email protected]
Membership Secretary: Paul Barnard, 16 Braemar Close,Swindon SN3 1HY; 01793 692408 [email protected]
Newsletter Editor: [email protected] Distribution contact: [email protected] on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BritishGoAssociationBGA on Twitter: twitter.com/britgo
SOFTWARE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work of the authors and maintainers of the following public domainsoftware used in the production of this journal is gratefullyacknowledged:
• MikTeX: LaTeX compiler and packages.
• TeXnicCenter: editing text and launching MikTeX.
• Sumatra: viewing pdf files.
• GIMP: processing pictures.
• GoWrite2: producing Go diagrams from .sgf files.
• Ghostview: viewing .eps files.
• CGoban 3: viewing .sgf files.
• igo: producing Go diagrams in LaTeX.
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COLLECTING GO XIII: GO SETSTony Atkins [email protected]
Most Go players will have a couple of Go sets; perhaps a good quality playingboard and one of the many sorts of magnetic set, such as a so-called pocket setwith minuscule stones, the FridgeGo set or a normal travel set. However, somewill also have Go sets they have been given or bought, either in shops orcheaply at jumble sales, and soon a collection of different sorts of sets is made.
Theo van Ees has a remarkable collection of Go Sets produced for sale in theWest (including the first one made in the UK – see BGJ 159), which has beendisplayed from time to time at European Go events. There are even somemodern Go sets in museums, such as that in the Museum of Childhood inBethnal Green.
For more Go sets see britgo.org/history/gosets.
Widely available in the 1970s was the Ariel Go Set produced by Philmar. Theboard was thick card with a 10x10 board on the back; this is the reason someevents have 10x10 side events today. The stones were flat plastic about 1 cm indiameter, but some of their sets are believed to have contained similar lenticularstones.
The box was illustrated with arather lovely scene of a manand woman playing on aGoban, with a lady watching,located in a stylized orientallandscape. The rule booklet wasby the late John Barrs.
Another set that was available in Smith’s in the late1970s was the one with the doweling rod stones.Although cheap to make, it was hard to play withand not a good promotion for the game. The boardwas card and folding, though claimed to be stout,and the picture on the box shows two robed figuresplaying a game that doesn’t look a lot like Go. Therule booklet, by R. C. Bell, included the BGA’saddress.
(continued overleaf)
(Collecting Go XIII: Journals . . . continued from inside cover)
The Go Pack from Carlton was, in 1998, on sale inbook shops for £20 and included the rather nicebook ”The Game of Go” by Matthew Macfadyen,which was also sold separately for £7.99. Thestones were small but lenticular. However someerrors on the box unfortunately spoilt what couldhave been a very nice product.
No collection would be complete without a setfrom Taiwan of Ing’s sprung measuring bowls(with net carry bag), with each bowl containingexactly 180 stones, or the neat 13x13 set withexactly 84 stones in each bowl and no movingparts.
And of course,though likemany I don’thave one, theultimatecollectable Goset wouldfeature slateand shell stonesin woodenbowls, with aproper Gobanas illustratedhere.
