Playing Go IRL pictures

Woah! Tough games then :grin:

Plus, check out the last picture:

Black has a SERIOUSLY big wall in the lower left. Looks to me like it will be a difficult game for White :laughing:

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Got a few friends to visit me from Europe who were less as 3k and who did have hard time in clubs.
Still i said a majority. I didn’t say all. I have a long established 2d from France who came too and who were not disappointed by the level of play.
Even i know some stronger players, one of them won regularly giving 9 stones to a french 3k. When i was 3k myself i was almost sure none will beat me with 9 stones, as i reached to win pros with 6 and lose with 5. But strong ama can be more tough i guess.

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So let see another Kunming go club.
But first you need find it. Here in this alley:

Today is quiet. This is a room at first floor (called second floor in chinese)



I played whole afternoon (4 games)but didn’t get a win.
Then chidren arrived

and started a 3 stones game (2d vs 5d)

The tv-debate-relax room

Ok that’s all for Kunming i go back to Dali tomorrow.

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Depends if you speak US english or UK english.

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Simultaneous game against Yoon Young Sun 8 p:

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How are these Go clubs in Kunming funded? :confused: Because such a nice space must cost money to rent the room / building, buy the furniture and equipment, etc. Are they businesses or members clubs or what? And do members pay a regular fee or just pay as you go? And how much do people pay? Just because I would love to play at such a nice club like that but we have too few members, not so much money, most members are students with little money, etc. here at our Go club (I’m in the UK). So it’s mostly cloth boards, plastic stones and a free room in the library :slightly_frowning_face: On the plus side, it is then free to all people, members and non-members :slightly_smiling_face: Cheers, just curious :beer:

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Well i left Kunming already so i can just say that it costs 20 rmb (around 3eur) to go play there, including a good meal at will with choice between different meat and vegetables and tea.
It’s indeed pretty cheap. Other thing i know is that the owner told me that there are around 250 regulars. The other club has a fee of 30rmb with same offer. Seems to be private business but i dunno exactly. I may try get more infos next time.

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Is your club associated to BGA? How many members are there? Are they interested in tournaments?

Yes BGA. 5 long term regulars. We are also a university society so usually 5-10 further student regulars but not so much with lockdown etc. Just us 5 playing on OGS ATM. I personally would be interested in tournaments. Not sure about the others, especially with Covid situation still going on. Why do you ask?

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I suppose that if people are interested in tournaments, then they have to pay a fee to the BGA. So they could also pay an annual fee to your club. If you get 10 people to pay 20£ to your club then you should be able to buy something like two wooden go sets per year?

(Just guessing, I don’t know what is the usual practice in UK.)

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Yeah, good idea. Thanks :slightly_smiling_face: I will think about that. Gotta wait till this Covid thing blows over a bit first though…

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Getting some money is often a pain so you can try simply to ask a one time sharing contribution to buy two sets, dividing the cost. Asking 20£can be hard. Organizing a tournament or a workshop is by far the best to get more. (Sponsorship is great for prizes)
But we go OT.

I guess it’s much easier when you have 250+ regular members :wink: £3 per member per visit quickly adds up to a lot :slightly_smiling_face: If we did that it wouldn’t even cover room hire (hence the free from at the library) :slightly_frowning_face: In fact, I suspect there are very few UK Go clubs, if any, that have reached such a critical mass. I heard that Cambridge University Go club is the biggest in the UK. Does anyone know if that is true and how many members they have?

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Open Moscow Cup 2021

Totally there were 124 players in the main tournament and 12 players in a 13x13 tournament for beginners. Lots of young players.

These are my pictures. Better pictures can be found

To everyone’s surprise the tournament was won by Ilya Shikshin - strongest player, who would’ve thought.

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1 your pics are great
2 That tournament looks well organized. I like the attention given to beginners with this 13x13 side category in the tournament.
3 Seems that covid is a thing of the past for most.
4 In 2008 Svetlana predicted to me that Ilya will become the strongest. She was right (although i think they are family related?)

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Many westerners here (go club in Tokyo)

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They are on a Go holiday :grin:

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Looks like @MayuPandoraNoda’s Café Hidamari:

https://cafehidamari.com

English page: https://cafehidamari.com/forenglish/

I’ve never been there, sadly (never been in Japan, for that) but I believe I recognise it from other photos I’ve seen, especially the awesome tables (of which I’d love to have one—or at least the construction plan so that I could order one from a woodworker friend).

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Yes that’s should be the place. Pictures was taken by a chinese weiqi player i know visiting there.
Thanks for linking!

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Playing against with my 4-year-old son last weekend. I gave him 16 stones handicap and didn’t try too hard. :wink:

The last time we played, a few months ago, I discouraged him by capturing too many of his stones. Btw, when I later had a conversation with Young Sun and she asked me if my son already plays Go, I told her about how I accidentally discouraged him and she was also like “Oh no, you must never do that! Don’t capture!” :sweat_smile:
So I’m trying to be a better teacher now.

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