G
ROENEN LEADS DUTCH CHAMPS AT HALFWAY MARK: Only Geert Groenen 6d (The Hague) was undefeated after the first weekend of the Dutch Championships at the European Go Center (EGC) in Amsterdam January 16-17. Groenen was the only 6-dan able to stop 5-dan Peter Brouwer’s winning streak. Brower (Amsterdam) had defeated three 6-dans in a row, including defending Dutch Champion Merlijn Kuin, who also lost to former insei Emil Nijhuis 6d. The Dutch title tournament is an 8-round final with 16 players over two weekends in January. The finals continue on January 30-31, when the ladies and youth titles are also at stake. On Board One, Nijhuis will be the first to try to stop Groenen, while another interesting pairing this weekend will be between former Dutch Champions Frank Janssen – 4-time winner — and 3-time winner Kuin. “Usually we meet during the second weekend,” Janssen told the E-Journal. This time, however, instead of Board 1, they’ll meet on Board 6, as Janssen won only one game and was paired up. Four top boards are being broadcast every round by EuroGoTV, which will publish a booklet about the Dutch Championships with 10 commented games by Guo Juan 5P. – Peter Dijkema; photo: Peter Brouwer wins his way up the rankings. – by Judith van Dam
MARZ MASTERS POTSDAMER PANDA: German Go Federation (DGoB) President Michael Marz 3d from Marburg won the first Postdamer Panda January 16-17 in Potsdam, despite missing the first round. Marz won all his four games and stayed ahead of Judith Conradi 2d and Robert Deutschmann 2d (both of Berlin), who scored 3-2. Stefan Leon, Michael Motejat, Conny Pohle, Christoph Star and Anne Böttger also made the winner’s podium with their 4-1 results. The tournament attracted 55, who also came for two lectures on computer go and a demonstration game of man against machine on a 37×37 board. Click here for results. –Peter Dijkema,
DICKHUT REPEATS AS NRW-MEISTER: NordRhein-Westfalen state Champion Franz-Josef Dickhut 6d belatedly defended his title on January 16-17 in Lippstadt in a round-robin of six players battling for the 2009 Meister title. Matthias Terwey 4d and Lukas Krämer 4d shared second place. And with a full calendar of tourneys almost every weekend in Germany this year, the 2010 NordRhein-Westfalen title may well wind up being contested in early 2011. Dickhut’s major titles include several German Championships and the European Master at the 2008 European Go Congress in Leksand, Sweden. – Peter Dijkema, based on dgob.de
BELFAST PLAYERS DOMINATE IRISH CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKENDER: Two players from Belfast dominated the first weekend of the Irish Championship League, held January 16-17 in Dublin. Winning all four games were defending champion Ian Davis 1d and newcomer James Hutchinson 1k. In second place were John Gibson 1k and Eoghan Barry 3k. With three games each left to play “anything could still happen in the race for the final,” says Davis. Click here for latest results.
