American Go E-Journal

Victor Chow won the 2010 South Africa Closed Championship last month. The tournament was held in the library of Bergvliet High School in Cape Town September 24th to 26th. Of the 8 players who qualified, four were based in the Cape and four in Gauteng. Chow, being so much stronger than the others, was given special permission to play his games beforehand, and as usual, there were a number of upsets, time pressure finishes, wins against the run of play and exciting battles. Notably Konrad Scheffler finished most games in byo-omi, his game against John Leuner requiring 8 moves in just 12 seconds. Second-place finisher Welile Gogotshe also won the 2010 Soweto Open Go Tournament, held on September 12.There was a great friendly atmosphere to the tournament which contrasted with the intense competitive spirit in which the games were played. On Saturday night the players and wives/children went to a local restaurant for a meal together. Click here for more news from South African go clubs.
WINNER’S REPORT: Champion: Victor Chow; 2nd: Welile Gogotshe (promoted to 2d); 3rd: Konrad Scheffler; 4th: John Leuner; Andre Connell, Andrew Davies, Sam Scott had 2 points each and Chris Welsh had one point.
– Lloyd Rubidge, South African Correspondent for the E-Journal