American Go E-Journal » Australia

The third Australian Go Congress was held September 28 – October 1 at Sydney University. Players ranged from under 10 to over 70 and came from across Australia, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Poland. “The consensus is that the 2017 Australian Go Congress was the best ever,” reports David Mitchell, General Manager for the Congress. “Everybody had a great time, vying with players from across Australia and around the world.”

The Australian National Championships’ top division attracted very strong players from Korea, China and Poland but in the end it was the Koreans who collected the top honors in a very tight finish. The overall winner was GwangHo Choi 7d (left), second was YoungSam Kim and Namgi Yoon was third, all from Korea and all three with six wins.

Other activities included a screening of “The Surrounding Game” and simuls with Jaeho Yang 9P, Yeon Woo Cho 1Pm and An Younggil 9P, who played over 100 simul games, commented on games and gave lectures “which were appreciated by all,” says Mitchell. “Our thanks to them and the KBA for allowing them to visit our event.”

The Australian Go Congress was founded by Sang-Dae Hahn in 2015 and is supported by the Australian Go Association, the Sydney Go Club and the Sydney University Go Club. Check out a gallery of Congress photos here.

The second Australian Go Congress kicks off this Friday, January 15 and runs through the 19th at the Sydney Parramatta Novotel in Parramatta, NSW, Australia. The main tournament will be played over five days; in addition there will be other competitions, lessons and opportunities to play simultaneous games against some of the world’s top professional players. There is a substantial prize and gift pool across different divisions.

The Congress will be held in the heart of Parramatta, close to the central business district, restaurants and cafés. It is also close to Parramatta’s shopping centre and public transport. It takes just 30 minutes by train to reach Sydney’s Harbour Bridge, Opera House, harbour, casino and more.

To assist people on their first visit to Sydney, Congress organizers will also provide a free city tour. Click here for Congress details.

With five straights victories, Tom Chen 5D of Sydney swept the 2015 Australian Digital Championship. Open to players from Australia and New Zealand, the tournament was the first from either country held on the internet (KGS and OGS), and took place during the month of September. The reserve champion in second place was Ken Xie of New Zealand 5D with four victories, beating out third place Xin Lei 3D of UNSW by half a point of SOS. Kudos to the pack of players on four victories, including also Steven Yang of Sydney and Graeme Parmenter of Otago, and thanks to the other 18 survivors who competed through to the end of the tournament. Click here for final results, including SGF game records.

In the second division (handicap stronger than 4k) there was again one player with five victories, the Australian Digital Handicap Champion, Stephen Yang 4D. Second place was Rhys Davies 1D with four victories (except where he went up against Stephen Yang). In this division the peleton starts with Johnny Jiang 1D of Adelaide at third place on three victories, and Yanis Newman-Pache 3D of Southern Cross University Go Club, Harvey Wang 2D of Victoria Go Club, and Graeme Parmenter 4D of Otago University Go Club. Thanks also to the other half-dozen survivors for participating.

In the third division (beginners’ handicap) the winner was Zhenyu Liu 10k (!) of Melbourne University Go Club. Second place was Justin Luafutu 16K from Brisbane Go Club on four victories (crushed by the winner in the third round) and third place was Pan Zhao 8K from Melbourne (also on four victories, also went up against the winner). Thanks to the eleven other competitors who also played through to the end.

Tom Chen wins a free admission to the 2016 Australian Go Congress in January 2016, which handily enough is in his hometown of Sydney. Stephen Yang and Zhenyu Liu win free admission to the 2015 Australian Championships in December 2015 in Brisbane.
– Horatio Davis, Australian correspondent for the E-Journal 

There’s limited space for international competitors at the 2016 Australian Go Congress, set for January 15-19 at Novotel Sydney Parramatta in Sydney, Australia. There’s an early bird rate for those who book and pay prior to November 26. Apart from the go, Sydney and Australia are two of the world’s best tourism destinations, notes organizer Sang-Dae Hahn. The Congress will provide free tours and guides to participants.

“I hope that those of you who have always wanted to visit Australia but have never had a good enough excuse will take the opportunity to join us for what will be an outstanding event,” says Sang-Dae Hahn. “I look forward to seeing you in Sydney! For registration info, email ozgocongress@gmail.com. Click here to see photos and more from the 2015 Australian Go Congress.





Sang-Dae Hahn(韓相大) sdhahn@gmail.com