American Go E-Journal » Europe

Go demonstrations and teaching games were featured at the recent London AnimeCon 2013, held at the Rocket Complex, London Metropolitan University from July 20-21. British Go Association (BGA) VP Tony Atkins and go and anime enthusiast Ben Murphy of Billaricay Go Club (“feather” on KGS) demonstrated the basic rules on 9×9 boards and then played against about 40 visitors, introducing subtleties like ko as they played. One novice was so immediately hooked that he downloaded a go app to practice overnight then asked Atkins for a return match the next day. Many were familiar with go from the anime/manga Hikaru No Go and some had even played before. Leaflets about the game were also handed out.

The exhibition was the initiative of 25-year-old BGA member Murphy, who approached the convention organizers, animeleague, who then invited the BGA to participate without charge. “It was a very interesting and fun experience teaching people and I really enjoyed seeing how much people enjoyed the game,” Murphy told the E-Journal. He hopes to be at next year’s event too, provisionally set for February 8-9 2014.
– Tony Collman, British Correspondent for the E-Journal. Graphic courtesy of animeleague.

A plan to move previously public material into a “members only” section of the British Go Association’s (BGA) website has sparked controversy. BGA president Jon Diamond recently announced that the the Association’s policies, minutes, and ratings would be moved to the new Members-Only section of the site, which would also include material not previously available on the site, including online versions of recent editions of the quarterly British Go Journal (BGJ) and annual accounts. The announcement of the plan to increase the value of BGA membership was made in an article in the BGJ’s latest issue, sparking a heated discussion on Gotalk, with the ratings move clearly the most hotly-debated. One poster characterized making the ratings list accessible only to members as “counter-productive,” another appealed for the Organisers’ Handbook to remain public, while another pointed out that much of the data about British players is already readily available on the European Go Database. Others, however, thought the move didn’t go far enough, suggesting that full tournament results should be available only to members. The “explosion of correspondence” prompted BGA Treasurer Toby Manning to appeal to participants in the debate to send him a brief summary of their views so that he can prepare a condensed report for the BGA Council’s consideration. Diamond tells the E-Journal that he expects to have a final determination this week about what will be moved to the Members-Only section. While American Go Association currently has no similar plans, AGA President Andy Okun says that the question of how to maximize membership value has been discussed previously, noting that, for example, game commentaries are distributed only in the E-Journal’s Member’s Edition.
– Tony Collman, British correspondent for the E-Journal

The 19th European Youth Go Championship (EYGC) will take place at a holiday camp, a peculiarly British institution, in the seaside resort of Bognor Regis on the south coast of England from March 28-31, 2014, The British Go Association has announced. This is a Class-A MacMahon tournament in six rounds for three age categories: U12, U16 and U20. The 2014 British Go Congress 2014, which includes the British Open, will be held on that Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30. Click here for this year’s EYGC results.
– Tony Collman