Wednesday April 8, 2020
“All are welcome to participate in the AGHS’s weekly go problems program,” says Promotion Head Sophia Wang, “In addition to playing games, practicing go problems is critical to improving reading and practicing new skills. A Google form with a go problem will be sent via email every Sunday with different problems for each level (beginner, intermediate, and advanced).” Sign up for the email list here by April 18, 2020 11:59 pm PT to have a chance at earning points towards prizes.
Wednesday April 8, 2020
The coronavirus lockdown has inspired creativity in developers, and Shawn Ray has released a Go club simulator that is designed to give online players more of an in-person Go club feel. After being inspired by Haskell Small’s pioneering use of Zoom for Go club meetings as published in our story on Sunday, Ray was inspired to create an online space for players to interact without building in the usual rules by which Go servers are bound.
A note to Go clubs trying to use this as a way to have a club meeting: please watch Ray’s YouTube video describing this venture and explaining the technical details that you may need in order to make this work. The games in play are not governed by any rule-sets and allow players to interact with each other as the might do in person. Ray recommends that his service be used in conjunction with a voice or video chat service such as Skype or Zoom so that players can speak with each other and work out any issues while using the platform.
Monday April 6, 2020
Baltimore Go Club head Keith Arnold has announced that the Maryland Open will be postponed in light of the coronavirus outbreak. “With a heavy heart, the Maryland Open, the AGA’s longest running tournament, will be taking a year off,” says Arnold. “I will miss all of you and plan to be back, better than ever, next year.”
Saturday April 4, 2020
The AGA is seeking strong players to participate in an online team tournament against players from the Chinese Weiqi Association. The team will consist of six players, of which at least one will be female and at least one will be under 18 years old. The dates are April 15th and 16th at 9:30 EDT / 6:30 PDT each day. Games will be played on the Tencent – Fox Go Server (English Version). A setup tutorial video is available on Youtube. Players should contact tournaments@usgo.org to express interest by Friday, April 10.
Sunday March 29, 2020
For many players, online play can lack a sense of ownership and connection, but a group of east coast players led by Haskell Small (right) is testing the limits of Zoom’s ability to bring groups together by making online play feel as ‘in-person’ as possible. By creatively positioning computer cameras, players were able to play on real boards with real stones in the first of a recurring Friday night ‘REAL Go’ club.
The camera feed was not a perfect solution for board sharing; “The board is distorted near the ends and we couldn’t see each others’ faces without leaning over, “admits Small, “but except for a few moves near the edges that needed to be clarified, this arrangement sufficed for being able to play the game without needing to relay moves aurally.”
“We limited it this time to only 4 players at a time,” says Small. “More than this might be difficult to manage, but I think doable by selecting individual participants’ video and muting others.” Here are a few tips from Haskell Small to simplify this approach:
Small encourages other clubs who enjoy the tactile experience of playing with real equipment to attempt this approach and share feedback. “Of course this is still not as good as playing in person,” admits Small, “but for those of us who find playing online impersonal and prefer playing on a physical board, this was great! The games flowed easily and conversation was fluent, and perhaps that is the main advantage of this paradigm – we didn’t have to sacrifice the party atmosphere of a club environment. I had a blast (and won both of my games)!”
-photo by Betsy Small
Saturday March 28, 2020
“We have used this pandemic as an opportunity to make connections between our Go club and other regional clubs,” reports Stephan Tanner of the Walla Walla Go Club. “Last week, in place of our usual in-person gatherings, the Walla Walla Go Club of Walla Walla, Washington and the Grande Ronde Go Club of La Grande, Oregon met online for a ‘Social Isolation Swiss’ tournament on OGS. Next week we plan to do the same and invite the Idaho Go Club of Boise, Idaho to join us as well.”
“I’d encourage other clubs to see this as an opportunity!” Tanner continues. “Contact another club in your area or in the next state over and arrange to meet online. Use this as a way to strengthen the connections in regional Go communities.”
How are you coping with the COVID-19 pandemic? Playing more online go? Studying more? Producing online go content? We’d especially like to hear if you’re streaming on Twitch or posting videos to YouTube. Email us today at journal@usgo.org. We’ll share the best tips and ideas with your fellow go players!
Wednesday March 25, 2020
NYIG_Go, the YouTube channel of the New York Institute of Go and the New York Go Association, launched a brand-new series, ‘Epic Battle,’ earlier this week on March 22. This series, produced, directed, and edited by Allen Moy, features professional 1-dan players Stephanie Yin and Ryan Li facing off one another while proving viewers with both players’ perspectives and commentaries; similar to the successful New Year’s special video. Following each game, Stephanie and Ryan will give their reviews of the entire match and their strategies, as well as adding some entertainment and chemistry to the video. Videos are expected to be posted on Mondays and Fridays.
Monday March 16, 2020
Go players are coming up with creative ways to keep playing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Go Center in Washington DC is “working to set up both formal and informal offline play,” reports Gurujeet Khalsa. “We have a room on the KGS Go Server where anyone can go. For those of you already familiar with KGS, if you sign in, go to the Rooms Menu, then Room List, you will get a pop-up menu to select a room. Our room is under Clubs on that menu. Click on Clubs and then scroll down to National Go Center.”
There’s also a National Go Center presence on Discord, the free application that many gamers use for voice communication and text chat. It is a good supplement to KGS. KGS has a voice option but the quality is somewhat spotty. Click here for the NGC Discord. “Folks can meet and play informally on KGS anytime,” Khalsa adds. “We’ve been having discussions with the Seattle Go Center and others and are looking at some inter-league type play as well.”
Meanwhile, in New York City, organizer Peter Armenia has created a Gotham Go Group – Manhattan group on OGS (Online Go Server). “So maybe folks can meet there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to keep as much normalcy in these less than normal times as possible,” says Armenia. “I don’t normally play go online, but I will try to be there to get a game with some familiar faces.”
Armenia adds that “Some folks are talking about getting a KGS Gotham Go Group room going. If that happens I will let you know.”
And this just in from Jonathan Hop: “I just wanted to drop you guys a line and let you know I opened my new site.” The subscription service provides full access to the video library, go problem sets, and a dashboard to track your progress in different skills. “It’d definitely give people something to do while we’re all practicing social distancing!” says Hop.
Got go news? Email it to journal@usgo.org!
Saturday March 14, 2020
The following statement has been released by the American Go Association’s Board of Directors.
“Generally, the AGA considers promoting face-to-face go to be one of it’s biggest priorities. As COVID-19 has progressed, however, it has become clear that practicing social distancing is something that everyone needs to do for their health and the health of those around them.
With that in mind, the AGA is encouraging folks to cancel or postpone all planned club and tournament events in March and April. This is a developing situation that is changing weekly (and lately daily), and we hope that we will be able to resume in-person play soon – once the pandemic has subsided.
The Seattle Go Center in Seattle and the National Go Center in Washington, DC have both suspended tournaments and face-to-face play and are closely monitoring the situation. Updates are at seattlego.org and nationalgocenter.org.
At this time, the AGA is making no recommendations about events in May or any time after that. Preparations for the US Go Congress in Estes Park at the beginning of August are continuing, even as we develop contingency plans in case the effects of the pandemic continue into the summer. Congress staff are working closely with the YMCA and monitoring recommendations from public officials. Colorado has declared a state of emergency and recommended postponing gatherings of 250 or more for the time being.
Stay safe – and maybe take this opportunity to rediscover online go playing, read some go books, and watch some of the many videos available on Twitch and YouTube!”
Friday March 13, 2020
Self-Isolation? Recovering from St Patty’s Day? Miss other sporting events? Logon to Pandanet this Sunday March 15th at 3pm EST/12pm PST and watch some go! Many of the country’s top players are playing throughout the day. Check out our schedule pages for your favorite players and local teams for the times they’re playing.
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