Play igo/weiqi/baduk, it's fun!
**UPPER VALLEY GO CLUB NEWSLETTER**
Welcome to the Upper Valley Go Club! The newsletter is getting a makeover. Henceforth, it will be sent out fortnightly on Friday, and will include a game to study, go problems, as well as a schedule of events for the coming weeks. To remove yourself from this e-mail list, please reply to goclub@plomp.com.
Check out our website at http://www.feustel.us/GO/ and http://senseis.xmp.net/?UpperValleyGoClub.
We are also listed on the AGA website: http://www.usgo.org/usa/ChapClub.asp?state=NH#listing.
*NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS*
1) POTENTIAL CHANGE IN MEETING TIME.
There has been talk of rescheduling our Wednesday meetings to Thursday (same schedule from 2pm to 8pm), as some of our members are unable to make it to the Wednesday time slot. Before we make any changes, we would like to check if there is any opposition to this idea. Please send me an e-mail(goclub@plomp.com) if either Thursday or Wednesday does not work for you. We will try to accommodate as many people as we can to get the best turnout. The Saturday study sessions and the Saturday meet-ups in Borders will continue to take place if one of the club organizers are able to show.
2) UPPER VALLEY GO CLUB TOURNAMENT 2006.
The UVGC will be holding its first ever American Go Association (AGA) Rating Tournament on Saturday June 24th 2006 (still tentative, will be confirmed soon). Try to make it if you can! Karen and Jing will be the tournament directors. The venue is to be at the Hanover Friends Meeting House (directions available at http://www.hanoverquakers.us/). There will be prizes (books on go) and trophies to be won, as well as the title of Upper Valley Go Club Tournament Champion! The tournament will be a 19x19 Handicap Tournament. Rules will be Japanese rules, with a komi of 7.5 points/moku. Time settings will be 45 minutes per player, with an overtime setting of canadian byo-yomi of 30 moves in 10 minutes (http://senseis.xmp.net/?CanadianByoyomi). Handicaps will be determined by rating or rank. If you are unsure of your rank and do not have an AGA rating, the tournament directors will give a quick rank assessment prior to the tournament. Registration will be from 9am to 10am.
There will be a tournament registration fee of $5 for all participants. All participants will also be required to have or to sign up for some form of AGA membership. Membership rates are given at https://secure.wui.net/usgo.org/membership/application2.asp. All members of the Upper Valley Go Club are eligible for Limited Membership at $15. If you are not willing to apply for AGA membership, you can still take part in the tournament by providing a Rating Fee of $5 (this is similar to one day membership in the AGA).
In terms of logistics, we have just about everything we need. The only thing that we have a shortage of are clocks. If you have access to chess clocks, please let Jing know (if you have not done so already).
Members of the UVGC are highly encouraged to participate. If you have no AGA rating, this will be a good time to get one, as well as to get membership in the AGA.
3) MGA SUMMER HANDICAP TOURNAMENT.
This will be on July 16th. There will be a ride down for anyone who wants to come with. It will be whole day affair in Boston (Somerville actually), and we will leave Hanover at or around 7.30 to make it in time for registration from 9-10am. The tournament starts at 10am. There will be a four games in all, and should end by about 6 or 7pm. We should be back in Hanover by 9pm or so. The tournament format is similar to ours above.http://www.massgo.org/tournaments.html
4) CLUB HANDICAP TABLE.
This has been taken this off Sensei's Library, primarily because it is too cumbersome to update a table on Sensei's. The latest edition is attached as a spreadsheet to this e-mail. The table serves as a rough guide as to the appropriate handicap between players. The table is primarily for regular attending members of our club rated approximately AGA 20k and below. Members are identified by their initials. The table will be updated monthly and sent out with the first newsletter of the month.
5) PUBLICITY
Continue to send goclub@plomp.com the names and e-mails of any friends you have who might be interested in our club.
*UPCOMING SCHEDULE*
06/03/06 (Sat): No study session.
06/07/06 (Wed): Regular Meetings at the Hopkins Center Cafeteria in Hanover near the Museum Shop from 2pm to 8pm
06/10/06 (Sat): Go Meet-up at Borders Cafe in West Lebanon 285 Plainfield Road from 2pm to 5pm
06/14/06 (Wed): Regular Meetings at the Hopkins Center Cafeteria in Hanover near the Museum Shop from 2pm to 8pm
An e-mail will be sent out if there are any changes in the schedule.
*GAME AND PROBLEMS*
1) The game to study is the Final Game of the 1995 Fujitsu World Championships between Ma Xiaochun 9p and Kobayashi Koichi 9p played in Tokyo, August 5th 1995. It is attached above. Commentary of the game can be found in the book "The World of Chinese Go" by Guo Juan 5p.
2) Problems 1.1 are the first 5 examples of myoshu (excellent moves) as illustrated in the book "100 Examples of Myoshu" taken from the stonebase database.
3) Problem 1.2 is courtesy of Daniel Short (Flameblade) from Rochester, NY.
*INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS AND BEGINNERS*
1) INTERNET GO.
a) The UVGC plays in real life, and rather actively on KGS and DGS. In general, avoid playing go on yahoo.
Remember to check out the UPPER VALLEY GO CLUB room on KGS (KISEIDO GO SERVER). http://kgs.kiseido.com/.
If you REGISTER A NEW ACCOUNT, please notify the club via e-mail or message jwaytogo on kgs so that you get access to our private UPPER VALLEY GO CLUB room on KGS.
The room can be found in:
Rooms ---> Room List ---> Clubs ---> Upper Valley Go Club
Then click "Join". Access will be available only after you notify us of your new id.
Current members in the room are:
Jing L: jwaytogo/ meijing/ lanke
Karen P: NannyOgg/ Imontoya/ GrannyWwax
Ed F: efeustel
Tony Y: ChiralSym
Jeremy H: nowan
Yongqiang Z: rabbit9
Mi S: circadian
Bert H: Connect
Jana K: Mikikitty
John P (and Jr): weicool/jackmani/redball
Patrick G: gohobo
Sean P: Rlibrarian
Jesse M: Lightstone
Alex H: teabag
Henry D: apemantus
Iliana F: Mosaica
Noel K: nkinnear
b) If you are on DGS (DRAGON GO SERVER), please continue to approach jwaytogo, ahenzel, nannyogg, efeustel, ChiralSym or nowan for a game. Other members are highly encouraged to make use of this resource. DGS is free and relatively easy to use.
http://www.dragongoserver.net/
c) To find other servers, be they in japanese, chinese, korean or english, check out:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoServers
2) RESOURCES FOR BEGINNERS.
These following resources are good if you are just starting out. They cover the rules and some basic strategies.
The Interactive Way to Go:
http://playgo.to/interactive/index.html
This is an interactive beginners lesson online. Available in multiple languages.
How to Play Go:
http://unkx80.netfirms.com/weiqi/howtoplaygo/
This is a 10 lesson beginners introduction to go in English available in .pdf format. The files can be used by anyone for non-commercial purposes at no cost.
Sensei's Library:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?FrontPage
This is a wiki on go and the largest resource for English-speaking go players online. There is a lot of information on the game here, and you are allowed to edit the pages if you have any questions or things to add to the ever-growing accumulation of go knowledge that exists on the internet.
On the front page of Sensei's, there are useful links for beginners.
3) SYLLABUS FOR LESSONS.
These are available if you show up to club and the study sessions. Beginners are all started on the 10 Lesson beginner syllabus (http://unkx80.netfirms.com/weiqi/howtoplaygo/). Players done with the beginner syllabus can move on to the intermediate and advanced syllabus.
If any of the current non-beginner members would like a refresher lesson out of the beginner or intermediate lesson plan, speak to Jing, Karen or Alex.
4) AGA MEMBERSHIP.
Since the UPPER VALLEY GO CLUB is a chapter of the AGA, all our members are eligible for a limited AGA (American Go Association http://www.usgo.org/) membership at $15 per annum. Full membership is $30/annum and there is a youth membership at $10/annum available to those under the age of 22. If you are interested in taking part in AGA
tournaments and getting an American rating, AGA membership is compulsory.
This is advised for the stronger players in our club, who feel you are in the 10k and better range, but everyone should feel free to join. Please speak to Jing, Karen or Alex about the benefits of membership if interested. If nothing else, promote the great game of go/baduk/weiqi in the US!
5) INVENTORY
Sets are stored in the Hood Museum coat closet next to the museum shop and occassionally Shakespeare Alley, which is open daily until 9pm. Anytime you want a game, feel free to take the sets out, but please put them back when you are done.
The inventory in the closet includes:
3 Ing's boards (yellow) 19x19 and 13x13 (on reverse side)
1 foldable/non-foldable wood board 19x19
2 sets of Ing's stones (1 set incomplete)
1 set of plastic stones
3 sets of glass stones
3 Ing's clocks
1 regular chess clock
Jing
Updated June 2, 2006