The COVID-19 edition
I hope this month finds everyone well and adapting to the new remote-working paradigm that has been hastily rolled out.
Physicality is Overrated
All local meetups are on hiatus given the current situation. With the IGA encouraging people to play online, some clubs are ramping up their virtual presence in response:
Galway have set up a club on OGS
Dublin will be meeting in the Irish room on KGS at their normal time (Weds 19:00)
Looking forward… April
The Corona Cup
JIGS is sponsoring an online open tournament on KGS. Registration closed with over 350 signups. Rounds continue weekly through the end of April. Progress can be tracked here.
Correspondence Championship
21 players across 4 divisions. Keep tabs through the OGS Ireland group
2020 Top 8 (Irish Championship)
The championship match between James and Matei has been postponed. Updates to follow.
Weekly Meetings
Galway – Tuesday 19:30 in Mc Swiggans
Cork – every other Tuesday* 20:30 in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Hall
Dublin – Wednesday 19:00 in Toners the Irish room on KGS
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College
10th PGETC
The first board of round 6 against Greece was brought forward a few days and won by Karl. Two of the remaining three boards were also wins for the team. This will apparently put Ireland back in second place once the leaderboard is updated.
Ireland faces Norway in the 7th and final round on 2020-05-05. A win there could mean a chance at promotion (possibly depending on other match outcomes) by challenging the second-last team in B League (currently the Netherlands).
Looking back… March
IGA website overhaul
The new incarnation is now live!
Irish Go Congress
Lucas Ye won both the Rapid and the Open, continuing to rack up wins after his victory in the Cork tournament at the end of last year. The BGA gave the occasion a brief mention.
2020 AGM
The minutes from this year’s AGM are now available
On the continent…
European Pro Online Go League
Artem has posted an article introducing this new professional league. Due to the cancellation of the Pro Championship, the League is now already underway. Progress can be tracked here.
European Youth Championship
Russia’s winning streak (all 5 previous tournaments!) has finally been broken by Germany.
1st China vs Europe Online Go Tournament
An introduction to this new tournament is available over on the EGF site, again by Artem.
EGC 2020 Update
The 2020 European Go Congress will take place in Ukraine from July 25th to August 9th
Go Retreat at Ask Island
The IGA has received an invitation from Antti Törmänen 1p to a unique Go retreat in Bergen, Norway, this August
polgote promotion
EGF pro Mateusz Surma is running a promotion “Stay at home. Study Go online. Don’t spread the virus.” This brings the hourly price for individual lessons to under €30
Tenuki
2020 Cross-Server/Federation Rank Survey
2 years since the 2018 survey – time for a redo – kindly share and repost!
AlphaGo to Zero
Redmond and Garlock have released Volume 1 of AlphaGo to Zero, the first of a 4-volume EPUB series. More info in this AGA article.
Coronavirus Impacts Tournaments
- Due to start in April, the Ing Cup has been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. The Ing Chang Ki Goe Educational Foundation said “the exact time will be announced after the epidemic is under control”.
- The World Amateur Women’s Go Championship, scheduled for early May, has been cancelled due to uncertainty of the Coronavirus.
- The 49th Amsterdam International Go Tournament will not now run in May as the Dutch government had forbidden all events until June 1st. It is set to return in 2021.
- According to the IGA, the Nihon Ki-in board is holding meetings to discuss whether to cancel or postpone international Go tournaments which are planned to take place in Japan in the coming months.
- The WAGC won’t be happening in Vladivostok this June – it’s now postponed until 2021.