September

Posted on 2018-09-04 by John

Looking forward… September

Belfast Tournament
There will be a four-round one-day tournament in Belfast on Saturday September 29th

Galway Meetups
The group is now meeting every Tuesday evening at the Black Gate in Galway City. Kevin intends to keep their facebook page active, starting with a life or death problem from one of the club’s recent games.

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 20:00 in the Black Gate
Dublin – Wednesday 20:30 in Toners
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00 on OGS
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College

Looking back… August

EGF AGM
The EGF have posted some updates and the minutes are available. There is some related discussion on L19.

2018 Correspondance Tournament
Just a handful of games left

Tenuki

AlphaGo Monument
I had read about the touchscreen go table in Austria, but missed this installation entirely.

AlphaGo monument humanity future overlord
The AlphaGo sculpture in Vienna is the first monument in the world that is dedicated to AI

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August

Posted on 2018-08-01 by John

The annual “should I delay posting long enough for the EGF to release the AGM minutes?” edition

At time of release, the 2018 European Go Congress is ongoing. The 62nd incarnation is so big it has two Twitch steams.

Looking forward… August

[insert breaking Go news here]
*tumbleweed*

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:00. Those interested should email info [at] alexander [dot] ie or call Richard on 091 555800 to confirm
Dublin – Wednesday 20:30 in Toners
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00 on OGS
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College

Looking back… July

EGF AGM
This took place last night. No sign of minutes yet, but the agenda remains available.

2018 Correspondance Tournament
The majority of games appear to be wrapping up

Tenuki

Twitch Plays Go
The AGA report about an all-day Go livestream. It was a few months ago, but the article has archive links.

ELF OpenGo
Facebook’s open-source bot has beaten Pros

Final Move
AlphaGo’s real endgame

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Four questions for everyone

Posted on 2018-08-01 by John

While rummaging about online, allegedly writing this month’s bulletin, I came across an interesting set of questions posing as a rules of thumb…

Four questions to decide your strategy

1.Do you have a weak group?
If yes, reinforce it.

2.Does your opponent have a weak group?
If yes, plan to attack it.

3.Can you make a big territorial move?
If yes, do it.

4.Could your opponent make a big territorial move or does s/he have a big territory?
Try to prevent, destroy or reduce it with appropriate measures.

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July

Posted on 2018-07-03 by John

Summer “Overcompensating for Emma” Edition

I couldn’t find any reports of goban spontaneously bursting into flames (at least, not with pictures) but I’m keeping mine in the fridge until August, just in case…

This issue moves further away from the old-style links in an effort to improve the layout. This has the dubious benefit of letting me liberally scatter more links throughout the bulletin without breaking up what little content there is. It may also make editing easier; ask me in a few issues. Everything looks fine posted on CorkGo, but do let me know if anyone has issues following the links from any particular email client.

European Go Yearbook
A source at the EGF confirmed that plans for further yearbooks have been shelved for now. There is speculation about making the existing one available as an ebook after the next congress. Meanwhile, there are still some physical copies available from https://www.eurogofed.org/yearbook/

Looking forward… July

EGF AGM
This will take place on 2018-07-31 in Pisa, Italy.
Agenda
There is a discussion over on L19 started by Ian (of course) about two ratings proposals.

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:00. Those interested should email info [at] alexander [dot] ie or call Richard on 091 555800 to confirm
Dublin – Wednesday 20:30 in Toners
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00 on OGS
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College

IGA Internet Tournament
https://www.facebook.com/groups/213994972070977/permalink/1209837599153371/

Looking back… June

2018 Top 8
There is a brief note regarding Cian’s blitzkrieg over on the IGA site.
Tibi has also posted photos on facebook:
Round#1
Round#2
Round#3
Round#4

2018 Top 8 Go Tournament

2018 Correspondance Tournament
Keep tabs at https://senseis.xmp.net/?IrishCorrespondence

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June

Posted on 2018-06-04 by John

Observant readers will have noticed that there was no bulletin for May. Real life got in the way. I’ll try not to let it happen again…
The email version of this edition may look a little different. Let me know if anyone has trouble viewing it.

Looking forward… June

IGA Internet Tournament
https://www.facebook.com/groups/213994972070977/permalink/1209837599153371/

Further ahead… July

EGF AGM
This will take place on 2018-07-31 in Pisa, Italy. Agenda available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qYqtlX12Ml3pxs5HIInk9bhFdh9_c58h76Etp0gnIgI/edit

Weekly Meetings

Galway – Tuesday 19:00. Those interested should email info [at] alexander [dot] ie or call Richard on 091 555800 to confirm
Dublin – Wednesday 20:30 in Toners – http://www.irish-go.org/clubs-tournaments/dublin/
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00 on OGS – http://www.irish-go.org/clubs-tournaments/online/
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College – https://www.facebook.com/groups/213994972070977/permalink/917134471757020/

Meetings in Cork seem to have petered out for now.

Looking back… April/May

PGETC
Ireland beat Morocco 3-1 in round 8, followed by a draw against Belarus in round 9, finishing 6th of 9 in League D – http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/draw/73

PGETC Rule Violation Update
The previous decision (that Carlo Metta used Leela computer software to assist him) has been overturned by the appeals committee – http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/403

WAGC 39
Ireland was represented by Michael (2k) who placed 48th in a field of 61 – http://www.irish-go.org/2018/05/04/39th-world-amateur-go-championships/

Rank Survey Results
Results from the cross-server and international rank survey run by OGS are available – https://idex.github.io/go-rank-survey/go-survey-results

LeelaZero
The EGF have posted an interview with LZ’s creator – https://www.eurogofed.org/index.html?id=205

2018 Correspondance Tournament
Keep tabs at https://senseis.xmp.net/?IrishCorrespondence

Go Meme of the Week
go memes

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April

Posted on 2018-04-05 by John

Looking forward… April

Irish Championship Overhaul
The format for this is under review, with four options presented so far – https://docs.google.com/document/d/13Icw60TGUxF2FlI1AmxdOXu9mGgJ780atea3ZGdjUJA/edit

PGETC Round 8
Opponents for round 8 will be Morocco on April 17th – http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/448

Go Server Rank Survey
OGS are running a rank survey to compare across online servers and real world associations – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQwUR1N2-QuDpYS6H0Nc7wTjAHCFzJoUdROkv-I1ETgZ_R0A/viewform

2018 Worldwide Iwamoto Awards
Go projects may be nominated online for this international contest until the end of May – http://www.iwamoto-awards.com

Weekly Meetings

Cork – Monday 19:00 in Mr Bradley’s on Barrack Street – https://www.facebook.com/groups/191875150950
Galway – Tuesday 19:00. Those interested should email info [at] alexander [dot] ie or call Richard on 091 555800 to confirm
Dublin – Wednesday 20:30 in Toners – http://www.irish-go.org/clubs-tournaments/dublin/
Online – Thursday 20:00-22:00 on OGS – http://www.irish-go.org/clubs-tournaments/online/
Stillorgan – Sunday 14:00-18:00 at PingZone, St Benildus College – https://www.facebook.com/groups/213994972070977/permalink/917134471757020/

Looking back… March

Confucius Cup & AGM
In brief, the Rapid was cancelled, the main tournament ran in a reduced format, and the AGM was postponed.

PGETC Rule Violation
A player in League A has been banned after it was ruled that he used computer software to assist him in his Round 4 game – http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/403

2018 Correspondance Tournament
Keep tabs at https://senseis.xmp.net/?IrishCorrespondence

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Confucius Cup Aftermath

Posted on 2018-03-09 by John

Ian has posted a writeup of the weekend over at the IGA site:

For the ordinary player, the Confucius Cup is normally the highlight of the year’s competition calendar. Unfortunately this year we were the target of the disruptive storm Emma. The early forecasts suggested that we would be able to carry on as normal, but by Thursday all the airports had shut down, roads and railways became impassable, and a Red Alert was put in place countrywide by Met Eirann. As a result the Irish Rapid was cancelled and the Confucius Cup was only able to run in a reduced format. As usual, the Xiangqi competition ran alongside the Go, but it too was run in a reduced format. The Annual General Meeting was planned to take place during the event, but it too had to be cancelled given the weather.

Lukáš Podpěra (7-dan) emerged as the winner this year, collecting 200 euros by way of reward for managing to travel across to Dublin from the Czech Republic. In second place was Yishen Wang (5-dan), whilst Geoffrey Crespino (2-kyu) came in third. The final results can be seen at 2018 Tournament Results

Beyond that, the hard work of Prof. Liming Wang and the Confucius Institute in securing invites for professional players and special guests from China did not go amiss. Liu Shizhen (7-pro) and Chen Tianhui (6-dan) were both too strong to be stopped by a closed airport. They arrived and entertained with simultaneous games and teaching. Thanks go out to the organisers John Gibson, Arthur Cater, Carol Doyle, and referee Tony Atkins.

*** UPDATE ***

BGA writeup – Snow Almost Defeats Irish Open

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