Every Saturday from 2 to 4 pm in Teen Central at our Central Library, the Go Club meets to learn and play the game of Go. People have been playing it for 4,000 years in Asia, so it's got a few things going for it...Also, if you have seen the anime or read the manga of Hikaru No Go, you've seen the game itself in its Japanese form.

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, we had our spring ratings tournament, The tournament had eighteen players, including our 13 x 13 division for beginning players.

The day also featured the presentation of the medals and trophy for our Ing Tournament team. Our team won the overall team competition, as well as three of the ten gold medals in the individual competition.

Individual winners were presented their medals, along with CDs from competition sponsor Universal Vivendi. The team trophy, showing that our club was the 2009 overall winner, will be on display this summer in our Central library.

For participating in the tournament, our library Go club has been presented with gift certificates to spend on Go equipment and books.

Our Ing Tournament team consisted of:

Team A:
Joseph D. Jan
Corey Young
Kyle Young

Team B:
William Bremer
Nick Bruno
Jonathan Luc

Team C:
Brandy Kerr
Dani Kerr
Kelly [Nicole] Kerr

Team D:
Oliver Collings
Kevin Liou
David Schery

Individual competition medalists [l to r] were:

Dani Kerr [Gold Medalist, novice division 2]
Kelly [Nicole] Kerr [Gold Medalist, novice division 1]
Jonathan Luc [Gold Medalist, junior varsity division 1]

Below are pictures of the team certificates. Click to enlarge.

Ratings tournament winners for May were:

13 x 13 division

1st place: Alan Kerr
2nd place: Anton Lou
3rd place: tie between Joshua Schery and Tiffany Kerr

Intermediate Division

1st place: Nicky Kerr
2nd place: Brandy Kerr
3rd place: Aditya Nachiappan

Advanced Division

1st place: J. D. Jan
2nd place: Jack Cai
3rd place: Corey Young

Tournament participants, May 30th, along with judge Alf Mikula.


First round games in progress, May 30th.

Go Tournament photos by Nick Smith

Go is easy to learn and a fun challenge to play. You can play in person, but some people even play over the internet. Learn the game, play for fun, and compete against others.

Teens who come regularly can get their own practice board with magnetic pieces, good for carrying in your backpack and working out tricky problems, so that you can beat your friends next game.

Here are some of the electronic resources you can use:

		The American Go Association site, with lots of info about the game and the players around the country
		Go Problems to solve, a good way to learn more about the game
		Sensei's Library, a good site for learning more about how to play
		Tiger's Mouth, a site for kids and teens all about the game of Go
		Internet resource list from the American Go Association
		PlayGo, with interactive lessons
		KGS, where you can play opponents around the world via the Net

14 August 2009