Supreme High Overlord of the Brisbane Go Club, and owner/operator of PacifiGo, I enjoy many different types of games, really enjoy psychology and occasionally help run various go events around the place
Every year, we like to have at least one tournament that doesn’t cost entrants anything to enter. This tradition started with the Jenny Yang Realty Cup, and has continued with the PacifiGo Perennial. The last couple of years have been… rough… for this tradition (can’t imagine why), but this year we are determined to have a full roster of tournaments. Thus, we are happy to announce a date and venue for this year’s PacifiGo Perennial!
On the 28th of May, players will descend on the nice room of Comics Plus at 478 Ipswich Road, Annerley for a day of go, conversation and general fun times!
Details are still being hammered out, we’ll let you know when we do. But that date is as set in stone as anything is these days, so mark your calenders and study your tesuji!
This Saturday – the 23rd of April – the QGS will be promoting go/baduk to the masses at the Experience Korea festival! In partnership with PacifiGo we will have a stall for people to drop by, learn a little about the game, pick up a set, and maybe make some friends!
I’m really happy to be starting events like this again after the last couple of years, but these only work if we have volunteers to show up and do the actual work! So if you have time, drop by and help out, even if only for a little while. We generally have drinks available for people who help out, so this is a good way to experience the festival, get some go in, and have some free drinks!
The 42nd Queensland Go Championships will be held on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of March, 2022, at the major downstairs gaming room of Comics Plus, Shop 18 Annerley Arcade at 478 Ipswich Road, Annerley. The tournament director is Horatio Davis (horatio@go.org.au, 0466 983 474).
This is the state championship, and competitors who are AGA members will earn rank and rating increments for playing, and international representative points for placing in the divisions. There will be:
an open division in six rounds for players from 2k to 7d in strength, three rounds (60 minutes main time plus 3×30 seconds byoyomi) on the first day and hopefully we will need three rounds on the second day.
a handicap division for players from 25k to 2d in strength in five rounds (30 minutes main time plus 3×30 seconds byoyomi) on the first day. Up to nine stones handicap and 0.5 points komi to white, 6.5 points komi for even games.
the annual general meeting of the Queensland Go Society during lunch on the first day; this includes elections of officers, reports from the last batch, and hopefully not too much general business. Email any business to horatio@go.org.au who will put it on the agenda.
Registration is $25 for early bird players registered by 5th March ($20 concessions), and $30 on the day ($25 concessions).
Concession registration is available to juniors, students, unemployed and pensioners.
Registration includes tea, coffee, snacks, lunch and voting membership of the Queensland Go Society.
RSVP in advance, pay on the day.
If you are not attending the Queensland Open but wish to maintain voting membership of the Queensland Go Society, please forward the $20 annual fee to before the meeting along with your details (name, club, email address or mailing address or both, and rank). Paypal to horatio@go.org.au or bank transfer to ANZ bank account 290 909 051, BSB 014281.
Saturday 12th March
9am – room opens 9:30am – draw 10am – open round 1, handicap round 1 11:15am – handicap round 2 12:30 to 1:30pm – lunch break (BYO or buy nearby) (2022 Queensland Go Society Annual General Meeting while we eat) 1:30pm – open round 2, handicap round 3 2:45pm – handicap round 4 4pm – open round 3, handicap round 5 6pm – handicap division awards ceremony
Sunday 13th March.
9am – room opens 10am – open round 4 12:30 to 1:30pm – lunch break (BYO or buy nearby) 1:30pm – open round 5 4pm – open round 6 6:30pm closing ceremony
Hey all! Just a quick note to update you on the change of rules for Brisbane Go Club Meetings for the next few weeks or so (hopefully).
The short version is, we will be requiring people to wear masks at meetings when not actively eating or drinking, at least until case numbers drop a bit.
The longer version:
For the last few weeks/months, we’ve been pretty chill about whether people wear masks or not. Part of this is because the risk has seemed pretty low, part of it is we generally trust our members to make their own assessment of risk based on their individual circumstances, part is distaste about telling people what to do (something we have far too much of these days). But at time of writing, QLD has nearly 400 locally acquired active cases, and all indications are that those numbers are going to continue to grow very quickly. And while, again, all indications are that the rate of serious disease is very, very low, simply being infected can seriously affect a person’s life – inability to work, etc. And as has been pointed out, go is a circumstance that is just likely to spread infections – people facing each other, only a couple feet apart, can be talking, inside so poorly ventilated, etc.
So, until case numbers drop (my current rule of thumb is to below 100, but that’s pretty arbitrarily chosen so suggestions are very welcome), we’re going to be insisting that people wear masks at meetings. We have a box of surgical masks that people are more than welcome to grab one from if they need it, and we’ll continue to provide hand sanitiser etc.
Not that this only applies to Brisbane Go Club. The QGS explicitly does not tell its clubs what to do, and encourages them to make their own assessment based on their own situations.
As always, we strongly encourage you to make your own choices based on your individual circumstances. I don’t know your life, I don’t pretend to be an expert. If you decide that going to meetings is too risky, that’s totally fine! We have a Discord server, which while it’s not as fun as playing in person, is better than playing randoms, especially with the voice chat function.
I have recently come across this tool, which helps you judge the relative risk of various outings etc. It’s of necessity going to not fit every circumstance, but taken as a starting point I think it’s pretty good?
The Brisbane Go Club Ladder will be launched at the meeting this Tuesday evening (the 8th of June, 2021). There will be two ladders: Open and Handicap available. Participation in both is encouraged and free!
Open
Handicap
Maximum Handicap
0
9
Komi
6.5
0.5 with stones, 6.5 if even
Ruleset
Japanese
Japanese
The full rules are below, but if you wish to participate, either let whoever is running the meeting (usually Allan) know at the meeting, or send him an e-mail at secretary@brisbane.go.org.au.
The intent of this ladder is to have a bit of fun, while encouraging friendly competition and desire to improve. There will absolutely still be casual games being played, and as usual the QGS Code of Conduct still applies (summary: don’t be intentionally unpleasant or disruptive, at least without a really good reason). As always, suggestions are welcome!
Rules
Initial starting point will be done by local rank, with reference to AGA or OGS rank if necessary. People joining later will be inserted by estimated rank. If rank cannot be easily estimated, they will begin at the bottom rank
Only games played at club meetings will be valid
Only games agreed upon by both players beforehand will be valid ladder challenges
People can only challenge for positions within 5 levels of their current position
e.g. Sam currently occupies position 7. They can challenge for positions 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, but not 8 or 1. They can be challenged by the people occupying the positions 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12.
If a game cannot be completed by the end of the meeting for whatever reason, either:
The game will be a “no result”
The game will be paused and completed at the next club meeting
The players must agree which decision. If they cannot, the person running the meeting will be the final arbiter. If a game cannot be completed at the next club meeting, then the game will be declared a “no result”
Players must record their names, current ranks, and result. Kifu is preferred (via paper or sgf format) but not required
If a person does not participate in a ladder game for 8 consecutive weeks, they will be removed from the ladder
Re-entry can occur by challenging the person at the position they held previously or up to 3 positions higher. If they fail, they will occupy a position double the level they used to occupy
e.g. Kim occupied position 3 on the Open ladder, but could not participate in games for long enough to drop off the ladder. They challenge Leigh, who currently occupied position 1, but lose the game. Kim re-joins the ladder at position 6. If Kim had won, they would have taken position 1, with Leigh taking position 2, and the ladder adjusting as normal
It is generally expected that people will participate in the ladder in good faith and general spirit of sportsmanship. The intent of the ladder is to encourage a spirit of friendly competition and desire for improvement
Any ambiguities or decisions that need to be made will be made by whoever is running the meeting. Those decisions may be appealed to the QGS Council, if desired.
Current positions will be displayed at both meetings and on the BGC website
The winners of each ladder will be awarded at the end-of-year Christmas party if one is held. If one is not held, they will be awarded at the last meeting of the year
On the 19th of January, the Brisbane Go Club had the first pizza night meeting for the year! It was a relatively quiet night, with 9 attendees, including both strong players like Heiwei Yang (6d) and Elizabeth Patrick (2d), and beginners like Rhuaidi Burke.
Everyone had a lot of fun, and much pizza was eaten! Thankfully, Supreme High Overlord Allan was saved from the temptation of having to take the leftover pizza home by the generosity of Brenton Robert.
We also had a bittersweet evening, with the re-emergence of Justin Shin, a member who has been too caught up saving lives to play go for several months. He is apparently leaving for Melbourne, and wanted to say goodbye to his friends, including Horatio “Hora-Hora” Davis. He will be missed, and we wish him all the luck in Melbourne.
