[Newsletter] BGA Newsletter 270. September 2020

[Jil Segerman]

FROM THE EDITOR

Contributions are always welcome, both from our members and others. We ask
that they be Go-related and "newsy". The place for debate and general
discussion is the BGA open mailing list Gotalk. However, an introduction to
a new topic is fine in the Newsletter. A brief introduction to Gotalk, with
a link for joining, is on the BGA page Go on the Internet
<https://www.britgo.org/gopcres/info#mail>. See also the BGA temporary
Coronavirus
page <http://www.britgo.org/coronavirus>.

*Instructions for Contributors:* Please use plain text not
file-attachments. Keep it fairly brief, and give web-links and contact
details. It's good to include pictures. If they are on the internet, send
me the URL, otherwise attach the picture files to your email. Send your
contribution to newsletter at britgo.org to arrive by the first day of the
month.

Jil Segerman
NEWS

The full set of recent news items, including further details of some of the
items shown here, are on our News Pages <http://www.britgo.org/news>, and
on News Headlines <http://www.britgo.org/views/news>.
Online Teams League: New Deadline

The Online Teams League is still accepting entries for the new season.
Deadline is extended until the end of September to allow more teams to
enter. For more information or to enter your team, contact Matt Marsh:
matt at crazedbytes.net
MSO

This year the Mind SPorts Olympiad was held on line, with three Go events,
each on a different size board. The 9x9
<http://www.britgo.org/results/2020/mso9> and 13x13
<http://www.britgo.org/results/2020/mso13> were both won by Italians, Carlo
Metta and Alessandro Pace, and after an exciting play off between Hiroki
Kanno and Lucas Neirynck, it was Hiroki from Hong Kong who took the 19x19
<http://www.britgo.org/results/2020/mso> Gold.
UK Youth Go Players Online

The "Supergo" match on KGS <http://britgo.org/junior/chinamatch2020> between
twelve British youth players and a team of twelve Chinese youth players
continued throughout July and into August. After the strong runs of some of
our early players, the Chinese last player Li Yuze won six games in a row
to set up a final against our last player, Jayden Ng (British Youth
Champion). After an exciting game Jayden won by 11.5 to complete the match
in our favour. Our congratulations go to all who took part and our thanks
to the youngsters from the The Li Ang Go Collection Team for playing us.
Zherui Xu Wins His Second 2020 Online Event

29 players took part in the BGA's third online tournament, played one game
a day over the August bank-holiday weekend, 29th - 31st August. Zherui Xu
(4d Cambridge) came out as winner for the second time in these online
tournaments and won a £25 Amazon voucher. Second place went to Mark
Baoliang Zhang (1k Manchester) and third to Yangran Zhang (3d Manchester).
Other prize winners were: Teague Johnstone (6k), Steve Andrews (14k) and
David Wildgoose (10k) all from Sheffield, also Gérold Nicolasen (10k
Utrecht) and Gene Wong (3k West London).
Youth Go Server

Although there are many servers catering for adults, for some time we have
been concerned that there is nothing specifically aimed at children, and a
fortuitous conversation with someone from the American Go Association
indicated that they felt the same way. A small task force, consisting of
BGA and AGA members, has therefore been established to develop a Go Server
which will be specifically aimed at children aged 6 - 13. The development
will be based on the OGS architecture, and will be done on a commercial
basis; the Castledine-Barnes Trust will contribute 25% of the cost, with
the American Go Foundation (the charitable arm of the AGA) contributing the
rest. The BGA will share fulll intellectual property rights to the
development with the AGF.

One of the development requirements is a simple exposition of the rules,
and the task force is looking for an exposition suitable for the target age
range. If you feel you can help, please contact the BGA Youth Committee (
youth at britgo.org).
London Mind Sports Centre

During the past 3 years, the London Go Centre has been hosted at the Young
Chelsea Bridge Club in Shepherd's Bush. A group of bridge players (mostly
YCBC members) are now seeking to purchase premises in Hammersmith (close to
Ravenscourt Park tube station), and to convert it into a Mind Sports
Centre. Subject to final agreement of terms, the London Go Centre would be
an integral part of it. The proposed building is an old Salvation Army
citadel, on the market for £1.95M. The proposal is that the T Mark Hall
Foundation <https://tmhallfoundation.org.uk/> would provide £400,000
towards the purchase price (and would hence own a share in the building),
leaving about £40K for other Go-related purposes. The remaining money would
come mostly from private investors in the bridge (and, hopefully, chess)
communities. Although most of the building would be devoted to Mind Sports,
part of it would be let on a commercial basis to provide an income.

Although the offer is due to be made in mid-September, there is of course
no guarantee that it will be accepted.
Club Meetings at the London Go Centre

<http://www.britgo.org/files/2020/on.jpg>

Gerry Gavigan reports on a trial meeting, with social distancing and masks
etc. This was in accordance with the club's coronavirus risk assessment,
available via a link on the club website <http://gocentre.londongo.club/>.
The photo shows an opening night game in progress with each player
distanced and with their own equipment. Anyone wishing to attend a future
meeting should first email londongocentre at gmail.com to check whether the
meeting is on.
ADMINOnline Teams League: New Deadline

The Online Teams League is still accepting entries for the new season.
Deadline is extended until the end of September to allow more teams to
enter. For more information or to enter your team, contact Matt Marsh:
matt at crazedbytes.net
BGA Journal

Pat Ridley, new British Go Journal editor, writes: The British Go Journal
would be grateful to receive articles and letters for its Autumn edition.
The copy date is extended until 28th September. If you are planning an
article, please let the me know by sending an email to journal at britgo.org,
which is also the address for your contributions.

We thank Bob Scantlebury for being editor of the Journal for the last 22
editions.
The 2020 British Championship has been abandoned

Matt Marsh writes: "We are still unsure when it would be viable to run a
sensible British Championship with face-to-face first stage. We also don't
feel that there would be sufficient participation to support an online
tournament instead. We therefore felt it right to cancel this year's
championship altogether. *All players who were eligible to play in the 2020
Championship will automatically qualify for the 2021 Championship.* Any
additional players who qualify this year (e.g. through online tournaments
or through future face-to-face tournaments) will of course also be added to
the list."
BGA Analyst

Paul Barnard, who has been our Analyst since 2014 , is standing down from
the role for health reasons. The BGA is therefore looking for a dan player
to take over the role. If you think you might be interested, please contact
player-development-chair at britgo.org to discuss.
EVENTS COMING SOON

*NOTE: Coronavirus*

BGA policy is that face-to-face tournaments are not appropriate in the
current circumstances.

The latest UK guidance on meetings
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing#rules-in-other-venues-and-activities>
(published
9th September 2020 and effective from 14th) is that meetings of up to 6
people, and educational meetings of more than 6, are now possible. In the
case of face-to-face play, the requirements of this guidance and HSE Advice
<https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/assets/docs/risk-assessment.pdf>, are
extensive. Furthermore, even with full legal compliance, a tournament still
adds to the general risk of infection. This is felt to be irresponsible,
particularly now, as the incidence of Covid-19 appears to be on the
increase.

The BGA's general advice on playing Go during the disease outbreak
<http://www.britgo.org/files/Coronavirus2.pdf> is due for revision, as it
was last updated on 28 June 2020. The links to government advice are still
good.

The face-to-face events listed below have not yet been cancelled, because
they may be able to go ahead. Tournament organisers will be responsible for
safety, and legal compliance.

Various Online events are being planned.

*Events not cancelled* at time of going to press include:
*THIS MONTH*
*OCTOBER*
UK Go Challenge Finals (online)
*NOVEMBER*
Online Youth
T Mark Hall Rapid Play, London
Bar-Low, London
*DECEMBER*
British Youth Go Championship (online)
Edinburgh Xmas
London Open

*LATER*
April, British Go Congress
June, Welsh Open
August, Youth Training Residential
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