[Newsletter] BGA Newsletter 271 October 2020

[Jil Segerman]

This issue is also available at http://www.britgo.org/newsletter/271

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>.
Second Youth Squad Training Tournament

We held our second online British youth training tournament on 6th
September, reports Alison Bexfield. Any British youth player who has
reached at least 20 kyu in strength is invited to these events, where we
run a three round tournament online with even games to test the players in
tournament conditions and see who has been improving. We expect players
wanting to be selected for the British Youth Team to try to participate in
these events.

This time we were missing some of our top players who were in transit back
to schools, but still had an excellent turnout of 32 players (including our
ghost) and we had a closely fought top group with six players all around 3
kyu in strength. This group included a couple of players who have risen
rapidly in strength over the past six months. One of these rising stars,
Sam Barnett (U16, Cheadle Hulme), was undefeated to take first place. Other
players who finished on three wins included Megan Upton (U16, 15kyu,
Cheadle Hulme) and Lytton Yao (U12, 18 kyu, Edinburgh).
UK Go Challenge Finals

The online youth event for October, held on the afternoon of the 4th, was
the delayed finals of the 2019-2020 UK Go Challenge. 33 young players
battled over six rounds on 13x13 boards. This time the winner was Ryan
Zhang from London. Second was Cyrus Shek from Ayrshire and third was Gene
Wong from Fernhill Primary School. They won Boys Under-8, Under-12 and
Under-10 respectively. Other age group winners were Scott Cobbold, Robbie
James and David Baldwin for the boys and Liann Wong, Annie Walters, Lea
Wong, Julia Volovich and Hilary Bexfield for the girls.
Strong Players Teaching Games

The BGA is sponsoring a series of teaching games; recorded and available on
the London Go Centre YouTube channel
<http://www.youtube.com/c/LondonGoCentre>. Strong UK players play a game
against Antti Törmänen (1 dan professional) and the game is then discussed.
The first such game was with Daniel Hu 5d
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oOL9t_p1Gw&t=1070s>, and the second
was against
Alex Rix 2d <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxU3IVx6Xoo>.

Although the commentary is designed for dan-players, we are sure that
kyu-players can get something out of the commentary. Players of any
strength can look at over 50 other videos indexed by topic in the
playlists. Daniel Hu's latest contribution is Unplayed AI Joseki Part 1
<https://youtu.be/0ncRmgZXMmA>.
ADMINOxford Go Club On-line open to all

Harry Fearnley writes:
"We meet regularly on the OGS Go server, with Zoom: Tuesdays, 18.30-23.00,
and Saturdays, 10.00-13.30. All for free. Interested? Please contact the
Club Secretary at harryfearnley at gmail.com phone 01865 248775"

IN ADDITION, Harry offers to other clubs:
"I have a paid-for Zoom account which allows unlimited length meetings. If
you would like to use this for your club meeting, I can be the (first)
host, and then make you the host for the rest of the meeting. This offer is
subject to my availability, and must not clash with either of the Oxford Go
Club meetings (Tuesday evening, and Saturday morning)."
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.
2020 Pandanet Go European Team Championship

The next season of the Pandanet online league is about to start; following
our results last year we're still in League B.

We need to formally submit the names of our 12-member squad by October 13.
Team members must be British citizens and BGA members. There is
approximately one match per month, played over 4 boards. Please let captain
Sandy Taylor (alexanderjohntaylor at gmail.com) if you'd like to be in the
team this year; in practice you will probably need to be 2 kyu or stronger
to get into the squad.
EVENTS COMING SOON

*On-Line League*

The start of the on-line league has been unavoidably delayed, so there is
still time to enter your team , with games to be played between November
and June: we currently have 5 teams registered. Please contact Matt Marsh:
matt at crazedbytes.net

*NOTE: Coronavirus*

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) and HSE advice
<https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/assets/docs/risk-assessment.pdf> is
that meetings of up to 6 people, and educational meetings of more than 6,
are now possible. The BGA recognises its advice of 28th June is no longer
appropriate. With a rapidly changing situation keeping any such advice
up-to-date is difficult. Anyone thinking of planning a face-to-face event
should think carefully about whether social distancing and related
regulations can be fully met.

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

Various Online events are being planned.

*Events not cancelled* at time of going to press include:
*THIS MONTH*
*NOVEMBER*
BGA Online event
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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