Hello ladies and gentlemen. I have another problem for you that I thought fun and interesting. It is quite difficult, but let’s see if you can figure it out.
Cotsen date is finally here! Let’s get ready!
So I have some wonderful news for everyone. Cotsen is here. Cotsen is here. Seriously though, I just heard from Andy Okun yesterday, and there is a date for Cotsen, as well as a new location, and a few more fun surprises. Here is what I got from Andy:
Finally! The Cotsen, this year to be known as the “Cotsen Go Tournament and Pro Qualifier,” is set for April 28-29 at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire District. The detailed arrangements are still being worked out, so you can’t register yet, but the date is set and the venue booked. The tournament will feature all elements you’ve come to know … tough competition, good prizes, cool trophies, Mr. Yang 7p, neck massage and good food … but with two additional features this year. One is that the open section will choose at least one player to play in the AGA’s first ever Pro Certification tournament in North Carolina in August. The other is that, as a gift to the US go community, the KBA is sending a VIP delegation including either three or four professionals who will do simultaneous games, game reviews and commentary with the players. This is liable to be the best Cotsen ever, which is saying something. Until the registration is set up, send any questions to me at abc@okun.name.
So that is it for now, but we should start planning the trip now. I will let everyone know when there is more news.
Review 2
I’ve had this in my books forever. Yesterday I felt like I should really review it so I finally did (sorry, there was no excuse for me here). It was submitted a while back from a member of the Life in 19×19 community, Chew Terr. Hopefully it’ll nudge more of you to submit your games to me!
Invincible SGF Pack
I have finally completed it! Before I go into what it is that I have completed, do you know about the book Invincible? If you don’t, it is definitely worth the study time for those who have a greater understanding of Go. In short, it is a collection of a ton of games played by the famous professional from the mid-19th century, Honinbo Shusaku, with commentary by more modern professionals. The games are from a time when the way to play Go truly was corners, sides, followed by center.
Things have changed over the last century, of course, but Shusaku was and still is considered a genius and arguably one of the best Go players of all time. He pioneered and mastered a unique opening style, and he eventually obtained the nickname of Invincible after he won 19 strait castle games, so a great deal can be learned of the older foundations of Go from his games.
For many months I have been working on turning all of the games in the book Invincible into SGF files so that while one is reading Invincible, he or she (including myself) may view the games and work through variations more easily.
Here it is (zipped format):
Note: No commentary in here, just the games. If you want the commentary, pick up the book!
Bookmans Family Game Night
The sign says it all
Greetings again Go players! This time I would like to share the results of our first monthly meeting of Family Game Night at Bookmans on Speedway and Wilmont. As you may know: every Wednesday, Bookmans hosts a Family Game Night for various board games to invite people to their store for good times, and the Tucson Go Club has been set for one of the weeks.
It wasn’t a very big group for the 8th of February, to be expected for the first Family Game Night meeting, but we had plenty of fun. Some (perhaps they will read this post sometime) copied down our website and were glad to know of the other meetings we have, and I even got to play a full game with one gentleman in particular. Those who participated even got a little gift on behalf of Bookmans. You missed out if you didn’t come!
It is always difficult to persuade people to delve into a game that looks rather intimidating at first glance, but events like this help with that goal greatly.
The next Family Game Night will be scheduled for none other than March 14, Pi Day! Join us and invite anyone you know that has a knack for strategy. The Tucson Go Club and Bookmans looks forward to seeing you there!
 Go Club and the visitor strategizing |
 Front of the store all to ourselves |