Games

Dear Members of the Seattle AGA Chapter:

There will be a short meeting of the Seattle AGA Chapter (American Go Association)  to elect a new representative to the national organization.  Your current representative, Peter Nelson, will be moving from Seattle soon.  We have a new candidate for the position, Nick Wilmes.   Nick will be going to the U.S. Go Congress in Williamsburg, VA, so he can attend the Chapter Meeting at the Congress.  But of course other candidates for the position are welcome as well.  The meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, at the Seattle Go Center.

If you are wondering what the Seattle AGA Chapter does, we have a web page for that:

http://www.seattlego.org/aga-chapter/

Cheers,

Brian

Brian Allen

Operations Manager

Seattle Go Center

206 545-1424 (Go Center)

206 632-1122 (home office)

Hi All,

Our new Program Manager, Mike Malveaux,  will be at the Go Center today, May 29, from about 3 – 10 p.m.  In response to an earlier email, Mike wrote: “The community of Seattle Go Center is amazing, and I treasure it.  I am grateful to have been chosen as Program Manager, and I'm looking forward to starting soon!  If you have ideas about conducting effective outreach or fundraising, or time to invest in volunteering, please let me know.”  The best email to reach Mike is programs@seattlego.org

As usual, we will have fresh bread from Chris Kirschner.  Recently, the Go Center has been a bit slow on Tuesday afternoons, but the evenings have been lively.

Cheers,

Brian

Dear Members,

This Memorial Day Weekend, we will be open on Saturday for informal lessons and casual games, from 1-8 p.m.  But on Monday, May 28, Nick’s class will not be meeting.  By the way, last Monday, 25 people came for his game with Andrew Jackson.

Cheers,

Brian

Dear Go Players,

The South Sound Go Club has organized an AGA rated tournament for this Sunday, May 19.  This is the first rated Go tournament in quite a while for the Tacoma area.  Cheers to Tom C. and Mike M. for organizing this.  Here are the details:

https://southsoundgoclub.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/tournament-may-20-2018/

Sunday, May 20.  Registration opens at 9 AM.  First round starts at 10 AM.

TerraCrux Games, 760 Commerce St., Tacoma, WA, 98402

Games will be AGA-rated, so be an AGA member (can join on-site); plus $5 to defray expenses.

Three rounds of tournament Go.  No prizes (except bragging rights).

Street parking is free on Sundays.

Bring your lunch (there's a Subway and a Dominos within walking distance).

Dear Teachers,

We need two more volunteers for Saturday afternoon, and one more for Sunday afternoon at the U District Street Fair this weekend, May 19 & 20.  Our booth will be at the lower end of the Fair, on “the Ave” in the block that the Café Solstice is on.   Please let me know if you want to help out.

I think we have the mornings covered, but of course you are welcome to come by and visit then as well.

Cheers,

Brian

manager@seattlego.org

Dear Go Teachers,

We are looking for more Go teachers for our Paid Private Instructor program, especially for summer teachers of children.  This program is for teaching at the Seattle Go Center during hours when we are usually closed.  The instructors become part time employees of the Go Center; their gross wages are 75% of the fees we collect.  For more information on the program, you may check this webpage:

http://www.seattlego.org/paid-instruction/

If you are interested in applying to teach in the program, please contact me.  I can also provide more information for people looking for lessons for themselves or their children.

Cheers,

Brian

manager@seattlego.org

206 545-1424 (Go Center)

206 632-1122 (Office at home)

Dear Members,

Three previous winners of Seattle Go Center tournaments competed in the Spring Tournament, held May 6.  They were Sorin Gherman 6d, who won the 2018 Jin Chen tournament, Kai Fugami 6d, winner of the 2017 Anniversary Tournament, and Yue Zhang 7d, who won the 2016 Anniversary Tournament.  This time, Yue Zhang won the eight person Open Section with a 3-0 record, while the other two players had 2-1 records, along with Zhixiang Lou 5d.

The Handicapped Section had 20 players.  In a change from previous tournaments, there were no bands in the Handicapped Section.  Book and equipment prizes were given to all players who won three games.  They were Zihong Yao 2d, Frank Brown 6k, Xiangnan Chen 7k, and Lucas Lu 9k, who also won the youth prize.  Nobody chose the full set of Hikaru no Go books, so they are waiting for another tournament.

The tournament has already been rated, since everybody had up to date memberships with the American Go Association (AGA).   To see a graph of your rating (or those of your friends), go to:

http://agagd.usgo.org/

To check when your AGA membership needs to be renewed, without using passwords, go to the link below.  The membership expiration date is in the 2^nd to last column:

http://www.usgo.org/search-ratings?

Cheers,

Brian

Dear Volunteers,

The U District Street Fair is coming this weekend, Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20.  This is “ a neighborhood tradition celebrating peace, culture & community for 47 years”.  We are looking for volunteers to teach capture Go, play casual games, and answer questions about the Go Center.  We also need volunteers to set up our booth, and to pack it away.

We will provide volunteers with drinks (non-alcoholic), hot or cold, for free.  We will be in the “Orange Zone”, between 42^nd and 41^st on University Way (“the Ave”), so we will be pretty close to the Café Solstice, and to the Mainstage.

Our booth will be open:

Saturday 10 am to 7 pm

Sunday 10 am to 6 pm

Brian is looking for an assistant for set-up.  Meet would meet at the Go Center at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

We are also looking for help to pack up the booth, and move it to the car at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 20.

Come join us for this unique Seattle tradition.  Please contact me if you would like to help out.

Cheers,

Brian

Dear Go Players,

Oren will be hosting the Hurry Curry Meet-Up in South Lake Union tonight, Monday.  They are at 825 Harrison St. Seattle WA 98109.  Casual games and informal instruction are possible.  This is ongoing, and Daniel Top will be back next week.

We are sorry to report that the meet-up at Crossroads Bellevue, usually held on Thursdays, has stopped.  This Eastside group has been meeting for 4 years, a good run, but attendance has been low recently.  Thanks to Thane, who organized it, and the hosts, who included Frank Fukuda, Harpreet, and Solomon.  Thanks also to Uncle’s Games, who stored our equipment, and who also have Go equipment for sale.

Our full listing of clubs and meetups is below.  Let me know if a listing needs to be updated.

http://www.seattlego.org/clubs-and-meet-ups

Cheers,

Brian

Dear Members,

We’ve been getting ready for the Spring Tournament tomorrow, May 6.  (Registration is at the beginning of the tournament, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. )   For the Handicapped Section, everybody who wins three games gets to choose a prize.   I’ve been going through our donation boxes, and selected some good stuff.  We have a nice katsura slotted board – the two pieces are joined by woodworker’s joints, not hinges.  We also have thin slate and shell stones from Japan, and some nice glass stones from Japan.  We have both volumes of Cho Chikun’s “All About Life and Death”, a copy of “Invincible”, and a full set of Hikaru no Go mangas.  Plus lots more!  We hope to see you tomorrow, Sunday.

Cheers,

Brian

manager@seattlego.org   

Dear Members,

Last week I wrote that we are creating a new position at the Go Center, called the “Program Manager”.   We will probably start interviews next week (May 8).  This is a paid part time position (50 hours a month) with flexible hours and some work required on weekends and evenings.   The position could start up any time before September, depending on the candidate’s schedule.

A number of people have expressed interest in the position, including two PhD’s and a 5 dan.  However, none of those three can fit the job into their schedule.  It should also be noted that the position does not require those impressive credentials – we just need somebody with Go teaching experience who can keep our program organized, both on-line and in person.  This will be an interesting job with a lot of room for self-starters.   I can send you a full job description if you are interested.

Regards,

Brian

manager@seattlego.org