[Seattle Go Center] Help with outreach - July 7 & 8 - Bellevue (Japan Fair)

Hello, Go enthusiasts!

A few words about teaching Go, and a plea for volunteers.

Seattle Go Center's mission is to teach and promote the game of Go.  So we go to various events, and reach out to
people who are not yet Go players, and teach them to play Go.  We call this "outreach".  (Because we're "reaching out".
And calling it "two-space extension" wouldn't make sense to anyone except us.)

If you've never staffed a Go outreach table, you should do it!  Don't worry about not being a good enough player.  With
beginners, an encouraging smile is **much** more important than an encyclopedic knowledge of joseki or ability to read
a tricky tsumego.  If you know what a liberty is and you can recognize when stones have been captured, then you know
enough to teach beginners.  Three benefits to you:  More Go players; the smiles when people "get it"; and a deeper
understanding of Go.  (I've found the old saying to mostly be true:  You don't **really** understand something until you
teach it to someone else.)

I remember my first time teaching strangers, though details are hazy.  I probably was around 20k; certainly not yet
15k.  (But I'd never played in a tournament, and online Go was still in the future, so who knows?)  I had enjoyed a
decent-size Go community in Chicago, with regular game nights at a cafe; and when I moved to Louisville, I missed it
badly.  So I took my board and stones, and a "borrowed" copy of Appreciating Famous Games (sorry, John!) to a
coffeehouse on Bardstown Road, and replayed old games until someone asked me what I was doing.

For many years at the Go Center, we've largely used variants of the "First Capture" or "Capture Go" method espoused by
Yasuda-sensei, 9P who became interested in teaching children to play.  It's easy to learn, and helps people get playing
quickly.  The AGA has some info:
http://www.usgo.org/capture-game-teaching-method
And we'll show it to you in person, of course!

We've got a perfect opportunity coming up for helping with outreach!  Japan Fair showcases "traditional and modern
Japanese arts and culture", and we'll have a booth.  Admission is free, and there will be time to look around at the other
booths, see some of the live performances, and sample some Japanese festival food.

Saturday, July 7th, 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday, July 8th, 10 AM - 5 PM
Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th St., Bellevue, WA 98004

If you can help out for a few hours, please email me.  And thanks for supporting Go!

All the best,

Mike Malveaux
Seattle Go Center Programs Manager

email: programs@SeattleGo.org
web: www.SeattleGo.org
Go Center phone: 206-545-1424

PS - What do you call stones placed two spaces apart?

(Nick 'n' Toby.)
Thanks again, Ned!

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