Games

Hello, Seattle Go enthusiasts,

Many of you knew Gordon Castanza.  I am sad to report that he passed away Sunday.  He was staying with his brother Jan in Florida while he battled lung cancer.  (At this time, I have no indication that his death was related to covid-19.)

Gordon was a prominent Go organizer in the Seattle-Tacoma area.  He served as president of Tacoma Go Club, and Western Region representative to the American Go Association Board of Directors.  He helped organize U.S. Go Congresses and youth tournaments, and he helped get Go included in various historical books.

Gordon authored a Go curriculum for integration with the Washington State EALRs, to make it easier for public school teachers to include Go in, for example, their Math or Social Studies classrooms.  And he wrote a few books on WWII history, and education policy. 

Living in Alaska after his stint in the Air Force, Gordon worked as a school teacher, and later as a district superintendent.  He was an avid fly fisherman, and he was proud of having completed the famous Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska in 1984.  He placed 24^th out of 40 racers, finishing in 15 days, when the leaders finished in 12.  (He also placed in the money in the Kuskokwim 300, known as a tough race, in 1983.)

Gordon also lived in China, where he worked for a company that helped open Chinese markets to free trade.  After his retirement, he was sometimes a guest lecturer on Libertarian economic theory at one of the universities in Guangzhou.

Seattle Go Center regulars will probably most remember him for his frequent attendance at the monthly AGA ratings tournaments.  For over a year, I rode with him from Tacoma to most of the tournaments.  If my memory is correct, Roy Hayashi also rode with us sometimes.

A man of strong opinions, Gordon could be difficult sometimes.  He also could be surprisingly generous.  I will miss him.

The Go Center is planning to commemorate Gordon with a tournament near Memorial Day weekend, 2021.  Since Gordon was proud of his military service, and often scheduled Go tournaments near Memorial Day and Veterans Day, this seems fitting.

Gordon will be cremated, and his remains placed in the columbarium at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA, when travel from Florida so permits. 

The AGA also has an article about Gordon's passing:  https://www.usgo.org/news/2020/05/in-memoriam-gordon-castanza/

I hope you and those you care for are staying safe.

See you (sometime) at the Go Center,

Hello fellow Go enthusiasts,

Welcome to this edition of the Weakly Kibitzer (which has been even more weakly than usual, lately)!

The Go Center has been closed for face-to-face play and events for over two months now.  Brian and I were just checking, and our last day of "normal" operations was March 10, when Daiki Komatsu sensei gave simultaneous games at the Go Center.  (Then March 11 he was at our Uwajimaya outreach project; and March 12 he was at Couth Buzzard; and March 13 he flew back to Japan.)

Naturally, the question on everyone's minds is:  When will the Go Center reopen?  And the answer is:  We're not sure yet.

As you may know, Governor Inslee has outlined a general plan with four phases (PDF) for reopening the state.  The Go Center Board of Directors and management have reviewed it, and it seems unlikely that we would be allowed to reopen until July at the earliest.  When we do reopen, it probably will be at reduced capacity at first, and masks might be required.  There probably will be some screening on entry -- certainly people who are feeling sick will be asked to stay home.  We expect to have more detailed guidance as the time approaches, so stay tuned for more info.

Those of us who are dues-paying Yearly and Quarterly members of Seattle Go Center will have our memberships extended by the number of days the Go Center was closed due to coronavirus social distancing requirements.  (Brian regrets that he is unable to similarly extend the terms of Lifetime memberships.)

The annual membership meeting ordinarily happens in late March.  This year, for obvious reasons, it had to be postponed.  We'll reschedule it as soon as we have a clearer idea of our reopening dates.

The good news is that online meetups are going strong.  The Discord server is active most days (especially Tuesday and Saturday afternoons/evenings, and in the Seattle Go Center OGS group), and the Zoka Coffee crew meets in the Seattle Go Center room on KGS on Mondays and Fridays, 9am-12noon.

Online lessons continue, too.  Nick Sibicky (AGA "Teacher of the Year" for 2019) is recording and uploading his DDK lectures, and Jonathan (Chin Jung) Chen is holding SDK classes via Zoom on Wednesdays at 6pm.  (And you can see his previous lectures on YouTube.)

Those lectures are free of charge, but for folks who want one-on-one tutoring, our Paid Private Instruction program is still available.  If you contact programs@SeattleGo.org I will connect you with one of our instructors, and you can meet online via whatever platform mutually suits you.

Our neighbors in South Sound Go Club (full disclosure -- I'm VP in SSGC) are also meeting on Discord and OGS, on Sundays 3pm-6pm and Wednesdays 5pm-8pm.  And the Go Center's Shogi enthusiasts, spearheaded by Brandon Barton, have been meeting 11am-5pm on the first and third Saturdays on Discord and 81dojo.

If you know of a regular online gathering of Go players that you'd like me to feature, send details to programs@SeattleGo.org

So while we're all in this together apart, we can still enjoy the game(s) we love virtually, and the community of like-minded enthusiasts called Seattle Go Center.

Hoping you and your loved ones are safe and well.  Remember to wash your hands and maintain social distance of 6 feet or more, and check with your medical provider if you (or someone you care for) are experiencing any of the symptoms of covid-19 (cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, loss of ability to smell or taste, unexplained fatigue, bluish lips or face, new rash or lesions on the fingers or toes, dizziness, unexplained headache, flu-like symptoms, etc.).  The Seattle / King County area now has more testing capacity than previously, and health care professionals want to get a more accurate understanding of the spread of covid-19; so the recent advice is that everyone who's having symptoms should contact their doctor, and possibly get tested.  For more info -- Seattle King County Health Dept. FAQ

If you're a person who's homeless / has low or no income, with no regular access to health care, the Downtown Seattle Public Health Center is offering free COVID-19 testing for people with symptoms of COVID-19 who are at highest risk for severe illness from the disease (see https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/care/testing.aspx and https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/locations/downtown.aspx for info.)

See you (later) at the Go Center,