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Go, New Zealand!
From go.org.nz
TOURNAMENTS and RECENT NEWS
Start a School Club!
The NZ Go Society is offering an incentive for schools to start a go club this year. Spend $175 on five sets for a school club and get free, seven introductory books for the school library (value $150) and four hours support from your local go club to help set up your go club. For details contact your local club.
Dates set for the Auckland and New Zealand championships
The Auckland championships will be held on the first two days of Queen's birthday weekend - June 1 & 2. the venue is 5 Argus place, Hillcrest (the Korean Cultural Community Centre), however it will probably be the new Korean association building on the North shore.
The New Zealand championships will be hosted by the Hawkes Bay club on the weekend of September 28-29.
Both these events will be firsts - For the venue or district. Please come to support and to enjoy.
2013 Otago Open
The Otago University Go Club is pleased to announce the revival of the Otago Open on 23&24 March. See 2013 Otago Open for details. See Otago Open 2013 for report, pictures and results.
Coming up
The Korea Baduk association holds an annual tournament for seniors - men over 50 and women over 30. They do not pay for transport to Korea, but to date have provided internal transport, accommodation and food (and a really good tournament probably). There are team events for men and for women (4 per team) and an individual event. Additional family members can attend, the cost is US $200 each.
This year the tournament ran from November 2 and 5, we were told quite late and no-one attended. I've been told the tournament will be held again in 2013, presumably November again. Presumably the tournament will be in November again. Please let the committee know if you are interested in attending. Perhaps we can get a team together.
Doyoung Kim 19th at the 7th Korea Prime Minister's cup in Korea
It is very hard to find news of the tournament on-line, but Do Young confirmed his results this morning. 19th place with wins over Lithuania, England and the Czech Republic and losses to the Ukraine, Finland and Romania, all very tought go playing nations. A very tough draw. The 5.5 point loss to top European player Artem Kachanovsky was a hard fought game. Can anyone find a link to some of the games?! Here is a link to the results table.
WAGC Points
WAGC points table has been updated. To see points won and deducted 2010 - 2011 see Information for Members:Tournaments:Points
2012
New Zealand – China Friendship Cup
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of international relations between China and New Zealand, and also to promote China - New Zealand cultural exchange, the first New Zealand – China Friendship Cup open go tournament will be held on 6th and 7th April 2012 in Wellington. 3 high level Chinese professionals will be attending, and all go players are welcome; see here for more details.
This tournament WILL allocate WAGC points.
Following the New Zealand - China Friendship tournament the touring group will travel to Hawkes Bay, Rotorua then Auckland. On Sunday April 8 they will meet and play Go with people in Hawkes Bay, details are here Also see the web site
On Tuesday April 10 they will be in Auckland for a dinner with local players followed by simultaneous games, teaching and so on. Details are here.
The Otago University Go Club reforms
Clubs day on 22 February was a chance to test the interest in go amongst the student population. With 40 signups (sex ratio 50:50) it was clear there was enough interest to establish a club! The first meeting was on March 5. Most were beginners, although thanks to "Hikaru No Go" many at least knew how to place a stone on the board. These inaugural members ratified a constitution and elected some club officers so the club can become affilated to the OUSA. The thing now is to find a meeting format that can help maintain interest throughout the year.
2012 Wellington Open
The dates are now set to 1st and 2nd of December. See 2012 Wellington Open for details.
Doyoung Kim to represent New Zealand at the Prime Minister's cup in Korea
Doyoung Kim will be our representative this year. The tournament is being held in Korea between Thursday, 25 October, 2012 and Tuesday, 30 October. The venue is Yeomju Stadium in Gwangju. There will be 72 countries represented. For more information click here: (and then on the faint "English" at the top of the page. Doyoung - Play well and have fun! Best wishes from all of us.
Kevin at the US Go Congress
Our man Kevin Lui played in the US Go Congress this year. He did very well indeed, winning 5 out of 6 games in the Open event (losing to Chinese professional Zi Yang Hu). He also played in the Strong players open and won 3 games out of four (Losing to Mingming Stephanie Yin, another Chinese professional player). (The main Open is a bit strange, after 6 rounds there are still three players with all wins and the tournament ends. Do I understand it correctly?) Great reults Kevin, we trained you well ;-) Full results and some game records are available from here: Everyone here is looking forward to your return, Laris vs Kevin is a match people are talking about already.
1-2 September, The New Zealand 2012 Open
Venue in Auckland. Click here for details.
This was pretty much a replay of the Auckland open, a similar cast and similar results. Laris Du and Robyn Lu were too strong for the rest of us again, taking first and second spots respectively. Young Susan Li had a good result with 3 wins again - one at my expense alas. It was great to see Mile Gu again. Also John Chen from Napier and Jason Bei from Wellington. For the full results and for pictures, click here
30 June - 1 July The Auckland 2012 Open.
The 2012 Auckland open was won by a newcomer to the New Zealand Go scene, Laris Du. Another newcomer, Robyn Lu came second. Click here for details
2nd World Mind Sports Games
The tournament, in Lille France, August 9 to August 23, is finally definite and the details are available. Click here for details.
Please let the NZGS committee know if you are interested in playing in this event.
2012 World Amateur Go Championship
Our man, Longyang Li, started with a loss to Lukas PODPERA of the Czech Republic. However since then he has won three games and is now in the top quarter of the tournament. Go Li! For information about the tournament go to
Longyang finished in 17th place (out of 56 countries) with 5 wins from 8 games. Congratulations and well done!
- Czech Republic, Lukas PODPERA, Loss
- Lithuania, Albertas PETRAUSKA, Win
- Argentina, Eduardo LOPEZ HERRERO, Win
- Canada, LI Xianyu, Win
- Germany, Benjamin TEUBER, Loss
- Denmark, Jannik Lundgaard RASMUSSEN, Loss
- Sweden, Martin LI, Win
- Slovenia, MATOH Leon, Win
2012 Tournament & Event dates
2nd World Mind Sports Games - Lille France, August 9 to August 23. Click here for details. Please let the NZGS know if you are interested in attending (coling@ihug.co.nz)
After the IGF meeting last weekend (12-13 May) the event is confirmed (Finally!) An announcement on the format should be made very soon. It is likely there will be both team and individual events.
30 June - 1 July The Auckland 2012 Open. Click here for details
1-2 September, The New Zealand 2012 Open (Venue in Auckland)
Probably in November, the 2012 Wellington Open
Christchurch go players we need you!
We know there are many go players in ChCh but they are a secretive bunch. I'd like to make contact so we can arrange an occasional Dunedin-ChCh go fest. If you are a ChCh go player ineterested in online or real life contact with other South Island go players, contact me on KGS (leffy) or txt Graeme on 0274988 058.
2011
2011 Wellington Open
Ken Xie came out champion in the 2011 Wellington Open on the 3rd and the 4th of December by SOS, with Barry Phease in 2nd place. See 2011 Wellington Open for details.
2011 NZ Go Championships
10-11 September, held in Auckland. Details here: 2011 NZ Championships
32nd WAGC (2011)
The 32nd WAGC was held in Shimane, Japan with New Zealand placing 28th
2011 Tournament & Event dates
19-20 March Opito bay Go fest/2 (Once is never enough!)
14-15 May Auckland Open 2011 Auckland Open
10-11 September New Zealand Open (Venue in Auckland)
Probably in November Wellington Open
2011 Hawkes Bay Eastern Rock Go Tournament
The 2011 Tournament was held in Hastings, Hawkes Bay, on 23-24 April 2011 at the Hettinga Estate Winery. This was an excellent venue, with games played either inside or in the sun-baked courtyard. There were 18 players, which for the second year of this young tournament was a great result. Thanks for sponsorship to Hettinga Estate Winery for the wonderful venue, and the Chinese embassy for prizes. A fuller report can be found here 2nd Hawkes Bay Go Tournament and for the results table see Media:HB_go_tourney_2011_results.xls.
KGS Insei League and Go Lectures
Alexander Dinerchtein, 3-dan professional of the Korean Baduk(Go) Association and 7-time European Go champion has organised a go teaching opportunity for western players on KGS .
- For information about the Insei league see
- For Go lectures see
SportAccord World Mind Games 2011
In almost 10 months the first edition of the SportAccord World Mind Games will take off in Beijing. Originally scheduled for September, the event dates have now been confirmed for December 8 to 17. ... The five mind sports on the program are Chess, Bridge, Draughts, Go and Xiang Qi. ... The elite of these five mind sports will come to Beijing, in total around 170 top players. ... SportAccord also aims to provide an online platform through which players around the world can participate in their virtual SportAccord World Mind Games.
See (Featuring a photo of Long Yang Li)
2010
2010 Wellington Open
The 2010 Wellington Open Tournament has been held on the 20th and the 21st of November this year, in Room CO350, Cotton Building, Victoria University, Wellington. We had 24 people, more than the NZ Open!
For a full report and table, see 2010 Wellington Open. Pictures may be forthcoming.
2010 NZ Open
The NZ go open has been held in Auckland on the 16th and 17th of October.
Tournament report and pictures: 2010 NZ Open
2nd Japan Festival of Wellington
The Wellington City Council worked together with the Embassy of Japan and Asia New Zealand Foundation for the 2nd Japan Festival of Wellington on 5 September.
Go was promoted at the festival, under organisation of the Wellington Go Club. A booth at the craft market was provided in the Town Hall.
The festival also included performances of Japanese music, song and martial arts, displays of ikebana and other crafts, and food tasting. The Ambassador of Japan to New Zealand, Mr Masaki Saito, opened the festival.
June 2010 Official Wellington 9 by 9 Go Tournament
This go tournament has been held on Thursday 17 June in Wellington.
See June 2010 Official Wellington 9 by 9 Go Tournament for report and results.
See June 2010 Official Wellington 9 by 9 Go Tournament Pictures for all pictures.
Auckland Go School
The Auckland Contemporary Chinese School is running Go classes for children.
The venue is 100 Symonds St, City centre, Auckland.
Phone 022 4829362
email sdu@chinese.school.nz
Auckland Go Club news
Fees
Finally, after several years of free use of the Auckland Chess Centre, we have to pay a nightly fee of $15. To cover this the club now has a nightly playing fee. The rates will be:
Members: $3 per night, or $20 for 10 consecutive nights.
Non-members: First two nights free, then $5 per night.
We have also instituted a $20 yearly membership fee. This will cover promotion activity, new equipment, and so on.
Many thanks to the Chess Centre for its long period of generosity, and the reasonable rate they have given us now.
Super Wednesday David Wu suggested making the first Wednesday of each month a 'Super Wednesday' when everyone would come along, so that there would be a decent group of people to play against. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by the group. The first 'Super Wednesday' will be in July. Come along!
David's next suggestion was to have make a number of teams and run a tournament between them. Each team would have a captain to organise the members. This too was accepted and we will organise it on first super Wednesday.
Many thanks David, and may your ideas work well!
31st World Amateur Go Championships
New Zealand's representative at the 31st WAGC in China, was Kaikun (Ken) Xie. The tournament concluded on 30th May.
For excellent reports of each round, full results and commented games by Michael Redmond (9P) see []
The tournament was won by Suk Song Hong of the People's Republic of Korea, with Chen Wang on China second. Ken placed 36th with four wins. We look forward to an account of Ken's experiences when he recovers from jetlag!
Auckland Open Go Tournament
This was held on June the 5th and 6th. Kevin Lui came first, with Long Yang Li second. For a full report and results table, see 2010 Auckland Open.
Auckland Cambricare Cup Go Tournament
“Cambricare Cup” has been held at NZ Career College on April 2nd and 3rd. To author’s surprise, 13 players have participated the tournament despite short notice and Easter not-stay-in-Auckland weekend. Among those thirteen players, eight of them have collected price money – a new NZ record of 62% winning rate!
After six rounds, Kevin Liu has claimed top spot with 6 straight wins. Tracy came second with 5 wins and Don Wan third with 4 points. Kevin and Tracy have also pocketed the top two prices for their <30 age group, Ken Xie came third in the same group. Don Wan has showed his strength by beating strong opponent David Liu and Long Yangli on his way to the third place overall and occupied the top spot for his 40-50 age group in which David Wu and Long Yangli got 2nd and 3rd places. Du and Michael Taylor took top two prices in the >50 age group.
It seems that NZ Go becomes active again in 2010 following the success of Hawks Bay Tournament and Cambricare Cup Tournament. In both case we have new and young faces joining us which is another good sign that NZ Go may start expand after years of shrinking. There is even more good news: Two more private sponsored tournaments are in the pipeline plus an Auckland Chinese school will start Go classes both in Chinese and English in two weeks time.
Is it the booming time for NZ Go? At least we have many reasons to hope so.
This is author's first article on NZGA website composed with Chinglish, if you can’t understand; author is more than happy to explain it more clearly - in Chinese, of course!
2009
2009 Wellington Open
- Was held in Wellington on the 21rd and 22th of November 2009
Kevin Lui won all 5 games, with Ken Xie second on 3.5 points.
The 4th Korea Prime Minister Cup
Quick update. David Wu, our representative, did extremely well. He finished 12th of about 60 contestants - one of New Zealand's best ever results in an international tournament. Full report coming.
2009 NZ Open
- Was held in Auckland on the weekend of September 12 and 13 2009
We had 28 entrants, all but 2 dan level players. It's a tough tournament to win. Our local 'guns' and past champions Ming Zhou, Do young Kim, Ken Xie, Mike Taler, Long Yang Li, and all were casually brushed aside by new comer Kevin Lui, who won his six games comfortably. Kevin is new to New Zealand, planning to stay for at least two years while he is at school. He rang prior to the tournament to find what he had to do to enter it. "What forms do I need to fill in?" "Are there restrictions on who can play?" "What is the procedure to register?" It took a while to convince him he just had to arrive on the morning. It must be very different in China.
Competition for the minor places was much more intense, in the end second place was shared by Ming Zhou and Daniel Zhang who won 5 games. In the next group, with 4 wins were Kelvin Lui, John Fan, Du Shiyong, Mike Pan, David Wu and Ken Xie.
The only disappointing aspect of the tournament was the lack of players from outside Auckland, Only William Nash and Kelvin Lui. Remember, if you are a Go player visiting Auckland, you are always welcome to stay with one of the players here. Just ask.
Click here to view the full results: Media:2009_NZ_Champs_result.xls
More pictures from the tournament are here: 2009 New Zealand Open: Pictures
Games from the tournament:
Daniel Zhang and Ming Zhou - 3 wins each, no losses: Media:2009 NZ Champs Ming vs Daniel.sgf
The decisive game. Ming & Daniel, both with 4 wins and no losses.
- Commentary by Ming, after discussions with Kevin and Ming's coach
- Commentary by Me - an example of a weaker player's misconceptions. :-(
2009 Auckland Champs
The Auckland Open Go Championships 2009 were held on the weekend of July 4 and 5.
There were 24 entrants, almost all 'medium strong' - by NZ standards. One of the favorites, David Lui, was ambushed by young Mike Pan in the first round. With Mike, Ken Xie, and Susan, youth was well represented. In the fifth round the two unbeaten contestants, Ken Xie and Long Yang Li met. Li won, leaving him alone on 5 wins. Ken, David Lui, Patrick Zhou and Edward had 4 wins after round five. The luck of the draw put David against Li in the last round and David won. (Thankfully - for the organizers) Patrick drew with Ken Xie and Edward lost, so instead of a four way tie, Li and David were first equal, Ken and Patrick third equal. Du, Edward, Mike Pan and Don Wan finished with four wins.
My thanks to the competitors, who all played with good spirit, helped when there was things to be done, and made organizing the event easy.
Click here for the entry form Media:2009 Auckland Open Go Championship entry form.pdf
30th World Amateur Go Championship
Presumably held in Japan in May 2009
2008
Toyota & Denso Cup
The 4th Oceania round of the World Oza tournament (the Toyota & Denso Cup) was held in Brisbane, 18-20 January 2008. See for results and a commented game between the 13-year-old winner Joanne Missingham (7d) and Yiming Guo (8d). New Zealand's Ken Xie came 10th with two wins indicating just how strong this tournament is.
2007 Wellington Open: Feb 2008
The 2007 Wellington Open was held in the second weekend of February 2008. It was a very exciting tournament with most top national players attending (see photos). The winner was Long Yang Li of Auckland. See 2007 Wellington Open for more details.
2008 Auckland Champs: May 2008
The 2008 Auckland Open was apparently held in May. This tournament slipped under the radar of most people due to no warning whatsoever from Aucklanders, but enough heard about it to make it a very tough tournament with some surprising results. (Any photos?)
29th World Amateur Go Championship
The ran from 28 to 31 May 2008. Full results at
Korea (Ha Sung Bong) won the tournament in a very close (1/2 point!) match with China (Guo Yuzheng). Argentina (Fernando Aguilar) came an excellent 3rd. New Zealand's representative (Zhou Juhua) came top of the 4-win category in 25th place, one of our best finishes in recent years.
Joanne Missingham
Joanne (age 14) has become the first professional player from Australia.
Received 23 July 2008
- "This is really a historic day for Australian Go. Joanne Missingham, a 14 yo girl born in Brisbane, has "climbed Everest" by passing the tough Chinese Pro Exam for Women. Joanne becomes the very first ever Australian citizen to achieve this high goal.
- "Joanne moved to Taiwan at an early age, and learned go at age six.. Two years later she passed the 1 dan milestone. Despite her other time consuming interests of gymnastics and swimming, Joanne progressed in go, and in 2006 became the Taiwan Female National Champion.
- "In 2004 she moved to San Diego with her family, and was without a go teacher. She continued to play on the internet and achieved 9 dan rankings on TOM and IGS, playing as Jia Jia (her "Chinese" name is Hei Jia Jia).
- "I personally congratulate Joanne on her achievement and also offer congratulations on behalf of the Australian Go community.
- "We are looking forward to following Joanne's career and hope that she may have some future involvement in Australian go."
Check out Joanne's recent success in the Oceania round of the World Oza tournament at Toyota & Denso Cup.
OBITUARY
LEON PHEASE (19), the son of Barry and Yu Cong Phease, was killed in a climbing accident on Mt Aspiring on Saturday 26 July 2008. Leon, a very talented young man, was the first author of this website, and the heartfelt sympathies of the NZ Go community are with Barry, Yu Cong, Edwin and Tristan.
Barry has collected some material and photos of, by and about Leon in a website . Please feel free to add anything to the wiki there, or email messages to [8].
2008 NZ Open: Sep 2008
The Auckland Go Club hosted the 2008 New Zealand Go Championship on the 13th and 14th of September. It was a great tournament with the standard of play somehow improving yet again. Corrin Lakeland has written a brief Report. This site may eventually divulge the winner's full name.
World Mind Sport Games
The 1st World Mind Sport Games were held in Beijing from October 3-18 2008. For a report from New Zealand's perspective, see WMSG 2008 reports.
New Zealand had a team of 12 players and one non-playing official attending:
- Officials: Michael Taler (Auckland) - Team leader (non playing); Barry Phease [Wellington]]) - Coach; Shi Yong Du (Auck) - Facilitator
- Open individual: (Amateurs only): Long Yang Li (Auck), Edwin Phease (Well)
- Men's Individual: Kai Kun (Ken) Xie (Auck), Cheng Chi (Michael) Lee (Auck), Barry Phease (Well), Corrin Lakeland (Well), Xiao Wei Zhao (Auck)
- Women's individual: Yu Cong Phease (Well)
- Men's team: Long Yang Li (Auck), Kai Kun (Ken) Xie (Auck), Cheng Chi (Michael) Lee (Auck), Shi Yong Du (Auck), Ming Yuan (Stanley) Wang (HK)
- Mixed Pair: Colin Grierson (Auck), Ning (Linda) Hu (Auck)
The 3rd Korea Prime Minister Cup
The 3rd Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championship was held in Goyang city, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, from November 7 to 12, 2008.
Tournament venue: KINTEX Address: Daehwa-dong, Ilsan-seogu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
One representative player was invited from each country/territory. Tournament format and events were similar to past KPMCs.
New Zealand's representative was Ciaran Pearson, formerly of Dunedin, but now living in Sydney.
Kim-in Cup International Senior Amateur
Oromedia & Weekly Korea Baduk Newspaper held '2008 Kim-in Cup International Senior Amateur Baduk Championship' 14th~17th November 2008 at Kang Jin stadium in Kang Jin province in Korea.
Only those more than 60 years old could participate.
2008 Wellington Open: November 2008
The 2008 Wellington Open was played over the 29th and 30th November 2008.
- See
2007
The 11th NEC Tournament was held in Melbourne on 21-22 April 2007.
The 2007 Auckland Open was held on the weekend of 12-13 May 2007.
The NZ GO representative at WAGC in late May 2007 was Jimmy Yuan. He had a fantastic tournament, finishing 19th! Detailed results from the tournament are at . We summarise them, and his report is well worth a read.
The 2007 NZ Open was held in Auckland on 15-16 September. Hong Myung Pyo won after a tiebreaker final with last year's champion, Ken Xie. It was an excellent tournament with many strong players coming out of the woodwork. More to follow as soon as somebody writes a report :)
Ken (Kai Kun) Xie, 12-year-old New Zealand champion in 2006, was New Zealand's representative at the 2nd Prime Minister's Cup in Suwon, Korea, from 12-17 October 2007. (He had the most WAGC points behind Jimmy Yuan after the last NZ Championship.) The Prime Minister's cup is run along lines similar to the World Amateur Tournament (WAGC), with players from about 60 countries taking part. Yiming Guo, one of Australia's strongest players, represented the Aussies. Ken Xie has reported on his experiences! Games to follow.
Radio NZ broadcast a segment about Go on their "This Way Up" program on Saturday 18 August 2007. For a limited time, one could listen at
2006
Briefly:
- Graeme (4d) went to Korea at the Prime Minister's invitation and came 37th out of 66
- 17th_World_International_Pair_Go_Tournament
- 2006 Wellington Open
- 2006 NZ Open: Results, Photos
The go.org.nz site has been replaced by this 'wiki', so anybody can edit it. This means there is no longer an excuse for keeping your tournaments secret! See Help:Editing if you don't know how to contribute.
(Other news more than a year old may be found on individual pages under Category:2006, Category:2007, and Category:2008.)
Problems, questions about this site? -
E-mail the NZGS
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