Dear Go Players,
Here are the full details of our coming tournament - NZ Open 2024. Let's spend a weekend with friends enjoying Go. Click here to register online.
Looking forward to seeing everyone again!
2024 New Zealand Go Open
The 2024 New Zealand Open Tournament, will be held on the last weekend in October (26th & 27th)
The tournament will be held in person and online. The venue will be the SASIT building in Greenlane, reasonably central and easy to get to. Hopefully most people will be able to go there to play, however people can also participate online, using the OGS server, so long as they are New Zealand citizens or hold a New Zealand permanent visa.
The tournament will have three divisions if we have sufficient entries
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Open Even games for strong players, winner will be the New Zealand
Champion! -
Division 2 Even games for mid strength players and weaker players who
want to test themselves
Limited to players 1 dan and below on the NZGS ranking list -
Handicap Ideal for weaker players and beginners
The tournament is sponsored by DcentAI who have generously given support for our prizes and also for running the tournament. DcentAI are a computer company providing services for artificial intelligence. They say “We are All-in-one Network for TAI that helps AI-Businesses build their AI, providing GPU power, storage space and a network with users”
Thanks to their help lunch will be supplied on both days, and a tournament t-shirt will be available to all participants.
Coffee, tea, fruit and other snacks will be available throughout the tournament.
Divisions
Open: Our premier division.
Open to all, but recommended for strong players. The winner becomes NZ Champion, receives the trophy that goes along with the position, a nice little cash prize and, of course, the bragging rights.
Six rounds will be played. Three on Saturday and three on Sunday. May the best player triumph!
Division 2
For players not strong enough to compete in the Open division but who still want to test themselves with even games under the same conditions as the Open division players.
Handicap Division
Sunday only. The emphasis in this division is on fun, so it is open to anyone - Strong, weak and particularly beginners! Games will be fast and the handicaps should give everyone a reasonable chance. Strong players beware - handicaps can be large - for example, if you are 5 dan and your opponent 15 Kyu - that’s a 19 stone handicap!
Six rounds will be held on Sunday.
Handicap division players are welcome to attend on Saturday to watch - and maybe pick up a social game or two.
Venue
The SASIT building, Greenlane, corner of Gt South Rd & Woodbine Ave.
Entrance is on Woodbine Ave, press the doorbell for entry, go upstairs and turn right.
Parking is available on Woodbine Ave.
Players outside of Auckland
We think it is best to attend tournaments in person so that you can meet other players, talk, have meals together and so on. If you can come to Auckland - please do so - and let us know if you need accommodation. Probably we can find someone playing at the tournament that you can stay with instead of paying for a hotel or similar. However, so that this is truly a New Zealand championship, if you cannot come to the tournament venue you can play remotely instead.
Anyone holding a New Zealand passport or New Zealand permanent Visa is eligible - regardless of where they are resident.
Games will be ‘real time’ - with the same schedule as for people at the venue.
OGS is the preferred server, however other servers can be used by mutual agreement.
Video recording of remote players is required
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Use your phone to record yourself playing, the view should show both you and the computer you are using.
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Hold the video recordings for at least a week after the tournament ends so that they can be reviewed if questions are raised about behaviour and results.
The game records, or a link to them, must be sent to the organiser.
Tournament organisation and communications will be done using our Discord server.
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If you have not got a logon, use this link, and accept the invitation to Discord. Under the ‘NZGS 2024’ category see the channels we will be using:
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welcome-announcements-etc
This will be used for all general tournament communications -
open-division
Used for Open division specific information, such as the draw for each round -
division-2
Used for Division 2 specific information -
handicap-division
Used for open Handicap division specific information -
meetings
This channel allows video and audio and will be used for the AGM
Players attending the venue
Please bring a laptop or tablet that can be used for matches with remote players.
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If you do not want others to use your device that is fine, but if others can use it that would be great as not everyone can bring their own device.
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OGS will be the online Go server used. This runs in a browser, nothing needs to be installed on your device.
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A guest wifi network is available.
Everyone, even people coming to the venue, need to be able to play online as people at the venue may be matched against people playing remotely.
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Your OGS username is required to enter the tournament
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If you have not already got an OGS user name, register with the OGS server at https://online-go.com/
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Please contact us if you need help
Entry Fee
Wow, this is complicated! Which division? Playing in person or remote?, Pre-registered or walked up? Earning or no income?
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Open Division and Division 2:
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$25 if participating in person and pre-registered
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$5 more for people who don’t pre-register and just walk up on the day.
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$10 less if not earning.
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$10 less if participating remotely
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Handicap division:
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$10 if participating in person and pre-registered
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$5 more for people who don’t pre-register and walk up on the day.
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$5 less if not earning.
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$5 less if participating remotely
Please register in advance and pay by bank transfer. (see Registration below for how to pay)
Prizes
Everyone has a chance of winning a prize if they do well!
The open division and division 2 both have players with a fairly wide range of skills, so realistically most of us have little chance of winning the division we enter - However we want everyone to have a chance of winning a prize. To do this we use the results of the first two games to create four groups. 1: Win-win, 2: Win-lose, 3: Lose-win and 4: Lose-lose. These groups are for prize giving purposes only and have no effect on who plays who during the tournament.
At the end of the tournament, as well as the winner and runner up receiving prizes, the winners of groups 2, 3 and 4 also receive a prize.
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If the number of players in a division is less than 12 we will only have a group 2. Group 3 and group 4 will be used if there are more than 12 people.
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If the tournament winner or runner up comes from group 2, 3 or 4 that person will receive only the tournament winner or runner up prize and the group prize will go to the player with the next best result.
The Open winner will hold the NZGS champion's trophy for the coming year.
All prize winners will receive an engraved trophy, some will also receive a cash prize.
Thanks again DcentAI for providing prize money for this event!
Conditions
The Open Division and Division 2 have 6 rounds, 3 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.
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A Swiss draw will be used.
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No two players will meet more than once.
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Players on the same score will be matched in each round as far as this is possible.
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Players from different cities will be matched where possible.
The Handicap Division has 6 rounds on Sunday.
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A Swiss draw will be used.
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No two players will meet more than once.
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Players on the same score will be matched in each round as far as this is possible.
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Players from different cities will be matched where possible.
Playing conditions
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New Zealand rules will be used.
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‘Fisher’ time control will be used. In the Open division and Division 2 each player will start with 20 minutes and will gain an additional 20 seconds after each move they make. In the handicap division players will start with 5 minutes and gain an additional 5 seconds after each move they make.
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Most games have about 250 moves, 125 each. So in the Open division and Division 2, each player will have 20 minutes plus 125 x 20 seconds - 62 minutes in total. In the Handicap division players will have 5 minutes plus 125 x 10 seconds - 26 minutes in total.
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We are using Fisher time control because:
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It is more forgiving when you run short of time (you can play a few fast moves and get some time back)
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It does not have the abrupt change of conditions that happens now when you go into byo-yomi.
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It stops people from taking longer than the time scheduled for a round, which can happen with our traditional time controls.
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Here's a screenshot of the OGS game settings to use
So that organisers can check the game record, be sure NOT to tick the ‘Private’ option
t-shirt
Our sponsorship has let us include commemorative t-shirts for all the entrants. To get a t-shirt you must pre-register by Sunday 20 October and let us know the t-shirt size you want (small male, medium female etc)
Accommodation:
People coming from outside of Auckland are invited to stay with local players. Please let us know well in advance if you want to do this.
Timetable:
On Saturday please arrive before 8:45 so we have time to complete registration and make the draw.
Saturday 26 October (Open division and Division 2)
09:00 - 09:45 Registration
09:45 - 12:00 Round 1
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch at a nearby cafe
13:00 - 15:15 Round 2
15:15 - 17:30 Round 3
18:00 - Dinner at a nearby restaurant (optional)
Sunday 27 October (Open division and Division 2)
09:00 - 11:15 Round 4
11:15 - 12:00 New Zealand Go Society AGM
12:00 - 12:30 Lunch (Provided)
12:30 - 14:45 Round 5
14:45 - 17:00 Round 6
17:15 - 18:00 Prizegiving
Sunday 27 October (Handicap division)
09:45 - 10:25 Registration
10:25 - 11:15 Round 1
11:15 - 12:00 New Zealand Go Society AGM
12:00 - 12:45 Lunch (Provided)
12:45 - 13:35 Round 2
13:35 - 14:25 Round 3
14:25 - 15:15 Round 4
15:15 - 16:05 Round 5
16:05 - 16:55 Round 6
17:15 - 18:00 Prizegiving
Dinner on Saturday
This is optional and not included in the entry price. For those who to join, we will have dinner together at a nearby restaurant on Saturday night
Contacts and Registration
If you have any questions, or trouble registering, please contact one of the organisers
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Colin Grierson Ph 022 1656413 Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Registration
Please register and pay your entry fee well in advance so we can get as much as possible organised before the tournament starts.
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If you don’t register in advance you can still come along and register on Saturday morning - but the tournament entry fee will be $5 more.
Click here to register online. If you can’t do this please send details to
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Your name
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Your playing strength/NZGS Number if you have one
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Which division you want to play in
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Your contact details - Phone, Email and address
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If you will be playing in person or remotely
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Your OGS user name
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If you are coming to the venue can you bring a laptop or tablet that can be used for remote games?
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If you need accommodation in Auckland
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If you are a New Zealand citizen or if you hold a permanent New Zealand visa (we need this information for calculating our points table for international tournaments)
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The t-shirt size you want
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Any special requirements that you have
To pay your entry fee please transfer the money to 03-0149-0095693-000 or if you are overseas it might be easier to send it to Paypal account
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Important! Put your name on the bank transfer reference so we know who has paid. Or in Paypal add your name as a comment.
You can also pay by cash when you arrive, but paying in advance will make registration on the day easier.
That’s it. I hope to see you at the tournament.