Go Orlando

Jonathan S. and I drove to Tampa yesterday to visit their club.  The Tampa crew are very energetic and eager to interact with other clubs in the area.  They already have a strong relationship with the Sarasota club, and they were very hospitable to us.  They are excited about the upcoming Orlando Go Tournament … for several of them, it will be there first Go tournament.

Like us, they have a stable core group of attendees (perhaps six or eight) that come very regularly, and a larger group of people who come with varying frequency.  Regulars concentrate in the single-digit kyu strengths, though they have one or two dan-level players, and they seem to have a good showing in the 12k range (I gather).

I think they may be doing a better job of reaching out to new players, though.  So it might be good to pick their brains a bit.  Some things they do or are considering doing that we do not include:

• Leave cardstock/laminated 9×9 boards and baggies of stones in the shop at which they meet (on a shelf with other games) so that when they teach people, they can come back and play on their own.
• Have regular, arranged times where they meet up on KGS in addition to their face-to-face meetings.
• Planning to have another regular face-to-face meeting where they meet just to discuss problems and professional Games.
• Maintain a very active Facebook fanpage.

We all are hoping for more joint activity in the near future.  They have a great place to play, and they’re really not that far (about 1hr 45min drive or so) … and also accessible for the Sarasota group.  So we could even coordinate a three-way club meeting fairly easily.  Obviously running down their every week is not an option, but I think regular (monthly, quarterly, etc.) trips seem feasible for various subsets of us, as we have time.  They also indicated they’d like to come here … though we may have to adjust our “usual” Sunday time for them in such events.

So I’ll probably do that again some time in the near future.  Next time, I’ll try to give more warning, though.

Paul.

P.S.,

Note that Sarasota meets at 11:30a on Sundays, Tampa meets from 3p-6p on Sundays, and we now meet (also) at 7p on Sundays.  This also suggests the possibility (some time) of every now and then literally hitting all three club meetings one Sunday.

Greetings,

The 2010 Orlando Go Tournament is drawing ever closer, and we hope to see many people there. We now have registration information available. Prospective participants can download information about the tournament and registration in the following format:

• PDF in tri-fold flyer format [500K] (print on duplex printers only, in landscape mode)
• PDF in 3-page packet format [500K]
  

These fliers both contain official 2010 OGT registration forms; however, this year we have also added a simple web-based registration form for those who prefer that method.

Please come! If possible, please bring boards, stones, and clocks. More importantly, bring yourselves and fighting spirit!

Paul.

Hey everyone,
Excellent news!  The workshop is a go on March 27-28, Saturday and Sunday, here are the details:

**EXACT TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BEFORE WORKSHOP OCCURS, CHECK BACK**

Schedule:

Saturday, March 27:

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Arrive, eat Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM Workshop Part 1
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM – 7:30 PM Workshop Part 2
7:30 PM – 12:00 AM After-Workshop Dinner/Free Play*

Sunday, March 28

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Workshop Part 3, Outdoor Patio**
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Workshop Part 4 (head back inside)
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Lunch
2:00 PM – 4:30 PM Workshop Part 5***

* After-Workshop Dinner not included in workshop fee; Saturday’s workshop ends at 7:30 PM, but we have our room reserved until Midnight so there will be free play until then for anyone who wants it
** I dislike being cooped up inside all the time.  On Sunday, for a change of pace, we’re planning on having our first two hours of the workshop outside on a patio.  Pick up some breakfast or coffee beforehand for some Go under the sky!
***Pending on “facts on the ground”, we may end a little later, but not earlier.

Location:

For now, we’re planning on meeting in the University of Central Florida like all of our past go tournaments here in Orlando.  The address is:

Inside the Student Union, Sand Key Room 220

This is our current venue selection and we have our room reserved for the weekend.  We’re also looking at other locations.  If we can find a superior location then we’ll change it, but it won’t be more than 10 minutes away from the University of Central Florida.

Cost:

The cost for the full weekend will be $90.  I know that this isn’t cheap for anybody, but neither are go workshops   I expect to just break even with full attendance.

Why To Come:

If you enjoy go, I know you’ll find this workshop as enjoyable as you find it useful.  Guo Juan is really something.  Besides being as incredibly strong as all professional players, Guo Juan is also an expert go teacher.  She has her own website that you can visit here.  Additionally, she’s created over 500 audio lectures for download, some of which are free, which you can find here.  As someone who’s taken a lesson from her at the Go Congress, I can vouch that she knows how to relay complex concepts to weaker players.  As it’s a rare event in Florida for a go workshop to happen, if you want to see the strength of a professional player firsthand then this is your best shot.

The workshop specifics are still being worked out, but it definitely will involve a few things.  We’ll be split up into two groups based on strength to ensure that everyone is taught useful material.  While one group is being taught, the other group is going to be playing matches against each other while recording the games.  Then the groups will switch.  The group that was playing games is going to have their games reviewed by Guo Juan while the original group is then going to play games against each other.  The workshop material itself will likely be varied.  Two weeks before the workshop, I’ll be sending out some practice material from Guo Juan for everyone to do, which we’ll review at the workshop.  Additionally, there’s my favorite part which is the simultaneous games.  There’s nothing quite like facing down a pro across the board   I hope many of you will decide to come!

Availability:

There are 20 spots.  I already have one spot (I’m paying $90 as well), so there are 19 left.  I’m opening up sign-ups to Go Orlando/Go Club of UCF ONLY for the first week starting today.  A week from today, I’m going to send out a similar email to every other club in Florida.  I don’t know how quickly I’ll get a response back from everyone else, so if you definitely want to get a spot, tell me you’re coming within the week.

How To Reserve a Spot:

1. Respond to this email telling me you’re coming.  Once you do that, I’ll reserve your spot for two weeks.
2. Send me $90 either by check or by PayPal (masterman535@gmail.com) to Joshua Lee within those two weeks.
3. When I receive your check/PayPal, I’ll send you a confirmation email that you’re in.
4. Check our Go Workshop blog at http://goworkshopflorida.blogspot.com/ to see updates on the workshop and to see who else is coming!

I hope to see all of you at the workshop,

Joshua Lee
2010 Workshop Organizer, Go Orlando’s Guo Juan Workshop

One of our many Chris’ created a facebook page for Go Orlando.

There are some ideas going around about having an event for Go Orlando before the May tournament, and I wanted to know everyone’s thoughts. I’ve heard two, please tell me what you think of them and whether or not you have any other ideas.

-Firstly, a Go club camping trip/barbecue. There are numerous camping grounds in the Orlando area, many of which have additional activities besides camping on their premises. The idea of playing go outdoors for an evening and drinking some beer (for those 21+) and burgers over a fire sounds fun to me, your thoughts?

-Second, a smaller, Orlando-only tournament/lecture before the May tournament comes around. Essentially, this would be in one of the rooms in the UCF student union, where we’d have some food, a casual (AGA rated) tournament, some games of course, and I’ll probably try my best at some lectures for those that want to get stronger.

We can do both or neither, too. I want to know if there’s any real interest in either of them before we plan anything…

It’s that time of year again!! The 2010 Orlando Go Tournament has been tentatively scheduled for May 8-9, 2010 here at the University of Central Florida. As it’s still over 6 months away, the details are of course far from finalized (the date is even subject to change), but I just wanted to put it out there so everyone can make sure to leave it open on their calenders.

To those in Orlando, if you’d like to help me out please tell me so, especially UCF students.

Cheers,
Joshua Lee
Tournament Organizer, 2010 Orlando Go Tournament

We are starting a club ladder.  If you want to be a part of the ladder, please send Josh, Jon, or Paul the following:

• First name and last initial;
• Initial estimated rank, along with some indication for how strong you feel you are in that rank (e.g., I believe I am a strong 9k … perhaps a weak 8k).
• Match information for any games you played as a part of Jon’s tournament on Sunday, 30.Aug.

The ladder will soon appear as a page on this website, including information about how it works.

Jon Sarry is putting together our first mini, “tune-up” tournament (my words, not his).  These will be held this Sunday, August 30 and Tuesday, September 1.  This is a dry-run for regular local events.  I think we have seven or eight attending already.

The goal is to help us solidify the relative ranks of our members.  This first one will not be AGA rated, but future events may be.  There’s no cost to enter, just let Jon know (or email the list).

Josh and I thought it would be interesting to post about the Go Congress as is going on. I started this post for that purpose. The thread can continue via comments, etc.

Light reading for the plane:

We had an enjoyable event on Sunday with the UCF Anime club.  Much anime was watched and much Go was played.  I think we also learned one or two things about how to improve things logistically if we do such an event again in the future (and I hope we will).

Recall that we are also holding an on-campus “Go Showcase” this Wednesday from 1p-4p in the breezeway at UCF.  I hope we will get a good showing from members of our club, if possible.