Ft. Myers Go Tournament November 3rd

Slate and Shell

Ft. Myers Go Tournament

November 3rd

to be held at the

***Change of location***

Covenant Presbyterian Church

$5 Tournament fee

lunch included

Morning session starts at 9AM

lunch break at 12AM

Afternoon session starts at 1PM

Afternoon session ends at 5PM

with prize presentations and clean up to follow

Out of building by 6PM

We will use the PyTD v. 1 software for pairing and tournament reporting

************************

AGA rated tournament

AGA membership required to enter the tournament.

Registration for the AGA will be available at the door.

AGA membership fees are

Adult $15

Youth $10

************************

Donations for club activities will be accepted.

Prizes provided by Yellow Mountain Imports and Shell and Slate.

Please support these fine Go stores with your business.

William Cobb of Shell and Slate has provided 6 excellant Go study books for prizes.

Pong Yen of Yellow Mountain Imports has provided the three following items for prizes.

*">Go Seigen Style Semi Gloss Finish Jujube Bowls

">1 x **1.2'' Kaya Reversible Slotted Table Board w/ Aluminum Travel Case

*">1 x **5/8'' Folding Kaya Go Board with Felt Sleeve

Ft. Myers Go Club Fall Bash Tournament

FT. MYERS GO CLUB FALL BASH TOURNAMENT
By Kent1956

The Ft. Myers Go Club had its first Go tournament of the school year Saturday September 8th. 29 Go players gathered to test their strength and enjoy a day of the ancient Chinese game of Go.

They gathered in an upper room of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in historic Ft. Myers, just a few paces from the Edison / Ford estate. Like sentry guards at the Moon Palace of the Emperor, the royal palms lining McGregor Blvd. led the contestants to the Church.

At precisely 9 am, give or take an hour, the contest of will and intellect began. Play was set up in pairs with the strongest players at the head of the room. Pairing was set by the tournament software, PyTD v.1.0, with handicaps. Five rounds were played with most players able to play all five rounds. Play ended around 5 pm.

There was a mixed age group from 10 to 60, with most of the players being under 16.

Players came from Orlando, West Palm, Sarasota and Naples to join with the local players.

From Orlando Mr. Joshua Lee, 1 dan joined us.

Representing the West Palm Go Club we had Shaun Sullivan, 2 kyu, and Joshua Fallon, 5kyu.

Representing the Sarasota Go Club we had Larry Rabinowitz, 1 kyu and Don Colladay, 5 kyu.

From Naples Nathan Slider, 15 kyu, one of our own club members.

Joshua Lee, 1 dan

Thanks to these guys for traveling so far to make this tournament extra special.

The local players were (by rank) single kyus: James Shenko, 5 kyu; Rob Cheney, 8 kyu; Joshua Frye, 9 kyu.

Kent Secor, 11 kyu; Cory Cunningham, 12 kyu; Alex Bonham, 12 kyu; Jordan Winters, 12 kyu; Alex DeSouza, 12 kyu; Blaine Talbot, 13 kyu; Jake King, 14 kyu; Zachery Wilson, 15 kyu; Jesse Crowel, 15 kyu; Aaron Ruster-Mack, 16 kyu; Conner Allison, 16 kyu; Nikolaus Ponader, 16 kyu; Leandro Singh, 16 kyu; Tariqa Liebermann, 18 kyu; Steven Brosy, 20 kyu; Sam Ponader, 20 kyu; Miguel Azcuy, 21 kyu; Diego Azcuy, 21 kyu; Chris Ponader, 22 kyu; Derek Pinto, 25 kyu.

(List according to ranking results from the tournament.)

We had five new members sign up for the AGA at this tournament. Zachary Wilson, Derek Pinto, Miguel Azcuy, Diego Azcuy, and Cory Cunningham. Welcome all.

Game sets were available for sale. Profits from the sales will be used to promote Go in the community. Donations of $20 were given to support the club, thanks all for your support.

The tournament was sponsored by the Ponader family, who secured the room and provided snacks for the players. They also ran to get the pizzas for the lunch. Thanks Linda and Jonathan for your support.

The tournament director, Joshua Frye and tournament organizer, Kent Secor want to thank everyone for participating and making this, second tournament of the Ft. Myers Go club a success. Special thanks to the stronger players that traveled so far to join us, your participation was inspiring to all the lower kyu players.

Next tournament is planned for November 3rd. We are looking to use the Lexington Middle School cafeteria or gym, thanks to Mr. Frye. Tournament fee will be $5 and an AGA membership is required (membership may be paid at the door). Lunch will be included, with a lunch break.

Contact this reporter for more information. If you want to be on the tournament email list, write me at mailto:kent1956_go@yahoo.com

Short update

Short update,

Just to remind everyone that regular club meetings are taking place this week.

Tuesday night, meet at the Cape Coral Library for Chess and Go with Rob Cheney.

Thursday night at the N. Ft. Myers Library for Go.

Sunday at the Barnes and Nobles, 1 pm to 5 pm.

We are working on a tournament for Saturday Novemeber 3rd.

I am working on a report of the September Fall Bash Tournament, coming soon...

No Club Meeting This Sunday

Club meeting canceled.
by Kent1956

Since Saturday the 8th is the Fall Bash Tournament, we will not have a meeting Sunday at Barnes and Nobles.

I apoligize for this. If you all want to just show up to play, some might come that did not attend the tournament, but I can't be there.

Hope all that get this attend the tournament.

Let's Play GO!

Tournament report

Ft. Myers Go Club Fall Bash Tournament.
By Kent1956

Well all is GO! Everything is set to kick off this school years tournament cycle.

Mr. Frye, Go teacher extrodinaire, has everything in place for us to have a well run tournament.

Mrs. Ponader is preparing the snacks and drinks, and will be making the pizza run for us. The Ponader's have also paid the rental for the hall for us. Thanks Ponaders for your sponsorship.

Shaun Sullivan, 2 kyu, and Joshua Fallon, 7 kyu are planning on coming over from West Palm Beach.

Larry Rabinowitz, 1 kyu from Sarasota Go Club is planning on coming down too. Perhaps he will bring some of the other strong players from Sarasota.

Mr. Frye told me that about 20 of his students will attend.

Some of the guys from the N. Ft. Myers Library club will also come.

I will see you all there.....

Let's Play GO!!!

Sept. 8 Go Tournament

Welcome all back from summer break. School has started and so will our tournaments. Saturday the 8th of Sept will be our first tournament. Here are the facts...

FT. Myers Go Club First Fall Rating Tournament

Saturday Sept. 8

9 AM to 5 PM

Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Upper Room.

2438 McGregor Blvd.

Ft. Myers, FL 33901

Tournament fee $5

Pizza lunch included!

AGA Rated tournament, We will be using the PyTD software for pairing. Bring your Go sets and clocks.

You must be an AGA member to play in this tournament. You may register at the tournament.

Yearly membership fees are:

Youth: $10

Adult: $15 (special club introductory rate for first two years of AGA membership).

There will be game sets available for purchase starting at $15 up to $45, all profits will benefit the Go Club.

Tournament sponsored by the Ponader family.

Donations will be accepted to benefit club activities and publicity.

**There is a limited number of scholarships for those in need. Please contact me ahead of time.

Any questions contact me,

Kent Secor,
Ft. Myers Go Club, President
kent1956_go@yahoo.com
239-222-3625

Summer Go in Ft. Myers

By Kent1956

Well it's been slow this summer. With about 4-6 showing up to play Go on Sundays at Barnes and Nobles. All but one Sunday we did play Go. Not bad with summer schedules taking everyone around the globe, well at least two families made it to Alaska, even if not at the same time..

The library programs at Cape Coral, Tuesday nights has seen a surge of players showing up for chess with some of them playing Go as well.

The Thursday night program at the N. Ft. Myers library has a faithful core group that shows up week after week and are advancing through the double digit kyus getting ready for the first fall tournament.

New School Clubs Starting
A couple of our new players are looking forward to starting Go clubs in their schools this year. We might be able to start a school competition schedule this year.

September Go Tournament
We are planning a Fall Go Tournament in September, to kickoff the school year. We are presently trying to secure a site that will work well for everyone. If you have a suggestion please write me at kent1956_Go@yahoo.com.

If you have a large room, that will accomadate about 30 players with tables, and would like to host the tournament let me know.

Sponsors needed!
If you would like to help by sponsoring the tournament with snacks, drinks, coffee, we would appreciate the help.

Go Game Sets Available
I have purchased a number of game sets for sale. All profits from the sales will go to support the go club and provide publicity materials.

The game sets start at $15 for a vinyl roll up board with plastic stones and jars. Or with ceramic stones and plastic bowls for $20.

A professionally made tote bag runs $25 (I have to order these if you want one).

I have a couple of 12"x12" wood board sets, selling for $25.

A magnetic board set for $30.

The best set I have is a 3/4" wood board with ball feet, 6mm glass stones and plastic bowls for $35.

I will be posting pictures and prices here soon. Email me for information on purchasing sets.

June Tournament Pictures...finally

June 2007 Ft. Myers Go Club Rating Tournament
Pictures
by kent1956

Ok..ok I know..it's about time...I know you all have been waiting, holding your breath...to see these pictures...I thought my camera completely lost all the pictures I took, but here are a few I managed to salvage.

Thanks again to all 22 players that came and made this first tournament a success. I look forward to seeing you all return in the fall to the next tournament.

The Cape Coral Library Meeting Room. Tournament in progress.

Dan Moise, 4 dan from Sarasota stopped in for a visit and played teaching games with players.

Shaun Sullivan, 2 kyu from West Palm Beach.

Shuan and Joshua Fallon at table 1.

Jacob and Samuel.

James Shenko and Rob Cheney at table 2.

Mr. Joshua Frye, Go teacher extrodinaire, considers his next move.

Chuck Saint deep in thought.

Nathan Slider and Collin.

Lisa and Jerek.

The Big Board!

Finally another post....

Summer Go in Ft. Myers
By Kent Secor

Yes, I know, it's been awhile since my last report. I just know you are crazy with wondering what is happening with Go in the community....well relax, I will tell all....

It has been the summer duldrums, the winds have been slack and the players scarce as hens teeth..well not quite. But it has been slow.

I am hoping that all are enjoying their summer break from the school year, and will be ready for the full Go schedule come this fall.

We have been seeing about 4 players show up on Sundays at Barnes and Nobles. Yesterday I welcomed three new players to their first club meeting. Lisa from the NFM Lbrary Go program. James and Tyler who are new to the Go community in Ft. Myers joined us with the promise to return.

The NFM library program has seen a faithful group gathering each Thursday night.

The most faithful family of Go players, the Ponaders are taking a great trip to Alaska this month. Our own master player, Rob Cheney just got back from a trip to Alaska last week and joined me last Sunday at Barnes and Nobles with the Ponaders.

Mr. Joshua Frye and I have discussed when to hold the next tournament and have settled on the second week of September. This will allow everyone 3 weeks to get back into the swing of the school year, and kick off the Go programs for the school year.

If you want to start a Go club in your school contact us and Mr. Frye and I will assist you.

This week's Go meetings are:

Tuesday night 5:30-9PM, Cape Coral Library meeting room
Thursday night 5:00-7:30PM, N. Ft. Myers Library meeting room
Sunday 1-?PM, Barnes and Nobles cafe.

Well that's all for now.
Let's Play GO!

Winds of Change

Winds of Change
by Kent Secor

Wow! What a week or so.....I finally found a job and just the job I was looking and praying for. On Monday June 11 I started with Bo's Electric and Specialties as the Electric Service Manager.

It was a heady first week. I had to jump in and schedule the men, handle customer calls and learn a new system of paperwork and computer, on my first day. It was truely a jumping in and learning to swim...NOW!

I was "flooded" as my ADD friend often says. Now I am treading water and breathing the sweet sea air.

GO CLUB MEETINGS

Just a reminder of the weeks meetings:

Tuesday Night at Cape Coral Public Library. Gulfcoast Chess and Go Club, operated by Rob Cheyne. 5:30 to 8:30 PM.

Thursday Night at the NFM Public Library, 5:00 to 7:30 with Kent Secor.

Sunday 1 t0 about 5PM at Barnes and Nobles.

LET'S PLAY GO!

First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Rating Tournament

First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Rating Tournament a Sounding Success.
By Kent Secor
kent1956, President of the Ft. Myers Go Club and Club Reporter.

The First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Rating Tournament was a sounding success.

We had 23 people show up to play in the tournament. Boys, girls, and men.Of that group, 6 were already AGA members and 17 were new to the AGA and will earn their first rank from this tournament.

Joshua Fallon, 8 kyu, and Shaun Sullivan, 2 kyu, from West Palm Beach Go Club, came over to lend their support and play in the tournament.

It was our privelege to have Dan Moise, 4 dan visit us in the afternoon to play teaching games and address the tournament players.

We greatly appreciate the support of these fine Go players.

The event was sponsored by Mrs. Linda Ponader, who supplied much needed snacks and bottled water for the tournament players. Thanks Go Mom!

Thanks to all the parents that support their youths' go activities and all the players for coming out and having fun playing Go!

We were able to play 5 rounds with a 45 minute sudden death time periods. We used the 45 minute sudden death because of the time restraints with using the free meeting room in the Cape Coral Public Library. We had by 5PM to meet our clean up and clear out deadline of 5:30 PM.All went according to schedule.

We did get a 15 minute delailed start because of a computer virus, a trojan horse, that decided to pop up as we were inputting the registered players.

We used the PyTD software, and as a new TD I found it really easy to use. I did have Chuck Saint to help us, Chuck is the IT man at the University. We recommend using this software for pairings.

Dan Moise was very impressed with the facilities and the turn out and said that we have a good start in this tournament. Thanks Dan for all your support and advice. It was your tournament in Sarasota last fall, as well as the club activities at Border's, that has encouraged me to get something going with Go in my city.

Next month we are talking about a Go in the Park event, should be fun.

Our next Rating Tournament will be in August, we are looking to hold it at the Gulfcoast University, and it will be a fee tournament with prizes.

LET'S PLAY GO!

June Tournament Update

Hi all,

The big day is coming and is even now knocking on our door.

The First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Monthly Rating Tournament

is tomorrow, Saturday June 9, starting at 9:30 for Registration, First games starting at 10:15, ending at 5 PM.

The three officers of the Ft. Myers Go club met yesterday to pound out the final details for the tournament. This is the final plans that we will use tomorrow.

All games will be dead time of 45 minutes each player. (We have a time limit in the Library meeting room and want all to have time for 4 game rounds.)

Pairing will be by PyTD software.

No prizes this tournament, but we will have them in future tournaments. We will have certificates for winners in each band.

We are following the AGA rules and will arbitrate any disagreements between players accordingly. Proper Go Tournament rules will apply, we will review them at the tournament.

Dan Moise, 4 dan from Sarasota plans on coming in the afternoon for support and will be available for teaching between games.

We will have the demo board, and have game problems posted for in between games.

If there are any problems during the tournament please address them to me, Kent Secor. I will be acting TD for this tournament, with Joshua Frye and Rob Cheyne assisting me.

Special notes, I suggest you bring a lunch as we only have time for a half hour lunch because of the time limit in using the meeting room.

As of now we do not have coffee supplies, (I apoligize for this last minute change), so bring your own thermos of coffee. If you would like to sponsor the event with coffee/tea making supplies let me know, thanks. Linda Ponader has offered to bring some snack items, thanks Linda for your support.

Scientific American Go Article

The June issue of Scientific American has an article by Karen Frenkel about Hungarian computer programers work to produce a stronger Go playing computer program.

Go is still best played by humans than computers.....


Your club reporter,
Kent1956

Ft. Myers Go Club Week in Review 28May2007

Ft. Myers Go Club Week in Review 28May2007

Last week was a good week for the Ft. Myers Go Club. Participation in all club activities is on the rise, and I suspect will continue to rise over the summer until many return to school and studies next fall.

Tuesday at the Cape Coral Library with the Gulfcoast Chess Club and Rob Cheyne, found 8 playing Go.
Rob, myself, Linda, Chris, Nick, Sam, Trinka, and one new young player, Jacob, who learned the game.

Thursday at the N. Ft. Myers Library, we had 9 that played Go. Our regular participants, Lisa, Brenna, and Jerek and myself. Linda, Chris, Nick and Sam joined us, and one lady stopped in to see what the game of Go was about.

Sunday, it must be Barnes and Nobles, where else? From 1 PM to about 5:30 we met to play Go. Mr. Joshua Frye was out of town, enjoying a very well earned mini-vacation to Disney World with his wonderful wife and son.

Rob Cheyne and I met with 12 other players from Mr. Joshua Frye's math class.

This week also saw our club ranks swell by 26 members, who registered with the AGA through Mr. Frye's classes.

The First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Monthly Rating Tournament , on June 9th, looks like it will be a roaring success.

Your Club reporter,
Kent1956

June 9th Rating Tournament Update

Hi all,

The date is drawing closer and all the plans are final.

Joshua Frye had 26 of his students register for AGA membership, we plan on most of them making this rating tournament. We have players from 7 kyu to 28 kyu from this area.

From outside the area Don Colladay, 5 kyu, Joshua Fallon, 11 kyu, Brian Olive, 1 kyu, Shaun Sullivan 2 kyu, have expressed interest and plans to attend and Dan Moise, 4 dan from Sarasota plans on stopping in after taking teacher's tests that morning.

I hope some more higher kyu players will show up to fill up that field.

Hope to see you all there,

Kent 1956

Week in Review 21 May, 2007

FT. MYERS GO CLUB WEEK IN REVIEW FOR 20 MAY, 2007
By Kent Secor, club reporter.

Last Tuesday found me at the Cape Coral Library for a visit with the Gulf Coast Chess Club and Rob Cheyne.

Rob is a chess master, though he doesn't claim to be, and chess teacher who migrated here from Toronto, Canada....eh!...He has been playing go for about a year now and is ranked 8 kyu on KGS.

As a member of the new Ft. Myers Go club he is interested in combining a Go program in the chess club along with the chess club he supervises at the Cape Coral Public Library.

We played a couple of Go games during the chess club and showed the game to over 5 chess players. We will repeat this Chess/Go "meeting" again this week. The AGF grant is submitted for this program and the starter set should be on the way, then we will kick off the new Go program.

Thursday, it was the N. Ft. Myers Public Library, where our faithful three members showed up to continue their Go education. Lisa, Jerek and Brenna are progressing well in their understanding of the game. Also I was able to introduce the game to a couple of the library patrons. Next week I will be starting a series of short educational lectures.

Sunday was the regular meeting of the Ft. Myers Go Club at Barnes and Nobles. We had 11 people come out and join us for Go play. Rob, Mr. Joshua Frye (Go Teacher of the year, at least in my book), Dave Saha, Niles, Alex and Alex D., Emma, Christopher, Nick, Sam and myself.

We also were able to introduce the game to three people in the Cafe, and help Mrs. DeSouza, one of the Go mom's, learn basic Go game play.

We appreciate all the Go Mom's and Dad's for supporting thier children's Go Club activites and look forward to adding some of you to the list of playing members.


Mr. Joshua Frye and Alex deep into a game.

Emma and Niles.

We played Go from 1pm to about 5:30 in the cafe.

The plans are being firmed up for the First Ever Ft. Myer Go Club Monthly Rating Tournament.

To follow the details of this and all activites of Go in the Ft. Myers area stay tuned here.

Until next time,

this is Kent1956,

the Ft. Myers Go Club reporter signing out....

Thursday Night at the Library May 17th

Hi all,

We had another fun Go night at the N. Ft. Myers Library. Lisa, Jerek and Brenna joined me to continue their Go education.

All three are doing very well for being one month newbies.

If you all are around N. Ft. Myers, Thursday nights stop in for a game of Go with us.

Your club reporter,
Kent Secor
kent1956

June Go tournament update.

Check the origanal Ft. Myers Go Club Monthly Tournament post for updated info.

We are confirmed at the Cape Coral Library. Players from Sarasota and Orlando have expressed interest in attending.

Hope to see all there.

Kent1956

Lexington Middle School Go Tournament

Club member Joshua Frye, held a Go Tournament in the middle school where he teaches math. This year he taught his students Go as a real world application of math.

You can read about the tournament in this New-Press article.

Great job Joshua, you are in the running for Go teacher of the Year, you sure have my vote.

Your club reporter,

Kent Secor
kent1956

Sarasota Dan player attending June 9th Tournament

Dan Moise, 4 dan AGA, player of the Sarasota Go Club has expressed interest in coming down to the June 9th Go Tournament. Hopefully others from that great club will also attend.

Brian Olive, 1 kyu AGA, of Orlando has likewise expressed interest.

Hope to see all there.

Kent Secor
kent1956

Tuesday night at the Cape Coral Library

Tuesday night found me at the Cape Coral public library to visit the Gulf Coast Chess club, run by Rob Cheyne. They meet every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 9:00.

Rob has been playing Go for about a year now and is a 7 kyu player on KGS under the name chesswise. He is a regular attender at the Ft. Myers Go Club meetings at the Barnes and Nobles.

Rob and I played a couple of games and were able to teach five chess players the game of Go. Four expressed interest in coming Sunday to the regular go meetings.

We are planning to kick off the Go program at the library as soon as the starter set is dilivered.

If you live in Cape Coral Florida, come on in Let's Play GO!

Possible Dan players at the First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Monthly Rating Tournament

Hi all,

The Saturday June 9th Go tournament hit the web on the AGA E-Journal today and the responses are pouring in as a loud and steady trickle....

Mike Dyer, 2 Dan from Gainsville says their club would be interested in coming down for the day. They would bring a team of a 4 dan, 2 dan and 4 players ranged 22-15kyu.

Sarasota Go club may join us too, giving a 3 dan and two 1 dan players plus some high kyu players.

I will report more as the registrations roll in.

Kent Secor
kent1956

Sunday May 13th report

Hi all,

I hope that all honored their mothers yesterday with lots of love and attention. They so richly derserve all we can give them.

The regular SWFL Go Club meeting at Barnes and Nobles Sunday had 6 playing Go.

Rob, Zachary, James S. and myself from Ft. Myers area, with Nathan and Shawn from Naples coming up to join us for the afternoon of Go.

We played in the fridged air conditioning in the back corner of the store, I think I like the cafe area better. It's not as chilly and more people get to see us play.

We had one young man, a chess player, find us in the back and ask about the game. He invited us to join them to play chess in the cafe during the week.

Over all it was a good afternoon playing Go.

Your club reporter,

Kent Secor, kent1956

Ft. Myers GO Club TOURNAMENT FOR JUNE

The First Ever Ft. Myers Go Club Monthly Rating Tournament, will be held on Saturday June 9th, 2007

The Ft. Myers Go Club is starting a monthly tournament with this New Beginning kick off tournament Saturday June 9th, at the Cape Coral Public Library, in the meeting room.

We will be holding these monthly rating tournaments the second Saturday of each month.

Tournament Schedule

Registration will be open from 9:30 a.m to 10:00 a.m..

Morning session will be from 10:15 to 12:30.

Lunch break 12:30 - 1:30.

Afternoon session from 1:30 to 5:oo. All games to end as a time out, at 5:00.

Presentation of certificates and prizes (if any) with clean up 5:00 - 5:30 PM.

We must be out at 5:30 pm as the library closes at 6 p.m.

We will use the Pytd 1.0 system for pairing. These will be handicap games played in rank grouping bands, to be set according to those attending.

Bring your lunch, no food or drinks allowed in the Library. Local earteries are about 1 mile away for those wanting them.

The Cape Coral Library is located at 921 SW 39th Ter., Cape Coral, FL 33914 (mapquest map link).

Please write me if you plan on attending so we know how many people to prepare for. Please copy the form below and return to me, no later than June 2nd.

There will be no tournament fee for this first tournament. Future tournaments may have a fees as well as prizes.

AGA Registration

This tournament is open to all players free of charge. It is an AGA registered tournament, to have your tournament results recorded with the AGA you must be a registered AGA member. You will have two weeks after the tournament date to register for AGA membership and have your tournament results accepted by the AGA.

If you are not an AGA registered member, you may register at the tournament for $15 club membership fee (this will regisiter you as a member of the Ft. Myers Go Club with the AGA). $30 for full membership separate from the Ft. Myers Go Club. (Note; the $15 AGA membership fee is only available through the club chapter and only for the first two years of membership, AGA membership fee is $30 after the second year.) A youth membership is only $10.

Please bring your own equipment and clocks, we will have some game sets and clocks with us.

REGISTRATION FORM

To register send me the following information:

Name:
Address:
Ph. Number:
email address:
AGA#/Rank:
or KGS name/rank or other server:
Go club associated with:

I will list update info here and send all an email with details.

Hope to see you all there, LET'S PLAY GO!

Kent Secor, aka kent1956
Tournament Organizer
Ft. Myers Go Club

Nihon Ki-in web site

Check out the Japanese Go Association, the Nihon Ki-in's main web page. http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/index-e.htm

Tons of great Go information.

Read about the Japanese Go tournaments and titles.

Thursday Night at the Library

Just got back from the NFM Library. We had another great evening playing Go.

Nathan from Naples, FL came up early to play a couple of games before the scheduled Go program. Lisa a member of the Anime Club showed up before Nathan and played me in her first 19x19 game. With a 13 stone handicap she faired pretty well against me in this teaching game. With only two weeks since she learned the game, her grasp of the basics is firm and we were able to teach her some starting strategy.

We had a new player join us tonight for the first time, Jereck (I hope I'm spelling his name correct) a young man in his teens. He knows the Japanese anime/manga Hikaru no go and has played just a few games on the old MSN.games Go room (which is no longer in existance, by rumor, started by Microsoft, there will be a new improved room....after over a year we still wait for it!). I played Jereck a 9x9 to access his strength, then a 13x13 teaching game. He plans to be returning next week.

Last Sunday, since I couldn't make the Orlando Go Tournament (so sad.....), I balmed my soul with a couple of Go games at Barnes and Nobles. I went just in case someone showed up, knowing that if someone came for the first time and found no one there, they would never return. The Ponader gang showed up to play a couple of games with a new magnetic travel goban set from the great folks at Yellow Mountain Imports . I played a couple of games with the older brothers, and talked a bit with their mother, who is our first Go Mom volunteer.....three cheers for Mrs. Ponader.

Sunday will be another regularly scheduled Go Club meeting, see ya' all there, Let's Play Go!

May 6, 2007 Update

Just an update.

Last weeks Sunday meeting found 11 people gathered at S. Ft. Myers Barnes and Nobles Cafe to play Go. Joshua, Rob and myself and 8 of Joshua's students from Lexington Middle School met from 1 PM to about 4 Pm. We had 5 Go boards in play continuously.

We had a couple of people ask us about the game we were playing, and I talked to a teacher I personally know about the game and introducing it to her school. I need a better presentation package for school programs, at present I have little to nothing. Anyone have a laptop they are not using? It would be great to be able to do powerpoint demos and show videos.

Thursday night found me at the N. Ft. Myers Public Library to host another Go program. Two from last week showed up to continue playing, four more sat down to play a game or two with us. One young lady of about 10, kept exclaiming, "This is fun!" the whole time she was playing games with her neighbor friend.

Sunday again, and I sit here slightly disappointed. There is a Go Tournament in Orlando this weekend and I could not attend.... *sigh*....

Just makes me want to get the club tourneys going. Looking forward to doing monthly rating tourneys this fall. We are planning on doing a couple of tournaments this summer.

Well until next time, that's the scoop on the Go community in South West Florida.

Kent1956 signing off

Sunday, April 29, 2007

I sit here today and consider recent history in my neck of the woods.

Last Sunday there was finally a start to a Go club in Ft. Myers, FL. I started playing this captivating game of strategy in 2003 on MSN.games.

I wanted at first to start a club and tried by placing ads on the AGA E-Journal. I had one or two responses, but no committment. My area has a lot of tourist and winter visitors. Sanibel Island is in Lee County here and a lot of people have vacation homes there that they visit for a week or two. Some of my responders to my add were such vacationers.

Well after 4 years we have our start, Joshua Frye (who also teaches go to his math students at a local middle school), Rod Cheyney, Dave Saha (professor of math at FGCU), Nathan, and Chuck Saint, and myself make up the first adult members.



Joshua has about 100 of his students playing Go, with about 10 that are getting serious and playing on KGS. One of his students was in the Barnes and Nobles last Sunday and came over to meet me.

We plan to hold two tournaments this summer, along with regular weekly meetings.

If you are in the area live here or visiting, come on down, Let's Play GO!

Meeting Sundays 1pm - ?. Barnes and Nobles Bookstore, S. Ft. Myers, in the Target plaza.

Last Tuesday I held the first meeting of the N. Ft. Myers Public Library Go Program. I had 6 people show up, three from the Anime Club, and three young brothers. All 6 were enjoying their introduction to the game.

Wednesday I received my starter set from the AGF. Very impressive, nice plastic stones of 10mm thickness and good weight, in plastic jars with screw on tops. The 9x9, 13x13 reversible boards are a heavy plastic with a nice wood grain texture look on them. Also 10 "Way to Go" booklets, and 5 cardboard 9x9 handout sets (pieces punch out), with an AGA CD. Also two GO posters for advertising.

The librarians in charge of programs in the N. Ft. Myers library, Denise and Heather, has been great to work with. Their enthusiaism from the first I meantioned doing a Go program was great.

We moved the meeting night to Thursday 6:30pm - 8pm, as Rob is doing a chess club on Tuesday nights at the Cape Coral library and I wanted that night open to assist him in starting a Go program there.

I plan on doing another Go program in the Ft. Myers library once I am confident in the NFM one and have a few dedicated players.

Today the club meets again for further planning and playing Go.