It’s a bit late, but here’s an update on last Saturday’s Go tournament. Dubbed as the Araw tournament, mostly because it is hot as hell here in the Philippines, the Philippine Go Association, with the assistance of our Korean teachers, Seung Hyun Lee and Seol Ki Hong, organized a small tournament in the Ortigas area. Hopefully, it’ll be the first of many.
We had 17 participants, seven of whom participated in the Under 600 bracket – which is for beginners and low-level players. Unfortunately, I managed to be the lowest-ranked non-beginner so I got lumped with the more-experienced players.
Following knockout rules, the tourney was pretty fast – no need for fancy calculation, because once you got beat, you were out of the running. I managed to get paired up with 11-year old Yu Izeki, Mr. Izeki’s son, and he slaughtered me – which is no surprise considering how much Go he plays.
As for the ultimate winners, Cherisse and RJ got the top spots. Details here. Had a great time and Ms. Lee taught me a few tricks that I felt improved my Go greatly. Plus, I got to see where they plan to start a local Go center – which is great news for the PGA and local players.
Plans for the next tournament are in the offing – naming it Bagyo should be a clue when it will next be held. Hopefully, we’ll have more players the next time.
Salamat sa libre Aerol!
It should be “Fortunately… I got lumped with the more-experienced players”.
Playing against stronger players will help you improve your strength. Unfortunately, it’s a knock-out tournament, so maybe not, hehe.
hahaha – that’s why I like playing against strong players. Pero gusto ko naman makatikim ng wins. hahaha