Website of The International Go Federation

On Sunday, April 28, the 6th round of the Pandanet Latin American Team Championship took place. On a league system, twelve countries from the region clash in a three vs three team format in which the Venezuela vs Chile match stood out, as Venezuela managed to claim the match point with Alvaro Tirado’s (VZ) important victory over Avelio Sepulveda (CH). The game record can be found here on Pandanet’s website.

After this round the table stands with Brazil and Mexico leading with five points followed by Argentina and Colombia with four points each. Six rounds are still to come.

Teams are contesting for the top two spots in the League to earn access to the final match during the 3rd Latin American Go Congress to be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil during mid-October, with travel expenses sponsored by Pandanet.

Important matches are still to come such as Brazil vs Mexico, so stay tuned on the Latin American League on Pandanet’s website.

Report by Emil Garcia

The Nihon Ki-in Summer Go Camp 2019 in Tokyo will be held from 20 August 2019 for 10 days at the Nihon Ki-in headquarters!

• You can get a ticket of teaching game from the legendary Takemiya Masaki 9p (cosmic style) and Ishida Yoshio 9p (24th Honinbo)!
• You can see the game of the Meijin title match in a venue of the match!
• You can improve your go level through various pros’ lectures and workshops. The lectures will be conducted in full English provided by Michael Redmond 9p, Antti Törmänen 1p, etc.
• You can visit the most famous go dojo in Tokyo and play matches with the students there.
• You can experience rich culture of go in Japan.
• You can meet and make new friends from the world!

The website for the Camp is now released!
For the details and registration, please check the website of the Summer Go Camp 2019.
For any inquiries regarding the Summer Go Camp 2019, please email to overseasdept@nihonkiin.or.jp.

Moving north more than 5,000 miles from our start point in Punta Arenas, we find the other edge of this region: Mexico. This country has gone through a very interesting go development in the last years in different areas of the game.

To begin with, Mexicans are pioneers in the production of go stones, a process which was developed by Mexican Go Association treasurer, Marco Hernandez. Throughout the years he has perfected his technique and has exported many sets to all of Latin America.

UNAM go workshop. Science Faculty.

Regarding the promotion of go culture, at Mexico’s National University UNAM, free workshops are given in the Science Faculty and in the open garden ‘Las Islas’. Previously, workshops were also given in UNAM’s high schools under a circuit of visits to different venues. During them, the students got the chance to learn about the game under the guidance of instructors in a friendly and fun atmosphere.

Another spot where seasonal go workshops are given is in the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico City. It is worth mentioning that this centre has recently organised the first-ever Pan-American Baduk Championship, where players from all over the continent took part.

On the youth sector, an important job has been done by Siddhartha Avila who teaches go regularly on different schools in Mexico City. His students travel anually to Japan to play in the Life International Go Meeting for Children and some of them have home-stayed at the Korean Dojang KIBA under different programs to study the game.

Go in Mexico is also enjoyed on a club level where two clubs stand out at their meeting frequency: the Guanajuato Go Club in the Leon province and the Ekoji Temple in Mexico City. In the latter one, students meet under guidance of Mr Ricardo Quintero. Other club initiatives are being launched at Queretaro City and Monterrey.

On a broader scale the Mexican Go Association is organizing the 6th Mexican Go Congress on June, which has stablished itself as a tradition. Professional players from Korea are expected and the Mexican Open Championship will take place among other activities.

On the right: Mexican youth players in Japan

4th Mexican Go Congress group photo

You can follow the Mexican Go Association’s activities on their Facebook page.

As you can see, from Chile to Mexico, go is developing in one way or another. We hope that this pace continues and that Latin America keeps growing! Farewell!

Report by Emil Garcia

Moving on from the Caribbean coasts, it’s time to travel to Central America where go is also enjoying a recent spark. Our first stop is the country that links the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans:

Panama

During the last several years, go activity declined in Panama both internally and on their international participation. This was due to various reasons such as some Panama Go Association members falling out of the game.

Go at the Japanese Cultural week

In spite of this, a newly formed group of players has shown interest in running go activities. For example the Japanese Culture week has been historically and traditionally the epicenter of the propagation of go in Panama, and 2019 was no exception. Its participants had the chance to learn some of the basic principles of the game, and they have set a goal of organising a national-level tournament later this year.

The link between Japanese culture and go in Panama started around 20 years ago when the former Japanese ambassador, Yasuyuki Fujiyama – a 5 dan amateur – started teaching go at the embassy. This settled the base for what would then become the Panama Go Association.

Nowadays there are no high-level players who could share their knowledge directly, so most of the actual development is being self taught. In this process, internet go servers have played a major role.

Panama also holds the wish of organising a major international event such as the Ibero American Championship. Let’s hope they can make it come true some time soon!

Guatemala

Heading north of Panama, we encounter Guatemala, a country where go has achieved great feats such as running the 2nd Latin American Go Congress last year.

The main methods of the Guatemala Igo Club for promoting go and attracting new players to the game are:

1. Teaching children and young students at the International Mathematics Olympiad on a regular basis. The program has now incorporated go as part of their curriculum, and at the time of writing rougly 40 students have been taught to play the game. This was made possible by the efforts of Adrián Ramírez, Jorge Lux, and Jose Romero.
2. Promoting the game among the students of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the San Carlos University of Guatemala – again by the efforts of Adrián Ramírez. As a matter of fact, a tournament between the university and olympiad students was organised last year, and the top two players earned a scholarship to participate in the 2nd Latin American Go Congress.
3. Holding a go course within the Annual Mathematics Camp along courses such combinatory logic, geometry, number theory, and algebra.
4. Last but not least, the long-lived Guatemalan go promoter, Edgardo Caceres always holds a go introduction lecture during the Mathematics National Congress.

Go lesson to Olympiad students

If you are interested in following Guatemala Igo Club activities, please follow them on their Facebook page.

So far we have visited eight countries within this region and our journey is nearing its end. Stay tuned for the final chapter of this adventure!

Report by Emil García.

We continue our journey across this enigmatic region, but before we leave the main continent we will go back to a far-away land where go is recently enjoying a new spark: Uruguay.

Uruguay

Last year a group of players, along with some members of the old Uruguayan Go Association, got together to found the brand new Uruguayan Go Federation to promote this beautiful game.

Initially they organized an online OGS tournament so they could get in touch with active Uruguayan players. Next they made an agreement with a local games store in Montevideo so they could gather as a club and play weekly.

Friendly games in a Montevideo games store

Now Uruguay is playing for the first time in the Pandanet Go Latin American Team Championship, which has increased their motivation and they are now looking for a bigger venue to gain more visibility, as well as to organise new tournaments.

We wish the best of luck to Uruguay on this new stage of organisation! If you are interested in following the Uruguayan Go Federation’s activities, please visit their Facebook group.

For our next destination we plunge into the Caribbean sea. White beaches framed by turquoise waters are the boundaries of what is the biggest go-playing country in all Latin America: Cuba.

Cuba

Cuba has by far the most go players out of all Spanish-speaking countries. ‘La Academia Cubana de Go’, i.e., the Cuban Go Association is a state-funded entity, which allows them a level of activity beyond what its neighbouring countries could manage.

Media support has played a key role in spreading go, a sport which now has a widespread popularity among Cubans. La Academia Cubana de Go has more than 2,000 registered players, and they focus on three main aspects of the game: competitive, academic, and cultural.

On the competitive aspect, they have a competition schedule on a national, provincial, and municipal level. The national competitions are organised by the Academia and at least five are held each year, in which players from all the provinces play. International players also participate. For example in last month’s Winter Cup, a couple of players from China and Austria, along with players from Santi Spiritus and Villa Clara provinces took part. On the provincial level, this month Camaguëy and Santi Spiritus held local events with some guests. On the municipal level, the matches are mainly between clubs or groups.

Winter Cup in Havana

On the academic aspect, they offer a wide variety of courses:

1. Scholars: which are taught to children in elementary schools of the community
2. Social: open courses which can be personalised or tailored for groups or clubs
3. Summer and Winter courses: they are taught in cultural institutions during summer break and holidays.
4. Museum courses at downtown Havana, such as ‘Casa de Asia, Casa de Oceanía, Casa de Artes y Tradiciones China’
5. University of Havana Confucius Institute courses
6. Voluntary subject in Havana, Santi Spiritus and Camagüey Sport Universities, and also in ISA Arts University.
7. Post graduate courses for Sport University graduates.

To achieve all of this, Academia de Go has a well-structured teaching program and professional teaching staff. The College system allows senior students at Sport University who opt for the semestral go course to be part of the Academia’s teaching staff once they graduate.

On the cultural aspect, they run a wide variety of exhibitions in cultural, environmental, and scientific centers. They are the founders of the Japanese Culture Study Cathedra at ISA Arts University with whom they run a lot of joint activities. They participate in the Book Fair at the Japanese and Chinese stands. Many more activities yet are organised by the Sports Ministry INDER.

Cuba has made great achievements in the popularisation of the game, and they are truly an example for all countries on how to spread go. We strongly recommend you follow Academia Cubana de Go activities on their Facebook page.

So far we have visited six countries, but our journey still has many destinations to come. Stay tuned for our next stop!

Report by Emil García