Website of The International Go Federation

Throughout the history of the game, different proposals have been made in order to increase female participation in the game of go. It is not only that women are in the minority, but that there is an observable difference to males in the average level of play. This leads one to ponder on the cause behind the disparity, as it is clear that men and women have the same intellectual abilities. Even though different initiatives such as the creation of the Pair Go Association have addressed the issue, the disparity still exists and something should be done about it.

In the spring of 2018, we launched the Argentinian Gender Comission by invitation of Santiago Laplagne, president of the Argentinian Go Association, with the purpose of achieving more gender equity and inclusion.

At that time we were five female players, and we started from the question: ‘What attracts us to the game?’ Soon we found ourselves repeating the questions: ‘Why are we so few?’ ‘Why do new female players soon quit the game?’ ‘Does it have something to do with the fact that the majority of players are male?’ ‘Can we think about it in a non-binary mode?’ Our initial answer was no. We needed to assemble and empower ourselves first, so there are no men in our commission so far. However, in the future we definitely want do something on a shared basis.

Our proposal is based on these guidelines:

1. Create an online study group where we can study among ourselves, without having to concern about place or distance.
2. Create a female go league with the purpose of integrating women who are not competing right now, where prizes such as teaching games, playing equipment, or certifications are given.
3. Create a Female Rengo Championship in which we can all feel comfortable to play.
4. Establish links of cooperation with other countries.

As soon as these guidelines were established we started with the difficult task of promoting female go in Argentina. Study groups were soon divided into categories, as there was a lot of interest from beginning female players, but also a large number of stronger players who wanted to concentrate on studying the deeper aspects of the game.

In October 2017, a female qualifier was organised to win a representative position to the 2nd Latin American Go Congress in Guatemala. We then came up with the idea of contacting our Chilean sisters to hold a female team match. The repercussion of this was astonishing. Soon female players who had previously not participated much at all began to approach us, wanting to improve at the game and become involved. This same type of female match was repeated in France at the beginning of this year and it was baptised World Women Team Conquest. This proved to us that we were definitely moving in the right direction.

Second LAGC female qualifier champion, Agostina Romero

When we started, it was impossible to imagine the success our activity would achieve. We couldn’t help thinking about extending this initiative to other countries, so that we could share our experiences from the Latin America.

Recognising minorities (not only gender) has shown us significant progress, since the players attain constancy and give importance to their game improvement.

As of now, the Gender commission has become a very important part of our go association, which has given us full support and opens doors to face new challenges of spreading the game. Considering that this issue exists beyond borders, we encourage ourselves to erase cultural and geographical boundaries and strive together to overcome all the differences and adversities that might arise between us players.

Report written by Gissella Gastín and Agostina Romero
Translated by Emil García

Ioan Elian Grigoriu from Romania

Antti: Hi! Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Elian: Hi! I am Ioan Elian Gregoriu. I am from Romania, but now I study at a high school in Germany. I am 18 years old and ranked 5 dan.

Antti: How did you come to play go?

Elian: I have always been interested in strategy games, whether they be computer or traditional games. In 2011, a Romanian go player named Codrin Vasiloanca lost his job when his company went down, and he decided to try to make teaching go into his job. By coincidence, he came to promote the game to my school, and I instantly picked the game up: of course I was interested in the king of strategy games!

Antti: How did you qualify for this year’s WAGC?

Elian: I got third place in the Romanian championship this year. Usually I am at fourth place, but this time I managed to defeat Dragos Bajenaru, overtaking him. Cornel Burzo, who placed first, and Christian Pop, who was second, were in line before me, but they decided to let me go instead.

Antti: Have you been to Japan before? How are you liking the tournament?

Elian: It is my first time in Japan, and second time in Asia: I participated in the CEGO project in China for half a year. I am not very happy with my tournament results, as for some reason I was not able to concentrate on my games; but I have had a lot of fun with all the side activities that the organisers have prepared. I think Japan is a really beautiful country!

Antti: Is there something in particular about go that you like? How would you recommend the game to new people?

Elian: Go seems to be popular among mathematicians and programmers, and I have heard many people say that you need to be good at mathematics to become good at go. I don’t think so, however. I think you can be a philosopher or painter by trade and still become strong at the game. Something about the game strikes me as intuitive and beautiful – I’m having trouble learning the logic of the German language, but go comes naturally to me. Go seems to make you into a deep thinker, and because a game is about the players matching their understanding and plans against each other, it’s kind of like…

Antti: Competitive philosophy?

Elian: Yes, something like that! I also like the fact that many principles you learn about the game also apply to real life, for example how it’s better to do one thing well rather than two things poorly.

For spreading the game among children, I think the family’s support is important. Starting from junior high school, go took a lot of my free time, but my parents supported me all the way. As a result, I maybe didn’t focus on my school studies as much as I otherwise would have, but I think the game has given me more than enough in return.

Antti: Thanks for your answers, Elian! Have a nice rest of your stay in Japan!

Elian: Thank you!

On the fifth round, the Japanese Kawaguchi Tsubasa lost to the Chinese Wang Chen and the Chinese Hong Kong player Chan Nai San lost to the Korean Lee Jaesung. Subsequently, the Chinese and Korean representatives faced on the sixth round in what was probably going to be the decisive match for the tournament.

Wang (left) discussing the game with Lee

Both players started the game very steadily, taking few risks, and in fact there was very little fighting at any point in the game. When white played the shoulder hit of 60, black opted to link his stones on the upper side with 61, but then white’s capture of 62–68 gave white a locally favourable result. Following that, white kept the game in his grip, and even with the successful invasion of black 121, etc., white was favoured for the win.

The decisive fight broke out with black 145. White’s defence was solid and, up to 175, he still held the lead. However, white 180 let black complicate the situation, when a jump at around f10 would have been good enough. White 186 is probably the losing move: black 187 captured six stones in the centre, and although white could then return to capture four black stones with 194, black had profited slightly from the whole exchange. The rest of the endgame was played precisely by both sides, and it does not look like there was a way for white to avoid a half-point loss.

With six wins after six rounds, the Chinese Wang Chen is set to win the tournament, provided that he does not lose on the remaining two rounds. This is Wang’s third time to play at the WAGC, and so far the championship has always eluded him. Perhaps third time is the charm?

Helcio Alexandre Pacheco from Brazil

Antti: Hi! Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Helcio: Hi! I’m Helcio Alexandre Pacheco from Brazil. I live some 100 kilometres away from the capital, Sao Paulo. I’m ranked as 3 dan, and I also play as 3 dan on the Tygem go server.

Antti: How did you qualify for the WAGC?

Helcio: I participated in a qualification tournament in Sao Paulo and made it to the second place. The winner, Thiago Shimada, could finally not come to Japan for the WAGC, so I was the next player in line.

Antti: Can you tell me how you study go? How long have you been playing?

Helcio: I started already maybe 30 years ago. I found out about the game in a science magazine and got interested. However, I didn’t know anybody who I played the game, so it was difficult to find opponents; that time, internet access was not a common thing either. I looked up go-related information whenever I could, and also downloaded the 9×9 go program, Igowin, with which I played a lot. I even made it to ‘professional’ level on the program, but when I later got to play my first 19×19 game on IGS, I got completely demolished! It was like a completely different game. I started playing from time to time, but I was also kind of hooked to chess, and had periods when I only played go, and then periods when I only played chess. However, I always tried to stay up to date with whatever was going on in the go world.

Later, I saw Hikaru no Go, and it made me really want to play on a real board. I went to the Nihon Ki-in in Sao Paulo and played somebody with seven handicap stones, but lost again. In just a month, however, I was able to play an even game with the same opponent, so maybe I just wasn’t used to the real board. Ever since then, I’ve been playing both online and offline, participating in some tournaments, and also reading English go theory books. At one point I got busy with work and didn’t play so often, but now I have started to have time again. Very recently I also started studying with the AI.

Antti: How is the go scene in Sao Paulo?

Helcio: These days, there are maybe 50 active players. There is the Nihon Ki-in Sao Paulo branch which has a Japanese player base, and then there are also Korean and Chinese groups of players who play elsewhere. In addition, there is also a separate group of university students who play together.

Antti: What is your impression of the WAGC this year?

Helcio: I have wanted to play in the WAGC since 2001! My friend actually qualified for the tournament in 2003, but the tournament was cancelled because of the SARS outbreak. I tried to qualify for the tournament for a long time, but I think it was worth it – I am really enjoying my time here!

Antti: Why do you think go is interesting? How would you promote the game among new players?

Helcio: I like it as thinking practise: there is no hidden information and everything that matters is on the go board, so finally it is the player’s understanding of the game that decides the winner. In this way, go provides an excellent framework for a player to constantly improve their own thinking, searching for the perfect game.

I also like to play chess, and I think go players could learn from some chess conventions. In chess tournaments, players are required to record their own games or their results will not get saved; and in this way, large databases of amateur games are created. When you prepare for a chess tournament game, you can look up your opponent’s games and see what kind of openings they prefer or what their playing style is like. I think it would be interesting to have such a database for go tournaments as well, as that would deepen the metagame between the players.

Antti: Thanks for your answers, Helcio! I hope you have a nice time in Japan!

Helcio: Thank you!

Starting with this post, there will be a short series of interviews from players around the world who are participating in the 40th World Amateur Go Championship tournament. First, we would like to introduce Celeste Abat from The Philippines.

Celeste Abat from The Philippines

Antti: Hi! Could you quickly introduce yourself?

Celeste: Hi! I’m Celeste Abat from Manila, Philippines. I’m 5 kyu, and it’s my second time to play at the WAGC.

Antti: Can you tell us how you qualified for this tournament?

Celeste: The Philippine Go Association in Manila holds a championship tournament every year, and the winner of the tournament gets to represent The Philippines in the WAGC. This year I won the tournament second time in a row, and that’s how I’m here.

Antti: Can you describe how the go scene in the Philippines is right now?

Celeste: We only have one club, the Philippine go association in Manila. We meet once a month, and there are usually maybe ten players present. Last time in the Philippine championship tournament there were 15 participants. We have a small community, but everybody really loves to play go!

Antti: How are your impressions from the WAGC this year?

Celeste: I also participated last year when the tournament was held in Tokyo. Matsue city is a lot more quiet than Tokyo, and I like that there is nature everywhere nearby. This was also the first time for me to see a castle! Both years I’ve had a great experience, and I got to play some exciting games. I also like the international atmosphere, and I’m thinking of participating in the European Go Congress in the near future.

Antti: Is there some reason you like go in particular? How would you promote the game to new people?

Celeste: First of all, go is fun! It’s also played globally, and I feel that it’s a very easy way to make new friends and to get to know interesting people from around the world. Also, I think playing go is good for nurturing your creativity and memory.

I have one tip for spreading the game: we have started to teach children in The Philippines recently, and we found that it’s efficient to use colourful go boards and stones to get the children interested. Once they have fun playing the game, they quickly get hooked!

Antti: That’s a great piece of advice! Thank you for your answers, Celeste, and have a nice tournament!

Celeste: Thank you!