.: Tournament Attendance Database Online!!

April 17, 2007

-We're using Japanese Byo-Yomi, so bring your clocks stones and board
-We're using the Accelrat Scaled Handicap pairing system
-Make sure to arrive on time

Can't wait to see you all at the tournament,
Joshua Lee
Tournament Organizer, 2007 Orlando Go Tournament

March 27, 2007

Once again, we have good news!! 2 new Go Clubs have been discovered in Florida and are being sent emails about the tournament. The Emery-Riddle Club is still active, and I sent their president an email, and a new club in St.Petersburg was also sent an email. Along with the Tesuji Youth Go Enterprise, this makes 3 clubs that still need to respond to me. We are looking at easily having a 30+ tournament. When i first started planning this tournament, we planned for no more than 30 people absolute max, but 30 now seems to be a number which is expected to be reached or surpassed.

Emery-Riddle has many players that fit into the Lower and Mid Kyu divisions, which would be perfect if they attended because those 2 divisions are still lacking somewhat, especially Lower Kyu. I am unsure of the membership numbers of either of the remaining two clubs.

Since the AGA does not allow direct club homepage links from their webpage for tournaments, I have set up a Tournament Page here with all the basics for the tournament. On that note, I have successfully contacted Chuck Robbins and he has responded. Hopefully, he'll be able to get me the WinTD software for our tournament.

This makes bringing clocks and boards even more important!! Since we have more players coming than expected, it is vital that every single person who has a clock bring a clock. Although the outcome is unlikely, there is a possibility that we may need up to (at absolute max) 20 clocks. We have 12 (to the best of my knowledge) coming in from Sarasota and Miami combined, and we have 2 clocks here already. That means that we may need 6 more clocks. If you have additional clocks, please inform me and bring them.

Can't wait to see you all at the tournament,
Joshua Lee
Tournament Organizer, 2007 Orlando Go Tournament

March 21, 2007

Great news, we have our Database online. Please go to our Members section to see who will be attending our tournament

Also, we have a piece of bad news. Many of the clocks which are going to be brought, I have found out, are Ing Clocks. Ing Clocks, while fine for basic time, cannot successfully do Canadian Overtime. It is impossible to reset one time without affecting both, therefore if one person enters overtime and his opponent isnt, a second clock would be needed during the game, which is impractical for multiple games. Unless I hear of a large number of clocks which can handle Canadian Overtime, i feel that the only satisfactory course of action to take is to make our time system 1 hour per player Absolute Time. If you have an abundance of non-Ing clocks that you would like to bring, please email me at [email protected] immediately.

Finally, tournament numbers are looking good. A bit bigger than expected. If every person from the confirmed list, possible list, and a few players from the Tesuji Youth Go Enterprise, we will have a tournament of 33-35 people. While it's very unlikely that the number would reach that big, our room is only big enough to comfortably fit 25-28 people. In preparation for the unlikely even that we have 30+ players, I may be reserving a second room 5 feet away from our current one as a secondary tournament room.

I hope to see all of you there at the tournament

.: Big News - Our 3 sponsors decided + Tournament Update

March 9, 2007

We have 3 sponsors for our tournament. Their websites with a short description is provided below.

YellowMountainImports:

This site has many Go products ranging from books to stones to boards and more. They are being extraordinarily generous in their donation to our tournament (all first prize winners in each division will recieve a prize given to us by them), so I ask everyone to at least check out their website and see if there's anything they might like there.

www.thetradingcentre.com:

The Trading Centre has a top quality range of specialist books, software and equipment for all sorts of intelligent games including Bridge, Go, Backgammon, Chinese Chess, Shogi and Western Chess.

HillTopGo.com:

A truly unique go website with goods such as T-Shirts with sayings, mugs with go jokes, and the like. A must visit for any Go Enthusiast.

For the tournamnet updates, check your email, as they're too long to post here. If you're not getting my email, please contact me at [email protected].

.: We've Got Another Sponsor!!

March 1, 2007

Hoorah!! We have our second sponsor :) HillTopGo.com has kindly decided to send us a variety of unique and interesting prizes. You can check out their website by clicking on the logo below. We now have enough prize support to make sure that all 1st and 2nd place participants get a prize.

.: We've Got A Sponsor!!

Febuary 24, 2007

I'm happy to report that YMImports.com has agreed to sponsor us and will be donating prizes for the tournament. They have some really nice stuff on their website, check it out at http://www.ymimports.com/Go/

.: The Tournament is Happening!!

Febuary 20, 2007

We have alot of tournament updates to get to, so here I go. Firstly and most importantly, it's been suggested that we extend the tournament to 2 days. The other tournament coordinators and I have spoken about this idea, and agree that this would be beneficial to the tournament. Therefore, the tournament will now be on May 5-6, both Saturday and Sunday.

On that note, we have a tentative schedule for the tournament (subject to change):

Saturday, May 5

9:00-9:30 Room Setup
9:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-10:30 Pairings for Round 1
10:30-12:30 Round 1
12:30-1:30 Lunch/Pairings for Round 2
1:45-3:45 Round 2
3:45-4:15 Pairings for Round 3
4:15-6:15 Round 3
6:15-6:30 Results Tabulation
6:30-7:00 Room Cleanup, head to tournament dinner at Wackadoos

Sunday, May 6

11:00-11:15 Room Setup/Pairings for Round 4
11:15-1:15 Round 4
1:15-2:15 Lunch/Pairings for Final Round (Round 5)
2:15-4:15 Round 5
4:15-4:30 Results Tabulation
4:30-4:45 Closing Ceremony (givng out prizes, declaring winners of each division)

I understand that some people will not be able to make it for both days. If that is the case, feel free to only play Saturday; you won't be recorded losses for Sunday.

I may have been unclear in my last email so let me say it again: this will be an AGA sanctioned tournament, so you need to be an AGA member to play in it. I would advise you to go to their website (http://www.usgo.org/) and register as a member now before the tournament. If you like, we can also make you an AGA member when you register onsite.

There will be four divisions. The Dan Division (1d+), Upper Kyu Division (1-6kyu), Mid Kyu Division(7-14kyu), and Lower Kyu Division(15kyu+). The kyu divisions will all (as of now) be handicap divisions. The dan division will most likely be non-handicap. If we get 6 players or less for a division, Round Robin will be the likely format used. With 7 or more players, Swiss pairings will be used.

On the subject of ratings: many people don't have solid ratings by AGA standards. If that is the case, I would definately advise you to obtain a solid ranking on an online server (such as KGS, IGS, or Dragon Go) before the tournament. A solid rating there can be obtained in a few days easily. We will convert these ratings into AGA ratings for the tournament to know what division to place you in.

The cost of the two day tournament will be $20 at the door, or $15 pre-register. This fee will be to cover room reservation costs, tournament prizes, and other miscellaneous costs. If there is any money left over, it will be used to help the Go Club of UCF get started (buy a few beginner books, some club boards, some clocks). I'll be sending out details on how to pre-register in my next email, along with a flyer you can distribute to your members.

Also, if all the presidents who haven't contacted me yet could send me a confirmation email saying that my emails are reaching them, I would be very thankful. So far I have been contacted by: Miami Go Club, Sarasota Go Club, Colonial High Go Academy, and Tenuki Chaos. If you are not one of these four clubs, please contact me so I know your club is still active and recieving my emails. As a reminder, if you could also send me some approximate numbers on who is interested in going to the tournament that would be great, as I would like to know whether a second reserved room is needed.

Can't wait to see you all there :)

Joshua Lee

.: A Go Tournament may be occuring this semester at UCF

Febuary 8, 2007

While we don't have anything definate yet, we are hoping to host a tournament at UCF on May 5, 2007. News will be sent out to Florida Go clubs as well as posted on this website when we have more information, so stay tuned.

.: The Go Club of UCF Webpage Opens Their Doors!!

April 12th, 2006

Today, The Go Club of UCF Webpage officially opens it's door to the web. I wrote this webpage quickly, and I've been out or practice for about 4 years, so if there is something that looks aesthetically horrible or some content that is incorrect or missing, tell me.

Future updates to this page will hopefully include a better "The Basics" section, more FAQ's, and perhaps even a message board if the club grows larger. Also (god willing) we can buy an actual website and get rid of this advertising from Yahoo.