Ranks, Handicap and Club Ladder

Ranks and Handicap

In Go every player gets a rank like in any martial art, beginners start with 'Kyu' ranks. For example '25 Kyu' and while they progress they become '24 Kyu' .... '1 Kyu' and finally the get the black belt: '1 Dan' and can progress further...
In the UK 'Dan' grades are awarded by the British Go Association for tournament results.

According to the ranks of the opponents a handicap for their game is calculated, such that it is an fair game. Both players have to try their best to achieve a win. Especially in the beginning the stronger player has to fight very hard!

Club Ladder

In our Club everyone has got a rank, called 'rung' ;-). Beginners start with 25 Kyu (25k). The ladder and rungs are for use within the Go Swansea Society for 'normal' 19x19 games. It has no relevance to lightning, teaching, external or tournament games.

How does it work?

Two players agree to play a ladder game. They look up their rung in the 'Go Swansea Rungs' list, which is available at our meetings. Then the handicap is determined by the scheme below. At the end of the game, the winner is promoted one rung, the loser demoted one rung. With the exception of some anchor rungs of our strong players, and the rule that no player can be demoted beyond 25k. A draw leaves the rungs unaltered. The rungs are not evenly spaced.
Please change the rung according to your results in our list!

After a player has taken part in a tournament, they should modify their strength on the ladder to be correct with respect to that tournament. All players not having taken part in the tournament leave their strength alone. This way the total club strength should gradually creep towards the tournament levels.

The rungs:

25k 24k 23k 22k 21k 20k 19.5k 19k 18.5k 18k 17.5k 17k 16.5k 16k 15.5k 15k 14.5k 14k 13.5k 13k 12.5k 12k 11.5k 11k 10.5k 10k 9.8k 9.6k 9.4k 9.2 9k 8.8k 8.6k 8.4k 8.2 8k 7.8k 7.6k 7.4k 7.2 7k 6.8k 6.6k 6.4k 6.2 6k 5.8k 5.6k 5.4k 5.2 5k 4.8k 4.6k 4.4k 4.2 4k 3.8k 3.6k 3.4k 3.2 3k 2.8k 2.6k 2.4k 2.2 2k 1.8k 1.6k 1.4k 1.2 1k 0.8k 0.6k 0.4k 0.2k 1d 1.1d 1.2d 1.3d 1.4d 1.5d 1.6d 1.7d 1.8d 1.9d 2d 2.1d 2.2d 2.3d 2.4d 2.5d 2.6d 2.7d 2.8d 2.9d 3d 3.1d 3.2d 3.3d 3.4d 3.5d 3.6d 3.7d 3.8d 3.9d 4d 4.1d 4.2d 4.3d 4.4d 4.5d 4.6d 4.7d 4.8d 4.9d 5d �

Handicaps: The stronger player is white, the weaker player is black. For handicap calculations, treat 'x'kyu = -x; 'y'dan = y-1. Subtract the two strengths then ignore any fractions to obtain the handicap. A handicap above 14 is set to 14. After the handicap is taken as stones (up to nine) and possible komi, it is then white's move. One handicap stone is equivalent to 10 komi.
For a handicap of 1, black starts with no komi.
For a handicap of 0, white receives 6 komi and black starts.

Example: Fred (1.3d) plays Bert (13.5k).
Fred=0.3, Bert=-13.5.
Fred - Bert = (0.3) - (-13.5) = 13.8.
Ignoring fractions gives 13 handicap levels, ie. 9 handicap stones + 40 komi for black. When Bert wins, he is promoted to 13k and Fred is demoted to 1.2d.

This ladder is based on the West Surrey Go Ladder and the BGA Organiser's Handbook.

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