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BGJ 215 is Available in Members' Area

Tony Atkins — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:03:00 +0000

BGJ 215 is Available in Members' Area Tony Atkins Mon, 29/06/2026 - 12:03

The Spring 2026 edition of the BGJ is now available for members to read in the Members' Area, with printed copies being sent out to those that receive them.

UK Lose Promotion Match Against Israel

Tony Atkins — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:38:56 +0000

UK Lose Promotion Match Against Israel

Pandanet Go European Team Championship

Tony Atkins Wed, 10/06/2026 - 12:38

Pandanet

Tue, 9 Jun 2026

Foreign Tournament Report

After finishing second in League B (behind the Netherlands) the UK team had to play a promotion match against the team second bottom in League A. At one point it was expected this would be Hungary, but Israel ended in the ninth slot on tie-break. Italy was bottom and automatically relegated. Israel fielded a strong team and only Damen Woo, playing on board one, managed to win for the UK, so the match was lost 1-4 and the UK remain in League B next season.

League Page with game records

Damen Woo wrote: I had played a few games with this opponent, Amir Fragman, previously. In this game, I tried a creative opening to throw him a surprise and take the game off-book. Swimming in uncharted waters, I gained the upper hand and successfully converted it into a winning position.

Michael Cheung wrote: I lost my game due to poor calculation, my opponent, Tal Michaeli, played better than me in this game.

Bruno Poltronieri wrote: I lost by resignation against Reem Ben David. The game started well enough, with both of us making our own frameworks. He made a floating group to reduce my top right, which I started chasing around. I think the game was even at that point, but I then played a careless peep that wasn't sente, and my opponent was able to connect up his group. After that I was clearly behind and my attempt to make something happen didn't work.

Jake Game wrote: Sadly I lost today. My opponent, Nadav Tzelnicker, played well and probably was better the entire game due to uncertainties in the opening that I did not handle well. It was very enjoyable game though.

Ryan Zhang lost by resignation against Ofer Zivony after losing a capturing race.

Jake Game Wins a Sunny Welsh Open

Tony Atkins — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:24:32 +0000

Jake Game Wins a Sunny Welsh Open

Welsh Open

Tony Atkins Wed, 03/06/2026 - 13:24

Sat, 30 - Sun, 31 May 2026

The Welsh Open was in its usual seaside venue of the Dragon Theatre in Barmouth. It was a little earlier in the year than normal and this worked well as they had had lovely sunny weather throughout the weekend. The tournament featured 28 players, ranging from 4d to 23k, including former multiple winner Matthew Macfadyen. It was great too that the late Brian Timmins' daughter Helen, and her daughter, visited to present prizes, and donate more Go equipment to the Youth Go Trust.

Jake Game (4d) from Swindon was the champion winning all his six games. Second was Alvina Kwok (3d) from Oakham School with five wins. Prizes also went to Andrew Kay (4d Swansea), Sue Paterson (4k Arundel) and David Baldwin (6k Stevenage) for each winning four games out of the six. In addition, Joshua Sing Ching Fai (3k) from Leeds received some chocolates for winning three and being the youngest player. Jake and the prize winners are pictured above. Results

UK End Second in B League

Tony Atkins — Wed, 13 May 2026 10:31:34 +0000

UK End Second in B League

Pandanet Go European Team Championship

Tony Atkins Wed, 13/05/2026 - 11:31

Pandanet

Tue, 12 May 2026

Foreign Tournament Report

In the last round of the Pandanet Go European Team Championship the UK managed to beat Finland and hold onto the second place in the B League. Unfortunately Michael Chang forgot that his game was an early start and it was forfeited to Olli Ervelä. However the other three UK players won by resignation to take the match 3-1. This means the UK will have to play Israel in a play-off to gain promotion to the A League.

League winners Netherlands beat Sweden who ended third. Fourth placed South Africa drew with Ireland, leaving them in fifth. Karl Irwin lost to Victor Chow and Gavin Rooney to Andrew Davies, but both Matei Garcia and Stephen Nulty won. Sixth was Finland, seventh Belgium and, despite their huge number of penalty points, Croatia came eighth. Austria took the play-off place and Switzerland was relegated.

League A ended as expected with Czechia, Ukraine, France and Germany advancing to the on-the-board finals in Turkey.

League Page with game records

Scott Cobbold wrote: I won my game against Arto Heikkinen. It started out with my opponent playing sanrensei and pincering in both corners. I played a standard reducing move, however while attacking me Black neglected their own weaknesses allowing me to split their shape; a few moves later on in the game Black tried to chase me again but got captured themselves.

Bruno Poltronieri wrote: I won by resignation against Teemu Rovio. My game was a mess of dumplings, but a mess in my favour. White had too much to worry about so I killed a group on the right side, then just had to survive.

Jake Game wrote about his game against Pekka Lajunen: My game was very back and forth, but in the end I got lucky when my opponent overplayed and died.

Becky Li and Zeyu Qiu to play Title Match

Tony Atkins — Fri, 08 May 2026 09:16:59 +0000

Becky Li and Zeyu Qiu to play Title Match

Candidates'

Tony Atkins Fri, 08/05/2026 - 10:16

Sat, 2 - Mon, 4 May 2026

UK Tournament Report

The Candidates' and Aspirants' tournaments were once again held over the Early May Bank Holiday weekend, this time in two bright, spacious rooms at the University of Warwick, kindly arranged by the university's Go society.

In Candidates', congratulations to Zeyu Qiu (6d, LGC) who swept 1st place with 6/6 wins. Becky Li (1d, UCL) took 2nd after a remarkable run through a very strong field, finishing on 5/6 with her only loss being to Zeyu. The two will proceed to a best-of-three Title Match to determine the 2026 British Go Champion. Jake Game (4d, Swindon) and Ryan Zhang (3d, London City) shared joint 3rd/4th place, while Yangran Zhang (3d, Manchester) finished 5th and Zhan Shi (3d, Manchester) 6th. Selected games were live streamed on the BGA YouTube channel and scribed on OGS (see video descriptions for links), drawing enthusiastic spectators throughout the weekend. Results

In Aspirants', after two days Daniel Guest (2k, Cambridge) and Joshua Fai (3k) emerged ahead of the field, and it was decided that they would proceed to a best-of-three playoff, with Daniel already leading 1–0. Congratulations to Daniel Guest who secured 1st place after a very close second victory, placing Joshua Fai (3k) in 2nd followed by Alec Edgington (4k, Cambridge) in 3rd. Those below the bar proved they were not to be underestimated: Caleb Fai (7k) was the only player to take a game (playing even!) off champion Daniel, while Sak Wathanasin (8k, Leamington) also scored an even victory against Alec. Results

The top players in both events are shown above and other photos of the prize winners can be found in this gallery.

As always, some of the best moments of the weekend came between the rounds, with players of all strengths gathering to review and learn from one another. The warm social atmosphere continued long into the evenings, with two relaxed group dinners bringing around ten people together each night to unwind after a long day of games.

BGC Returns to Cambridge

Tony Atkins — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:58:55 +0000

BGC Returns to Cambridge

British Go Congress

Tony Atkins Mon, 20/04/2026 - 10:58

Fri, 10 - Sun, 12 Apr 2026

UK Tournament Report

The British Go Congress returned to Cambridge this year, hosted in the spacious School Hall of the Stephen Perse Foundation Senior School. 66 players competed in the British Open, with a further 7 joining for the Lightning only, making this one of the largest Congresses in recent years.

The Congress opened with a revamped British Lightning Championship. This year's five-round Swiss format replaced the traditional knockout to guarantee all entrants a full set of games. The event was fully handicapped, with a fun twist: above 9 stones, White could choose between giving 15 reverse komi per stone or allowing extra handicap stones, leading to much strategic debate amongst the stronger White players. Michael Cheung (5d) emerged as the undefeated champion with a perfect score. Particularly notable were the performances of Kai Dhamari (15k) and Fane Dhamari (16k), who finished second and third respectively and were awarded Rising Stars titles for spectacular performance above their grades. Jason Qian (4d) took fourth place. British Lightning Results

Over the weekend in the British Open, Yuanzhen Li (6d) claimed first place, with Dohyup Kim (8d) second, Xi Wu (5d) third and Yifan Bao (5d) fourth; Michael Cheung (5d) was the top British player in fifth. Further down the field, Mingyang Hu (3d) was the top player below the bar, while Grzegorz Kudla (1k) took the top kyu prize. A new category was introduced this year for players below 1900 rating – the qualification cut-off for the Aspirants tournament accompanying the British Championship – with Daniel Guest (3k) taking this inaugural prize. Also finishing on five wins were Lukasz Kudla (4k), William Lindved (6k), and David Baldwin (7k). British Open Results

Every player had a shot at prizes through a raffle of chocolate and wine, with one ticket for entering plus one per win... reminding us that while skill may decide the games, sometimes luck still has the final say. All the various prize winners, and myself, are shown in the photo above. Other photos of prize and raffle winners are available in this gallery.

The Terry Stacey Trophy, awarded for the most above-bar wins over the past year, went to Changhao Huang (5d).

Thanks go to local coffee shops for agreeing to provide caffeine and food at discounted rates, and to Martin and Helen Harvey, Bruno Poltronieri and Phil Beck for bringing equipment.

We hope to see many of you again next year! Ai Guan

UK Beat Old Friends Ireland

Tony Atkins — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:22:24 +0000

UK Beat Old Friends Ireland

Pandanet Go European Team Championship

Tony Atkins Wed, 15/04/2026 - 10:22

Pandanet

Tue, 14 Apr 2026

Foreign Tournament Report

The eighth match of the B-League season, on 14th April, was against our old friends and league rivals Ireland. Gavin Rooney was expected to play board three for Ireland, but in the end James Hutchinson had to move up a board with John Courtney playing board 4, Karl Irwin and Philippe Renaut on boards 1 and 2. The UK team fielded its strongest team to try and cement our second place; this tactic worked as Damon Woo, Michael Cheung, Bruno Poltronieri and Jake Game all won by resignation. As Sweden drew, the team moved one point clear of them in third place, but still behind leaders Netherlands who are uncatchable. The last round will be on 12th May against Finland.

League Page with game records

Damon Woo wrote about his game against Karl Irwin: The opening favoured me. In the middle game, Karl tried hard to separate my groups and attack them. However, the black stones around the group were not strong enough to challenge my weakish white group. As such, I won by resignation.

Michael Cheung wrote: I played against Philippe Renaut as black. I had a successful opening as my opponent was too greedy to get a corner early in the opening. In the middle game, I held the advantage and my opponent tried to get a comeback by getting more territories and ignoring his weak group. Although I did not calculate everything clearly, I felt like its alright to kill, and went for it. I was lucky that the killing turned out to be fine despite of some risk.

Bruno Poltronieri wrote: I won against James Hutchinson by resignation. He played an interesting attachment on the right side which I thought might be good, but he followed it up with a hane that was definitely too much. I got a lot of thickness in exchange for him cutting off my earlier approach stone, but it left a lot of aji in his corner which I used to start and win a ko. After that my lead is very comfortable. He tried to cause trouble for my lower left group, but resigned when it didn't work.

Jake Game wrote about his game against John Courtney: It seemed I was extremely lucky with my opponent blundering in time trouble. Possibly I was better in the opening but unclear.

BGJ 214 is Available in Members' Area

Tony Atkins — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:16:12 +0000

BGJ 214 is Available in Members' Area Tony Atkins Tue, 14/04/2026 - 12:16

Announcement

The Winter 2025-2026 edition of the BGJ is now available for members to read in the Members' Area, with printed copies being sent out to those that receive them.

Chinese Students again Predominate at Cambridge Trigantius

Tony Atkins — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:15:08 +0000

Chinese Students again Predominate at Cambridge Trigantius

Trigantius

Tony Atkins Mon, 23/03/2026 - 17:15

Sat, 21 Mar 2026

UK Tournament Report

The top seven places at the Trigantius all went to Chinese players, five of them starting above the 5-dan bar. With none of these on three wins, Yuanzhen Li, an MSc student at University College London, won with two wins and best SoS tiebreak. He is pictured below with the trophy.

Other prizes for three wins out of three went to Toby Manning (Newtown Linford 1k), Simon Thornewill von Essen (Stevenage 3k), Joshua Sing Ching Fai (no club 4k), Wenzhou Mei (Warwick University 5K), John Shafer (no club 7k), Horace Stoica (Stevenage 10k), Clarence Qin (Oxford 12K), and Toby Thornton (Warwick University 13K).

A total of 69 players attended the event, held as recently at St. Philip's Church in Hills Road. This number was slightly down on 2025, but the Trigantius was still the UK's most popular single-day tournament within the last year.

Results

UK Beat Switzerland

Tony Atkins — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:23:50 +0000

UK Beat Switzerland

Pandanet Go European Team Championship

Tony Atkins Fri, 20/03/2026 - 17:23

Pandanet

Tue, 17 Mar 2026

Foreign Tournament Report

In the sixth match of the 2025–2026 B-League season the UK team played Switzerland winning 4-0. Congratulations to Michael Cheung, Bruno Poltronieri, Jake Game and Ryan Zhang. This made the team third after leaders Croatia had their first five match wins voided after a player used AI. Netherlands now lead the table, ahead of Sweden, with what is probably an unassailable lead. Next match is 14th April against fourth-placed Ireland.

League Page with game records

Michael Cheung wrote: Tonight I played a chaotic game against John Walch; luckily my opponent runs out of time at the key moment, so my overplay was not punished.

Bruno Poltronieri wrote: On Sunday I won my game against the Swiss captain Fabien Lips by resignation. The opening was fine but I got cut in the first fight for very little compensation. Thankfully my opponent's subsequent attack wasn't severe enough and the game became even again. Then, as I was putting a bit of pressure on my opponent's group, he started an unreasonable fight and did not back down until things fell apart, at which point he resigned.

Jake Game wrote: I got lucky on Sunday against Frédéric Schlattner. It seemed I had three separate weak groups at one point, however it appeared difficult for my opponent with little time.

Ryan Zhang won by resignation against Flavien Aubelle. Ryan made a nice sacrifice on the right side to build a massive moyo. It was probably relatively even still but then his opponent played a sequence where he died and revived Ryan's sacrifice. After that it was hopeless and Ryan didn't give his opponent any chances.