James Hutchinson fought his way back into the title match today, with a half point win. There will now be a deciding game!

The IGA ladder has a new winner this year. Roman Pszonka took the top spot during the last weekend of play, by beating Ian Davis, who finished in second. In third place, with a last minute win, was Tiberiu Gociu, who played the most games this year.

The qualifiers for the Top 8 are then: Roman Pszonka, Tiberiu Gociu, Justyna Kleczar, and John Gibson.

The 2012 Irish Go Congress will take place in the Teachers Club the weekend of March 2nd-4th.

More details to follow shortly.

For once no natural disaster struck Cork on the eve of its Go tournament. 24 players turned up to do battle, but only 23 got to play. For the second year in a row the winner came from Dutchland, Kim Ouweleen boasting a flawless 5/5. In second place (on tiebreak) was Ian Davis, ahead of Spain’s Matei Garcia, who clearly needs promoted after winning all his games. Also winning 5 was Galway’s Thomas Shanahan. Kevin Doherty, Marek Gutkowski and Arthur Cater also deserve a mention with 4 wins apiece.

Results are available here
Photos here

Just a quick reminder about our tournament – it’s on next weekend, 19-2oth November 2011 on the main campus of UCC, in Electrical Engineering building, room L1. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so by e-mailing us (goclub@umail.ucc.ie) as soon as possible.

Our website has been updated with the location on the map and the available car park.

For more information please visit the tournament site.

Another Club has joined the online revolution! NUI Galway Go Society has a new website up for everyone to enjoy. Good luck to the new club.

Rory Wales represented Ireland this year in the Korean Prime Minister’s Cup. He won 3 games out of 6 in this fast paced competition, earning a respectable placing of 49th overall. There was a bar of 4d in the competition. Rory won against India, Brunei, and Kazhakstan, while losing to Australia, Belgium, and Slovakia. There are some unofficial results online here.

Last Wednesday (12th October) the UCC Weiqi Club held an EGM regarding the tournament we are organising next month. We do have a general setup now and are ready to begin the registration. General information on the tournament:

When and where: 19-20th November 2011, Electrical Engineering Building L1
Tournament system: 5 rounds, McMahon, Class B, EGF General tournament rules apply
Time limit: 50 min. and 30 seconds byo-yomi
Rules: Japanese
Komi: 6½ points

For further details, please visit the tournament page. We hope to see you all next month!

For statistics fans, here are a few figures I put together, they only include data up till the end of September. (If you notice a mistake feel free to point it out!) The four players currently in the qualification spots for next year are: Roman Pszonka, Tiberiu Gociu, Eoghan Barry and Rory Wales.

Games Played Per Month

Most Games Played up until Sep.
Tiberiu Gociu 11
James Hutchinson 10
Roman Pszonka 6
John Gibson 6
Eoghan Barry 6

The first game in this year’s online interprovincial competition was played today on KGS. Ulster, boasting a revamped squad, came out on top against Munster, with a 2-1 victory.

Results page.