Beijing Go Club

Table of contents Introduction Location Directions Contact Info Club Ladder (WIP) Ladder Rules Handicap Calculator

Introduction

Beijing Go Club is an amateur Go club that meets in Beijing, China, from 7:30 until 10:30 every Tuesday evening. It has about 8-10 regulars and lots of occasional visitors, about half foreigners and half locals. Before playing, some members get dinner nearby at about 6:30. Anybody is welcome to join for dinner or just come to play later!

As well as playing Go, the club’s members teach beginners how to play, review games, and talk about Go. They also frequently make up Go variants, talk about the pro Go world, go over games from magazines, and have internal rivalries. The club has also played in several local tournaments.

The regular members rank from beginners, to a big group around 8k-1d KGS, and then 4d, 5d, 8d, and pro. A few beginners come every week - teachers are available to teach the basics and experienced players to play teaching games. The club provides boards and stones and attendance is free.

The club has its own website here.

Location

The club meets in a cafe in a little hostel called "No. 161 Hostel". It is near the center of the city and is pretty close to a subway stop (line 5 & 6). The cafe is cheap and comfortable.

Directions

Subway: get off at the line 5 station Dong Si (NOT Dong si shi tiao!) Exit C. Go south (don't cross any streets at the intersection from exit C; just turn around and go south (exit C faces north)) for about 2 minutes and then turn left onto "Lishi Hutong". Very soon, you'll see the hostel on the left. The club meets at the little cafe inside; go in past the lobby; the club meets on the (inside) balcony in the back.

Taxi: get off at Dong Si subway station (~20 kuai from dong zhi men, maybe 50 from wu dao kou) and then follow the above directions

Contact Info

Most club communication is through a group chat on mobile app WeChat. As the group has many members, joining it requires an invitation. If you want to be invited, add Sam (id - aitkensam) on WeChat and he'll invite you to the group. The group is used to talk about the next meeting, Go news, celebrate members victories in tournaments etc. It's also for arranging grabbing dinner before the weekly meeting.

The club also has a Meetup group and sends out a weekly email.

Club Ladder (WIP)

Note: Please use minor edits when updating ladder positions.

Ladder Rules

• Any player can challenge any other player.
• Handicap is calculated based on the table below (e.g. 4.1k vs 3.7d, Rank difference is 7.8 -> handicap is 8 stones + 3 komi for black).
• If both players agree, handicap stones can be converted into additional komi for black. One stone counts as 12 points. (e.g. 4.1k vs 3.7d, Rank difference is 7.8 -> default handicap is 8 stones + 3 komi for black -> removing 8 stones gives komi for black of (8*12)+3=99).
• The winner moves up one rung on the ladder. The loser moves down one rung.
• If a player has won or lost three or more in a row, they move two rungs in the appropriate direction.
• Default time setting is 20 mins + 3*30 seconds. However, if both players agree any time settings can be used.

Handicap Calculator

• For greater rank differences, use the final column and add 12 points komi per extra stone difference.
• At differences of less than 0.5, colours are decided by nigiri.
• The left hand figure is the number of handicap stones. The right hand figure is komi.
• The - sign indicates komi for white, + for black