BenKyo League

BenKyo League (BKL) is a community, founded in 2021, of players studying under full time Canadian 5d teacher BenKyo (Ben Mantle),

It has six rank based groups, S, A, B, C, D and E (by descending strength), and and an unrestricted league called the Title Tournament (TT). In the group leagues, games with a rank difference are played at handicap, to a maximum of nine stones. Handicap is optional in the TT.

BKL has its own rating system, which is comparable to other western systems like EGF, AGA and OGS ranks. As of February, the groups mainly cover three ranks each: the A group is 2-4k, B 4-6k, C 7-9k, D 10-12k and E 13-15k. The outlier is the S League, which combines 1-2k with a few dans.

BenKyo League is based in the BenKyo Baduk HQ Discord server, especially in the #benkyoleague channel. Other channels are dedicated to organising Go watch parties, compiling Go resources, solving tsumego, studying joseki, fuseki and the endgame, and giving reviews. There's also a BenKyo League website, with information about the community and testimonials from players.

Payment for the league is typically made over the BenKyo Baduk Patreon, although Ben is open to taking money directly if Patreon isn't an option. Patreon Tier 3 and higher levels grant access to the league. Although seven tiers are available, most members are on T3 ($25 / month), T4 ($40 / month) and T5 ($100 / month).

Ben runs an optional study group for BKL members on Saturday and Sunday. Recordings of the sessions are provided in the #patreonstarthere Discord channel.