New York Go Center

The New York Go Center was formed in 1995, when Japanese professional player Iwamoto Kaoru donated $1 million to purchase a four story brownstone at 323 East 52nd St, in Manhattan. The Center occupied in the first and second floor, as well as a room in the basement. Iwamoto sensei, a great supporter of Go in the West, also donated buildings to the Go communities in Seattle, WA, Amsterdam and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Unique among the Centers, New York had a series of resident instructors, Japanese pros or strong amateurs who would visit the Center for three months at a time.

On November 30, 2010, The New York Go Center ceased operations at East 52nd St. at the Nihon Kiin's request. The Nihon Kiin Board of Directors had become concerned about the Center for three reasons: 1) The building was old and rundown and would need significant renovation; 2) the building was no longer self-sufficient, and was draining financial resources at a time when the Kiin faces serious financial losses; and 3) the Center had fallen short of expectations for such a large and diverse city. , The Nihon Kiin found it hard to justify investing in a Center with an average of 6-8 players per day.

The Center's Go activities were operated by Nihon Kiin America, a 501c3 tax-exempt corporation whose Board continues to meet regularly (November 2010) and hopes to reopen in the future.

Website was www.nygocenter.org

Other source material regarding the Center's closing (at archive.org):

• http://www.nygocenter.org/the-new-york-go-center-is-closing
• http://gogameguru.com/new-york-go-center-close/

See also

• Go Clubs in New York https://www.usgo.org/where-play-go?state=NY#listing
• Mitsuo Horiguchi