Seattle
Here's a brief Associated Press article on Seattle Go Center published May 5th, 2002, in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (someone please delete when the link expires).
Seattle is in Washington state, in the "Pacific Northwest" region of US. On the eastern side of Puget Sound, Seattle is known for its warm, rainy winters (partly due to the warm, moist ocean winds being compressed against the Cascades mountain range), seafood, and fruit trees (partly due to the warm, rainy winters); also for political dissonance, with extremists from both sides of the aisle making their home in "the Emerald City".
Many ethnic Asians have migrated to the US west coast, including Seattle, and contribute greatly to the thriving Go community here. Students from the University of Washington Seattle campus also add to the mix, as do employees at Microsoft (in nearby Redmond), Boeing, and other "high tech" companies located here.
The Seattle Go Center, conveniently located on NorthEast 45th Street near Interstate Highway 5, opened with the generous help of Iwamoto Kaoru 9-dan circa 1994. It has become the nexus of Go activity in Seattle, with a handful of smaller clubs in the area meeting in schools and other venues. In 1986 and again in 1995, the US Go Congress was in Seattle.
StormCrow: Now the link is fixed, but I have to admit I'm not too impressed by the website. It could really use more accessible directions and contact information, it took me a while to figure out the "organization" link was the one to find out where it was located.
- TakeNGive: Yeh, the Go Center manager maintains their website; and I suspect it's not his highest priority. I've posted a bit of directions etc. on my own page about Seattle Go Center.
Edward Kim, AGA 7-dan (and a 2001 challenger for the World Amateur Go Championship), lives near Seattle and sometimes plays simultaneous games at the Seattle Go Center.
Before the SGC opened, a strong informal community of players congregated in the International District and the University District (mostly at the Last Exit coffeehouse), and populated Seattle-area tournaments, such as the Cherry Blossom and Korean Consulate tournaments (which are stilll held annually).
40 miles south of Seattle is Tacoma, which has a recently organized club, and several enthusiastic players who meet often, as well as a budding "Go in the Schools" program. Tacoma Go news and announcements
The Tacoma AGA chapter had their first tournament in March 2003, hosted at the University of Puget Sound. The tournament drew 30 players, fifty percent of whom were dan level, six of these players were six dans. A detailed report on the tournament is on the Tacoma Go website. Tournament Report
-- TakeNGive
(updated by Tyler)
It's not really a club but a group of people have started meeting at the Canterbury in Capitol Hill on Tuesday nights. We usually start around 8:30 and go until midnight. We're mostly beginners so far, from about 15-25 kyu but anyone is welcome. The Canterbury has chess night on Mondays and they are happy that we've made Tuesday Go night.
You can view a map here or send e-mail to seattlegoclub (at) gmail (dot) com
--kreppart