E3A is back! For now…

When I logged into KGS, I usually check out the empty triangle room; sometimes there are really fun conversations happening… And to my surprise, there was an announcement of two new comics at the Empty Triangle! I love the Empty Triangle, it is my favourite webcomic (tied with xkcd)! Please do check them out here and here. I am all giddy now ^_^

So basically the author, Chidori, has been too busy getting a degree; I can relate to that, but I’ve got my priorities sorted though: mindless internet stuff will always take priority over getting assignments done for school. Anyway, she revived her comics briefly as she is selling some merchandise at the European Go Congress in Liberec, at the request of someone who is part of the organising team. she kinda states that this is the last of E3A, but my theory is that if she sells enough she might reconsider. As EGC is happening right now, please go buy everything she has! Her T-shirts, pendants… Frakkin’ yeah, even her board and stones! And her shoes and coat! Maybe, just maybe, she’ll understand that I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT REGULAR E3A COMICS!

Also, she might draw a nice banner to replace the crappy cat-on-a-board I drew when I started this blog… ^_^

report: 2 test games on new web based LANKE GO Server (LKGS) from China

Some thoughts on the new baduk server; I haven’t played myself, but sure will try it out!

All about Influence in GO/Weiqi/Baduk

As Non-Asian with European background I did my first two test games on 6th + 7th December against a 4kyu (LKGS) after I discovered the new address this week on Facebook.

1st test game I lost as white (b+21.5)
my late attack on black’s bottom right corner failed…

2nd test game I won (b+resign)…
white’s top left corner didnt survive and the centre oriented style worked

Mostly I felt comfortable during the playing… the board design, the sound clicking, the chat window… the timer… inclusive the counting, all works fine. Luckily I had some help from Eng speaking moderator/developer to get some orientation with the “chinese voice announcments” and “chinese buttons” 🙂

LKGS is a young GO server and if the Go community around the globe has the patiency to wait till some essentials are programmed further on by the smal team (3 developers), e.g. reviews and…

View original post 146 more words

New browser based GO Server online: LankeWeiqi 2.0 is up (Chinese, Japanese, English)

And I’m off to claim my usual handle before anyone else scoops it up.

All about Influence in GO/Weiqi/Baduk

New Online Go Server appears behind the horizon…

All infos I got for now from the developer team that three enthusiastic Go players worked on programming a new GO server. A complete new version 2.0 is up since today (2nd Dec).

It is called LankeWeiqi or as short form LKGS (Lanke Go Server).
Similar to OGS (Online Go Server) which is owned by two software developers in the USA (matburt and anoek) following a merger with nova.gs in October 2013 the new Go server LankeWeiqi seems to be owned by the company Xining Vidoo Information & Technology Co. Ltd. and is purely web-browser based (without Java).

So another “…GS name” in the market of Online GO Servers beside the existing (e.g. OGS – Online Go Server, Pandanet-IGS, DGS – Dragon GO Server, KGS etc. …) ?? – For pure beginners this landscape might become…

View original post 446 more words

A great man passes… Farewell, Master Go Seigen…

One of the greatest baduk players to live, Go Seigen, has died at 100 years… To say he lead a full life is an understatement… He’ll take a place in our collective memory alongside figures such as Honinbo Shusaku and other greats… Rest in peace, and I hope we can keep your legacy alive…

June 12, 1914 – November 30, 2014

Korean Culture Festival 2014

BADUK… yes indeed, it’s called baduk… the English verb denoting movement from one location to another has no relevance…

Yesterday, at the V+A Waterfront in Cape Town, members of the Cape Town Go Club braved the beautiful weather, tourists, and the light breeze to teach baduk at the Korean Culture Festival 2014; supported by the Korean embassy, it was organised by South Africans interested in Korean culture. For the most part this mean lots of K-pop and the obligatory dance competition (which was kinda the star of the event, and probably the entire point for those who organised the festival), but also – of course – a taekwondo demonstration, and baduk…

When I packed up my board and stones in the morning, I expected that we’d just be a bunch from the club sitting there and playing matches amongst ourselves; I mean, we were right next to a table with face-painting and make-up, how could we hope to compete? To our surprise we generated quite a bit of interest. The key was that we just started playing matches, which led people to watch and ask what for the sake of cute puppies on the internet we were doing. In the end I think more than 10 people sat down to learn the rules and play a game on a 9×9 board with one of us; we handed out about 15 flyers, and I saw none of the lying around the waterfront afterwards, so in my book that’s a success!

Corner Killer explaining the rules through a friendly game of capture baduk.

The festival itself was kinda drowned into the usual buzz of the waterfront, but I think it definitely helped to get people to stop and look, most who had no clue that the festival was happening in the first place. Also, presenting the game as “baduk” made me happy, and definitely helps my underground movement aimed at changing the name of the South African Go Association to South African Baduk Association… Those 15 flyers had BADUK printed in large letters on it, and even our banner promoted this superior name for the greatest game ever. (Apologies, I’m just a bit high on Korean pride after the festival.)

True to Korean culture, 4 people were needed to dish up one bowl of bibimbap

Two kids trying out a game of capture baduk against each other, with a club member kibitzing under the guise of giving advice.

The obligatory demonstration of Taekwondo…

Guinness World Record attempt in Seoul, South-Korea

(source: whoever was there, took the picture, and posted it originally on facebook)
1004 simultaneous games at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul

 

So I assume there are a number of experienced players playing multiple games at once, in order to maximise the amount of games being played… No idea when this was, probably around today. It’s things like this that make me miss Korea.