Bloxham Student Yueran (Ivan) won the open title at the British Youth Go Tournament, held at the National Space Centre on the 20th November 2016.
Bloxham is very proud of Ivan, who was crowned “2016 British Youth Go Open Champion” at The British Youth Go Tournament, held at the National Space Centre on the 20th November 2016.
What is Go?
The name “Go” stems from Japan (they also call it Igo sometimes); in Korea it’s called Baduk and in China it’s called Weiqi (pronounced Wei-Chi).
Go originated over 3,000 years ago in China and is very much a part of Oriental culture. It was brought to the UK nearly 100 years ago from Japan and continues to expand in popularity.
Go has very simple rules and concepts, but a complex strategy. You start with an empty board, alternately placing pieces which don’t move (called stones) on it, trying to surround empty areas, whilst capturing your opponent’s stones by surrounding them and taking them off the board. However, as with a lot of simple concepts, it can take a little while to grasp them and a long time to master them.
British Youth Go Tournament
The 2016 British Youth Go Championships featured 43 competitors, aged from 5 to 17 (including two foreign players currently resident in the UK), with strengths from 2 dan to 37 kyu. Ivan won every one of his five rounds to top the leader board, even winning against those in the upper age bracket. A huge well done to Ivan!