Friday 10 July 2015

Osaka Go Camp - A League Game Day

Some of you (maybe even you?) may already have wondered what the schedule of a normal day at the Osaka Go Camp looks like. Well, here you go, then!

A "normal" day at the Osaka Go camp is usually a day on which we play a league game - a Monday, Tuesday or Friday. According to the schedule, the day starts at 10 am with a league game. Usually it takes a bit longer for all players to arrive, since some might want to go and grab breakfast or something to drink before playing.

I'm not sure how exactly the pairings are made, but they tend to limit the amount of handicap stones that are given in a game. Since everybody has a playing card with his strength, all games are played with full handicap. This also means that in theory every participant could win the camp - though i'm not sure how they handle the case if several people tie for first place after wins.

Serious league games

Your rank, however, does not stay the same. If you win three league games in a row you earn a promotion (usually 1 level), if you lose three games in a row you go down a level.
If no suitable pairing partner is available for you (we have this case with two 15ks at the camp - next strongest player is around 7k), you might play a teaching game with a pro instead of playing a handicap game with another camp participant.

Teaching game instead of league game

Depending on how fast you finish your game, you can ask one of the professional at the camp for a review of your game or just go straight to lunch. The next scheduled activity starts at 13:30, which is homework checking. On each league day, Maeda-sensei gives out homework, which consists of 12 problems. The first six problems are whole-board problems, mostly for the late opening or middle game, with one or two endgame problems. The last six problems are tsumego/endgame problems.
Everybody who gets all problems for a day correct, can collect a little price but the problems are getting harder each time, so this is not that easy.

After checking the homework, at around 2pm, a pro gives a lecture until about 3pm. For most people it's free time after the lecture, but those who have put their names down fast enough, play teaching games against the visiting pros.

Teaching games after the lecture

Of course, not every day is a league day. Like mentioned earlier, Wednesday and Thursday are free days as the pros have their own games on these days. Usually sightseeing trips are organized for these days, but they are completly optional. On the weekends no league game are played. Instead it's friendship matches against local players (strong amateurs or even insei).

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