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Seattle Report: Playing Go Is Like Making Kimchi

The Seattle Go Center had their own room at Sakura-Con, Seattle’s big festival of Japanese anime, manga and games, which was held last weekend, April 3-5, in the Washington State Convention Center.  One volunteer, John Richards, put in 32 hours of teaching, and several volunteers provided more than 20 hours of instruction.  At peak times, more than 10 volunteers were teaching at once.  The students ranged from complete beginners to single digit kyu players who come by each year to get more instruction. I enjoyed the observation that Solomon Choe 6d made while playing one of the students on a 19x19: "You know, playing go is like making kimchi.  That group is kind of dead. [And I don't want to add more stones to it right now.] But I want to preserve it. I want to put it in a pot underground and see if something magical happens."  Report/photo by Brian Allen