COVID ALERT
Several U.S. Go Congress participants have tested positive for covid and are quarantining. Congress organizers urge all participants to exercise caution and to wear masks at the U.S. Open Round 4 on Thursday; masks are available at the registration desk.
DIE HARDER
One hundred and fifteen players turned out for Wednesday’s Die Hard tournament, playing 257 games. Stay tuned for a winner’s report.
PRO VARIANTS
by Solomon Smilack
Following the Pro Dinner Tuesday night we went to Zephyr for a nijikai. As soon as Go boards were laid out, Han Han 5p waged battle against the forces of Eric Lui 2p, in an epic game of 4v4 Rengo. The bar staff were friendly with tasters of their various drafts (I thought the Apricot-Pineapple beer was hands-down the best). Kim Jiseok 9p preferred the Christmas Beer and Satoshi Yanagisawa 6p settled on the Oberon Wheat, and soon enough the two were facing off across the go board as Nick Sibicky guided them through the rules of 3 Brothers Go. Each team consisted of 1 SDK, 1 Dan, and 1 Pro. Three Brothers Go is a variant designed specifically as a party game, with a range of strengths on each 3-player team. To play a sober version, simply replace Drinking in the instructions with more Prisoners. In addition to the normal Go ruleset, Three Brothers goes like this: Play for each turn begins with Little Brother of your team (the weakest player). To make things easier, they can sit in the center. After the placement by Little Brother, Middle Brother can approve the move with a Thumbs-Up signal or choose to change the move. If Middle Brother changes the move, the entire team must drink. After Middle brother's decision, Big Brother (the strongest player on the team) can approve the existing placement with a Thumbs-Up signal. Or, if Big Brother is not happy, they can change the move, causing the entire team to drink AND giving prisoners to the other team. Big Brother must choose wisely, weighing the intoxication level of his brothers against the severity of their mistakes. Middle Brother must also do their best, finding mistakes and correcting them well enough to keep Big Brother from intervening. It is possible for a team to drink twice on a turn if both Middle Brother and Big Brother have intervened. For best results, a wide strength of players (DDK, SDK, Dan) are preferred for each team. This is a great coaching variant, since everyone learns a lot about different levels of play in a single game.
photos by Solomon Smilack and Nick Sibicky