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 Post subject: To Live and Die in LA
Post #1 Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:02 am 
Judan
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I scavenged these posts from the corpse of GD:

Hanguk Panda wrote:
Generally speaking, and I mean very generally, the stronger you are the more welcome you will be and the more likely you will get games.


There is a 7P sleeper pro who now runs a chain of dry cleaners who lost to jujo by 1 point in the Jujo cup a number of years ago.

He used to play at the club on Hobart , near Western and Olympic. Up stairs in an glass covered office complex. This is the nicest and cleanest of the clubs.

Gary Gun Ho Choi's club is the premier club. Certainly the largest club and the one most likely to be somewhat friendly to weaker players... less than AGA shodan. nights obviously more populated than days. He also has pros who come in now and again.

He will play you if theres no one else to play and he's approx 6 dan last I remember.

There is one other club if I remember correctly but I dont remember where it is. If you go to the Korean supermarkets and ask around they will tell you.

Gary is located near Western and Olympic... the main drag of K-town.


If you make it to the OC there are two go clubs in the same minimall complex as Hannam Chain supermarket. I forget what street its on but its in Garden Grove..beautiful area lots of great eats and beautiful, multicultural stores. I think its Garden Grove Pkwy. These are great clubs and the one across from hannam Chain is by far the nicest, most welcoming club i've been to.

San Diego meets in some guys house last I visited. Great guy. Does lots of meditation but I digress.

H.Panda


PS: Be advised, Smoking in Korean Clubs is the way it is. Moreover they do play for bangneggi stakes there, e.g. they gamble for money.



Joaz Banbeck wrote:
740 S. Western Ave., #210. It is the upstairs suite closest to the street. Yep, Gary is a good guy, will make sure that you get a game.

There is also a Korean club that has bounced around the El Monte/Rosemead area. Bloody savages; you aren't Korean, you don't exist.

There is a Chinese club recently opened at 3000 W Valley blvd in Alhambra, run by the same people who run the Irvine go club. Sometimes some 6+ dans around there. Monthly tournaments on third Sunday. http://www.ocgoclub.com/

The Japanese club at the Japanese cultural center closed a couple months ago.

In Gardena, at the New Gardena Hotel, 1641 W Redondo Beach Blvd, there is a Japanese club. Good people. The hotel manager, Tom Oki, is a serious go player. ( I haven't been there in a few years, so this info may be out of date )

The Santa Monica go club meets at the Unurban Coffee House at 3301 Pico. Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Friendly people, sometimes only kyus.

In Pasadena, the Yu Go Club meets on Wednesday nights from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at 20 North Raymond Ave., Suite 200, in Pasadena. Meets in tiny space. Good people, often only kyus. Sometimes attendance is sparse. Sometimes they close without notice, so call ahead. ( Sorry, don't have a phone number. )



Nick wrote:
There used to be a group of fellows who met every Saturday morning at the Japanese Cultural Center in West Covina. (I was last there about a year ago.) They do not meet during the summer months, they only meet when Saturday morning Japanese Class is in session during the school year.

If anyone is interested, I can give driving directions.



Joaz Banbeck wrote:
livewater wrote:
Thanks for all the comments. How do you guys find the club rankings compared to KGS rankings?


I don't play on KGS, so my answer will be denominated in AGA units.

The Pasadena and Santa Monica clubs are about AGA.

The Japanese clubs tend to be 1 rank weaker than AGA. ( That is, I'd play as a 1D at an AGA tournament in SM, but as a 2D in the tournaments in Gardena )

The Alhambra club seems to be AGA - but I have very little experience there.

The Korean clubs... well, it's hard to tell. I've been involved in lopsided games each way. I think that sometimes they have no regard for outside rating systems and they do it by experimentation. Regardless of how strong you tell them you are, they give you the next guy who is waiting for a game and they tell you that he is approximately your strength. If it is a slaughter one way or the other, they give you a different opponent.:rolleyes:
But when all is said and done, you will have some good games.




rorschah wrote:
The Santa Monica go club at the Unurban is my hang. Tuesday nights is beginners nights - a few rank beginners, but most of the people are somewhere between 15k and low amateur dan. Always players in the 12k-5k range. There are always some dan-level regulars, who give a lot of instruction and teaching games - it's really, really, *nice*. (Although if you're, like me, in the mid-kyu range, be prepared for passing dan players to comment, rearrange, and show variations - it's definitely a teaching-y environment, which I *love*). Very friendly.

I think in the past, it's been more all mid-kyu, and it's been gaining more powerful regulars. Nothing like the K-town clubs where somebody like me would be slaughtered, and then laughed out of the room.)

Wednesday nights is more serious, and some of the higher dan players come out. [EDIT: No Wed nights as of 2013. -JB ]




Avetikus wrote:
Just got back from a great evening at Unurban.

The place is way laid back. Looks like a comfortable place to hang or hide out from the rain.

I walked through the door and the girl behind the counter said, "Can I help you?" in a voice that said, "Are you lost?" So I asked her for a triple shot latte to wake me back up and she asked "Here or to go?" followed by "..you don't want this To Go?" Obviously my ninja blending skillz were no match for those crazy eyes of hers.

She directed me back to Joe and after folks got used to a complete outsider in their midst he gave me a couple of quick lessons and showed me an old old board someone had bequeathed to the cause. Around 7 some folks showed up and I was paired up with another new guy, John, and we played through a couple of highly informative games on a 13x13 board. I won't say winner or loser for these games included a lot of "is there a better move than that?" "what's going on in the rest of the board?" and "what if he did *this*?" Awesome stuff. I learned a *TON* here. The place is way friendly, the passing dans are completely open and even though I may have taxed their patience a bit with my thick-skulled-ness and general board-blindness they were good natured about it all.

Upshot: Drop in if you're ever in the neighborhood. These are great guys.

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 Post subject: Re: To Live and Die in LA
Post #2 Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:08 pm 
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Even though I don't live in LA, I'm glad you saved some of that thread. I was interested in some of the details people provided and planned to reference it again next time I'm in the area. I'd especially like to check out a Chinese club... hopefully they have some mainlanders so I can practice my Mandarin while I play :)

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 Post subject: Re: To Live and Die in LA
Post #3 Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:07 pm 
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Do you guys know if there are any active clubs in the SouthBay area? Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan beach, El Segundo, etc..? Id love to spend the time to explore some of these other clubs you mentioned above. But with work and traffic its just too hard to leave my area during the week. I also wonder how difficult it would be to get a club going in this area if none exists..

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #4 Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:58 pm 
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AgntCooper wrote:
Do you guys know if there are any active clubs in the SouthBay area? Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan beach, El Segundo, etc..? Id love to spend the time to explore some of these other clubs you mentioned above. But with work and traffic its just too hard to leave my area during the week. I also wonder how difficult it would be to get a club going in this area if none exists..


There is a club that meets Saturday afternoon and evening at the New Gardena Hotel in Gardena.

There are two Korean clubs in Garden Grove, which is not exactly South Bay but is vaguely in the vicinity. They should be open 7 days. I don't have the addresses but may be visiting one of them tomorrow and I'll let you know.

It should not be hard to start one; I'll help with a bit of equipment and some publicity if you want. You just have to be consistent about meeting and work hard to recruit.

Let me know how I can help.

Andy O.

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #5 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:45 pm 
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aokun wrote:
AgntCooper wrote:
Do you guys know if there are any active clubs in the SouthBay area? Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan beach, El Segundo, etc..? Id love to spend the time to explore some of these other clubs you mentioned above. But with work and traffic its just too hard to leave my area during the week. I also wonder how difficult it would be to get a club going in this area if none exists..


There is a club that meets Saturday afternoon and evening at the New Gardena Hotel in Gardena.

There are two Korean clubs in Garden Grove, which is not exactly South Bay but is vaguely in the vicinity. They should be open 7 days. I don't have the addresses but may be visiting one of them tomorrow and I'll let you know.

It should not be hard to start one; I'll help with a bit of equipment and some publicity if you want. You just have to be consistent about meeting and work hard to recruit.

Let me know how I can help.

Andy O.


Thanks Andy, my sister lives in Garden Grove and I was unaware of those. I'll have to have a look the next time I visit her. I'd appreciate any more details you can offer after your potential trip.

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #6 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 1:12 pm 
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Chew Terr wrote:
aokun wrote:
AgntCooper wrote:
Do you guys know if there are any active clubs in the SouthBay area? Redondo/Hermosa/Manhattan beach, El Segundo, etc..? Id love to spend the time to explore some of these other clubs you mentioned above. But with work and traffic its just too hard to leave my area during the week. I also wonder how difficult it would be to get a club going in this area if none exists..


There is a club that meets Saturday afternoon and evening at the New Gardena Hotel in Gardena.

There are two Korean clubs in Garden Grove, which is not exactly South Bay but is vaguely in the vicinity. They should be open 7 days. I don't have the addresses but may be visiting one of them tomorrow and I'll let you know.

It should not be hard to start one; I'll help with a bit of equipment and some publicity if you want. You just have to be consistent about meeting and work hard to recruit.

Let me know how I can help.

Andy O.


Thanks Andy, my sister lives in Garden Grove and I was unaware of those. I'll have to have a look the next time I visit her. I'd appreciate any more details you can offer after your potential trip.



Yes, thanks Andy. Any information about the Garden Grove clubs you can pass on would be really awesome.

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #7 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 1:50 pm 
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various wrote:
Do you guys know if etc. ... Yes, thanks Andy. Any information about the Garden Grove clubs you can pass on would be really awesome.



I have to say I'm rather looking forward to it. Since I took up go nine years there have always been two (or sometimes three, but mainly two) Korean go clubs in Southern California. One is the LA Go Club, 740 S. Western, Choi Gun-ho's place. Always there, always welcoming. The other, whenever I got there, had closed and moved somewhere else, even the one I read about in the E-Journal one time. I've still never seen it. I am very curious to see if it is still there when I arrive this evening.

;-)

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #8 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:26 pm 
Judan
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BTW, I was at the Santa Monica club a week or so back, and Joe said that it was only Tuesday nights. I don't know if this is official hours or if is just a decription of temporary behavior.

[EDIT: It appears to be permanent. Tuesdays only ]

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #9 Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:31 pm 
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aokun wrote:
various wrote:
Do you guys know if etc. ... Yes, thanks Andy. Any information about the Garden Grove clubs you can pass on would be really awesome.



I have to say I'm rather looking forward to it. Since I took up go nine years there have always been two (or sometimes three, but mainly two) Korean go clubs in Southern California. One is the LA Go Club, 740 S. Western, Choi Gun-ho's place. Always there, always welcoming. The other, whenever I got there, had closed and moved somewhere else, even the one I read about in the E-Journal one time. I've still never seen it. I am very curious to see if it is still there when I arrive this evening.

;-)



hey aokun, how was the go club? is it still actuve, welcoming, strength of players, etc??

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 Post subject: Re: LA go clubs
Post #10 Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:11 am 
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Does anyone know a good place to get a game on the weekend? Preferably in the east part of LA county? I prefer not to drive out to the west side.

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 Post subject: Re: To Live and Die in LA
Post #11 Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 1:31 pm 
Judan
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I'm thinking of starting a northern/eastern LA County club ( probably meeting at my place in Glendale ) probably on weekends. ( Saturday afternoons seems best for me ).

If interested, PM me.

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 Post subject: Re: To Live and Die in LA
Post #12 Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 8:46 am 
Judan
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As of late 2013, There is a club just starting in Long Beach: http://lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8149

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