I just moved to SF from Chicago, and am surprised how spread out the GO community here is in San Francisco!

There were 4 people at the SF Go Club, and 4-5 at the Berkeley Go Club.

I'm looking for ALL PLAYERS who want to formalize a club! We could meet at a coffee shop to attract new players AND play in the SF club, or Berkeley club. I'm open to ideas. I ran the Chicago Club for a few years, and we grew to almost 100 people on the mailing list, and 12-20 regulars! I KNOW there are a lot of players. Let's get together!

Note: I'm around 1k - 1d +/-

-Joel
elmsley4@gmail.com

Make sure you contact the organizers of bayareago.org. The turnout at monthly tournaments is not too bad.

I met Herb last night at Berkeley. Very nice guy.

I'll be living in the Inner Richmond area, and it doesn't seem that there are any clubs playing in open spaces (besides Berkeley playing in a game store which is great), like at a coffee shop or an outside area.

In Chicago, there were some private clubs also (people meeting at other people's houses). Maybe through [u]this[/b] forum, I can find other players that, for whatever reason, don't go to the Berkeley or SF clubs and still want to play in person.

IMHO, the SF area go clubs are too spread out and too fragmented. A lot of effort is dissipated in groups that are too small. ( The following observations have been made from 2007 - 2011 )

- I've been to the alleged meeting place of the Santa Cruz group twice, and nobody was there. And I know it was the right place because a cafe employee confirmed it: "They usually sit over there."

- Last time I was there, the Berkeley group, although very friendly, freely admitted that they might be closing in the next month. And it was cramped.

- The Palo Alto club sometimes has one person. And he was less than polite.

- The SF club has fixed hours, but often nobody is there who is willing to play.


I suspect that many interested beginners have given up on F2F go in the bay area. I'm a serious go player from southern California who averages several visits per year, and I've almost given up.
I'd recommend consolidation. Do something like the Seattle Go Club. It might mean a little more travel, but it should be worth it in the long run.

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What did the Seattle club do?

I've not been to the Palo Alto club, but I was rather surprised at how inactive the clubs are in SF. Granted, I've only been in the city for 2-weeks!

I am surprised to say I was spoiled in Chicago!

Tuesday Night: The group I ran had 10-15 regular members, and our mailing list was close to 100 people.
Wednesday Night: Evanston group met (smaller 4-6 people)
Thursday Night: Schaumburg group met (smaller 4-6 people)

7-days / week (although best on weekends), Arlington Heights (dense Korean area of the city), has a Go Club open. They also have the benefit of very strong players (up to 7d).

San Francisco has a much larger asian population, right? I expected more players. Maybe there are more players, just not active, like yourself, in the communities.

Would YOU be interested in setting up more regular playing???

Iwamoto 9p sensei bought a building near the University in '95 and let us use it.

The sprawl between the areas is very different.

I was in the bay area and visited a couple clubs. In the end, I stopped going. I went to Palo Alto a few times and Sunnyvale one twice.

I visit family in Orange County, California and there isn't a single go club I know of anymore.

So there ARE players here!

In a short time, I already have a few responses.

The SF Go club on 8th in Inner Richmond has their own dedicated building (or at least the 1st floor), and there are tons of Go books to reference. The problem when I went, and was voiced by others, is that there are not many players there. Still, it's a start and a place to play. I will broach the idea of 1xweek a more visible location to whoever's running the SF club.

Of the posters here, does anyone know of a mailing list someone maintains of players in the SF area to keep the aware of tournaments, events and when people are playing?

Also, is anyone up for a game this weekend? We can get a nice group to the SF or Berkeley club, and show them there ARE people who like to play F2F, and we can get something more organized to get the clubs bigger!

Thoughts???

bayareago.org is your best bet for info on players. There may be a mailing list from it. Also I expect chapters may have their own mailing list. I was on the Sunnyvale one.

Attendance at the monthly Bay Area tournaments has dropped off considerably over the past year or two; we went from 30-40 to 15 or less, so they were canceled in favor of a quarterly format starting this August. None of us were really sure what happened exactly, although the disappearance of almost every player under the age of 13 was a big part of it.

Speaking as one of the primary members of the Berkeley Go Club, we're no longer in imminent danger of closing, but we do have to re-evaluate our status every few months. We barely make enough from club dues to pay rent; if we had several more paying members, we could consider moving to a larger space in the same building, but that does not seem likely soon.

Good luck getting the SF Go Club to do anything. I have talked to them about outreach at cultural events like SF's Cherry Blossom Festival, organizing tournaments, basically all of the things they used to do when I first started playing Go in the Bay Area, and no one was interested.

I didn't realize it had dropped off that much from when I left three years ago. That's sad to see.

Seattle is not much different actually. I don't usually go to the monthly ratings tournaments, but when I do, the attendance seems low from what I recall in past years.

The annual Cherry Blossom tournament, held in conjunction with the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, used to be one of our largest tournaments. We had only 7 players this year. Almost everyone took home some prize money.

But we do have classes and regular club play during the week with decent turnout. Extra outreach efforts (and almost losing our building) helped, I think.

Wow - this is depressing!

Are there private Go clubs in SF???

Are there seperate Korean, Japanese or Chinese clubs that don't advertise to "Westerners"?

I must have been REALLY spoiled by the Korean club in Chicago that's open 7-days a week!

I must move back!

Anyone interested in playing this weekend in Berkeley or SF???

If you are talking about the Arlington Heights club, I think that closed a couple months ago. Sigh.

We need a new Hikaru.

_________________
- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

elmsley4,

I wish you luck. I visit the bay area a few times a year, and would love to attend a go club.

_________________
- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

Iam talking about the Arlington Heights club, and they are doing a terrible job re-marketing themselves. They ARE open still and have moved about 6 doors down (to the left) of their prior spot. They are still working on getting a sign up for the location.

They are in the SAME shopping complex on Golf Rd. as they were before.

I believe i met you when I played Herb. Let's talk some more - maybe together we can re-grow the club(s).

Why are you in a building where you have to pay rent? Why not go to a free coffee shop for more exposure, and cheaper cost?

Best,

Joel

Hmmm, I thought they stopped hosting the Chicago quarterly tourneys there because they closed. But maybe it was just the retirement of Bob Barber.

Good to hear, anyway.

_________________
- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders