your typical club attendance and rank distribution?

[BaghwanB]

I've always felt that kyu players are really the ones who keep a go club alive, and it seems to be the case after seeing a few of these responses. Of course, most people struggle to reach dan, so perhaps this is a false conclusion.

And what fun would an all-dan club be? From what I've seen, clubs are kept going by people who love playing the game, esp. when they can see and talk about a board in front of them instead of clicking a mouse. Many of these folks can become dan level but most of the people that I've seen run and support clubs for years are SDK but still enjoy playing for the joys of the game itself, not for reaching "black belt" status.

Bruce "6k of Fury" Young

[Knotwilg]

In Ghent, we started the club as absolute beginners and drew in a few 6 kyu players. We really worshipped these guys!
After a couple of years we overcame our teachers and moved up the low dan ranks. Later, we left and younger players took over the club.
In my experience, the club is almost never run by the strongest players, even if they ran it before they became strong. There seems to be some kind of trade between administrative service to the club and accepting to play against weaker players all the time.

I must say that I remain baffled by the number of players that reach the SDK ranks fairly soon and then settle for that level for the rest of their career. Of course one must settle one day but I've always felt that if you do invest all that social time, you could as well spend it wisely and improve. And a lifetime of deliberate practice should get any player somewhere at the 4d-5d rank. As a community we must indeed be grateful they don't disappear as soon as progress stalls.

(I must admit me too I keep lurking around the internet and should spend my time more wisely, if I want to remain true to abovementioned bafflement.)

[Abyssinica]

I've always felt that kyu players are really the ones who keep a go club alive, and it seems to be the case after seeing a few of these responses. Of course, most people struggle to reach dan, so perhaps this is a false conclusion.

And what fun would an all-dan club be? From what I've seen, clubs are kept going by people who love playing the game, esp. when they can see and talk about a board in front of them instead of clicking a mouse.

It seems to me you're saying that dan players don't love the game and would actually be bored in a club with themselves.

[goTony]

It takes all kinds of people and ranks for a club to be successful.

[BaghwanB]

I've always felt that kyu players are really the ones who keep a go club alive, and it seems to be the case after seeing a few of these responses. Of course, most people struggle to reach dan, so perhaps this is a false conclusion.

And what fun would an all-dan club be? From what I've seen, clubs are kept going by people who love playing the game, esp. when they can see and talk about a board in front of them instead of clicking a mouse.

It seems to me you're saying that dan players don't love the game and would actually be bored in a club with themselves.

That wasn't my intention. I think an all-dan club (by either intent or randomness) would end up being terribly intimidating for entry-level players and in most metro areas would max out at a weekly turnout of 3-4 people playing each other.

Also, I couldn't play there myself...

Bruce "Book 'em" Young

[Abyssinica]

That wasn't my intention. I think an all-dan club (by either intent or randomness) would end up being terribly intimidating for entry-level players and in most metro areas would max out at a weekly turnout of 3-4 people playing each other.

Also, I couldn't play there myself...

Bruce "Book 'em" Young

Well, that's true, but the point was it being a "dan-only" club. Of course if you're a typical kyu it woudln't be fitting, but then again, you completely defeat the purpose of that particular club by being there.

[Tanana]

At the Seattle Go Center, we have a hard time organizing events specifically for the high dan players. They come to the big tournaments, and Sonny Cho was successful in organizing a monthly "Top Go Player" round robin event, which lasted about 9 months. But we don't seem to attract many high dan players to lectures or workshops with pros, or to separate times for strong players. Simultaneous games with pros will bring in some strong players. Interestingly, high dan players do show up on days advertised as "good for beginners", especially Tuesdays, and sometimes Saturdays. For some strong players this is because their kids are ddk players. Others are very willing to play teaching games. Perhaps others just like being at a good sized event where their advanced skills are understood and appreciated. Some Go players are rock stars in Asia, but not yet in the U.S.

[haytil]

Chicago Go Club: We've got about two dozen "regulars." On any given Tuesday night, we'll see around a dozen of them show up, with another half-dozen or so "semi-regulars" or new players show up.

So an average of 20 people through the course of an evening, though this fluctuates with the seasons and weather. Our ranks range from around 20 kyu to 1 dan, with large clusters around 6-9 kyu and 14-16 kyu.

Our group has been around in one form or another for around 10 years or so - but I've found that in the last year, we've finally hit the "critical mass" point, at which the membership numbers have become self-sustaining. i.e., when a new player shows up, they see that there are enough members at the club to justify their return on the next week. Without that, it was a struggle to keep attendance numbers consistent (much less growing!), since people are reluctant to come when they don't think there will be many other players, but now it's begun feeding back on itself.

I have also seen this "critical mass" effect play out in the gender balance. For a long time, only one of the "regulars" was a girl - now there are many; one night a few weeks ago, we had more girls than guys show up for the first time ever.

[goTony]

Chicago Go Club: We've got about two dozen "regulars." On any given Tuesday night, we'll see around a dozen of them show up, with another half-dozen or so "semi-regulars" or new players show up.

So an average of 20 people through the course of an evening, though this fluctuates with the seasons and weather. Our ranks range from around 20 kyu to 1 dan, with large clusters around 6-9 kyu and 14-16 kyu.

Our group has been around in one form or another for around 10 years or so - but I've found that in the last year, we've finally hit the "critical mass" point, at which the membership numbers have become self-sustaining. i.e., when a new player shows up, they see that there are enough members at the club to justify their return on the next week. Without that, it was a struggle to keep attendance numbers consistent (much less growing!), since people are reluctant to come when they don't think there will be many other players, but now it's begun feeding back on itself.

I have also seen this "critical mass" effect play out in the gender balance. For a long time, only one of the "regulars" was a girl - now there are many; one night a few weeks ago, we had more girls than guys show up for the first time ever.

More girls than guys now that would be a problem most clubs would love. It is hard to get women interested. We have about 3, I wish we had more. My theory is if the girls come the guys will follow.

[Matti]

A decade ago our club had about 20 players in club evening. Since that there new playing evenings of other clubs have emerged. Nowadays we have 6 - 12 players in our club, from 5 dan to DDK players.

[EdLee]

A decade ago our club had about 20 players in club evening. Since that there new playing evenings of other clubs have emerged. Nowadays we have 6 - 12 players in our club, from 5 dan to DDK players.

Nice club.