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 ( I haven't been there in a few years, so this info may be out of date )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.
