[Go] Exchange Meeting at My Alma Mater's Club

On Saturday, July 25th, I participated in an exchange meeting hosted by my alma mater's university Go club. It was organized to coincide with the fact that the Go club of the university's affiliated middle school would be competing in the national tournament on Sunday, July 26th.

Playing games at the exchange meeting

As an alumnus representative of the university Go club, I started out on the side of providing instruction. I played consecutive games against familiar university Go club members, middle school students preparing for the tournament the next day, and high school graduates. I tried to keep playing without stopping as much as possible, and before I knew it, I had played three sets of simultaneous games on three boards. Since my side job as an instructor is 1-on-1, it had been a while since I played multiple simultaneous games in a row.

I can't remember every single move, but after the games, I reviewed improvements for bad moves and mistakes, as well as good moves. I hope it was at least a little helpful for the students...

I also received instruction

Not only me, but a professional Go player also came at the introduction of a club member to provide instruction. They were playing up to five simultaneous games and doing thorough reviews, so just watching that was a great learning experience.

The professional's instruction was prioritized for students, but I was also able to play one game at the end (a 3-stone handicap game) ↓. It had been about five months since I last received instruction.

In the opening, I confused the 'big point' and the 'urgent point' in succession and was crushed before the 100th move (there was also a ko left in the upper left). The result was a disaster, but I'm glad I was able to lose properly. I will have another opportunity to be taught, so I will study to be able to hold out a little longer next time.

Repeating the roles of 'teacher' and 'student'

More than 10 students participated that day, and I am grateful that they took an interest in Go and chose it as their club activity. The university Go club was in danger of being abolished during the COVID-19 pandemic, but several new members joined this year, and it managed to hold on. I want to connect Go to the future by repeating the roles of 'teacher' and 'student' like in this exchange meeting.