LONDON
OPEN GO CONGRESS 2010
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A Pandanet Major Tournament
Sponsored by Pandanet and Winton Capital Management
28 December 2010 to 31 December 2010
Organised by the British Go Association
and the Central
London Go Club
in collaboration with the
European Go Federation.
Supported by the Nippon Club.
Professional Teacher! Central venue! Man vs
Machine match!
Note:
Please carefully read the accommodation
booking procedure if you are planning to stay at ISH.
Winton Capital Management is a UK based
investment management company founded by David Harding in 1997. It is almost
unique in that it relies solely on scientific research in mathematics,
statistics and computer science, to develop successful investment management
strategies.
In view of their continuing generous
sponsorship, we are pleased to be able to announce that Guo Juan 5p will attend the
tournament to provide professional one-to-one games analysis at all levels as
well as group sessions and lectures. In addition we will be providing cash
prizes for the first five places as well as special prizes for kyu levels.
We are hosting a 7 game
match between Man
and Machine .
The London Open is held at the
International Students House very near to Regent’s Park. In association with
Park Crescent Conference Centre well furnished playing facilities are provided,
as well as low cost accommodation in a variety of formats. The congress takes
place mainly in their very large Theatre, and the BGA bookshop will be in
attendance. Players (and even their family!) are able to stay on site
and enjoy all the facilities provided including bar, internet access and restaurant.
Top games will be
broadcast live on Pandanet
Please note that registration starts at
12:00 on Tuesday 28th December, allowing players to travel on the
first morning of the tournament.
International
Students House , 229 Great Portland Street , London , W1W
5PN
The
map shows how to find the venue. It is in the centre of London, right next
door to Great Portland Street station between Baker Street and King’s Cross on
the Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines. It is also near to
Regent’s Park and Warren Street underground stations. On the one hand you will
be able to take a crisp walk in Regent’s Park, and on the other you can be in
the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street shopping within a 10 minute walk.
If you arrive early on Monday 27, you can
play Go in the Cyber-Cafe.
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Monday 27 |
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Tuesday 28 |
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Wednesday 29 |
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Thursday 30 |
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Friday 31 |
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After the closing ceremony we will have a
Rengo tournament for those who are staying for the New Year celebrations. There
will also be an evening meal arranged at a local venue on 31st.
The London Open will be using AGA-style
rules with EGF variation for dealing with illegal moves - please see Rules of Play
for fine details. The tournament is run in accordance with the full Pandanet regulations.
Players are expected to enter at a
realistic grade consistent with their European rating if they have one. Ratings
will be checked two weeks before the tournament and appropriate adjustments to
the initial McMahon score will be made where necessary. The tournament rules
are:
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Playing time |
90
minutes if either player is 19 kyu or stronger, 60 minutes otherwise |
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Canadian Overtime |
20
moves in 5 minutes |
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Komi |
7½ |
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Handicap |
McMahon
difference - 1 (where required) |
NOTE
All players are required to be familiar
with the Canadian Overtime procedure:
If your main time flag falls:
1. Count 20 stones from the bowl.
2. Close the bowl.
3. Reset the clock to 5 minutes.
4. Play all 20 stones before the flag falls.
5. When all your stones are finished, repeat the above steps,
starting with 1.
If the flag falls when you are in overtime,
you lose.
When your opponent is in overtime,it is
considered good sportsmanlike behaviour for you to reset the clock while your
opponent is counting the stones.
The London Open is a Pandanet Major
Tournament in the Pandanet Go European Cup, and so the top three European
places will share a cash prize fund of €450. The Winton sponsorship will
provide additional cash prizes for the first five places and the 1k, 10k and
20k groups, totalling €500. Trophies will be awarded for six or more wins, and
for four wins you get the much valued London Open Certificate. The prizes for
the lightning tournament are £100 for winner and £50 for runner up.
The lightning tournament is free to all
players. The fees for the main tournament are:
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Standard |
£40
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Student |
£35
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Junior (Under 18) |
£25
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Late Entry Fee (Extra charge) |
£15
after |
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Surcharge (if you are not a member of your national Go
association) |
£5
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If you do enter by post, please make
cheques payable to London Open Go Congress. However we prefer you to pay
in Sterling at registration.
The International Students House offers
accommodation on site in single, twin, triple, 4 bedded, and multi-bedded
rooms. Players staying for the period of the congress will be entitled to a special
discounted rate as shown below.
The rates quoted are per-person-per-night.
Note that all these rooms, including the dormitory, come with a
continental breakfast voucher to the value of £2.55.
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Single en-suite |
£38.55 |
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Single |
£35.05 |
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Twin en-suite |
£30.05 |
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Twin |
£27.05 |
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3 Bedded |
£21.55 |
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4 Bedded |
£19.30 |
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Multi bedded - Dormitory |
£17.50 |
Tournament organisers have stayed in the
accommodation. It is simple, clean, and functional. There are toilet and shower
facilities on each floor of the building.
The London Open has reserved beds at ISH,
but you are warned that there is a huge demand at ISH on New Year’s Eve because
of their big party. If you leave your booking till shortly before the
tournament, you may find that all the accommodation at ISH is fully
booked!
Quieter single and double rooms are
available at the Mary Trevellan Hall which is an annex to the main ISH site
situated about a 10 minutes walk away. Ask to be placed in MTH if you wish for
peace on New Year’s Eve!
BOOKING
Any player entering the London Open should
book accommodation directly through ISH by emailing the accommodation officer David Wilde. If you email out of office
hours you will normally get an auto reponse from ISH saying that he is out of
the office. You can if you wish, email accommodation.
State the room type you want, clearly specify your date of arrival and date of
departure, and state that you are booking accommodation for the ‘Go Tournament’
in order to obtain the discount on room prices. It is however best to wait a
couple of days, but if you do not get your confirmed booking within 3 days,
please email Geoff Kaniuk, who will
chase it.
You will need to pay a deposit of one
night’s stay on booking. ISH will accept your credit card (Visa, Master Card,
Maestro, Switch, or Solo) as surety. ISH may take 1 or 2 days to answer your
email. If you have problems booking directly through ISH then please contact Geoff Kaniuk who will assist you with
the booking.
If you do not wish to stay at ISH,
alternative (but more expensive) accommodation may be found on the web, for
example through http://www.wakeuplondon.co.uk/,
or http://www.londontown.com/, or http://www.visitbritain.com/.
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Please
note that once you have booked your room at ISH, you still need to enter the
London Open. |
The preferred method of entry is via the ONLINE ENTRY
FORM. Every entry will receive an immediate automatic email response.
You will get a manual confirmation within two 2 days. You will of course need
to supply your email address in the entry form. Please ensure that you use a valid
address as otherwise you will not be able to receive a manual confirmation!
If you do not get a manual reponse, and you are sure it is not sitting in your
spam box, then please email Geoff
Kaniuk with a valid reply address! You may also enter via:
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email: Geoff Kaniuk
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phone/fax: +44 (0)1223 710 582
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post: 33 Ashbury Close, Cambridge CB1 3RW,
United Kingdom
Players requiring Visas are reminded to
apply for these early so that the required paperwork can be completed in good
time.
If you fail to contact Geoff by email or
phone, please contact Anna Griffiths on her mobile: 07779 238047. The
tournament mobile phone 07506 555366 will be operational only during the 4
days of the congress.
If you are not entering online, please
print out the online form and supply all the required detail.
If you wish your name and grade to appear
in the online list of players, please indicate this in the
online entry
form. The default is that your name is on the list unless you
explicitly ask for it not to appear. If you wish your name to be removed or
added after submitting your entry, then please just email me .