EGC 2008 Newsletter 4
2008-04-27
52nd European Go Congress 2008.
Newsletter 4, April 26
Dear go friends,
We are at the moment 643 people from 36 different countries who have registered for the go congress. Of these, 527 have signed up to play in the congress tournaments: http://egc2008.eu/en/registration/statistics.php . If you haven’t made any travel arrangements yet, note that it is advantageous to book flights while they are still cheap. Travel advice is found on the EGC website at http://egc2008.eu/en/travel/index.php and it is possible to book bus transfer from the airports at: http://egc2008.eu/en/registration/book_tickets.php . It is also possible to book participation in the proposed Wednesday and weekend excursions. For any special requests or queries, please write to info@egc2008.eu .
There are now 12 professional teachers registered to attend the congress and they are presented briefly at: http://egc2008.eu/en/congress/professionals.php We are very grateful to the professionals and their organisations for their kind collaboration.
The Japanese Pairgo Association has kindly agreed to support the EGC pairgo tournament. This event takes place in the first week of the congress and includes a qualification tournament on the Monday and Tuesday, followed by knockout finals on the Thursday and Friday between the 8 best placed pairs. There will be cash prizes for all the pairs who qualify for the quarter finals. Mrs Taki Hiroko of the Pairgo Association will be present herself to perform the prize giving.
One of the aims for the congress is to be family friendly. This congress has two childrens tournaments, Tuesday afternoon in both weeks. We are trying to arrange for daily child care for the youngest as well as sports activities for young congress participants. For sure there will be a daily go school, probably with professional teacher, open to both congress participants and local kids.
A couple of new accommodation options have been added to those which can bee booked through the EGC organisers, in particular Dalecarlia Hotel in Tällberg and more rooms at Västanviks Folkhögskola. Another new accommodation item is that the operator of Leksands Youth Hostel (N.B. not only for young people!) has decided to serve breakfasts ( @ 40 sek) during the congress weeks.
There are presently 9 speakers registered for the Symposium on go history and on go in art and literature: http://egc2008.eu/en/events/symposium.php , including Hikaru no go creator Yumi Hotta. There is still space for e few more contributors to the Symposium, which will be taking place on Wednesday August 30 and in the afternoons of the 29th and 31st. The presentations at the Symposium will of course be open to all congress participants.
We are arranging for Korea days in Leksand July 26-27, Japan days August 2-3 and China days August 7-8. Preliminary programs for these events will soon be coming up on the EGC website. If you want to contribute anything to these activities you are more than welcome to let us know, it need not be anything pretentious at all, the important thing is to have fun and perhaps learn some new things.
An interesting component of the China days will be the guest performances by the Shanghai Opera House at the Dalhalla amphitheatre August 7-9: http://www.dalhalla.se/ . On the 7th and 9th, Verdis Otello is performed, while on the 8th they give Yellow River by Xian Xinghai and (with two local choirs ) Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. EGC participants who buy a ticket for the 7th will get a free ticket for the 8th as a bonus, or it is possible for two participants to share the price and see one performance each. We have reserved 100 such pairs of tickets. It will soon be possible to book places at Dalhalla on the EGC website.
The computer go event in the second week of the congress at the moment has 4 programs registered for competition and at least one lecture: http://www.computer-go.info/egc2008/ . More contributions are more than welcome.
The Leksand slideshow at http://egc2008.eu/en/leksand/slideshow.php has been updated a bit to include some photos with go theme, from the Leksand Open tournament in previous years, as well as some interiors.
Any other questions or suggestions are welcome by e-mail at info@egc2008.eu . Likewise if you don't want to receive a couple of more e-mails like this one, please unsubscribe by e-mail. Please spread this letter to anyone else who might be interested.
We look forward to seeing you all in Leksand!
EGC2008 team