Welcome to the Berkeley Go Club

We have moved Downtown!

We are a group of people dedicated to playing, teaching, and promoting the ancient game of Go, known as weiqi 圍棋 in Chinese, as igo 囲碁 in Japanese,  as baduk 바둑 in Korean, .and as Go in most western languages. We offer a place to play, free help for beginners, reviews by a great professional, and a library to enjoy while you are here.

Now, the Berkeley Go Club is located at 2161 Shattuck suite 222, above Games of Berkeley,  on the SE corner of the intersection of Shattuck and Center, directly across Shattuck from the downtown BerkeleyBART station,  one block west of the Cal Campus; and also very near Berkeley High School, Berkeley Community College, and several language schools.  Across the street, BART is open until 12:30am every night, and great many  ACTransit lines stop right here.

The entrance to the upstairs, 2161 Shattuck is the small door just to the right of the Games of Berkeley entrance, 2151 Shattuck. The door to 2161 Shattuck is usually open during the day, but will be locked after dark. If the door is locked when you arrive, just call (510) 501-8314 and you will be met at the door.

Initially, we will be open every Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 PM till the last player leaves. Usually, on Saturdays 5 dan amateur, Len Sosnoski, will be your host; and on Sundays, I, Herb Doughty will be your host. Although I have played actively for more than 50 years, I am not nearly as strong, my success has been in assisting beginners.

The new location is in a vibrant part of downtown Berkeley with many restaurants and coffee shops in the immediate area. Games of Berkeley, just downstairs is one of the best gaming stores in the Bay Area. Stop by our club to play, watch, or just to check it out. We expect to attract many new members at our new address. At first we will be in a very small space, but we have the option to expand here, as we get new members.

To celebrate the move to downtown Berkeley, there will be no fees or charges during the month of May. Beginners, internet players and returning players are encouraged to stop by anytime for lessons, practice and play. Parking can be challenging on Saturday afternoon, but after 6:00 PM you can usually find a place within a few blocks of the club.  Also, the parking lot directly behind Chase Bank across the street, entrance on Center Street, offers a weekend special rate of $5.00 all day untill 2:00 AM.  For bikers there is a secure lockup across Shattuck Ave, one block south.

Each month our club's most special event is a game review lesson with Professional 7 Dan Mingjiu Jiang. Beginners through top amateur Dans are welcome to attend. These lessons are subsidized, so you don't need to pay to attend, but if possible, do please bring records of the beginnings of some of your games.
The next lesson is scheduled for Saturday May 12, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

To receive email regarding special events at this club including the monthly professional lessons, send us your email address. It will not be shared with anybody, and you may leave the list at any time.To get on or off our announcement mailing list, send email to: berkeleygoclub at gate dot net.

We currently have only a few regular paid members. Our players range in strength from complete novice to amateur 7-dan, and in age from under 5 years old to 97.
Our officers are Herb Doughty-- President;  and Ted Christen -- Treasurer. 

Our club dues are:    By the month -- $30;    Six months at a time -- $150;    Twelve months at a time -- $300;    Please join!
Sustaining members pay $400 or more per year. There is a nonmember day fee of $5;   And for nonmembers coming more than once in a weekend, a $7.50 weekend rate.  Beginners, kids under 18,  and everyone's first club visit -- all  free. In particular, my lessons for beginners on Sundays are always free, come any time from 2:00 PM on.

Each month please also check the well maintained web pages of the Bay Area Go Players Association for tournaments and other special go events in the Bay Area -- http://www.bayareago.org/  Note that in may the Bay Area Go Tournament is in Japan Town in San Francisco on May 12,  and finishes in time to get to Mingjiu's lesson here.

We encourage you to also come to Games of Berkeley downstairs from us, which sells a wide selection of excellent go books and go equipment.  At Games of Berkeley our club has a presence every Monday evening from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, with one table conspicuously in the middle of the sales floor so that customers can see go players having fun. Although mainly aimed at introducing the game to beginners, players of all strengths are welcome. You may also enjoy the Berkeley Campus Go Club , which currently which meets at Games of Berkeley on Thursdays from 6:00 pm-until after closing in a private room downstairs. I usually come extra early around 4:30 PM to help beginners.

The Caffe Mediterraneum http://www.caffemed.com accross from Moe's Books on Telegraph welcomes go players especially on Wednesday evenings.
Craig Becker, the owner, an old friend of mine who now spots me 3 stones, provides go sets, and you may also bring your own.

For information about both local go clubs,  call me (Herb Doughty)  before 10:00PM at (510) 843-3784 (home). It is OK to leave a message.
Or you may send an email to:   herb at lmi dot net. You may be surprised to find at the remarkable Art Gallery of the Internet Go Server  a painting of me by Rembrandt (with help from my very talented friend at IGS):   http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/art/herb.html> Especially note the go board under the papers! 


Here is my brief history of go in Berkeley --

Go was played in Berkeley long before there was a Berkeley Go Club. By 1962 Professor Scott Taylor in the Cal Math Department was rated Amateur 4 Dan, and was said to be the strongest Caucasian go player in the world. Please let us know if you have more information about early go in Berkeley.

When I began working on the Berkeley Campus in August of 1967, a game room near the old bowling alley under the student union, and the math grad student lounge, then in Campbell Hall, were the two main places where I could find a game of go.

To the best of our present  knowledge, the Berkeley Go Club founded October 12, 1967 by Walt Mckibben and me was the first go club in town. For about 10 years, I was president, and we usually met on the fourth floor of the Cal Student Union, where we averaged about 50 people at our weekly meetings, weeks when we could not reserve a room, we met at my home on Hillegass.

In the late 1970's we moved to the Mens' Faculty Club where we hosted the US championships in 1977 and 1979. In 1988 led by Ned and Joanne Phipps, we hosted the annual United States Go Congress.

In October of 1992, the original Berkeley Go Club celebrated its 25 anniversary with a simultaneous exhibition by 9 Dan Professional Jiujo Jiang (Mingjiu's brother), but in 1995, after 28 years, it was gone.

Since the early 1980's we had tried supplementing our large Thursday evening meetings with small gatherings at cafes on other nights, and more. Next, as a suppliment, David Wolfe and Yari (Jada) Lesky started the East Bay Go Association to meet the other six nights of the week, first on 8th at Parker St. then at the other end of the same block. In the early 1990's the East Bay Go Association moved downtown to an upstairs space at 100 Berkeley Square. Mark Rampel (club President) and I ran the club until '97 when Mark Harris took over.

Inspired by the Chess in the Schools programs and especially by the success of Ernest Brown's Go program in the San Francisco Schools, for a few years in the early 1990's, I ran a Go in the Schools program in Berkeley and Oakland, and also taught go at the East Bay Chinees School. Unfortunately, heart problems forced me to give both up. Grad students David Wolfe and Nick Kersting were a very big help.

In 1999 The East Bay Go Association  lost its space at 100 Berkeley Square. People from the EBGA then started both of the two present clubs, The Berkeley Go Club, Founded by Mark Harris at our old location upstairs from the Fifth String instrument store on Adeline at Essex Street; and the Berkeley Campus Go Club, Founded on the Cal campus by then student, James Chien, 7 Dan, which now meets at Games of Berkeley on Thursday evenings and currently includes another 7 Dan student, Matthew Burrall. I have enjoyed playing Matthew since he was five years old.

In April, 2012 I again became president of the Berkeley Go Club and by the end of the month we moved to our new location in downtown Berkeley. Major thanks to the several members who made this possible, especially Nick Burgoyne and Len Sosnosky.

Berkeley's most significant contributions to go have not directly involved the local go clubs, but rather, have been contributions by Berkeley people to bringing go together with leading edge academic research in artificial intelligence and in the mathematics of decision making; and also in the founding of the tradition of internet go servers, providing old folks like me with a delightful way to keep our minds alert, and far more significantly, providing young kids everywhere a wonderful opportunity to become native speakers of excellent thinking, rather than going through life thinking with an accent, like most of us who didn't really have much experience with excellent thinking until we were a little too old. See:

Mathematical Go: http://www.math.berkeley.edu/~berlek

Computer Go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Go

and Internet Go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGS_Go_server

What is Go?

While much has been written on the subject, the Wikipedia entry offers a comprehensive overview of the game, history, philosophy, and rules.

Online Tutorials for Beginners

  • The Interactive Way To Go - This excellent Java-based tutorial will have you understanding the rules and ready to play in no time.
  • KGS Tutorial - Another tutorial offered from one of the premiere Go servers, KGS.
  • GoProblems.com - A collection of interactive problems at all skill levels, good for beginners and dans alike.

Other Regional Clubs

The American Go Association

Membership in the American Go Association has many benefits. For one, you receive regular newsletters with news, announcements, and commented games in SGF format. For another, you show your support for Go in the US. And perhaps most importantly, most tournaments require it. Once registered, you'll be able to track your progress and have an official rating.

Play Go Online

  • The KGS Go Server - KGS is prehaps one of the more approachable Go Servers available, with players of all ranks, plenty of teaching rooms, tournaments, and weekly lectures by professionals. You can play with a downloadable client, through a quick Java webstart, or from your mobile phone.
  • The Internet Go Server - An older and well-established server, IGS attracts mostly stronger players, and is playable through a client or telnet.
  • Dragon Go Server - For those who don't have the time to play a game all at once, DGS is a turn-based web system, similar to playing Chess by mail.

While the three listed above are the most popular, there are countless other servers available. Please refer to the Sensei's Library page for a more comprehensive listing.

Books and Equipment

Our club has an extensive library of hundreds of books and magazines, both old and new. We have books for beginners, life & death compilations, the latest Hikaru No Go omnibus, and a whole lot more. Books are free to read in the club and many can be borrowed with a deposit, a few books can be purchased. For your own equipment, refer to the following retailers:

  • Games of Berkeley - Right down stairs from us, Games of Berkeley has a great Go books and equipment. On Mondays, we are represented at a table in the middle of their sales floor so new people can find out about Go. They also host  Berkeley Campus Go Club's Thursday evening meetings in a private room beneththe sales floor in their store.
  • Gamescape - One of the best Bay Area resources for Go and other games. There are stores located in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Rafael.
  • Kiseido
  • Slate and Shell
  • Samarkand

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Go

Sensei's Library is the definitive online Go resource. This wiki-based site contains thousands of articles, lessons, problems, discussions, and a whole lot more. Be careful, many have reported signs of SL Addiction.

I will soon add more pages, including links to more go resources on the web.

If you already play Go, have wanted to learn,  or are just curious, please do check out our club!