- Lynbrook’s Go Club held a tournament starting March 27 and ending on April 24
- Contestants started with small boards and went up in size as they progressed
- The tournament was formatted in elimination style
From March 27 to April 24, Go Club hosted a four-week tournament of Go, creating a fun competition that tested students’ focus, strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
“The whole year, we’ve been teaching our members different techniques, like how to play openings and how to capture stones,” junior and treasurer Chancie Chou said. “The tournament was a way for them to show what they’ve learned and also have some fun.”
Throughout these four weeks, a total of 12 students gathered every Thursday lunch to participate in the elimination-based tournament. Players began with shorter, simpler games played on nine-by-nine boards and slowly progressed to larger boards, with game complexity increasing with board size. Each game lasted around 30 minutes. Officers also brought candy and snacks for members to enjoy during the tournament.
“I enjoy playing Go, and I wanted to participate in the tournament to see how well I would play against other people and practice to see what I can learn from it,” junior and contestant John Jou said.
Go is a two-player strategy board game played on a grid with black and white stones. Each player takes turns to move stones, aiming to surround the opponent’s pieces with their own. After the board fills up, the number of captured stones are tallied up to determine a winner. The game is notable for its range of complexity, despite its simple rules.
“It’s one of the deepest board games out there in terms of complexity,” math teacher and club adviser Norman Tsai said. “It takes a lot of critical thinking in order to play the best move.”
The officers began planning the tournament in early March. Since their usual Thursday brunch meetings were not long enough to host matches, they coordinated to host the tournament during Thursday lunch instead.
“Having strong communication among the officers was probably our main challenge, such as when to plan things, when to organize and how to set everything up,” senior and secretary Adarsh Vipat said.
This year marks Go Club’s second tournament overall and their first as an established club; before the 2024-25 school year, they were an unofficial group on campus. Last year, they hosted a tournament in collaboration with Cupertino High School’s Go Club, in which dedicated members of the group went to Cupertino to compete.
“In Go Club, there’s a sense of community on top of the intellectual stimulation,” senior and co-president Harold Wang said. “Everyone has fun regardless of their skill level. Once you really start to understand the game, there’s a lot of freedom in choosing your strategy.”
For future iterations of the tournament, the officers aim to start planning earlier to ensure effective organization. Their primary purpose for the event — to create a casual and fun atmosphere for Go — still remains the same.
“I heard a lot of people having fun and enjoying the food,” Chou said. ”I think that was pretty much our goal: to make sure people were having a good time.”
