British Youth Go Championship

The British Youth Go Championship comes to Lady Bay Church Hall on Saturday 7 November, the British Go Association's national championship for under-18s. It's been running since 1984, held annually at a central location, and this year it's our turn to host. Youth titles are contested across age groups — U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 — alongside the overall British Youth Champion and the British Schools Team Champions. There are trophies for each age group, a youth trophy presented by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, and the Castledine Trophy for the best school.

The tournament runs on a modified McMahon system over five or six rounds, with games played on full-sized 19x19 boards. Each game has a 20-minute time limit plus 5 seconds Fischer time, so the clock keeps ticking. Beginners can play most of their games on 13x13 boards instead. Non-British residents are welcome to enter, though some might not be eligible for the titles. It's also a double-points event for the Youth Grand Prix, so it counts for twice as much as a standard tournament toward the season's rankings.

Beyond the championship, the British Go Association also runs a Youth Summer Go Camp at Caythorpe Court in Lincolnshire, which has taken up to 24 attendees since 2017. If your kids are into Go, that's the other end of the calendar to keep in mind.

On the day, registration is from 09:30 to 10:00, and the playing runs from 10:00 until 17:00, with prize giving by five. You'll find it at Lady Bay Church Hall, Pierrepoint Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5BP.