A Baduk Blog

by Ursa Woodring

From June 16-19, the Burning Board Tournament was held in North Carolina. Five people from the Baduk House, three residents and two local Columbus players, drove eight hours to Umstead State Park near Raleigh. The competition was held at Camp Lapihio, where half the participants stayed the night in cabins, while the other half came from their homes nearby.

This was my very first in person go tournament, so I was very excited for it, and excited to spend a long weekend in the woods(especially during the heatwave). The Baduk House group stayed in a large cabin, where I opted to sleep on its porch.

On the first day of the tournament, the matches began soon after nine. Taking place in a camp mess hall, short tables and benches are lined up in the middle of the room, with three games per table. After people pair up, there is activity and buzz as players find their tables and try to figure out how to set their clocks. But eventually things settle down, and the room gets quiet as the games become serious. I myself don’t understand how the clocks work, and I end up losing on time without realizing it twice in my games (luckily I was already losing both of them so it didn’t really matter). After the first round is over, lunch is had, and then the second round begins at one.

Once the games are over, Yuan Zhou, 7-Dan, does a lecture outside and Ying Shen 2P plays simuls against anyone interested. If not interested in those things, people spent their late afternoon taking naps, going on walks or runs, swimming in the lake, or getting soaked in the thunderstorm. Many in the Baduk House group enjoyed the lectures greatly, as Zhao reviewed one of the day’s games and told many interesting stories. In the evening, people made their own dinners, hung out reviewing or playing games, or playing other games like Poker, Hanabi, or Shogi.

On the last day, there was the award ceremony and the great burning of the board. Three from the Baduk House received awards, Javier coming second overall in the tournament with 5 wins and 1 loss. I came in second in my division, and Paul came third in his.

Although playing two serious go games per day was tiring, it was quite fun. My favorite part of the tournament was getting to meet more go players and experience more of the go community.

After dinner, in the camp’s fire pit was built a fire. And on this was placed a goban. A game was partially played out on top of it using white pebbles and bits of dark charcoal. All the go players gathered, and watched as the game smoldered, wood blackening and warping, flames licking it around the edges. We watched as the board burned and the tournament came to an end. Hopefully though, it will be just the beginning, and this tournament will be held again and again in the years to come.