Eight Omaha Go Club volunteers taught 63 people to play go at the Japanese Ambience Festival
October 3–4, using Capture Go on 5×5 boards to get beginners playing quickly.
“This was the first year volunteers used Capture Go on a 5×5 to introduce beginners to go,” reports Jim Story, chair of the Nebraska GO Advisory Council. With victory set at eight captures, volunteers could explain the rules in three to four minutes, giving visitors more time to play. After a few games, many beginners were eager to move up to a 7×7 board.
Beginners purchased 18 starter sets, each with enough stones for the 5×5, 7×7, and 9×9 paper boards provided. Sets using bingo chips as stones cost $2; sets with resin stones were $5. Smaller $1 sets were also available, but every buyer chose one of the larger options. Each beginner also received a NebraskaGO.org sticker and an Omaha Go Club poster.
The club has maintained a go table at the festival for more than a dozen years, introducing an estimated 1,000 people to the game. This year’s display added a “Little Samurai” photo opportunity featuring the NebraskaGO.org website address, helping visitors spread the word when they shared their pictures.
Nebraska Go continued its outreach October 10 with a lesson for participants in the Emerging Ladies Academy.
“At first, they were nervous about learning something new,” said academy head Tiffany Gamble. “Once they understood the game, they really got into it and didn’t want to stop playing! I enjoyed it, too.”
Each participant received a free starter set with bingo-chip stones to take home and share the game with others.
For more information, visit NebraskaGO.org.
—Reported by Jim Story