Korean Insei League on KGS - Join now! (updated on Dec31)
Korean-style Insei
League on KGS.
They have
almost the same system in largest Korean schools: Heo Jahghei, 9p academy, Kwon
Kapmyun’s academy, Yangchun Dail, Lee Sedol’s school and others
There are 5
groups: A, B, C, D and E. A is the strongest one
Students of
10-kyu and stronger are allowed taking part
Each group
consists of 10 students, who play with each other (maximum 4 games per month
with the same opponent) and 2 teachers (teachers don’t meet with each other). There
is no pairing – students can meet each other any time and put the results in
online table, which counts the winning % and current places automatically.
Teachers usually play their games
simultaneously on 4-5 boards. They play
even games with A group members, 2-stones games with B group, 3-stones games
with C group, 4 stones games with D group and 5 stones with E group
There are 2
teachers, both studied Go in Korea for a very long time:
1. Alexander Dinerchtein, 3p (breakfast on KGS) – the owner of the peaceful playing style – he will
teach you how to play well in fuseki and yose.
2. Ilya Shikshin 7d (roln111 on KGS) –with
the aggressive playing style – he will make you stronger at fighting.
You will
see that they have completely different styles of playing handicap games.
At the end
of the each month best 2 students (with highest winning %) promote to the next
group, and 2 students with less impressive results go down.
The entry
fee is 95 usd/ month (including 8 simultaneous games, 16 lectures and up to 11 reviews)
All groups have
own prize fund, made from entry fees:
A group:
1-place: 200$, 2-place: 100$, 3-place: 50$
B, C, D, E
groups: 1-place: 100$, 2-place: 50$
Places are
decided by the highest winning percentage. To win the prize you have to play
at least 10
games (from 44 possible games) per month with at least 5 different opponents
Teachers can
take cash prizes too, so they are also interested in winning their games in
simultaneous. Teachers are not allowed to take prizes, if they play less than 60% of all games. Also teachers have big bonuses, if they play 80, 90 and 100% of all games - you can be sure, that each teacher will try to play as many games as possible (to get these bonuses)
Time
control:
30 min + 30 sec byoyomi- 5 times for insei vs insei games
30 min + 60 sec byoyomi -5 times for for simultaneous
At the end
of the each year the student, who showed best results (who won A-league most
times) will get a 1000$ grant, which can be used for private lessons, offline
study trips to Korea, Japan or China, Go books or Go equipment. Teachers are
not allowed to get this grant.
25% of your
games will be reviewed offline by Alexander Dinerchtein. More games you play –
more reviews you get! You will get these reviews once a week by e-mail.
**********************************************
We plan to
start the league from Jan, 1 – 2010
4 professional players (Chun Pongjho 8p, An Younggil 8p, Lee Hajin 3p and Cho Mikyung 1p) joined the project as lectors. They will review your games online in audio format. We will have 16 lectures in total every month. Alexander Dinerchtein, 3p will give some lectures too,including 4 lectures in Russian
Last week-end of the month is for Blitz games. If you was very busy during the month, you can play lot of blitz games at the end and get your reviews. Main time control for last Saturday and Sunday of every month is 3 times shorter than usual: 10 min, 30 sec byoyomi - 5 times for insei vs insei games 10 min, 60 sec byoyomi - 5 times for simultaneous
6.Preferred
method of payment (Paypal, Moneybookers,Webmoney, WesternUnion etc)
December 12: We already accepted 50 players. We don't plan to add more groups, so others will be in the waiting line.
Our waiting
line is unusual.If you pay early, but
there are no empty places available, you are allowed to observe all audio
lectures free of charge till you join us in February or March, when we get
vacant places.
If we
decide to stop the project, you will get 100% money back.
So, still accepting new members!
December 29: If you have an account on DGS and prefer slow games, you can get your teaching games here, instead of KGS. You can play all 8 games (or just few) with both teachers at the same time for an extra fee $2 per game. Time control must be set as 30 days absolute (no byoyomi, with clocks running on week-ends). It means about 3-4 moves per game every day. Such games will be count as standard simultaneous games on KGS and must be played on the standard handicap for your division. On DGS you can also meet the members of your group - we accept the results of such games. As you may know we also accept offline games - you can play even in the local club (if you live in the same city) - but please write and upload the SGF of your game (at least 100 moves)
noth1ng
1 kyu 2009-12-04 02:12
2 Alejo
It's not polite to advertise your League in this post. Watch your manners.
Alejo
6K ( AR ) 2009-12-03 06:12
"lets see where it goes " lol i don´t have any idea :)
http://ligago.wordpress.com/
For people who play go for fun not for money :)
Imperator
2009-12-02 05:12
Danigabi:
Good luck with that, and of course the Atsumi Go School.
danigabi
6d ( AR ) 2009-12-02 01:12
Imperator:
if it makes you feel any better, the argentinians are making a league inspired on this, although free. It doesnt have any teachers or prizes, or lectures, its just playing.
They gathered up 20 people (all southies, if not argentinian).
It also has less games.. lets see where it goes :).
Pippin
16k ( US ) 2009-12-01 08:12
I am wondering if it might be possible for "spectators" to sign up for this league. I am a member in a Go club that has lots of players in the 18-12k level. If there was a way to access the game reviews, lectures, etc it would help build future league members and help promote Go in general.
Imperator
2009-12-01 07:12
DanielTom:
Please, read my comments. If I had not burned so much for this to be a success I would not have commented as I have. If I had cared less I would not bother to spend time commenting.
danigabi:
I already have my resources tied up regarding projects related to promoting Go locally where I live.
But you might be right. Maybe this league is not meant to be so inclusive. But I know Go in several countries could need such initiatives to be more inclusive.
Especially where I come from it is hard to get people ambitious about Go because they don't have anything withing their grasp to strive for.
People need motivation. Having an entry level league would be a good thing to give people blood on tooth and make them more motivated to invest time and money on higher level league.
danigabi
6d ( AR ) 2009-12-01 06:12
Lol lets not point fingers like that Daniel. I think Imperator has an idea that is not really related to this. He wants to make a more inclusive league, cheaper , etc.
As i said before, i dont know if that is good or bad, it just isnt this :). No point in trying to change this into that.
You can start such a project yourself Imperator, with details that fit the market you want to reach.
DanielTom
4d ( PT ) 2009-12-01 05:12
Imperator, if this project fails that will be partly because of you... :/ Why are you being such a strong opposition?
I think it is a very good iniciative (as usual, coming from alex ;)), and it seems that there are already many people joining so it might well work (let's hope) :)
Imperator
2009-12-01 05:12
Safire:
Was this directed at me?
"What are you afraid of? 1-2 serious games a day is what any serious hobbyst should aim for if they want to improve."
I am not afraid of anything, I am simply stating the same thing you do about how convenient it will be to arrange 1-2 games a day in this environment.
Note that I am not only speaking on my behalf on things I have written here.
Me myself does not have an issue about spending $95 a month on improving on Go. My issue is guaranteeing that it is money well spent. And spending the money on say lectures and offline reviews, where you are guaranteed to get exactly what you are paying for might seem better for people who might have logistical problems getting enough games out of the league.
Thus a "lite" lower tier league might be more interesting for some people. Paying less, but getting less. More because of how they can invest their time, not so much how they can invest their money.
Comparing the value for money you get out of this league based on how much you at maximum can get is not very realistic.
But I think the league can be a big success over time, as long as the people involved are willing to stick it through and let it evolve with the problems that might show up.
I am only saying it might easier survive if it was more accommodating. But some people seem to be threatened by the notion that this might spoil it it some what. But at the same time, Go should not be elitist, it should be including. This is why I suggest a lower tier group. It would hardly make any difference for the "normal" groups.
safire
1k ( US ) 2009-12-01 12:12
danigabi:
Price is an issue for any product. Go is no exception. That being said, 11 reviews per person, 8 simuls per person, and at 3-4 audio lectures per pro (around 10?) seems like a very very good product for $95.
Imperator: Read above*
What are you afraid of? 1-2 serious games a day is what any serious hobbyst should aim for if they want to improve.
breakfast:
My concern is wether or not I'd be able to conveniently arrange 1-2 games a day with only 9 other players to choose from in my league. If i'm not mistaken, this league is indeed geared towards serious hobbysts. Unless you're pro or aiming to be pro, you've got another job. I don't get the impression this league is mainly for people looking to be pro, but rather mainly for people looking to seriously improve.
That being said, if it's not possible for us serious hobbysts to get 44 games a month, then the value vs price ratio is going to drop.