CEGO Qualification

[HermanHiddema]

I think that, given that more and more things are happening online, it makes more and more sense to look at time zone distance rather than geographical distance. South Africa would be a great addition to the Pandanet Go European Team Championship (PGETC), for example. The same is true for all of Africa and the Middle East, IMO.

[tapir]

I also find it funny that I have to get news about CEGO-Stuff from.. the US-Go website :-p
http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/04/ali-ja ... o-qualies/

You could have used http://www.eurogofed.org/proqualification/ and http://www.eurogofed.org/cego/index.php?id=1 instead

The mentioned online league is for training purposes, so I doubt the results should be trumpeted around as news concerning the qualification process. The most interesting part seems to be that some players participated in the training league but rejected playing in the qualification tournament (Ilya), this may or may not be news.

[RBerenguel]

Seems like there has been some player shifting: Juri Kuronen (Namii in KGS and most other servers) is now one of the 16 selected players. I just posted the announcement in the NGA site, so I thought I could just update this.

[Javaness2]

That's a bit sad, even more players dropped out at the last moment then. We clearly need a new thread to bet on the winners of round 1.

[RBerenguel]

That's a bit sad, even more players dropped out at the last moment then. We clearly need a new thread to bet on the winners of round 1.

Yup. I guess two had to drop (since last time I checked) for Juri to get in.

[Javaness2]

I think that, given that more and more things are happening online, it makes more and more sense to look at time zone distance rather than geographical distance. South Africa would be a great addition to the Pandanet Go European Team Championship (PGETC), for example. The same is true for all of Africa and the Middle East, IMO.

I don't think that Europe, by which I mean the EGF, has the ability, or the remit, to develop the game in Africa.

[Bantari]

Europe is not only a Go toddler to be nurtured and guided, but also a big potential market offering tremendous opportunities for profit, expansion, and ultimately control.
...
There is a lot of money that seems to be flowing from China, and knowing what I know of how a communist system operates, ...

Honestly, and I hope you are not too much offended, I doubt you know much about communism. You even mistake the world's most capitalist country for a communist one.

China a totalitarian system ruled by a communist party, and its constitution officially mentions communism. So politically, it is a communist system. Economically - most land is owned by the state or by collectives, and the parts that are not are mostly only "leased" from the government for a limited amount of time (50 years or so.) They have some really murky laws about ownership in the trades and industry as well, which differ in some very serious ways from what we have in our so-called "capitalist" system. Wealth distribution laws, at least on paper, are almost purely socialist. Socially, most of the programs (healthcare, education, etc.) are either run by the state or heavily subsidized. And so on, down the line. There are many differences.

The fact that China is also greedy (as are all countries, and which is actually good) and a huge market for outside capital, as well as a good investment, and that they usually allow it, even welcome it at times - does not make it capitalist, not really. At best, you can call it capitalist-infused communism. Some call it "confucionism" for the lack of better word, which I personally translate as "pragmatic socialism".

As for knowing about communism - I have lived many many years under such a system. Was born under such system and grew up under such system. Was schooled under such system, and worked under such system. I have had friends and relatives die under such system. And I sacrificed an awful lot to get out from under such system. So while I might not really know that much about China, I feel I know about communism - first-hand, not just by reading books or websites. What are your credentials?

Oh, and I hope you don't get offended as well. We are all friends here, yes?

China does not exactly need Go diplomacy to open western markets. Just go shopping once.

Well, I will be the first one to admit that maybe I am wrong and they do it all out of the goodness of their hearts. Even though the cynic in me tells me that very little in this world is done because of a good heart, especially if money is involved and conditions are imposed. But I admit that I might be completely wrong here, and the industrialists who pour their money into European Go are doing it purely for the love of the game. Strager things have happened.

I assume the rest of your post is not directed at me, so I ignore it.

+ You should not blame L19 for the all-american conspiracy thought-style.

Sorry for the OT rant, but it certainly felt necessary.