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| 1. Go Population in Finland |
| Last edited: 17th Dec 2014 |
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| It is not easy to estimate the number of players that do not |
| participate actively in tournaments, but a good estimate of Finnish go population might be around 1000 persons. |
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| 2. Active members (paid members) |
| !1. Go Population in Finland |
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| In 2005, there were 132 paid members in Finnish Go Association. |
| It is not easy to estimate the number of players that do not participate actively in tournaments, but a good estimate of the Finnish go population might be around 1000 players. There are 787 players with sort of an [active ranking|Luokituslista] as of 17th Dec 2014. |
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| 3. Go clubs |
| !2. Active members (paid members) |
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| There are 15 more or less official clubs in Finland. The clubs |
| organize one or two club evenings in a week and sometimes tournaments |
| too. There are also players living in cities without any official go |
| club. They can meet other go players on the Internet on go servers. |
| In 2014, the Finnish Go Association had 115 paid up members. |
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| 4. Strongest players |
| !3. Go clubs |
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| Top 10 players by rank (according to official ranking list): |
| There are 20 more or less official [clubs|Kerhot] in Finland. The clubs organize one or two club evenings a week and sometimes tournaments too. There are also players living in cities without an official go club. Some meet to play in small numbers while others rely on Internet go servers. |
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| Are you visiting Finland and wondering where Finns play? The page [Peli-illat|PeliIllat] lists all the steady going club nights by day and city. Most if not all are open and welcome foreign players with enthusiasm. Please consider visiting at least one of them! ''kahvila = cafe, ravintola = restaurant'' |
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| !4. Strongest players |
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| Top players by rank (according to the [current ranking list|Luokituslista]) as of 17th Dec, 2014: |
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| * TÖRMÄNEN Antti 1 dan pro. Finnish Champion 2008, 2010 and 2012, winner of several international tournaments, admitted to study as an insei in 2011 and 2014, qualified as professional in 2015. |
| * KURONEN, Juri 6 dan. Finnish Champion 2014 and 2017. |
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| * SIIVOLA Matti 5 dan. Several times Finnish Champion. |
| * TÖRMÄNEN Antti 5 dan. Has made impressive progress in a short time. |
| * SAVOLAINEN Javier-Aleksi 4 dan. A fast developing junior who made 3rd at EYGC 2008. |
| * JANTUNEN Kare 4 dan. |
| * PAATERO Lauri 3 dan. The author of the GoWrite computer program. |
| * VISALA Kari 3 dan. |
| * LOUNELA Olli 3 dan. A popular teacher in Finland. |
| * SEURANEN Esa 3 dan. |
| * HOLAPPA Antti 3 dan. |
| * NYYSSÖNEN, Juuso 5 dan. Finnish Champion 2013 and 2018. |
| * SAVOLAINEN, Javier-Aleksi 5 dan. Nordic Championship 2019. |
| * SIIVOLA Matti 5 dan. Several times Finnish Champion, Nordic |
| Champion and Finnish Kisei. |
| * several 4 dan players. |
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| !5. Competitions and the ranking system |
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| 5. Competitions and the ranking system |
| Ranking system is in Japanese style: from 30 kyu to 1 kyu and then from 1 dan to higher dan levels. On higher kyu levels the rankings are not controlled. On lower kyu ranks, the rankings are not restricted, and clubs are responsible for the ranks of their members. Higher ranks are granted by strong players or specially appointed club members who have ranking rights; a promotion to 7 kyu or better [requires support|Luokitusmääräys] from (a) higher ranked player(s), increasingly so as the level increases. Reaching dan levels requires consistent results in tournaments. |
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| Ranking system is in Japanese style: from 30 kyu to 1 kyu and then |
| from 1 dan to higher dan levels. On lower kyu ranks, clubs are |
| responsible for the ranks of the club members. Higher ranks (about 3 |
| kyu and up) are usually granted by strong players or specially |
| appointed club members who have ranking rights. Reaching dan levels |
| require consistent results in major tournaments, either international |
| tournaments or Finnish Championship & qualifiers. |
| !6. Education and promotion |
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| 6. Education and promotion |
| Go education and promotion have only been on volunteer basis because of lack of funds. The game has become popular thanks to the Internet, some (but rare) media coverage and (arguably) the anime / manga "Hikaru no Go". New players often try to teach the game to their friends, and some times it even works. Local clubs organize beginners' courses now and then. Many of the new players are university students, and student clubs are among the biggest clubs. |
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| Go education and promotion has been only on volunteer basis because of |
| lack of funds. The game has become popular thanks to the Internet, |
| some media coverage (but rare) and (perhaps) Hikaru no Go. Also, new |
| players often do their best to teach the game to their friends, with |
| some success. Clubs organize beginner's courses now and then. Many |
| of new players are university students, and student clubs are among |
| the biggest clubs. |
| !7. Finnish Go Association |
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| 7. Finnish Go Association |
| The board of the [Finnish Go Association] consists of a president, a secretary, a treasurer, a vice president, and other members of the board, numbering no more than 10 altogether. The association is a member of both the European (EGF) and International (IGF) go federations. In addition to acting as an umbrella organization for Finnish Go clubs, the association also coordinates the most important Finnish tournaments: the Finnish Championship tournament series, the Korean Ambassador's Cup and the locally less frequent Nordic Championships. |
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| The board of Finnish Go Association consist of president, secretary, |
| treasurer, vice president, and other members of the board, not more |
| than 10 all together. The association is a member of both European |
| (EGF) and International (IGF) go federations, coordinates the Finnish |
| Championship tournaments and the Finnish GP tournament series. |
| !8. Go history in Finland. |
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| 8. Go history in Finland. |
| Our first club, the Helsinki go club was founded in 1979. Ten players participated in the first Finnish championship played in 1981. The Finnish Go Association was founded in 1987. Other clubs began appearing during these years. |
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| Helsinki go club was founded around 1978. Ten players participated in |
| the first Finnish championship played in 1981. The Finnish Go |
| Association was founded in 1987. At that time other clubs were |
| starting to appear more actively. |
| Through the 90's, the number of players slowly increased. The Finnish Championships were growing so large that they finally needed a separate qualification tournament. More significant increase in player numbers started around 2000. For example in 2004, over 200 players participated in tournaments. |
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| During the 90's, new clubs were started gradually and number of |
| players increased slowly. There began to be need for a separate |
| qualification tournament before the main championship tournament. |
| Significant increase in players started around 2000. New clubs were |
| founded and, during 2004, over 200 players participated in |
| tournaments. |
| !9. Finnish Go Magazines |
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| 9. Finnish Go Magazines |
| Fifteen editions of Sente magazine were [published during 1986 - 2000|http://gowrite.net/sente/]. The author of Sente, Vesa Laatikainen, has since published more go essays on the Internet. There is also the Nordic Go magazine (Nordisk GoBlad), which is published on [the Internet|http://goforbundet.se/web/node/39/]. |
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| Fifteen numbers of Sente magazine was published during 1986 - |
| 2000. After that, Vesa Laatikainen, the author of Sente, has published |
| more go essays on the Internet. There is also the Nordic Go magazine |
| (Nordisk GoBlad), which is published on the Internet. Currently most |
| active net forum in Finland is the Finnish GoWiki |
| http://www.suomigo.net/ |
| !10. Go tournaments in Finland |
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| 10. Go tournaments in Finland |
| About 15 national or international level tournaments are organized regularly every year. In addition, many clubs have held local championship tournaments or ranking tournaments, with casual local tournaments taking up most of the intervening weekends. Nearly all the [tournaments|turnaukset] are open for foreign participants too. |
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| In recent years, there has been about 15 national tournaments that |
| have been organized regularly every year. In addition, many clubs have |
| held local championship tournaments or ranking tournaments. |
| [Pictures |http://www.gowrite.net/presskit/kuvat/index.html] |
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| [Picture of Finnish tournament atmosphere|http://pieni.net/~thirsima/photos/2003-kanikutonen/sized/aaq.jpg] |
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