ABOUT THE GO PROJECT

For the second year, Croatian Go Alliance (HIGOU) is performing a go project in several schools in different cities of Croatia. This year, the project name is “Go – the game with(out) boundaries”. The partners are one kindergarten, four primary schools (Jastrebarsko, Lipovljani, Velika Gorica and Zagreb), two secondary schools (Zagreb and Kutina), one special education center (Velika Gorica), and the mathematical society from Tuhelj. The project is financed for one school year (ending in August 2018) by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education. We appreciate the kind support of the Nihon ki-in, the Embassy of Japan to Croatia and the European Go Federation very much.

The goal of the project is to establish the game of go as an educational tool which is well-connected with other subjects on various school levels, having the common goal of developing logical thinking and decision making skills in children and youth. The project allowed the purchase of go stones, boards, and clocks for tournaments. With the kind support of the Nihon ki-in, a distinguished professional player and teacher Catalin Taranu (5p), visited us again.

The project has already produced immensely positive results for the development of go in Croatia: the number of people (children, teachers, parents) learning the rules of go exploded, the number of double-digit-kyu players competing in EGF-rated tournaments increased rapidly, many young single-digit kyu and dan players came back to the game. ABOUT THE GO WEEK

The Second Croatian Go Week is developing a traditional set of events, comprising public lectures, simultaneous exhibitions, the exposure of go to the media, and ending with a strong international tournament (May 26-27) at a nice venue - the public elementary school “Alojzija Stepinca” near the Lake Jarun recreational area in Zagreb.

Mr. Taranu held lectures in primary schools in Jastrebarsko and Tuhelj. His friendly game with the City Major of Jastrebarsko was broadcast on local television. He also played simultaneous games with young go players in a go-club in Zagreb. Numerous discussions with teachers and principals of schools, city officials, go educators and players were extremely fruitful, producing a positive and productive atmosphere for the future development of go in Croatia.

There were two special additions to the Go Week from the previous year: A School Go League and an EGF Academy mini-camp. The fifth and final tournament of School Go League was organized on Friday afternoon and attended by 31 schoolchildren. NovaTV filmed the event and broadcast the game of go as the highlight of a show which has national coverage. The best children in all five tournaments were awarded with medals, and the best schools got nice trophies.

The EGF Academy was started several years ago as a part of the CEGO project, mainly as the on-line teaching of European promising young players. Based on the experience from Vatra Dornei in February 2018, the mini-camp was a two day face-to-face training of 10 players with Catalin Taranu. All of them enjoyed the game of go a lot, and participated in the strong international tournament on Saturday and Sunday with great success. SUMMARY

The visit of Mr. Catalin Taranu, 5p, had again a great effect on the development of go activities both in Croatia and in the region. We discussed many issues related to organizing lectures, training for stronger players, and the organization of youth go events. Mr. Taranu helped a lot in raising visibility of the go project at the level of school principals and city authorities in new go environments. The support by European Go Federation changed the landscape of a national championship to a strong international tournament. All these changes were possible through projects financed by Croatian Ministry of Science and Education. Croatian Go Alliance is thankful to all project partners, especially to Elementary School Alojzija Stepinca, for providing excellent playing conditions for all go players.
There is no doubt that Croatia is going to have more than enough young players for the forthcoming European Youth Go Team Championships on KGS later this year. An open Croatian youth championships will be organized in December 2018, as well.

Zoran Mutabzija President of HIGOU

Damir Medak Secretary of HIGOU