Tomsk State University: Students plan to open a Go club in Tomsk
IEM bachelor’s students represented the university at All-Russian intellectual competitions. Semyon Poskannoy took part in the World Go Championship in Vladivostok, and Nikolai Latyshev competed part in the Olympiada on the History of Russian Entrepreneurship in Moscow.
The World Go Championship was held in Russia for the first time, after previously being held only in China, Korea, and Japan. The tournament brought together masters of the game from 57 countries and regions. The games were held both offline and online. An athlete from China, Ma Tianfang, became the world champion in Go.
Today, Go is one of the most popular board games in the world and is included in the 5 basic disciplines of the World Mind Games. It promotes strategic thinking and concentration qualities that are also important for a successful businessperson. That is why the game is one of the required modules in the “Entrepreneurship and Project Management. Captains” program at the TSU Institute of Economics and Management (IEM).
– I was exposed to the internal structure of organizing such large-scale events. This is very important for me because I plan to develop Go in our region, and starting from September we will try to launch a club, – said Semyon Poskannoy, an IEM student. – It was also great to meet and play with professional players. At the Russian Cup, I met 5 players of different levels. In 4 meetings I managed to keep the victory, in one I lost, but I don’t regret it at all. Defeats teach much more than victories, they motivate you to develop further.
Semyon also noted that he was very surprised at how children play Go.
– They turned out to be incredibly serious rivals even for the most skilled players. It was a lot of fun watching the Go schools stand up to them, – he added.
Go is a strategy board game that originated in ancient China. The word ‘go’ in translation means ‘to surround with stones’. Go is played on a rectangular field called a goban. One of the two players gets black stones, the other gets white ones. The goal of the game is to fence off a larger territory on the game board with stones of your color than the enemy. The International Go Federation was founded in 1982. Over the past 20 years, Russian players have become European champions in this sport 15 times.
Nikolai Latyshev shared his impressions of participating in the Olympiada on the History of Russian Entrepreneurship.
– I am very glad that I went, talked with guys from different regions, gained experience, and, well, I looked at Moscow, I had never been there before. Next year, I will probably try to participate again, – he added .