South African Go Clubs
The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played on 28 September. The top four players from the Candidates proceed to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament. The results were as follows:
| Player | Points | SOS* | |
| 1 | Rocco Vivier | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Ben Bredenkamp | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Paul Edwards | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | David Gale | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Michael Rapson | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Paul Steyn | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Christiaan Maasdorp | 1 | 3 |
*SOS is “sum of opponent scores”
Contenders was once again held primarily online, using the South Africa room of OGS as the main venue. Players were also given the option of meeting up and playing “over the board” with opponents in their area.
Victor took first place, again with straight wins. Not all the games were as comfortable, however. Andrew managed to keep his game against Victor within 10 points throughout, and Chris had a 15 point lead at move 80 that he didn’t manage to convert. The fight for second was fierce. Andre’s win vs Andrew left him with all to play for in the final game vs Chris. When Chris held on to his 1.5 point lead in end game, David’s early upset win against Andre left Andre on 4 points. This handed Andrew second place, with the tie breaker being Andrew’s head to head win vs Chris.
There was a three way tie between the lower four players, with Christiaan, Rocco, and David all on 2 wins. Christiaan took 5th place, with Rocco in 6th. Head to head games were again the tie breaker. David’s upset win against Andre unfortunately only earned him 7th place, with Ben taking a point off Christiaan.
Congratulations to Christiaan and Rocco who participated in Contenders for the first time. Christiaan also earned promotion to 2k after his win against David.
| Player | NBW | Notes | |
| 1 | Victor Chow, 7d | 7 | |
| 2 | Andrew Davies, 3d | 5 | Tie breaker: Andrew beat Chris |
| 3 | Chris Welsh, 3d | 5 | |
| 4 | Andre Connell, 2d | 4 | |
| 5 | Christiaan Maasdorp, 2k | 2 | Tie breaker: Christiaan beat Rocco and David |
| 6 | Rocco Vivier, 2k | 2 | Tie breaker: Rocco beat David |
| 7 | David Gale, 1k | 2 | |
| 8 | Ben Bredenkamp, 1k | 1 |
The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played this weekend, May 1 and 2. Each day is a three round Swiss tournament, with the top four players from day one progressing to day two. The top for players from day two move on to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament.
Day one saw an upset with Fred Strauss beating James Gelant in the first round. James managed to stabilise in the next two games, and then went on to win day two. Three players who played day one went on to qualify for Contenders. All three will be playing in Contenders for the first time in 2021. Congratulations to Rocco, Christiaan, and James Gelant. They also earned promotions based on their performance. They are now 2k, 3k, and 3k respectively.
David Gale also secured his place at Contenders. He previously qualified for the tournament in 2018.
Day One:
1: Rocco Vivier
2: Christiaan Maasdorp
3: Michael Rapson
4: James Gelant
5: Fred Strauss
6: James Nicolson
7: Gordon Wells
Day Two:
1: James Gelant
2: Rocco Vivier
3: Christiaan Maasdorp
4: David Gale
5: Michael Rapson
6: Ben Bredenkamp
7: Paul Edwards
8: Paul Steyn
Positions 2-4 and 5-7 are determined by “sum of opponent scores”.
Contenders was held primarily online this year, using the South Africa room of OGS as the main venue. Players were also given the option of meeting up and playing “over the board” with opponents in their area.
In the top four players, Victor and Andrew defended their 2019 positions, and Chris managed to nudge Andre out of 3rd. There was a three way tie in the bottom four players, with Lloyd, Ben, and Paul Edwards all on 2 wins. This arose because they each scored one win and one loss in their head-to-head games. The rules of the Candidates tournament specifies that this tie is broken based on the results from the previous year (2019). This resulted in Lloyd and Ben taking 5th and 6th place respectively. Paul Edwards improved on his 2019 position, finishing in 7th. Congratulations to Paul Steyn for qualifying for candidates for the first time.
The final standings were as follows:
1) Victor Chow – 7 wins
2) Andrew Davies – 6 wins
3) Chris Welsh – 5 wins
4) Andre Connell – 4 wins
5) Lloyd Rubidge – 2 wins, tiebreaker 5th in 2019
6) Ben Bredenkamp – 2 wins, tiebreaker 6th in 2019
7) Paul Edwards – 2 wins, tiebreaker 8th in 2019
8) Paul Steyn – 0 wins
Victor, Andrew, Chris, and Andre once again automatically qualify for the event next year.
Candidates day two was played on OGS today, April 19. This tournament selects four players to progress to Contenders later in the year. Paul Edwards, Paul Steyn, Ben Bredenkamp, and Lloyd Rubidge are the four who qualified. Congratulations especially to Paul Steyn who made it through for the first time this year, having come close the last few years.
Final standings:
1: Paul Edwards, 3 wins
2: Paul Steyn, 2 wins, 2nd by SOS
3: Ben Bredenkamp, 2 wins, 3rd by SOSOS
4: Lloyd Rubidge, 2 wins
5: Michael Rapson, 1 win, 5th by SOS
6: Christiaan Maasdorp, 1 win, 6th by SOS
7: James Nicolson, 1 win
8: David Gale, 0 wins
Congratulations also to the players who earned rank changes during the Candidates tournament. They are:
David Gale, 1k
Christiaan Maasdorp, 4k
James Gelant, 4k