South African Go ClubsWinter League 2024 took place from May until November with 12 players taking part. The top three positions were determined by head-to-head results.
Congratulations to Pieter-Francois and Johan who were promoted to 8k and 15k respectively during the tournament.
| Player | |
| 1 | Chris Welsh |
| 2 | Dominique de Rouvroy |
| 3 | Andrew Davies |
| 4 | Paul Edwards |
| 5 | Ben Bredenkamp |
| 6 | Rocco Vivier |
| 7 | Michael Rapson |
| 8 | Gordon Wells |
| 9 | Fred Strauss |
| 10 | Pieter-Francois Theron |
| 11 | Christina Auret |
| 12 | Johan Janse van Vuuren |
The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played on September 29. There were eight players so the tournament was a three-round Swiss tournament. The top five players move on to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament.
The results were as follows:
| Player | Points | SOS* | SOSOS** | |
| 1 | Rocco Vivier | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| 2 | Ben Bredenkamp | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | David Gale | 2 | 5 | 12 |
| 4 | Paul Edwards | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 5 | Christiaan Maasdorp | 1 | 6 | 12 |
| 6 | David Lubinsky | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| 7 | Fred Strauss | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 8 | Adru van Niekerk | 0 | 4 | 12 |
*SOS is “sum of opponent scores”. *SOSOS is “sum of sum of opponent scores”.
The “Candidates” stage of the SA Closed tournament was played this weekend, September 17 and 18. Each day is a three round Swiss tournament, with the top four players from day one progressing to day two. The top four players from day two move on to the “Contenders” stage of the tournament.
Congratulations to James and Adru on their promotions to 2k and 5k respectively. David Lubinsky played through from day one to qualify for Contenders, his first time qualifying. His last recorded game in the SAGA ranking system was in 2011. It seems that he’s come back from a break in good form.
Day One:
1: James Gelant
2: Christiaan Maasdorp
3: David Lubinsky
4: Adru van Niekerk
5: Pieter-Francois Theron
6: Michael Rapson
7: Fred Strauss
8: Pico Geyer
Day Two:
1: Rocco Vivier
2: David Lubinsky
3: Ben Bredenkamp
4: Paul Edwards
5: James Gelant
6: Adru van Niekerk
7: Christiaan Maasdorp
8: David Gale
Positions 2-4 and 5-7 are determined by “sum of opponent scores”.
Winter League 2022 took place from June until October with 11 players completing games. Congratulations Rocco, who won the tournament with straight wins. This earned him his promotion to 1d.
| Player | Rank | |
| 1 | Rocco Vivier | 1d |
| 2 | James Nicolson | 1k |
| 3 | Christiaan Maasdorp | 2k |
| 3 | Michael Rapson | 4k |
| 5 | Andrew Davies | 3d |
| 5 | Paul Edwards | 1d |
| 5 | Andre Connell | 2d |
| 8 | Marc Loon | 5k |
| 9 | Gordon Wells | 7k |
| 10 | Pieter-Francois Theron | 10k |
| 11 | Pico Geyer | 10k |
Winter league 2021 took place from June to November, with 12 players taking part. Players ranged from 3d to 7k in strength. Once again, the tournament used a McMahon style with pairing pre-drawn based on player ranks at the start of the tournament. The bar was set at 3k for this season.
Congratulations to Chris, who won the league for the second year in a row, with straight wins. Andrew and Andre placed second and third respectively. Michael was promoted back to 4k during the tournament.
| Player | Rank | |
| 1 | Chris Welsh | 3d |
| 2 | Andrew Davies | 3d |
| 3 | Andre Connell | 2d |
| 4 | Rocco Vivier | 2k |
| 5 | Lloyd Rubidge | 1d |
| 6 | Ben Bredenkamp | 1k |
| 7 | James Nicolson | 1k |
| 8 | Christiaan Maasdrop | 3k |
| 9 | Michael Rapson | 4k |
| 10 | Paul Edwards | 1d |
| 11 | Gordon Wells | 7k |
| 12 | Fred Strauss | 7k |