Singapore Weiqi Association

The Singapore Weiqi Association (Chinese: 新加坡围棋协会; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Wéiqí Xiéhuì) is a Go association in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it aims to promote the game of Go in Singapore and improve the skills of local Go players.[1] To achieve its objective, professional players from China are hired to conduct lessons, and tournaments are regularly organized. Amateur players in Singapore can have their rank assessed by the association; it awards rank diplomas up to 6 dan. For international exposure and networking, the association sends players to participate in international competitions such as World Amateur Go Championship[2][3][4][5] and World Youth Go Championship.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Currently, the association has two clubhouses: the main clubhouse in Bishan and the city clubhouse in Bugis.

The current chairman is Kwa Kim Chiong (Chinese: 柯金章; pinyin: Ke Jin Zhang). The association was founded in 1981, then activities took place at the Ulu Pandan Community Center. For a number of years, the Singapore Weiqi Association received support from the Ing Foundation.

The Singapore Weiqi Association has successfully hosted several inter-country tournaments and organized visits from many Go professionals from China, Japan and Korea. Recently, it hosted the Asian qualifying tournament for the Toyota/Denso Oza Championship. It also organized the Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand Weiqi Friendship Tournament in 2006. In 1989 and 1999, the World Youth Go Championship was also hosted in Singapore,[13] which was notable at that period of time. Domestically, the Association also organizes a number of local tournaments and competitions. It sends about 5 to 10 representatives to overseas tournaments each year.

A key activity of the Association is to provide Go training to the public.[1] Today, it trains more than 3,000 students yearly at its clubhouses and at various schools.[1] It also supports Go training classes at about 20 local schools and institutions.

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References

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