The Evanston Go Club is an official chapter of the
American Go Association
.
We provide a place for people to play, learn, or just watch the game of Go.
We are free, open to the public, and we welcome you to come and join us.
If you have never played before, one of our regular players will be more than happy
to teach you how to play. If you already know how to play, you will be happy to know
we usually have about a dozen people attending, ranging in strength from 30 kyu to 8 dan.
Below is a list of all the clubs we know about in the Chicagoland area. If you
know of a club not listed here, please let us know!
EVANSTON GO CLUB
Wednesdays 6 – 9 PM
Starbucks
1734 Sherman Ave
Evanston
Saturdays 1 – 4 PM
Sketchbook Brewing Company
821 Chicago Ave.
Evanston
CHICAGO GO CLUB
Tuesdays 6 – 10 PM
OMi
3135 N. Broadway
Chicago
DES PLAINES GO CLUB
Mondays 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Des Plaines Public Library
1501 Ellinwood St
Des Plaines, IL 60016
SCHAUMBURG GO CLUB
Thursdays 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Starbucks at the Streets of Woodfield
102 Biesterfield Rd.
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Biesterfield and Arlington Heights Rd, across from the firehouse
SOUTHWEST SUBURBS GO CLUB
Thursdays 6-9 PM
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
7101 W 183rd St.
Tinley Park, IL 60477
WEST-SUBURBAN GO CLUB
Saturdays 2:00 PM
Panera
2987 Kirk Rd.
Aurora, IL
MIDWAY GO CLUB
Second Sunday of each month from 1-3 PM
Japanese Culture Center
1016 West Belmont Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657
$5 donation suggested.
UCHICAGO GO CLUB
Saturdays 3:00-6:00 PM
Hutchinson Commons (within Reynolds Club)
1131 E 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Neil says: “Every Saturday we get together to play Go and have a good time, but sometimes we don’t meet because of holidays or finals/midterms. It would be best to email me prior to coming to ensure we’re meeting that day. We welcome anyone, UChicago member or not, and we are happy to teach beginners.”
KOREAN GO CLUB
Korean Cultural Center
9930 S. Capitol Dr.
Wheeling, IL 60090
847-947-4460
I don’t know when this club meets; I’ll try to find out.
For a full listing of clubs in Illinois, visit the AGA’s Clubs and Chapters page.
Also check out Baduk Club for a map of clubs all over the world.
If you run a club that’s not listed here, please email me your information and I’ll add it to the list.
Long-time EGC member Ian Feldman passed away in 2012. Ian generously bequeathed his collection of Go books to the club. We have consolidated all of Ian’s and Mark’s books to create the Ian Feldman Lending Library.
We recently got a bunch of books from James Beickert, and have added them to the collection. Thanks James!
There are over 100 books in the library. Anyone may borrow a book. Simply send me an email at mark@evanstongoclub.org with your request, and I will bring the book to the next club meeting. Books will be lent for one month at a time. As long as there are no other requests for the same book, you may extend your lease for another month or two.
Please see the two PDF’s; one is a simple listing of all the books, the other is a detailed list with pictures and descriptions.
Those of us who knew Ian will never forget him. A part of him will live on as we share his love of Go with others.
Go Books Summary
Go Books Detail
Registration for the 2025 Chicago Open is open!
Come join us on Memorial Day weekend, May 24 - 25 for the 4th year of the biggest two-day tournament in the Midwest!
Registration steps
- Register here
- Make a Leago account on Leago and register for the Chicago Rapid on Leago
Please remember to also register on Leago so we can have live pairings and results!
Register early to get Early Bird pricing and custom name tags!
Cost
- Main (18K-4D) Section: $60 ($75 after 5/4)
- Open (5D+) Section: $75 ($90 after 5/4)
- Youth section: free
Club Discount
Groups of 5+: $5 off each person
Highlights
- Trophies and cash prizes for band winners
- Optional lunch provided by Tealicious Bubble Tea
- On-site post tournament dinner party
Tournament Format: 7 rounds, AGA-rated
- 25 min + 10s/move Fischer time
- McMahon pairing
Prizes
Open
- Cash prize pool is approximately $1200
- 1st through 5th place will receive trophy and cash prizes
Main
- Top two of each division receive trophy and sponsor prize
Sponsors
Yellow Mountain Imports
Baduk Club
Tsumego Dragon
OGS
Go Magic
AYD
Schedule
SATURDAY
Registration 8:30 – 9:15
Opening Ceremony 9:15-9:45
Round 1: 10 AM
Round 2: 11:40 AM
Lunch: 1:20 PM
Round 3: 2 PM
Round 4: 3:40 PM
Dinner Party: 5:20 PM
SUNDAY
Round 5: 9:30 AM
Round 6: 11:10 AM
Round 7: 1:30 PM
Awards: 3:10 PM
* Assuming a 200-move game, most matches will finish in 80 minutes, so players will get breaks between rounds. The Youth section operates on a different schedule and ends by noon. For details, reach out to Xinming Guo (simonguoxm@gmail.com )
Highlights:
- Biggest weekend tournament in North America
- Upgraded on-site dinner banquet
-
Go is a fascinating board game that originated in China more than 4,000 years ago. Also known as baduk, wei ch’i, weiqi, and igo, it is played today by millions of people, including thousands in the United States. In Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan, it is far more popular than chess is in the West, and professional players compete for large cash prizes. Its popularity in this country continues to grow, more than fifty years after the founding of the American Go Association.
It is said that the rules of Go can be learned in minutes, but that it can take a lifetime to master the game. Two players alternate placing black and white stones on a large (19×19 line) ruled board, with the aim of surrounding territory. Stones are never moved, and only removed if they are completely surrounded. The game rewards patience and balance over aggression and greed; the balance of influence and territory may shift many times in the course of a game, and a strong player must be prepared to be flexible but resolute. Like the Eastern martial arts, Go can teach concentration, balance, and discipline.
Go combines beauty and intellectual challenge. It is a game of pure skill; there is no chance involved. The patterns formed by the black and white stones are visually striking and can exercise an almost hypnotic attraction as one “sees” more and more in the constantly evolving positions.
The game appeals to many kinds of minds — to musicians, artists, mathematicians, computer programmers, entrepreneurs and options traders. Children learn the game readily and can reach high levels of mastery. Interestingly, computers are not yet capable of playing Go at any but the most rudimentary levels. Go seems to require innately human skills; visual pattern recognition, judgement of the relative value of positions, knowing when to sacrifice unimportant stones for important ones, and a “feel” for the right move.
Because Go lends itself to a uniquely reliable system of handicaps, players of widely disparate strengths can enjoy relatively even contests. The game can be a casual pastime for the idle hour — or a way of life.
For general information:
Mark Rubenstein
(847) 869-6020
evanstongoclub@gmail.com
Mailing List
We manage the email list on Google Groups. The name of the group is Chicago Area Go Clubs, and is a combined email list for all the go clubs in the Chicagoland area. To join our mailing list, click here and sign up!
Thanks, and we hope to see you at the club!