Recently, a club that operates in a room in Founders Hall on Thursday nights has been drawing crowds of students with the promise of a daunting, daring, and even dynamic game of Go: an abstract and demanding strategy board game popular in East Asia. White and black rocks, as well as boards, surrounded the room in Founders as students strived to win by capturing their opponents’ stones.
Mr. David Edgar, English and History, Philosophy, Religious Studies Faculty, serves as the faculty advisor for the Go club. He first encountered Go in high school, and when he became sick during the summer of his sophomore year in college, he used that time to study Go. In the following years, he gained more experience with Go while playing at an international level.
“I played in Massachusetts, in Ohio, in Argentina, in Korea, and, in fact, when I was living in Korea, I studied with professional players for a year,” Mr. Edgar said.
He became the Argentinian Mind Games Champion in 2013 and brought Go to his university program in Argentina.
“It’s been a common theme in my life, and I’m convinced it’s the best pastime known to man,” Mr. Edgar said.
When asked about his motivations for bringing the Go club to the Loomis Chaffee community, he replied by claiming that Loomis will be great at the game.
“There are other schools with Go clubs, and I’m convinced we’re going to crush them. It’s unfair that Loomis did not have a chance yet to show its necessary dominance in this intellectual mind sport,” he said.
Student members of the Go club enjoy Mr. Edgar’s enthusiasm and passion for the game.
“He’s a very cool, chill guy, and he likes teaching people about the game,” Julius Kim ’24 said.
“I joined the club because Mr. Edgar was running it,” Arthur Beaugeard ’23 said.
Other members of the Go club had different reasons for joining the club.
“It looked really fun. I like Go because it’s complex, and every move has a different meaning to it,” Julius Kim ’24 said.
“Before the Go club, I heard about Go. Everyone said it was a more complex game than chess, so I was really curious. I also played chess, so when Mr. Edgar told us about his Go stories, I was interested,” Ömer Kizil ’23 said.
Stacey Zhang ’22, one of the student leaders of the Go club, plays a pivotal role in maintaining the current status of the club.
“Stacey has been the rock upon which the Go club stands,” Mr. Edgar said.
She initially joined the Go club to continue her passion for the strategic game.
“I played Go as a kid, so I thought I would pick it up again,” Stacey said.
When asked about her hopes for the Go club, she and Mr. Edgar shared the sentiment of dominating other schools at Go.
“The club’s mission is to beat every team in Connecticut and dominate the Connecticut Go scene,” Stacey continued.