The University of Maryland has a Go Club that is one of the top collegiate teams in the United States. Go is an ancient Chinese board game similar to chess that is popular in East Asia. The UMD Go Club meets weekly and has grown to around 20 members. It fields two competitive teams in the Collegiate Go League that has undergone format changes. One UMD team is currently tied for first place in the league. Club president Zehao Sui has helped recruit new members and lead the team's competitive success.

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UMD students part of top collegiate team for
ancient board game Go
By Zach Melvin/For The Diamondback | Posted: Friday, November 14, 2014 2:00 am
One of this university’s top­ranked teams competes in
a game you’ve probably never heard of.
Go, an ancient Chinese board game similar to chess, is
widely popular in East Asia, and its presence is
growing steadily in the U.S. This university’s Go Club
has been on the campus since the 1970s and ranks
among the top teams in the Collegiate Go League.
Stephen M. Mount, a biology professor and sponsor of
the club, has been involved in the club since the mid­
1990s and has seen the club’s popularity fluctuate.
“What happens with these clubs is they come and go,”
Mount said. “I’ve tried to provide some continuity. …
I like Go. I like supporting it at the University of Maryland, and I like the opportunity to play a game
with a real person without having to travel across town.”
Every Wednesday evening, the team gathers in H.J. Patterson Hall to play against one another. Zehao
Sui, the club’s president, said while it’s still a niche community at the university, it’s had a surge in
growth in recent years.
“When I first came three years ago, there were only three undergrads in the club,” said Sui, a senior
computer engineering major. “Now, we have around 20 consistent players.”
In the game, two players alternate placing their pieces, called stones, on a 19­by­19 grid with the goal
of controlling the most territory. Players also try to surround their opponent’s pieces and capture
them. The game ends when neither player wants to continue it or when one player resigns.
“I used to play chess when I was younger,” Mount said. “I prefer Go, which I suppose is a personal
choice. It rewards balanced judgment more than desperate tricks.”
Sui attributes most of the club’s success to the CGL, a league of college and university teams
throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada.
“I heard about CGL through a friend on KGS, a server where Go players can play online,” Sui said. “I
tried gathering players, but we were lacking numbers at first. Tournaments required like two or three
Go Board Game
Justin Teng (right) playing Zhang Qi (left)
in a game of Go at the UMD Go club.

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hours every other Saturday.”
Sui and his colleagues began an aggressive recruitment campaign. They set up a booth at the First
Look Fair and have set up booths at similar campus events. Eventually, the club was able to put
together a team for the league.
“Our first season, we were bad. We finished dead last,” Sui said. “But last season, we were able to
recruit some solid players and fill a five­man team. We actually finished third.”
This season, the university’s Go Club is the only one in the league that has two teams. One squad has
a record of 2­2, and the other is 3­1 and tied at the top of the table.
Since this university’s team joined the league, the CGL has undergone a few changes to increase its
popularity and expand: The league shifted from five­man teams to smaller three­person squads. Each
player plays a game against a member of the other squad. The first team to win two games takes the
match.
“We were actually better when it was five players,” Sui said. “Other schools, like Princeton, have one
or two really strong players who we can’t beat, but the other two or three we could win against most
of the time.”
Club members said they hope players such as sophomore business management and psychology
major Justin Teng can overcome the league’s structural changes and lead this university to the
playoffs. At Wednesday’s meeting, several members called Teng, who has been playing Go since
middle school, the group’s strongest player.
“I was pretty active [in the scene] during high school,” Teng said. “I went to tournaments throughout
high school and actually went to France for the World Mind Sports Games in 2012. I didn’t place
well, but it was a great experience.”
Outside the club, Teng streams Go matches online through , a popular website for video
game content. Under the username odnihs, Teng uses the site as an opportunity to walk viewers
through his decisions and teach them how to play.
twitch.tv
“You can sort of think of it like a private music lesson,” Sui said. “Some of the professional players
will charge a certain amount for one­on­one, private lessons. Sometimes, they play in a community
game … and give advice to someone else that they play.”
In many ways, the club breaks from the norms of Go etiquette. It’s common for members to jokingly
trash talk one another, something they said they rarely see in an actual competition.
“That’s what makes it fun and what keeps us coming back,” Sui said.
Sui said he sees the quirky and laid­back nature of the group to be one of its biggest draws. He said
the club often attracts Asian transfer students, who bond with current members over the game.

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“Overall, the people here are very helpful,” freshman computer science major Vi Tung said. “While
the personalities of some people are questionable, I really like the atmosphere of the group.”