How we started
The Walla Walla Go Club was founded in 2011 when a few friends and I met to play a few games at Sweet Basil Pizzeria. As we enjoyed the evening playing Go and chomping down pizza it hit me “we should start a club so we can do this all the time.”
Little did I know, My brother and friend would take those words to heart. For the next few months Anthony Lizotte faithfully went to Sweet Basil to play Go—once a week, opponents or none. It wasn’t until months later that I happened to go back through the restaurant while he was there playing with a couple friends and I heard a jeer from the back: “oh-ho! The famous founder has arrived!”
Completely unbeknownst to me, Anthony had become the backbone of the club, which he started growing organically and simply. It wasn’t until at least a couple years after that I stopped getting jokes about how I was the founder but didn’t even attend. I didn’t know!
—Kevin Coleman, the “Founder”
A history of friendship
The Go Club has ebbed and flowed over the years. Any given day you might find players who have never seen a board before—or you might find visitors from the Grande Ronde Go Club some of whom outrank us handily!
Whatever you find when you visit us there’s one solid guarantee we’ll slap down on the board with more fervor than our tengen openings: You’ll find respect and friendship here. Go is a serious game, but we try not to take ourselves too seriously. Buy Bob enough beers and you can even beat him! No matter your level of play (even if that’s just watching) you’re welcome at the Walla Walla Go Club.
What do we do?
We play Go! But really—the club is pretty informal. We’ve never before had any kind of membership ledger, fees, budget, or organization.
For many years we’ve kept on meeting at Sweet Basil, who graciously hosted us the whole time. At some point they even started reserving tables for us, knowing we’d be appearing around 6:30 every Wednesday. To this day they still have a box of Go supplies they keep in the back.
We’ve occasionally pulled together events like movie nights, but have never done much in the way of proper lectures. We did once put together an informal tournament, but that’s about as close to organized as we’ve ever been. So, at the heart of it we’re just people who like to play Go and that’s what we do!
Got ideas for what you want to see the club become? Let us know. Otherwise just come play!