Lanza’s Cafe in Carrboro gets a little more interesting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Across the tables, Go players of all levels set up their boards. Go is a two-player strategy board game where the goal is to capture the most territory on the wooden board with black and white stones.
The Triangle Go Group is a multigenerational club that hosts weekly meetings, open to Go players of all skill levels, across the Triangle.
Bob Bacon, a long-time member of the group, said he loves the diverse range of players they attract to their meetings.
“The best thing to me is seeing the kids come in, 8, 9 years old, learn how to play, and then 2, 3, 4 years later, they’re teaching you how to play,” he said.
Go has become popular as an online game in recent years. However, Bacon said he prefers to play in person because of the sounds of the black and white stones on the wooden board.
The group also attracts some older students, like Matthew Gregoire a Ph.D candidate in computer science at UNC. Gregoire said he's been interested in playing Go since he was in high school. He said he began playing in 2019 after watching the documentary “AlphaGo," which tells the story of artificial intelligence beating a professional Go player for the first time.
Another member of the group, Neal Siekierski said he brought his friends who were interested in the game to play at Lanza’s. Eventually, he connected with Bacon and the Triangle Go Group, making the location an official weekly spot to play.
Gregoire said he really appreciates the variety of people who come and play because it helps him get better at the game.
“I feel like everyone who plays has their own certain style,” he said. “And so if you play with the same couple people every time, maybe A, it gets a little more boring than it would otherwise. But B, you probably don't improve as quickly.”
