Among the many tributes that poured in for John Gibson was one at the Irish Go Association web site, which features a very nice recent photo:
The photo’s metadata indicates that it was taken on February 29, 2020.
The last time I saw him, he remarked on the unusual friendliness of the Go community: if you’re ever in a strange city, make your way to the local Go club, and you are assured a warm welcome. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are a beginner: an expert will be willing to spend time with you.
Among the vast amount of material John has provided (some even dealing with Go), there are also several scoresheets. For this post, here is a game that does not appear in the ICU games archive, or any other database, as of today. It’s against Tony Doyle, from the Leinster Championship 1980. This strong 9-round event was held on a two-game-a-week schedule in April and May, and resulted in a win for the in-form Paul Delaney, who also won the Irish Championship later in the year. Tony Doyle was joint second, a point behind, and John finished in joint 8th, on 5/9.
In round 4, both players were going well, and were paired on board 2. John won a pawn early on, and the diagram shows the position when it came time to adjourn, with John, as White, to play and seal.
36. ?
After adjournment, Tony managed to simplify and generate enough counterplay to draw. Was there a win anywhere along the line?