Where in the World is Go Magic?
We’re located in Georgia but our project knows no boundaries — the game of Go unites people from many different countries. We would like everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or nationality, to be able to learn Go on our platform and share their joy of the game with one another.
The Go Magic team stands in support of Ukraine 🇺🇦 and condemns Russia’s aggressive invasion of the territory of a sovereign state. Read the full appeal of the project founder Anton Proskurin on Facebook.
Officially Go Magic is owned, operated and distributed by Individual Entrepreneur Anton Proskurin (Georgia, #345622472)
Go Magic Team
Anton Proskurin
The most serious person on the team. 🤓
Additionally he is the main developer and creator of Go Magic.
Playing Go since 2005, 2 dan RGF. He used to be the head of Tver and Kaliningrad Go federations. In 2015 he started teaching and opened his first commercial Go school in Kaliningrad.
Having majored in music and computer programming, he likes teaching, entrepreneurship and photography. 🤦♂️ He loves to create something new and unique.
Anton’s main role in the project — developing the platform and general supervision.
Vadim Efimenko
Doing everything to make Go Magic look festive, hip and fun. 🥳
Co-founder of the project.
Playing Go since 2006. Vadim hardly ever takes part in tournaments, so he doesn’t have an official rank. He is more of a Go researcher and enthusiast. However he has 6 dan on Fox Go server, he played as a 5 dan amateur in China, and (if anybody cares) he easily beats Anton when giving him 2 stones handicap. 😟
Professionally a linguist, he speaks English, Russian, Chinese and some French. Loves traveling, learning languages and cultures of other countries. When not busy with Go, he enjoys playing riichi mahjong.
Vadim studied Go in China with Yan An 7 dan pro, and spent about 5 years working and living there.
Vadim’s main role in the project — content creation and translation.
Mikhail Bormin
The meme expert. 🧐
Playing Go since 2009, 3 dan RGF.
He’s had a chance to work as a Go teacher, a programmer, a sports photographer, a broadcasting videographer and god knows what else. He once rode 800 kilometers over Tian Shan on a mountain bike and climbed 3800 meters high. 🚵
A selection of Mikhail’s photos: Google disk.
He loves dogs, traveling on a bike and talking about Elon Musk.
Mikhail’s main role in the project — video editing.
Matthew McKee
Forever admiring the beauty of his opponent’s moves. 😇
Playing Go since 2002. Because he plays the game for the love and spirit of it, Matthew does not normally participate in tournaments but is ranked as an amateur 4 dan by his local Go Club in Japan. He routinely beats up old men and women (and the occasional elementary school prodigy) on the Go board. He is a Go enthusiast most interested and knowledgeable in the area of Japanese Go history.
Currently lives in Japan ⛩️ where he teaches English to elementary and middle school students; by profession he is a college educated archaeologist and a writer, with one novel published.
In his spare time, he enjoyed reading and playing through old Go records while listening to classical music and drinking hot green tea, long walks in parks, and writing poetry.
Matthew’s main role in the project — content creation and consultation.
Alexander Dinerstein
Making sure that the stones are placed on the line intersections. 🤨
Playing Go since 1986, 3 dan professional, 7 dan EGF, 7-time European champion.
A professional Go player by training, Alexander studied Go in South Korea and received his professional status there as well. Go teacher and popularizer. Author of books and many articles about Go.
Hobby of preference — Go. Favorite activity — Go. He loves playing Go more than anything else in the world. 🤠
Alexander’s main role in the project — consulting and quality control.
Anton Rochev
Helping users understand what is being said here. 🤔
Playing Go since 2017, 2 kyu OGS.
A professional translator, he has been working in this field since 2005. Fluent in English, he knows some French and a tiny bit of Japanese.
He likes going for a stroll with his wife and kids. He enjoys reading, solving tsumego and occasionally playing computer games.
Anton’s main role in the project — localization and text translation. ✏️
Nguyễn Nam Hoàng
Chief Go puzzle composer. 📚
A Go player from Vietnam, a beautiful South East Asian country. Started playing Go in 2013 at the age of 13, now he’s 7 dan on Fox Go Server. He sometimes teaches Go at local clubs in Hanoi city, the capital of Vietnam.
He’s currently a university student majoring in UI/UX design. In his free time, other than playing Go, he likes researching world history, reading and shuttlecock kicking.
Hoàng’s main role in the project — growing the Skill Trees and being on guard against all sorts of bugs and imperfections in quizzes. 🔍
Jeena
The most gomagical dog on the planet. 🐶
Playing Go since the very start of the project. She watched all the lessons and knows a lot about the game. Sadly she finds it difficult to place the stones on the board with her paws, so she prefers to watch other people play.
More than anything Jeena likes splashing around in puddles and playing with other dogs. She is fond of music and wouldn’t mind singing along when her master is playing the piano. She loves sour cream and bananas.
Jeena’s main role in the project — making the atmosphere just right for filming video lessons.
More Details
Anton tells the whole story of how the project developed from an idea to what it is today in his article Go Magic — Secrets Behind the Magic.
Be sure to check out our Discord server — you can chat with the founders and other members of the project there.
Feeling excited about the project and would like to join our team? Send us a message in Discord or email us at contact@gomagic.org.