A tribute to Greg Lefler

In memory of Greg please Add your name to this list and if you care to, tell us a "Greg story!"
When I first got to RIT, in 2000, I almost immediately met Warren Hammond, who was spying on me from another building and saw me juggling in my room (I hope that's all he saw). He had been going to the go club, which I thought was really stupid and dorky (unlike juggling which isn't dorky at all). So one night he dragged me to a meeting and taught me how to play. I didn't think a whole lot of it, but I liked strategy games in general, and it's not like I was going to class or anything, so I ended up going basically just for a place to go to hang out. It didn't take too long for me to get into it, and I started playing online about 20 games a day (you have time for that sort of thing when you skip every single class). I'm very competitive and hated the idea of taking 9 stones against Greg, Jeremy, and Bill. It didn't take long for me to fail all my classes and drop out, at which point I returned home to live with my mom. That got old pretty fast, and I decided to move to rochester. I lived with a couple juggling friends in the dorms. Then, the Dave pattern continued, and I failed and dropped out again. I definitely wasn't going back home this time. I needed a place to live, and didn't know anyone who didn't live on campus. Finally I found out a juggling friend of mine Brian was moving in with that Greg guy from go club in the summer. I didn't really know Greg very well at the time, but I didn't have any other options, he was living by himself at the time in a one bedroom place. I gave him a call and was like, hey, I'm that guy Dave from go club you hardly know, can I live with you? He agreed to let me stay without a second thought. I slept in his living room for a few months until me him and Brian found a place downtown. With living with the president of the go club I got even more into and improved really fast. I was playing an awful lot, but it seemed every week I was taking less stones against someone. Greg always seemed more interested in teaching than playing. I never really loved go as much as most of the guys in the club, for me it was just something to do, but Greg kept me very interested, I thought it was a really fun game, but didn't take it very seriously. I remember having a lot of fun at go club when it first started though, I know I'll forget someone, but I think most meetings it was just me, Greg, Jeremy, Bill, Saul, Mike (?), Warren, Nate I think. It was really fun, we would get some food, hang out, play go, and even though Greg didn't like it I got to juggle a little. Greg was always pretty forthcoming, something we had in common. He would never lie just to be polite, at least not to his friends. He was incredibly cynical and sarcastic, and always had a joke to tell. The following year Brian moved away and Greg and I found a bunch of other people (mostly go players) who were also looking for a place to live. I was away for the summer, and just told Greg, you find a place for us to live, I trust you, anyplace is fine. Well, the 6 of us at the time didn't exactly end up with the best place. You could hear a whisper anywhere in the house, nobody ever did any dishes, and considering how broke we were, we couldn't use the heat at all. The whole winter we had to wear big coats inside all the time. But it was fun despite the residential setbacks. Big enough for Go parties, and for a short time, a ping pong table. Me Greg and Brian were 3 of the best ping pong players I'd ever met, considering I've never met a really serious one. Me and Greg would play for hours, whenever we had free time. The next fall, when it was time to move again, me and Greg decided to get out own place for some reason that I can't remember, but I revoked all his house finding priveleges this time, and found us a pretty nice apartment, much closer to RIT. I was going to MCC, and aside from the fact that Greg is one of the messiest people I've ever lived with, it was fun living with him, and not having to worry about a million other people in the house. Somewhere around this time I got into poker somehow and tried to get Greg to play with me. We both started playing that as much as Go. Greg especially, with all his money problems, played all the time online, convinced he could make his rent through that or inputting go games with which he rarely got paid for. Every day I had to nag him about rent I had paid for him, to get a job or something. He was always very relaxed and cavalier about the whole thing, no matter how much further in debt he got. He would always joke about it, and not worry about it. I always felt like I was much more worried about his financial status than he was, but maybe just because he owed me money all the time. I never pegged him as the type to get depressed, he was always pretty mellow and seemed to let everything roll off his back. I think it was the only time that I was actually doing well in school and he was having trouble. The following fall I was going back to RIT and moving into an apartment on campus. It would be the first time in about three and a half years that I wouldn't live with Greg. Although I was a bit sick of his messes, and after spending so much time with someone for so long you tend to grow weary of some of their habits. I was happy to live with someone else, plus I was moving in with some good friends, but I missed seeing Greg. I wasn't playing much go anymore, so I only saw him about once a week, if that. When I think of rochester I pretty much see myself living with Greg, he was a good friend. It was a very unstable time in my life, but I could always fall back on him to keep me grounded and optimistic. We like almost all the same movies, and none of the same music. Almost every time one of us liked a movie, inevitably the other one already had seen it and loved it. But Greg, in my opinion, listened to the worst music, I couldn't stand anything he ever played, it was pretty funny. Well sorry my writing is so inconsistent, I don't really know what to say. I spent so much time with Greg it's hard to think about never seeing him again. We had some good times.
Dave Nager <thebestjuggler@hotmail.com>
Boulder, CO USA - Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 21:16:16 (PDT)
Greg was the first person I met at Go Club. I was introduced to him after Julie had gotten me and a few friends to go to club. He was the one who taught me the basics of go. He was kind and welcoming and always had a presence whenever I went to go club.
Matt Chan <myc5292@rit.edu>
USA - Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 21:03:42 (PDT)
To all the members of Empty Sky, I would like to offer my condolences. I have never met Greg, nor any of the members of Empty Sky. However, his contributions has reached far and wide, and reached my ears of all the sacrifices he made for the sake of spreading the love of go among those he cared for most. It is because of this dedication that we, the American Go honor Society, would like to honor Greg Lefler, by naming our first title tournament after him. We would like to make a biography page of Greg's involvement with go and with the Empty Sky go club, and we would be most grateful to all of you if you would contribute your stories to his biography. www.geocities.com/eternalesnow/Page2.html |www.geocities.com/eternalesnow/Page3.html | www.geocities.com/eternalesnow/Page4.html | www.geocities.com/eternalesnow/Page5.html| www.geocities.com/eternalesnow/Page6.html |http://thegoban.com/aghs/youthtourney.htmlThank you all for your help. Christopher Vu American Go Honor Society
Christopher Vu <eternalesnow@gmail.com>
Houston, TX USA - Wednesday, September 07, 2005 at 17:26:00 (PDT)
What can I say. I never was very good at putting my thoughts into words, hence why I'm still known at Go club for doing the best impressions. Greg always had a way about him that just made me feel calm, and if I didn't calm down, he'd just pick on me until I did. I miss him. I miss him walking around in his boxers all day like it was nothing or spending all the rent money on Yugio cards. I won't miss being woken up by break dancers falling above my head (and hurting themselves until they taped cardboard to the floor) There are so many memories I have of him that I would like to share but I'd just tell them wrong and he always hated a bad story. Goodbye Gr-gr-gr-greg!!
Mander <manderr@gmail.com>
Cortland, NY USA - Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at 20:15:14 (PDT)
In October of 2001, my freshman year at RIT, I was wandering about Java's after my Art History class, when I saw it. That elusive game called go, which I'd seen in the movie "Pi". I decided to take a look at how it was played. Not really intendind to stay very long, I stood watching. I didn't have one minute to leave and go back to my dorm before Greg hailed me over. "Do you play? Do you want to learn?" Of course, I said yes, and he immediately showed me the rules and began playing capture. Jeremy took over from there and showed me the rest, since Greg had stopped in the middle of his own game to teach me! Not long after that I was coming to go club every Tuesday and Thursday. Back then club met in Java's and in the Skalny room alternatively. Java's was China Gate night, and Skalny was Pizza/Go/hacky-sack night. we just had to be careful that the hack didn't end up on the tengen! Even in when hacking it, Greg was always patient with beginners, and eager to teach. He soon had me coming to the first Oza Tournie in NYC, and I've been hooked ever since. This past Winter I took Greg's portrait for a class of mine. He was such a good subject! so full of wonderful expressions, and a great conversation. He was very photo-genic. One of the things that made the portrait session so easy was his wonderful mannerisms. When I think of greg I first think of that unique way he spoke (with a little -ah after key phrases) and moved that were characteristically Greg. Everything about him always spoke of confidence. It made him a very likeable guy. Greg was always our fierceless leader at Go club, and a great friend. He put so much work into making sure that club went smoothly, that we all had chinese food (and that everyone used chopsticks), and that we had the funding for and went to at least one tournament just about every single weekend. I can't say much more than has already been said about all of those tournament trips, and the comedy of errors they sometimes were. no matter if I went or not though, we always heard the full story the nexy day at club. Fully animated with impersenations (I especially like his impression of Chuck yelling at the PepBoys guys) And every weekend resulted in some new way to mock someone from the club who had gone (which was usually the center of the story). Greg certainly knew how to make sure everyone knew about anything embarrasing you had done, but he was never insulting you if he did. Somehow it made you feel more important to be mocked by Greg. He put things into perspective. If I was ever stressing over something, he would show me how trivial it was, and why playing go was so much more important anyway. Greg introduced me to Go, which in turn led to me meeting Saul. Had Greg not asked me to play, I'd probably be spending my Thursday nights at Anime club instead, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Carrie Gustavson <cng4198@rit.edu>
Rochester, NY USA - Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at 10:10:50 (PDT)
When I first came to RIT I was browsing around on the 'net and I happened upon a site with had a little blurb about Go. I thought it sounded pretty interesting, and I started searching around a bit and to my great delight learned that there was actually a Go club at RIT! The next meeting day that came around I made sure to go by Java Wally's and check it out. Those of you who know me, know that I'm not exactly an outgoing type of person, so I was just kind of hanging out around the edges of the Go people, just scouting it out really. After a while, Greg saw me looking interested and offered to teach me to play. Greg's passion for Go was just so contagious that I was addicted right away. I don't think I missed more than one or two meetings the whole rest of Freshmen year. The first tournament I went to was in NYC, where we managed to get stuck outside of that bus stop at night for like 3 hours with no idea how to get back to the hotel. I've lost count of the number of times we got cars towed, got stuck in random locations, fit 5 people into Greg's not-too-big car for 6 hour trips (with horrible techno music playing the entire time, or the same Ramones CD blaring nearly the whole trip because all the other CDs were scratched), arrived in the tournament city at around 3 am for 8 am tournaments, etc. But through it all, Greg was always there to make it fun and exciting. I think the best tournaments were the ones that something went horribly wrong and we all got to laugh about it later as Greg was telling the story to club members who missed out (and then five minutes after telling them that we got no sleep, got lost for hours, got towed, almost crashed several times, and/or ended up watching 'Los Ninjos Americanos Tres' in some crappy hotel, he would convince them to come with us to the next one!!). It is hard to describe how charismatic of a person Greg was. My mother met him once at a Rochester tournament, couldn't have been for more than 15 minutes (this was probably 2 years ago). When I told her the horrible news about ?the guy with the nice hair? as she called him, she looked so devastated that anyone would have thought that Greg was a member of the family. I'll never be able to eat Chinese food (Greg forced me, along with just about everyone else, to learn to use chopsticks :) ), drive long distance, play Go, or even see a stick of butter without remembering Greg and all of the great times we had, and everything he taught me. You will be forever missed Greg.
Josh Simmons <shrike42@gmail.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Friday, September 02, 2005 at 00:28:10 (PDT)
Greg Lefler This is the Greg I knew. Arriving at Lisbon High School to leave on a bus for the one-act competition, I approached the main entrance, where a bunch of my fellow travelers was waiting. Wasting no time and not minding that I was not really part of his social group, Greg ran at me with his arms wide open, as if I was the sole reason he was there. Never mind that I somehow failed to get my hands out of my pockets in time and that when he finally embraced me and let go again he complained that this awkward collision ended up causing him pain, Greg didn?t mind. That was just the kind of guy he was. He was an artist, whether on paper, at Halloween, with his hair, or as an actor (even when he was called upon to pull off that ridiculous orange tan), and he did everything as if he could not possibly enjoy doing anything else at that moment. In Memory Suddenly cloistered away He was boisterous in his clay, Always had a smile and a grin Even if not offered back again. Perhaps buried beneath all that He?d just rather have hid in a hat But his memory lives on As if he?s not really gone, Because, after all, he?s really not, Having tied himself to us like a knot. a friend
Tony Laplume
USA - Thursday, September 01, 2005 at 20:11:36 (PDT)
To my daughter Becky, who makes me so very proud and to the RIT Go Club. It was my pleasure to have some of you at my house for a sleep over! I first met Greg in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Becky had joined the RIT Go Club and a group of you had come to Philadelphia for a tournament hosted by Phil Straus. Becky and I were sitting on the steps outside of Phil?s house watching as the Go group came down the sidewalk from a food break. Watching all of you, everyone talking at the same time, talking about the games you had played, anticipating the afternoon and evening competitions? such excitement! Becky introduced me to everyone. I noticed Greg?s shy smile first, his eyes were smiling too, then his hair. At the time his hair was long with these beautiful curls. It was summer, Greg was wearing a tee shirt (no hoodie!). I noticed the colorful and intricate tattoo on his elbow and asked him to show it to me, which he was happy to do. I asked Greg if he had other tattoos in locations on his body (decent enough to show of course). He smiled. Oh man?what an amazing unveiling! He pulled up his t-shirt exposing his back. Phil Straus ran into his house to get his camera to photograph it. It was immediately apparent Greg?s passion for the game of Go overflowed within him. His entire back, a scene of ancient Chinese Go players at the game! Greg looked over his shoulder posing for the camera shots Phil took. (Someone may want to see if those pictures are available). I feel very lucky that through Becky, I was able to know him. We were all lucky who had a chance to know him.
Jane Mulligan <jmulligan@aeras.org>
Bethesda, MD USA - Monday, August 29, 2005 at 16:14:45 (PDT)
If you want to get a sense of Greg Lefler's teaching style, I shot a video with Jeremiah's help of Greg teaching most of the "BASIC LIFE & DEATH SHAPES" for beginners (and "Your Mom" too). Greg talks as he explains everything. It was once a streaming video on the Empty Sky website. Maybe someone can find it again and reinstall it. Also, lots of video was shot at the 2004 Go Congress. Maybe Greg is on some of that footage. When I return to Rochester NY, I 'll see what I might have media wise. - Bippy
Dave Boyer as Bippy <Bippy@mac.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Sunday, August 28, 2005 at 08:47:55 (PDT)
I did not have the fortune of knowing Greg very well. He and I spoke only a handful of times at the Go club, where he very kindly showed this rank novice immeasurable patience. He didn't care that I'd only played once or twice in my life; he was happy to play games with me, and guide me all the way through them. As others have said, he was very welcoming of new people, and had a very warm personality. Even when he was busy, he took time to talk with me to coordinate a few events at RIT, and was never anything but good-natured. I am saddened that I will never have the opportunity to get to know him better, but his encouragement will inspire me forever.
Matt Penna <mpenna@acm.org>
Rochester, NY USA - Friday, August 26, 2005 at 21:42:37 (PDT)
The thing I'll remember most about Greg is our road trips. If there was a go tournament in the northeast US(or southeast canada) we did everything we could to get as many people as possible there. Sometimes we would end up with 15 or 20 people rolling out to a tournament, and sometimes it might just be Greg, myself and another. But regardless of the number of people or the location of the tournament they all followed the same sort of course of events. We'd leave too late, sleep not nearly long enough, endure some sort of disaster, and win a ton of trophies. We got lost, got towed, took trains that left us stranded 15 miles from our hotel, drove much too fast in blizzard conditions, got towed some more, got lost even more than that, and every other imaginable mishap. But no matter what happened on the weekend, Greg would be there Tuesday night at club telling us about the tournament everyone had to go to that Friday.
Ian McCown <ian.mccown@gmail.com>
San Diego, CA USA - Friday, August 26, 2005 at 17:52:39 (PDT)
At the 2004 US Go Congress Greg worked tirelessly to make sure things ran smoothly for everyone. He was so busy that he had time to play very few games of Go. I can clearly remember two of Greg's games. It was a couple of hours before pair Go and neither Greg nor I had a partner. I can't remember who thought of it, but one of us had the bright idea of dressing up like a girl. Julie drove home picked up an outfit and makeup and quickly returned. It was obvious that the dress would not fit Greg, so Salina was born. A very ugly girl with a large adam's apple and hairy legs snuck into the pair go line. Soon pairings were up and to Jeff's (the TD) dismay Salina & Greg were ready to play. I will never forget the looks we got during those two games. Thanks for the game.
Salvatore Gionfriddo <salgionfriddo@gmail.com>
Portland, CT USA - Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 20:07:46 (PDT)
Greg and I met through email. We were both starting out at RIT, trying to find Go players to play with, or hopefully get lessons from, as neither of us really had a clue how to play. I think it was Howard Lester who finally put us in touch. We played our first game at a meeting of the anime club on a tiny magnetic set I had. It was awful. I remember putting about twenty of my own stones in a snapback, and Greg misreading the same ladder twice, but we were both psyched to have found a real opponent. Much, much later, Greg admitted that after finding my homepage he nearly never sent me mail, "absolutely horrified" at how much of a dork I was. He gave me the benefit of the doubt, though, and as we met more people interested in learning (and in a huge stroke of fortune, Bill Hewitt) it became obvious to everyone involved that we would have to form a club. That's much easier said than done. There were forms to fill out, signatures to collect, proposals to be written, meetings to attend, budgets to guess at, rooms to reserve. Greg did essentially all of it by himself. We were lucky to have excellent support from our advisors, and I think maybe twice Greg asked me to fill in for him when he had two meetings scheduled at once, but at the end of the day it was Greg who got us money, handled the bureaucracy, and made everything run as smoothly as it always did. I remember Greg heading out every meeting to bring us all Chinese food, giving rides to whoever needed them, and being the first to welcome and teach new members. It became common on weekends for everyone to pile into his car the night before a tournament, drive for eight hours, sleep for two, and exhaust ourselves the next day with four or five rounds before heading home in a car full of trophies. When the rest of us were too tired to even stay conscious, Greg was always the one driving home, smiling as people driving behind us tried to figure out whether he'd left a 'D' off his license plate. Greg was also the one I could count on to keep me from yelling at the anime people too much when they got on my nerves, to thoroughly kick my ass if I ever stopped reading in a game, and to get me to shut up when I heckled the games of weaker players too much. I think this last one was an enormous contribution to the club, and probably kept our numbers growing as quickly as they did, but I don't remember Greg ever correcting me or anyone else out of spite or anger when it wasn't very richly earned. Certainly, he could give people a hard time, especially when reviewing games, but five minutes later he'd be yelling at himself over an imperfect move and calling everyone over to learn what not to do. On the few occasions Greg was harsh with students it was because he knew they could do better, and because he took such a personal interest in his students and games. I was walking around at a the last round of handicap tournament once (that round Greg and I were paired and I resigned in twenty minutes after misreading a ladder), mostly watching the really strong folks play each other and trying to spot the counter-counter-tesujis, but the game that took Greg's interest was a high handicap one between a notorious 5 dan lawyer and an up-and-coming 11 kyu maybe 7 years younger than us. It was really a beautiful game. The 5 dan was trying all sorts of crazy stuff, slamming the stones down like each one was the hand of god and scaring the 11 kyu so badly that his hands shook every move. The great part was that the 11 kyu kept playing simple, clean moves and making good shape, which thwarted the dan player at every turn. By the endgame the 11 kyu player had a solid twenty point lead, sente, and almost completely settled stones. It had been a tough game, and the 11 kyu had played it very well. They started filling in dame. I relaxed a little until I looked over and saw Greg aghast, a look of utter disgust on his face. Then I saw it: an ugly, complex shortage of liberties involving two throw-ins and a ko. It had only the remotest chance of working if white ignored all notions of honor and decency, and black ignored about six moves in a row. He did. We watched in petrified horror, unable to speak or even turn away as the 11 kyu filled in the last dame and the 5 dan cackled gleefully, slapped down the first throw-in and won the game, as there were no ko threats left. Greg was livid, but the first thing he did was to congratulate the 11 kyu on a great game and explain loudly what a load of crap the last few moves had been. Only then did he vow revenge in the name of all kyu players. He got it a few months later, but by then Greg was dan-ranked himself. Greg was my friend.
Jeremy Banzhaf <235711@gmail.com>
Tokyo, Japan - Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 07:33:41 (PDT)
I first started playing go back in the Spring of 2001, the same academic year as the club was started. At that time we met in two different places on two nights of the week, and it felt like a tiny little world you could escape to to emerse yourself in an odd strategy game that nobody around here had heard of. I still can't believe how the club and my life have changed due to Greg's influence and his dedication to the club. I still remember clearly my first game with Greg. I had been going to club for a couple weeks, and was not very good. But, I was walking home from class on a sunny day, and greg had a board out on a bench in the quad, and was going over go problems. He saw me and immediately cleared off the board, asking for a game. I had been planning to go home, but for the leader of the club to clear off what he had been doing and ask for a game was a great honor, and one which I could not refuse. During that entire game I felt I was hopelessly outmatched, so I just tried to guess where Greg would play. I think I have probably never had a more educational game. Over the years, I have grown much closer to Greg and the game, and have always enjoyed playing him. Throughout the years here at RIT I have tried to gauge my progress by how I played against Greg. The problem was... he kept getting good at least as fast as I was, so by the time I was down to taking five stones, I wasn't able to get any better against him. I will always consider my strength against Greg to be the metric by which I measure my Go. Those that were with us at the 2003 congress know the stories, and those that have been to club afterwards have heard them many times. At the last club meeting where I saw Greg, he recounted those congress stories one more time in the way that only he could. I think it immensly appropriate that we are telling stories about him here, as I have always believed him to be the best story teller I have ever met. I don't remember when it happened, but at club one night Greg randomly called me "Little Natie". He had the whole club laughing about it, and was telling jokes about "Little Natie" all night. That name has stuck ever since... and while I may not have liked it much at first, he made it so funny that I could hardly complain about it for long. I have never met someone that was better at getting a group of people that have never met each other to get together and talk and have fun. It really is a unique ability, and is probably the characteristic of Greg that will make me miss him the most. You really were the greatest, Greg.
Nathan Curtis ("Little Natie") <nathan.curtis@gmail.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Wednesday, August 24, 2005 at 13:13:41 (PDT)
I have to say that when I first started out playing go seriously, I did not know what to expect. Saul brought me to the club, and I saw all different sorts of people. Greg was there. He was one of the first person to welcome me to the club, and even took time to try to communicate with me despite the fact that I'm deaf. A few weeks later, Greg treated me to a game, as there was no one else to play at the club. Then after the game, he treated me to a review so he could teach me few basic fundamentals that I missed. Also, he gave me a lot of encouragements to keep playing, saying that he believe that I can be dan player sometimes. Most of all, he taught me to have fun with game. Right now, I continue to play, all because many people at empty sky, but most of all, Greg, for his unselfish spirit.
Daniel S.
Rochester, NY USA - Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at 16:41:52 (PDT)
I remember the first game I played with greg. Well, I think it was one of the very few games, if only game I ever played with him since I was always so much weaker than he was. He was playing Josh and I at the same time and I read out a ladder he was playing out as me winning. Well, one of the stones at the base of the group was in atari and I didn't notice that I was pretty much screwed without it. Well, I've never done that again. I really wish I got to play him more and now that I look back, I regret not learning as much as I could from Greg while he was here. Everytime I see a ladder in a game, that's the first thing I think of. I know Greg taught us all a lot and I know I'll never forget him; for the Go loving "Good Greg" and the great guy he was to hang around with.
Stephen Ranger <swr9025@rit.edu>
Rochester, NY USA - Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at 08:48:19 (PDT)
So, here I am again. I have jotted down a growing list of all the funny stories I can think of. I thought this time I'd share the story of my first tournament. It was a Lancaster tournament in the middle of winter, and I had only been playing for about three weeks or so. I entered, I think, as a twenty-something kyu, but there was no one else close to my rank that I could play with. A local Lancaster man named Richard came to the tournament, though, and he was a 17 kyu, the only person I could play. I remember my game with him was very interesting and exciting to me. For a while, it seemed he was pushing me around, but he also let me invade and take large chunks of his potential territory. I was really enjoying this game. Then, I realized Greg was watching my game. He was leaning against the wall in the corner directly behind my seat. I turned and looked at him and sort of said 'hi', but it was obvious he was very interested in what was going on in my game. I turned back to my game and continued to play, resolute in ignoring Greg. Greg, however, went into the other room and gathered everyone up to come see my game too. So then, EVERYONE was crowding around my game. Richard and I looked around the room, and then turned back to our game. I rested my head in my hand, blocking everyone from sight, just trying to focus on my game. It was obvious there was something in my game that I wasn't seeing, but I just told myself that I was a brand new player and that I wouldn't be able to figure it out. Eventually, enough time passed without incident that everyone went back to their seats and their own game. But Greg remained. So, I look at my game. I really look. Richard and I are nearing endgame by this point. And I see it. That group up there near the corner. Gee, that looks familiar. Isn't that the shape Jeremy showed me last week? The group that looks alive but is really dead? Are you serious??? How do you kill it again? Ummm... I am so excited and anxious that my entire body is tense. My hands are sweating so much that I can't hold the Go stones properly, and when I place them, they are shiny with moisture. I know what to do now in my game. I have to reach all the way over there near the corner. My enitre arm is shaking. I place my stone. Richard responds incorrectly and puts himself into atari, but it hardly matters now that my stone is placed. I have to stare at it for a while, though, just to make sure it's how I think it really is. And I finally play the final move, taking Richard's stones. I have to knock them off of the board and gather them from the table because my fingers are so unsteady. Greg went back to his game, then, and after Richard and I finish up, I look at Greg. He has the widest smile on his face and says, "Becky, I am so proud of you." I'm blushing, shaking, and in such shock that I can't say much. Greg turned to Richard and told him the club's familiarity with that particular shape. I have yet to see it appear again in any game.
Becky <becky@customink.com>
Chevy Chase, MD USA - Tuesday, August 23, 2005 at 07:07:22 (PDT)
Greg had an uncanny knack for teaching. If someone new showed up to club, it was almost better to stall them until Greg was free to teach them. It seemed like they would have a higher chance of coming back to club that way. I remember once a newcomer showed up. Greg showed him a few things, but he had done some reading and just wanted to play. I agreed to play him, but he refused handicap. Greg smiled, and I could tell he knew something I didn't. After the newcomer lost, he didnt want to review anything and left. Greg shrugged helplessly and said, "chess players..." Club was one of those rare places where everyone was equal and everyone belonged. I credit that to the humble way Greg made everyone feel included.
Jeremiah
Rochester, NY USA - Monday, August 22, 2005 at 05:30:38 (PDT)
I met greg about 3 years ago in java wally's. I wandered in to grab a cup of coffee before retreating back to my apt at racquet club, but got distracted by people setting up a board game. on closer look, the black and white pieces resembled the pieces my brother and i used to throw at each other when we were kids. I remember this toronto tournament we went to, it was a one day tournament, so we went at wee hour in the morning and then drove thru the night to go back to school. It was Greg, Ian, and me, and we were driving back from the tournament. Of course, being exhausted from the day of go, i fell asleep in the backseat till we got to the border, greg then woke me up just as our car was about to be inspected. Being half asleep, the police questioned me. I guess they felt we looked suspucious, and asked us to drive into a hangar. Because it was night, and there being multiple hangars, we didn't know where to go. We ended up driving into a empty hangar and thought "uh ohh, this doesn't look good". But luckily we just drove into the wrong hangar, later after some closer inspection of greg's car, we were given permission to go, but not before we enlightened the border police on the game of Go. Thru the years that i've known greg, all our experiences tho some not so pleasant, he managed to bring us to see the better side of it. I am grateful for the first night that i learned how to play go, but more than that i got to meet the person with the biggest heart. We've become eternal rivals in go, and best friends.
Jia <vusoi617@gmail.com>
New York, NY USA - Sunday, August 21, 2005 at 22:09:21 (PDT)
I first met Greg in a Jiu Jitsu club's fist meeting on RIT campus and actually sparred with him!! (both his and my Jiu Jitsu experience ended on that same meeting)... I was then fortunate enough to meet him again at Java Wally's, where Jeremy invited me to go and learn how to play Go. Studying and work kept me from going to the club a lot, but I was playing online, and it wasn't very hard for Greg to convince me to participate in the ES Go tournament in May 2003. It was funny that he told me to enter as 24k (as I was playing on IGS at the time and had no clue what my ranking was). I ended up being called a sandbagger :p Greg was the person who inspired me to start a Go club on returning to my country, Cyprus. Just like Greg met with Jeremy and started ESGC, I managed to meet another Go player in Cyprus and we started the Cyprus Go Association, which is currently a full member of the European Go Association and the IGF. I am thankful to Greg for all this and I will always remember him.
Nicholas Roussos <roussos@alum.rit.edu>
Nicosia, CYPRUS - Sunday, August 21, 2005 at 12:05:14 (PDT)
Bippy here again. I just wanted to add a little more to celebrate Greg`s life. To me at RIT, he was happy when Empty Sky had a good turnout of people playing Go, eating lots of take-out Chinese food from China Gate restaurant, and a few people signed up for a weekend of travel to a tournament. But Greg would make sure that if you were at the club, you`d be invited to play as much Go as you want, eat Chinese food, and extend yourself by going to a tournament. If course, you know that his license plate said something like, "I LOVE GO." I remember sitting in the back seat of his car going to a tournament and listening to him and Ian (I think) talking about go moves and games until until Greg said, "We missed the exit!!!" He and Jeremy Banzhaf and others made newcomers feel welcome. Greg always made sure there were a few 9x9 boards brought over to club gatherings. And the growing list of nicknames added to the fun of Empty Sky Go Club (such as: "Evil Greg," "Butter Steve" or "DVD Steve"). And when things worked out, how he`d say, "NICE-A!" or "SWEET!" Maybe I second what someone else posted before: go ahead and play with a beginner or a new comer who is watching and bit nervous about putting stones on a board. And as much as AGA maybe thinks it is getting the word out about Go, the game never, ever registered to my mind until I was 47, went to RIT one night while Empty Sky was setting up, and I said, "What's that?" Someone immediately said in one breath, "It`s Go. Would you like to try it?" That, my friends, is good hospitality advice for all the Go clubs of the world. I can't believe Greg is not around.
Dave Boyer as Bippy <Bippy@mac.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Sunday, August 21, 2005 at 09:00:45 (PDT)
I lived with Greg for a year and have a lot of great stories but for now I just want to relate something that had been a constant factor at go club meetings for the entire time I was a member. The "Your Mom" jokes. Greg could go on forever, no matter what you said it didnt matter he would promptly follow it up with a Your Mom. This would continue until you yelled "Greg enough!" which he would respond with "Your mom Greg enough?" with a puzzled look on his face. One thing I really loved about Greg is that he could make anything funny, even if we got lost for 9 hours in NJ because apparently NY is north, we always ended up laughing.
Dave Caputo <dmc8814@hotmail.com>
Northport, NY USA - Sunday, August 21, 2005 at 08:08:18 (PDT)
It's hard to decide what to write, as I really did not have all that many Go experiences with Greg. I guess I have more than I originally thought and just chose to forget them because I hate to admit that I was ever jealous. But I was totally jealous of GO. Greg wouldn't visit me in MA if it would interfere with GO club which met three times a week, so you can imagine how often I made the trip to Rochester... Only on one occasion did I get to watch Greg in a tournament, which didn't start off so well for me because I had to meet Greg and a few of the clubbers at the hotel room outside of Boston. If any of you had ever travelled in his car during the winter months, as I'm sure most of you have, you would know that ice forms on the inside of the windows, and the car never really gets warm enough to melt it. So due to cold weather, and running a little bit late... Greg lost me at a light and because he couldn't see out his rear view mirror, he didn't even realize that I wasn't behind him until he pulled into a parking spot on the streets of somerville maybe 15 minutes later. Thanks to my familiarity with the area, I didn't get too lost and found my own way. Anyhow, all was well, I watched a little, wandered a little, and was pretty excited when we breaked for lunch and went to grab a burrito a couple of buildings down. However, upon returning to the tournament, something wasn't quite right. The little red toyota that had previously been parked in front of the building was no longer there, and above the parking spot a handicap sign had magically appeared. We swore it hadn't been there before. But yeah, Greg's car was towed. Don't worry, it gets better. The clubbers obviously finished out the tournament. Luckily only 3 or 4 had made the trip out so they all squeezed into my car to go and pick up Greg's car. But it couldn't be easy, oh no, we couldn't find the police station, and then when we finally did... let's just say that Maine is a little behind the times and has not upgraded to electronic registration renewals. They had impounded the car and would not release it because their records showed the registration was expired even though both Greg and I knew that his new registration stickers were sitting at home on his desk. A couple of hours, a chinese dinner, and $90 later the kind police of somerville released the car because one of Greg's many roomies of the time had faxed over a copy of the registration. Let's just say a quick trip to Boston turned into us not returning to Rochester until like 4am... But it was a unique experience, and I would never have asked for anything but a unique experience when spending time with Greg. Every moment, even the frustrating ones, was beautiful.
Jamie Sabo <Jamies32@aol.com>
Boston, MA USA - Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 22:46:40 (PDT)
It would simply be impossible for me to type all of the good things I could say about Greg. I run the Maryland Open and we would not be having record attendance without Greg's amazing and unique leadership. I told him, more then once, that he needed to write down how he managed to get such wonderful support from his College, and such amazing enthusiasm out of his recruits. When I was asked to Chair the AGA's Policy and Governance Committee I immediately asked Greg to serve - wanting to tap all of those great, young and new ideas. Even though he was busy planning a Go Congress, he stepped up without hesitation. I have a perfect attendance record for Congresses, and Greg did a great job making sure everyone had a great time, and that is what it should be all about. I hope someday to have more fun at a Congress, but so far, Greg's was my favorite. I introduced Greg, in Houston, as the next Congress Director. I then had the rest of us, who have run them in the past, stand with him and commented "We looked like you before we ran a Congress" I was playing on how young he was compared to the rest of us. And it is simply unbelievable to me that the rest of us are still here, and he will always be the youngest of us. I don't really have a funny story, just a ramble. Greg won the Kyu Championship at my tournament, and we were giving away very nice go boards. But I was ready for Greg. I had an old - handmade nontraditional board from the first Rochester Congress - emblazoned with "Empty Sky Go Club" I cruely offered Greg the choice, and, true Empty Skyer that he was, he took the cheaper board for the sentimental value. I am going to conclude with some remarks, as best as I can remember them, that I made at the 2005 Go Congress Banguet in Tacoma, a week ago tonight. Greg Lefler was a young man who had many piercings, but did not do drugs. Greg was a young man who had lots of tatoos, but he did not drink. Greg was a young man who changed his hair color as often as he changed crazy fuseki ideas he picked up on KGS. Greg was a young man who wore second hand clothes, but had a first class heart. So I ask all of you, when you are at your Go club (or whatever you do for fun) and someone walks in who looks a little different to you, who does not quite meet your mental image of what a Go player should look like - don't turn and play that same old guy you have been playing for 20 years. Give that new guy a chance. He might be the next Greg Lefler. Because Greg was a Go Player, make no mistake, and I have no higher compliments. Keith L. Arnold (hka)
Keith L. Arnold (hka) <hlime81@comcast.net>
Baltimore, Md. USA - Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 19:06:35 (PDT)
I had no clue Greg existed before this, ummm, unusual-looking guy showed up to register for the New Jersey Open (bringing a half-dozen of his best friends) in 2002. This was only a couple of months after "A Beautiful Mind" came out, and we had a record turnout (thanks to Greg) with coverage in some local papers. The reporter from the Daily Princetonian condemned us to irrelevant oblivion among the students with the line "Most players were men older than 40", but Greg rescued us: "A few younger players were also in attendance, including seven college students from the Rochester Institute of Technology." Phew! Thanks, Greg. Going from founding a club, to boosting turnout at every event within a 12-hour drive of Rochester, to hosting the Congress in a few short years is nothing short of amazing. Greg had a great heart. It was a sad day for American Go when we lost him.
Rick Mott <rickmott@xraymaps.com>
Ringoes, NJ USA - Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 14:09:28 (PDT)
I along with my then 10 year old son and seven year old daughter visited ESGC a couple of times in the past couple years. I was also member of the old ESGC when Dave Wiemer was around and my son probably 5 or 6 visited then as well. Anyway - all three of us did have the wonderful opportunity to meet Greg at the RIT ESGC along with others and we all found Greg to be a wonderful individual. Very kind, patient and encouraging. It is with great surprise and sadness that I heard of Greg's passing. My children will be saddened to hear that Greg is gone. Even though we haven't visited the Go club much they both still will talk about the experience and mention how nice that guy with the tatooes was to them and how they had a fun time playing Go with him, learning and "winning". I have yet to tell my children. They will definitely ask me in time since Greg touched them with his kindness and enthusiasm and support of my kids learning and wanting to play Go. They have talked of those times with others in the past and I'm sure it will be something they tell of others in the future.
David I <di.go@spamex.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Saturday, August 20, 2005 at 09:55:20 (PDT)
Let me start by saying this story comes from knowing Greg 3 years and being his roomate for 1. In hindsight this story is much more amusing to me than it may be to all of you, but hilarious none the less. I came home from classes (probably late fall 2002) on day and wander upstairs to Greg/Dave/Dave's apt (we shared a house and they took the upstairs. I was helping Greg with some computer stuff and I saw a car stereo sitting on the floor in much dissarray. I asked him, "who's is this?" in which he replied with a his usual carefree chuckle and smile "oh thats mine". Upon further prying, he told me the story. Apparently he had packed his backpack and headed out to his car for class only to find a stranger in his car rustling about. Mind you it was late in the day but still plenty of light out. As the story was told Greg approached the car and said to the stranger "What the hell are you doing?" to which the stranger nervously dove out of Greg's car and faced him mumbling "don mak yo ca man. don mak yo ca". Here is where this story makes me laugh again and again. Instead of shoeing away the stranger or thretening to call the cops, Greg just give the man a puzzled looks and repeats "don mak yo ca? What the hell are you talking about?" The stranger then said "yo stereo man, don leave the face, don mak yo ca". "OHHH" Greg said finally getting it, "Don't MARK my CAR". The stranger replied "yeah man, don mak yo ca". Greg stood there stupified for a minute and then told the man "whatever, get out of here, now I'm late for class..." and drove off to class with his dashboard half dismantled and the stereo mostly dangling. When he returned he at least had the sense to remove it completely until it could be reinstalled. By the way, I'm pretty sure his car stayed that way. At least it was when we moved out about 8 months later... =P
Zachary Welch <Zacharyjwelch@gmail.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Friday, August 19, 2005 at 21:10:20 (PDT)
Of the many stories I can remember of the fun times we had, I want to share my perspective of "Girl Hating Day". I came to club one day and started playing a game with (I want to say Justin or Josh, but I honestly can't remember). Our game was just starting when Jia came over and sat down next to my opponent and said to me, "Becky, you suck." Now, for anything mean to come out of Jia's mouth is so unnatural and awkward that it's funny. Plus, Jia himself seemed to have trouble keeping a straight face about it. So, I kind of nod my head and say, "okay." I don't know if I ever asked why Jia thought I sucked, but I think it was Greg who came over and sat next to me and explained that it was officially "Girl Hating Day" because apparently, Jia's girlfriend and Greg's girlfriend both, independent from each other, broke up with them that day. Perhaps ten minutes after this all began, Jia finally turned back to me to clarify, "Becky, you don't really suck..." After which, of course, Greg and I both burst into laughter.
Becky Mulligan <becky@customink.com>
Chevy Chase, MD USA - Friday, August 19, 2005 at 07:07:35 (PDT)
I am Dave Boyer, a 1978 alumi of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from the Electrical Engineering Technology College, and a member of, "Empty Sky." I am writing to you now from one of my business trips drawing caricatures in Japan. When I heard the sad and unexpected news, of course I wanted to give heartfelt condolances to his family, his "Go" extended family and friends. I feel a very deep sense of loss. From his outgoing friendly style to his large Go tatoo on his back, he was a, "one in a million" young man. Greg was the first one to teach me "basic life and death shapes" of Go. In advance, Greg had a strong sense of what the 2004 Go Gongress needed. One example was having photos of the RIT hotel rooms posted on the internet. I worked with him to do that. And I think that was part of the reason so many people came to attend the congress: attendees were positive the facilities would be comfortable and adequate. Greg Lefler would also play Go with anyone at any strength level. Outside of Empty Sky, not everyone will share their time like that with beginner players. From his Dan level strength of play, to his memorable, "Your Mom..." jokes, he added to the sometimes crazy but passionate strong attitude that I think only the "Empty Sky Go Club" is known for throughout the Go/Igo/Wei-chi/Pa-duk world. I assure you that all he wanted was for people to have fun and play a lot of Go and get strong. If Go has existed for over 2,000 years, I also know that Greg Lefler`s personality and spirit with be part of our living memory forever. He had friends everywhere. Our deepest condolances to all who knew him at the goban and more. - Dave "Bippy" Boyer in Japan and Rochester NY, Aug. 19, 2005.
Bippy (Dave Boyer)<bippy@mac.com>
Rochester, NY USA - Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 19:47:06 (PDT)
In September,2000 , I first received e-mail from Greg and Jeremy about starting a Go club . By February 2001 , they informed me of the Empty Sky Go club's official status at RIT. Little did I realize that this was only the biginning of an awesome adventure that continues today. Many thanks, Greg.
William Hewitt <wjht@frontiernet.net>
Rochester, NY USA - Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 17:57:34 (PDT)
As the Empty Sky Go Club faculty advisor Greg would often come to me with budget approval forms for club travel to Go tournaments. One day early on, Greg had three tournament budget forms to be approved. When I looked at the forms I noticed that they were all for the same weekend. Tom, "So Greg, there seems to be a mistake here?" Greg, "Oh no, we're going to PA first, stopping by NYC, and then on to Boston." Tom, Oh OK :)" In 2004, Greg and five other Empty Sky Go Club members were in the top fifty for highest attendance to AGA sanctioned games/events. Greg loved Go...and we loved Greg!
Tom Policano, tom.policano@ifotoz.com
Rochester, NY USA - Sunday, August 14, 2005 at 11:31:55 (PDT)