There was a lecture by Tim Berners-Lee, and afterward I walked out to expansive patios; I thought, I'll just grab some coffee and head back to the office for a few more hours.

The first coffee shop was on Buccleuch Place, a cobblestone street, and there's a bookshop on the corner there, Pickering's Books, and out front was a sign: coffee! tea! etc. and an iron railing around stairs to below street level. So I went down and in and what was there but a wee cafe with a couple of raggedy, bearded blokes playing go.

Were they open? They were. But the coffee machine was defunct, so I took a cup of green tea. The go game was on a 9 × 9 board, and looked to be almost done. Near by was a copy of Attack and Defence, an go book I've been looking to get my hands on, so I flipped through. Did I play, the barrista wanted to know? A bit. Would I play a game? I guessed I would. This guy, by the name of Robbie, took on a 19 × 19 game with me while finishing the little one. Did I study math or CS, he wanted to know? CS. He's on break from his CS program, having apparently flunked out from playing too much go. How good was he? 5 kyu. And how long has he been playing? 8 months. "But I played a *lot* of go. Hence why I'm on my resets." (?)

I'd actually stumbled into a weekly session of the Edinburgh Go Club, and the many boards and books in the room belonged to the EGC. I got my hiney whooped in the game against Robbie, owing to a great many small mistakes and an overall lack of skill. But a few others walked in, attached to the cafe or the go club (generally both), and we played a few small-board games to some amusement. I'll be turning up there again.