101 Dorgonians

Catalin Taranu & Mihaela Taranu /September 28, 2023

Title: 101 Dorgonians
Authors: Cătălin Țăranu & Mihaela Țăranu
Country: Romania

About the Authors

Mihaela Taranu learned Go at the Saijo club in Bucharest, where she met Catalin Taranu. Few years later they moved to Vatra Dornei, a small town in northern Romania where the family of Catalin still lives.
About 8 years ago she started teaching in schools, then at the Go club. She is very successful with young kids because she manages to make the lessons fun for them. Currently over 30 youth attend the Go club actively and Go has become a popular activity in town. Each year new parents send their kids to the Go club.

"It's been a fantastic journey for me and it only feels like yesterday when i decided to teach the game of Go to kids. It all started with a small Go club in Bucharest - Saijo Go Club and a new passion. The highlight of this Go journey was meeting Catalin, the father of my children.
Now, every day is a surprise. Sure, life for all of us is like that, but in teaching, i get to deal with children every single day. As teacher, we are perpetual learners. The greatest among all perks of being a teacher for me, is that there's plenty of love and joy to spread around! Smiles, giggles, laughter, eureka moments celebrated with high fives and spontaneous hugs given by the little ones."


Catalin Taranu became a 5 dan pro at Nihon Kiin, Japan. He decided to return to Europe to promote Go at the age of 30, in 2004. He opened the Saijo Go club in Bucharest and attracted a lot of new players there. This lasted for 9 years, during this time a lot of events and tournaments were organized. After meeting Mihaela and having two children together they decided to move to Vatra Dornei, the hometown of Catalin.
There Mihaela started teaching in schools and soon they started to organize Go events. This was noticed by the town hall and a new Go club was founded. Thus teaching activities moved to the new room that was provided by the town hall. In time activity has increased and so has the financing received. The activity at the local level became so successful that in 2023 a new project was launched and events are being organized every two months, also cooperation at the regional level has increased a lot.
Catalin is currently the EGF youth manager and came up with reforms meant to change the way youth activities are handled in Europe. The Sajo European Youth Go (SEYGO) tour is a Grand Prix-style tournament that was launched five years ago. In the past, youth events at the European level were sorely lacking, SEYGO tour filled an important gap by providing events designed for youth and a voucher system quite appreciated by youth and parents alike. From next year there are plans to expand the scope of activities with a Grand Final at the London Go Center. Also, Catalin came up with new ideas like the EYE team (European Youth Elite) which should be a new motivational factor for top youth as well as a form of training and selection for participation of top European youth in international tournaments like WYGC or Globis Cup.
A youth managers group was formed 1 year and a half ago, with the intention of improving the communication network in Europe.
Among the new reforms planned for the near future is the launch of a European teacher's network, aiming at providing valuable tools for teachers and organizing an annual event 'The European Go Teacher's Congress'.
Currently, Catalin's biggest focus is to document the successful local activity in Vatra Dornei and other similar undertakings and provide examples of good practice and working models in order to expand this type of activity in other places in Europe.
Since all those activities are costly in terms of time and energy but are not producing income, financing from stronger Go countries is sorely needed.

More information on the project can be found here: Asociatia Dorna Go