News from the American Go Association
December 6, 2004
In This Issue:
U.S. GO NEWS: Jie Li On Nihon Kiin Home Page; Shodan Challenger Markowitz Wins Ratings Rocket At Princeton Tourney; New On USGO.org; Tourney Winners Page Now Includes MGA Winners; Hutchins Memorial Service Set; Lucky Thirteen; This Week‘s New Classified Highlights
WORLD GO NEWS: Yamashita Takes Tengen Title, Struggles In Oza; Honinbo League Progressing; Choi Sweeps Chunwon; El Juego Astrol=F3gico Del Go
GAME COMMENTARY: Keeping Your Head Out, Attaching & Extending
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAROF EVENTS
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2004.12.06.Liping Huang Commentary; 2004.12.06.Kaz Lesson #26
JIE LI ON NIHON KIIN HOME PAGE: In recognition of his impressive victory by resignation overa strong Japanese woman pro, Suzuki Ayumi 6p, in the 5th Tokyo Seimitsu Cuplast week, the Nihon Kiin has posted a link to a picture of the US‘s Jie Li and of the woman pro on its home page, see: http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/event/fsaikyo05/index-e.htm . We don‘t recall another case of anAGA member getting his or her picture on such a prestigious site in the go world.
SHODAN CHALLENGER MARKOWITZ WINS RATINGS ROCKET AT PRINCETON TOURNEY: Shodan Challenger Jonathan Markowitz won the Ratings Rocket award at the Princeton Fall Self-Paired tournament on Sunday, December 5. A record 28 players turned out for the tournement, playing 65 rated games, reports Princeton Go Society organizer Rick Mott. The best performances were turned in by Matthew Lowrie, winning 9 of 11 games, Matthew Bengtson (4/5) and Jonathan Markowitz (7/10), says Mott. =93Ratings Rocket awards go to Jonathan Markowitz, who is also a Shodan Challenger, and Aquinas Hobor, both ofwhom started playing about a year ago and achieved 4k tournament ratings.=94 Other Most-Improved awards go to Matthew Lowrie and Alex Pak, rising from 13k last year to 4k this year. Adds Mott, =93The Princeton club isdoing its part for the AGA membership effort, with 7 new limited members, one full renewal, and two limited renewals.=94
NEW ON USGO.ORG:Check out the AGA=92s “New and Noteworthy” section to find out what‘s hot off the presses, suggests AGA webmaster Roy Laird. =93Several new English-language go books have come out in the past several months, and although someof them have been reviewed here in the EJ, we neglected to update the website book page.=94 Check out the updated list at http://www.usgo.org/resources/books.asp
TOURNEY WINNERS PAGE NOW INCLUDES MGA WINNERS: The American Go Tournament Winners page has been updated to include this year=92s Massachusetts Go Association tournament winners, along with a link to the MGA=92s complete listing of more than 20 years of winners going back to Bruce Wilcox in 1981! Check it out at http://www.usgo.org/usa/localtitles.asp
HUTCHINS MEMORIAL SERVICE SET: The memorial service to celebrate Tom Hutchins’ life (Remembering Tom Hutchins, 11/29/04 EJ) has been set for in Thursday, December 7 at 2P in Washington, DC in the Eisenhower Chapel at the National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW. Additional directions available at http://www.natpresch.org Emails ofcondolence may be sent to his parents, Miriam and Farley, at fkhutchins@earthlink.net or notes to their home at 2701 St. Paul Street, Bellingham, Washington 98226.
LUCKY THIRTEEN: First-year med student Nathaniel Ngo is our latest Shodan Challenger, joining twelve other kyu players who are trying to achieve shodan by next year=92s U.S. Go Congress in Tacoma, WA. =93I started playing go last spring after I saw the Houston Go Club playing at the Japanese festival,=94 says Nathaniel. =93I really like the game and want to improve so the Shodan Challenge will help motivate me.=94The E-Journal has arranged for professional game analysis to help the Shodan Challengers improve their games, and you can see photos of some of the Challengers on the AGA‘s website at http://www.usgo.org/photos/ You too can take the Shodan Challenge by emailing us today at journal@usgo.org
THIS WEEK‘S NEW CLASSIFIED HIGHLIGHTS: The Penn Go Society nowmeets every Wednesday evening beginning at 5:30P; Grand Junction, CO beginner looking for players; Cornel Burzo 6d teaching online on IGS and KGS . Check Go Classified below for details.
YAMASHITA TAKES TENGEN TITLE, STRUGGLES IN OZA: Yamashita Keigo 9p has taken the Tengen title away from Hane Naoki 9p with a perfect 3-0 score. You can download the games from http://www.go4go.net/english/bytournament2.jsp=3Fid=37 . Hane, who has held the title for three consecutive years, held Yamashita off last year with a 3-2 victory in the five game title match. The title winner‘s prize is about $132,000 US. Meanwhile, in his challenge against Cho U 9p for the Oza title, forwhich the winner‘s purse is about $128,000 US, Yamashita won an exciting game on November 24th, full of capturing races and wonderful tesuji (to quote the report in www.go4go.net), to hang on in his challenge for the 52nd Oza title against Cho U 9p in Japan. The score in the best-of-five match isnow 2-1 in favor of Cho, who took the first two games. You can download the game records at http://www.go4go.net/english/bytournament2.jsp=3Fid=42 . Yamashita next confronts the kadoban (a potentially decisive game in a match) on December 9th. The Oza is sponsored by a Japanese newspaper,and the winner‘s purse is about $130,000 US. This is the 52nd Oza; the title was established in 1953. Cho U took the title from O Meien 9p last year.
HONINBO LEAGUE PROGRESSING: The Honinbo is the oldest pro tournament in Japan, now in its 60th incarnation. The Honinbo League is a round robin tournament to select the next challenger for the Honinbo title, currently held by Cho U 9p, who took it from Yoda Norimoto 9p last year. There are eight players in the League, and in the early stages two of them seem to be out of the running already, having lost their first three games for a 0-3 record. These are O Rissei 9p, current Judan, and Han Zenki 7p. Fourof the eight have won two games. Cho Sonjin 9p and Takao Shinji 8p are both 2-0, while Yoda Norimoto, current Gosei, and So Yohkoku 7p are both 2-1.The other two players, Mimura Tomoyasu 9p and O Meien 9p are both 1-1. Three of these players are in their twenties, Han Zenki, So Yohkoku, and TakaoShinji. The title winner‘s prize is a little more than $300,000 US. Thetournament is sponsored by a Japanese newspaper, Mainichi.
CHOISWEEPS CHUNWON: Choi Chunwon 3p, not yet twenty years old, won the Korean Chunwon for the third straight time, beating An Dalhun 6p in three straight games. Choi won every game by resignation. This was the 10th edition of this title, which is sponsored by a Korean newspaper and an pharmaceutical company. You can download the games at http://www.go4go.net/english/bytournament2.jsp=3Fid=38 . Unlike many tournaments, Choi had to play successfully through the entire tournament, which included sixteen players, to win the right to play for the title again in the finals. In the semi-finals he defeated the formidable Cho Hunhyun 9p, who is more than thirty years older than Choi; this was the only game in the entire tournament that Choi didn‘t win by resignation, beating Cho by 5.5 points playing Black.
EL JUEGO ASTROL=D3GICO DEL GO: Simpleko, a new company based in Argentina, is offering hand-made go boards made from =93natural, high quality woods,=94 including Italian oak, mahogany, cedar and teak. Find out more, including a wonderful Jorge Luis Borges poem about go (for an English translation, see The Traveling Board, below), at http://www.simpleko.com.ar
GAME COMMENTARY: KeepingYour Head Out, Attaching & Extending
=93In the middle game, it is important to keep your head out,=94 notes Liping Huang 4P in today=92s commentary on a game between a 1d and a 2d on the Dragon Go Server, the turn-based go server. Liping Huang lives and teaches go in the Chicago area.
Dan players especially will want to check out today=92s lesson designed for them by Kaz Furuyama, as he follows up on the attach-and-extend joseki. Kaz=92 fans will also be happy to know that his lessons are now posted online at http://www.joot.com/kaz/index.php=3Flang.eng (click in the upper right for the English version).
To view the attached .sgf file(s), simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen‘s http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html
THE TRAVELING BOARD: Jorge Luis Borges on Go
El Go
Today, September 9th, 1978,
I had in the palm of my hand a small disk;
just one of the three hundred sixty-one needed
to play the astrological game of Go,
that other chess from the Orient.
It is older than the oldest writing
and the board is a mapof the universe.
Even time itself cannot exhaust
its variationsof black and white.
Just as in love or in the passing of the day,
men can lose themselves in this game.
Today, September 9th, 1978,
I, who am ignorant of so many things,
know that I am ignorant of one more,
and I thank my numina
for revealing these labyrinths
that I shall no longer explore.
- Jorge Luis Borges (translatedby Brian J. Olive; note: n=FAmenes are a group of ancient mythological gods)
GO REVIEW:
FOR SALE: 1) Les Bases Techniques du Go (in French), by Lim YooJong & Herve Dicky, Jeulogic, Paris, 1974, 192 pages. $20 includes shipping. 2) Go Introduction, a 2-volume set by Nihon Ki-in, 1973. Each volume is 95 pages. I have 3 sets total, in French, German and Russian. $35 for all 3 sets, or $15 each set, includes shipping. Anton Ninno: antoninno@yahoo.com (11/29)
FOR SALE: Original ukiyo-e woodblock prints: Kyosai: The Wind and Thunder Gods Playing Go (On the cover of Go World #101). Excellent condition $2350; Kunichika: A triptych of a Kabuki play of Kibi Daijin Good condition $1750; Chuban print by Kunisada (signing as Toyokuni III): Two Women About to Play Go published by Sanoya Kihei in 1853 (Illustrated by print 5-7 at www.Kiseido.com) Good condition$425; Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi, published by Yamaguchiya Tobei in 1855 Go-Board Tadanobu (see print 7-8) Good condition $1750; Oban triptych by Kunikane, published by Matsui Eikichi in 1886 Go-Board Tadanobu (see print 7-11) Not in too good condition $875; Oban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Ebiya Rinnosuke, 1847 Ronin Adjusting His Sandal (see print 11-10) Fair condition,$425; Peter Shotwell (Author of ‘Go! More Than a Game’): Shotwell@nyc.rr.com (11/29)
INSTRUCTION, TEACHERS:
- Joey Hung 8d is giving lessons on both IGS and KGS using voice chat skype. For detail,please email egogames@yahoo.com Joey is also giving free lessons on KGS from 8-9pm PST. (11/29)
- Cornel Burzo 6d EGF (7d AGA) is teaching online on IGS and KGS , also using skype voice chat, for pricing check http://www.golessons.com or email at cornelburzo@yahoo.com (12/6)
GO PLAYERS WANTED:
AK: Juneau, Alaska ; stevekrall@yahoo.com (8/23)
AL: Birmingham or Hoover: email goboard@bellsouth.net I‘m about 5k; any level is welcome. (9/6)
AZ: Phoenix, AGA 5d looking for go players; michaelscai@yahoo.com (8/23)
NEW! CO: Grand Junction: Beginner looking for players; email bevans@hospicewco.com (12/6)
FL, Ft. Myers: Looking for players in the area interested in starting a go club; email kent=5Fno=5Fgo@earthlink.net (11/29)
FL: Tampa Bay; Looking for players within 30 minutes of Tampa Bay to help create a club which might be located near USF. rruiz002@tampabay.rr.com (9/27)
IL: Northern Illinois, Gurnee area. Any rank, age, or shoe size welcome. Looking for friendly or teaching games. Contact (15 kyu) Joe at nothing217@comcast.net (9/6)
IN: Bloomington: Want to help start an AGA chapter=3F Contact me now at sfcowling@bluemarble.net (11/08/04)
MA: Looking for players to meet on the South Shore, possibly at Thomas Crane Library or Panera‘s Bread in Quincy. E-mail Adam@polymathsblade.com
MD: Baltimore, at the Maryland Institute College of Art. 7P Mondays, at
Cafe Doris (Mount Royal Ave) (10/18)
NH: Hanover, Meets 2-5 PM Wed at Hopkins Center Cafeteria; efeustel@direcway.com
NV: Las Vegas; Looking for players a new, and I believe the first, area go club. Anyone interested should contact Aaron Thomas at avontron@gmail.com (11/29)
NV: Reno: The Reno Go Club ( http://www.renogo.org ) is looking for people interested in go. Email: info@renogo.org
NY: Syracuse; The Central New York Go Club invites players who live anywhere near Utica, Geneva, Oswego, and Cortland to join them on Monday nights. Visit the club‘s website at: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cnygo/
NEW! PA: Philadelphia; the Penn Go Society now meets every Wednesday evening beginning at 5:30 pm in Houston Hall, on the University of Pennsylvania campus, 3417 Spruce Street. Players of all levels are welcome, we are looking to ramp up our membership and visibility - come be a part of an emerging Go scene! Emaileither Matthew Bengtson mattbengtson@earthlink.net or Peter Nassar pnassar@vet.upenn.edu for details (12/6)
SC: Charleston/Lowcountry area. Total beginner looking for teaching and friendly games. Contact Doug: dougsimpson@email.com
GOT GO STUFF TO SELL, SWAP OR WANT TO BUY=3FDo it here and reach over 5,000 Go players worldwide every week at Go Classified! Listings are free and run 4 weeks; send to us at journal@usgo.org
December 11: Syracuse, NY
1st Annual CNY Go Tournament
AntonNinno 315-479-9073 antonninno@yahoo.com
December 11 &12: Seattle, WA
Yilun Yang Workshop
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org
December 18: Arlington, VA
Winter Warmer
Allan Abramson 703-784-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net
January 8: Piscataway, NJ
3rd Feng Yun Go Tournament
Feng Yun 973-618-1821 Golesson@yahoo.com
http://www.fygc.com
January 8 & 9: Sunnyvale, CA
13th Jujo Jiang Goe Tournament
Ernest@goedharma.com
Jaunuary 15-17: Evanston, IL
6thAnnual Winter Workshop
Yang Yilun 7 Dan
Mark Rubenstein 847-869-6020 mark@evanstongoclub.org
March 17-20: Germantown,MD
10th Annual Maryland Yang Workshop
Gordon Fraser 301-540-2640 gordon@wui.net
This is a digest of events for the next month only; for a complete listing see the Tournament Calendar on the AGAwebsite: http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp
For the European Go Calendar see
http://www.european-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDate.htm
GET LISTED & BOOST TURN OUT! Got an upcoming event=3F Reach over 7,000 readers every week! List your Go event/news In the E Journal: email details to us at journal@usgo.org
Published by the American Go Association
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Editor: Chris Garlock
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