News from the American Go Association

August 1, 2005
Volume 5, #64

In This Issue:
US GO NEWS: U.S. Go Congress Starts Saturday; Membership Up 8th C onsecutive Month; Team Go Participants Wanted
WORLD GO NEWS: Yoda Retains Gosei; Finals Set For Tengen Challenger; 400 Vie To Be China's Newest Pros; Dinerchtein Leading European Go Congress
THE TRAVELING BOARD: The Go Player's Guide to Chicago's Korean Go Clubs
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

US GO NEWS

U.S. GO CONGRESS STARTS SATURDAY: The 21st annual U.S. Go Congress kicks off this Saturday, August 1 in Tacoma., WA. The biggest North American go event of the year, the Congress features eight days of non-stop go, from daily tournaments to professional instruction, as well as plenty of casual play. The 466 registrants thus far make this year's Congress the biggest ever, ensuring a strong and large competitive field for tournaments like the U.S. Open, Self-Paired, Day Off, Pair Go and Lightning, as well as the brand-new nightly Midnight Madness Tournament. Congress organizers report that there's still room for more go players; see who's signed up, get more details o n the Congress and register at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.asp

MEMBERSHIP UP 8TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH: Membership in the American Go Association was up for the eight straight month in July, closing in on 2,100 members just a few months after hitting the 2,000 mark for the first time ever. The 2,093 members include 1,603 full members, an all-time high. The number of sponsors (71) dipped slightly, as did Lim ited members (341), but Sustainers (74) and Youth (332) memberships were both up, and Chapters notched up one to 122.

TEAM GO PARTICIPANTS WANTED: The AGA is seeking participants for international Team Go events in Korea and China. Both events a re in late October; players must be full paid members of the AGA, US citizens or permanent residents, and have been resident in the USA for at least six of the last twelve months by the time of the events. There is no minimum age or rating requirement. Th ose interested should email president@usgo.org with the following information: name of tournament you wish to play in (China or Korea); ability to pay expenses if you choose the China event; AGA number and most recent rating; birthday; and place of reside nce.

WORLD GO NEWS

YODA RETAINS GOSEI: Yoda Norimoto 9P held onto his only current title, the Gosei, defeating Yuki Satoshi 9P by a score of 3-0, winning every gane by resignation. This is the second time Yoda has held this title for three consecutive years, having also done so in 1996-1998. Despite Yuki's failed third attempt as challenger for the Gosei (he lost to Yoda in 1997 and to Kobayashi Koichi 9P in 2002), he's off to a good start in the contest to be the challenger for the Kisei, being one of only three of the twelve players to have won both games in the first two rounds. Yoda lost both of his initial games, one of which was against Yuki with Yuki winning by 6.5 points. Yuki also won his first game in the preliminary tournament for the challenger for the Honinbo.

FINALS SET FOR TENGEN CHALLENGER: The finals for the right to challenge Yamashita Keigo 9P for the 31st Tengen title in Japan will be betw een Imamura Toshiya 9P, who defeated Cho U 9P last Thursday, and Kono Rin 7P, who defeated Yokota Shigeaki 9P the previous week. Imamura won two minor titles in 1984 and was the challenger for the Gosei in 1989. Kono Rin, who is much younger, having been born in 1981, has yet to win or challenge for a title.

400 VIE TO BE CHINA'S NEWEST PROS: Four hundred players competed in an intense tournament for the privilege of becoming a pro in China; twenty were successful, ei ghteen men and two women. Macelee reports on the go4go.net site that a number of promising stars didn't make the cut, including Tang Weixing 6d who has won two of the top Chinese amateur tournaments, the Wanbao Cup and the Meiluo Cup.

DINERCHTEIN L EADING EUROPEAN GO CONGRESS: The European Go Congress is off and running in Prague, the Czech Republic. In the main tournament, with 644 players, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P of Russia has taken a clear lead after five rounds on the basis of a victory over Ca talin Taranu 5P of Romania. Dinerchtein has a perfect record so far, following up on his flawless performance in the Toyota-Pandanet European Go Tour in Saint Petersburg, Russia last month, where he won with six wins in six g ames. Taranu's loss dropped him into a tie for third place with Yeon-sik Lim 7d of Korea. Seok-bin Cho 7d of Germany is in second place. Each of the latter three has lost only to Dinerchtein. Ondrej Silt 6d of the Czech Republic holds first place in the rapid play tournament, having lost only to Seok-bin Cho, who is in third place. Ilia Shikshin 6d of Russia is second, losing only to Silt. You can see all the results and lots more on the European Congress, including photos and commented games, at http://www.goweb.cz/egc2005/results.asp?lang=en . (For the game commentaries click on the "News 2005-07-30" and then on "Bulletin 2".)

THE TRAVELING BOARD: The Go Player's Guide to Chicago's Korean Go Clubs
by Chris Garlock
       Although Chicago's broad shoulders were wilting under an oppressive heat wave during a r ecent visit, it's always cool in the Windy City's Korean go clubs. With longtime local go organizers Bob Barber and Mark Rubenstein as my guides, we started our Chicago go adventure with lunch at the Mitsuya Marketplace, an Asian food court where we had a wide range of choices between Japanese, Chinese or Korean food, all of it inexpensive and tasty.
       Next stop was the Northwest Chicago Go Club, located in an industrial office park in Elk Grove on the northwes t side of Chicago, just ten minutes from O'Hare Airport (perfect for travelers with a couple-hour layover and a go jones to satisfy). The 10-board club is small but, like most Korean clubs, is open six days a week (every day but Sunday) from 12-7P; the cl ub is located at 790 Busse Road (upstairs from the Korean Times; 847-956-6213). Mr. Kyung Han, the club's founder and manager, welcomed us (Bob's a regular at the club) and in no time we were all happily engaged in our favori te game. In due course, coffee, tea and snacks were offered; the red bean cookies were delicious. The club has about 20 members, mostly older gentlemen, according to Mr Han, and was started in 2002.
       After a v ery pleasant afternoon (and some very tough games), we headed to a brand-new Korean club on Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago, stopping first for a terrific Persian meal at the Noon O Kabab on Kedzie Avenue, just a few blocks from the new club. Steve Yoo, the y oung and enthusiastic manager at the Bryn Mawr club, could not have been a more gracious host. Tremendously strong, he managed to keep an even game with your humble editor fairly close until I bowed to inevitable defeat. "Just have fun," he insisted cheer fully, "winning or losing doesn't matter." The new club is open daily from 10:30A-12 midnight and is located at 3217 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue; 773-267-1502. The club is very well-lit and the table boards are so new and well-kept t hat they gleam gold in the light. The club has big plans, according to Mr. Yoo, starting with a big opening tournament coming up August 13-14 as part of a Korean street festival.
       A pleasant surprise at both cl ubs was the unusual non-smoking policy, which, if not observed perfectly, certainly helped to keep the atmosphere breathable even for a smoke-sensitive player like me. Also missing was the legendary gambling that Korean Go clubs have long been known for, although there was a legal video game in the back of the second club. Both clubs are very well air-conditioned; a light jacket or sweater is advisable.
       In addition to the two Korean clubs, there are several oth er area go clubs in the area, including Mark Rubenstein's Evanston Go Club. Go to http://www.usgo.org/usa/chapclub.asp and click on Illinois to get the full listings , along with contact info. It's a good thing I was just passing through Chicago; if I lived there I'd have to quit my job so I could spend all my time at the clubs.

GO CLASSIFIED

PLAYERS WANTED: Thomaston, GA
Go players wanted, meeting place TBA based on where people live. I am 16k KGS. Please contact Skip Lazenby at Klazenby@charter.net or call 706-647-0680 for more information

PLAYERS WANTED: Indianapolis, IN
Looking for good go p layers to learn the game with; I want to start a go club in the Indianapolis/Broad Ripple area. Chris Hoyt ihoyt@mac.com

FOR SALE: Go Bowls
Dark-red ash Go Seigen style bowls from Samarkand, $50. Buyer pays UPS Ground shipping, $10. Anton Ninno, antonninno@yahoo.com

FOR SALE: Go Bowls
Practically brand new rosewood bowls that retail for $80 at www.samarkand.net for $40 + shipping costs, or the bes t offer I receive after ten days. Contact kurisuw@hotmail.com

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Through August 6: Prague, Czech Republic
European Go Congress
http://www.goweb.cz/egc2005/

August 6-14: Tacoma, WA
21st US Go Congress
Steve Stringfellow 253-761-9466 congress@usgo.org

This is a digest of events for the next month only; for a complete listing see the Tournament Calendar on th e AGA website: http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp
For the European Go Calendar see http://www.european-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDa te.htm

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Published by the American Go Association

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To make name or address corrections, go to http://www.listlynx.com/MailUser1.asp Story suggestions, event announcements, Letters to the Editor and other materia l are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:
Editor: Chris Garlock
journal@usgo.org