News from the American Go Association

January 27, 2006
Volume 7, #9

ROUND 1 FUJITSU PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED
HOMMERDING & HOMMERDING TIE UP LEAD IN IOWA TOURNEY
GO HOTBED HEATS UP ROCKIES
YAMING WANG DOMINATES S&S OPEN
MILLER KING IN KALAMAZOO
LEE CHANGHO 1: WINS FIRST TITLE IN 2006
LEE CHANGHO 2: TAKES FIRST GAME IN KUKSU
SMARTGO 2 RELEASED
GO CLUB GROWS IN ORANGE COUNTY
BACK ON THE BAYOU
GO AT THE FLOA TING LEAVES
2006 GO CALENDAR FILLING UP FAST
2005 YEARBOOK UPDATE
WEEKEND GO ACTION: Zionsville, IN
GAME COMMENTARY: A Blood-Curdling Game
GO CLASSIFIED
ATTACHED FILES: 2006.01.27 Pro Game, Cho-Yu, Go World; 2006.01.27 McGuigan Series #9

ROUND 1 FUJITSU PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED: The pairings for the first of the 2006 Fujitsu Qualifier have set, reports TD Jeff Shaevel. Round 1 is scheduled for this Sunday, January 29, 1P USA Eastern time on KGS: http://kgs.kiseido.com Player bios are posted at http://www.usgo.org/news/   ;The Round 1 pairings are: Mingjiu Jiang vs. Johnny Yoon; Hui Ren Yang vs. Kwo-Ping Ho; Thomas Hsiang vs. Trevor Morris; Yuan Zhou vs. Jeffrey Fung; Jung Hoon Lee vs. Edward Kao; Hosuk Yi vs. Zhi Yuan Liu; Edward Kim vs Eric Lui; Moon Chong Kim vs I-Han Lui.

HOMMERDING & HOMMERDING TIE UP LEAD IN IOWA TOURNEY: Mark (12k) and Vaughn Hommerding (22k) swept all four rounds to tie for 1st place in the January 22nd Iowa Snow Grade Go Tournament. The full winner's report will be in Monday's E-Journal.

GO HOTBED HEATS UP ROCKIES: The January 21 Rocky Mountain Winter Tournament "shattered all previous attendance records," reports organizer Paul Barchilon. "A grand total of 69 participants included 27 kids and 42 adults," says Barchilon. The tournament was run by the Boulder Kids and Teens Go Club; see Monday's EJ for the winner' s report. "As if all of this wasn't enough," adds Barchilon, "Boulder launched its fifth go club this past Wednesday at Creekside Elementary school. The new club, which is run by Tuba and Seyitriza Tigrek, drew a whopping 40 kids to the first session. All of this has been made possible by the generous support of the American Go Foundation, The City of Boulder's Youth Opportunities Program, and Janice Kim." See a photo of the new club on the AGA's homepage: www.usgo.org

YAMING WANG DOMINATES S&S OPEN: Yaming Wang 6d dominated the January 21 Slate & Shell Open in Richmond, VA, winning all four handicap games. Complete report in Monday's EJ.

MILLER KING IN KALAMAZOO: Paul Miller 9k took first place in the January 21 Kalamazoo (MI) Go Tournament. Sixteen players participated in the two-tier event, with both prize and non-prize sections. Winner's report in Monday's EJ.

LEE CHANGHO 1: WINS FIRST TITLE IN 2006: Lee Changho 9P is off to a good start in 2006, winning his first title already: the new Korean Sibdang (Japanese: Judan). Details on Monday.

LEE CHANGHO 2: TAKES FIRST GAME IN KUKSU: In the 49th Korean Kuksu, Lee Changho 9P is trying for a comeback, winning the first game of his match against Choi Cheolhan 9P, who took the title from him last year. Details on Monday.

SMARTGO 2 RELEASED: The latest version of SmartGo features 36,249 professional games, more than 2,000 go problems and, for the first time, an integrated IGS client. "Plus new features like filtering games, user-definable game-info tags, automatic portrait layout, comment cleanup an d a great looking new UI that helps you organize your games," reports SG author Anders Kierulf. "And you can switch between English, Japanese, and Korean on the fly." Download now at www.smartgo.com/buy.htm and try all the features for free for 15 days. Purchase price is $89 and includes free upgrades to all future 2.x versions, both program and games. More details at www.smartgo.com.

GO CLUB GROWS IN ORANGE COUNTY: Long time AGA members Kevin Chao 5d and Jack Shih 5d have formed a new go club and AGA chapter in Orange County, California. The duo have secured a permanent facility in Irvine for the club, located a mile off the I-5 Jeffrey exit. The club's official opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 2P. "We welcome and encourage all AGA members and go lovers to attend t his important event, since this is the inaugural AGA chapter inside Orange County" chapter organizer Kevin Chao tells the EJ. The club's regular meeting time is on Saturdays, 1-5P at 9 Truman, Irvine CA 92620. For more info, contact Kevin Chao at kevinchao@cox.net or call 949-466-1479.

BACK ON THE BAYOU: Louisiana's Crane's Nest Go Club - formerly known as the Bayou Go Club - is back in business after being sidelined by Hurricane Rita last fall. "Since the storm, we have reorganized and have held three club meetings at our regular time and place," reports club President Sean Moy. "Anyone traveling through the area or planning to visit" is welcome to drop in, says Moy. The club meets Wednesday's at 7P at Rue de la Course on the corner of Oak St. and Carrollton; there another informal meeting at Zot's, a block north of the Rue de la Course. With "about a dozen people still active in the area," the club plans to re-affil iate as an AGA chapter. For more info, contact: 504-813-2804; cranesnestgoclub@yahoo.com

GO AT THE FLOATING LEAVES: "There's a new fixture on the booming Seattle go scene," reports roving reporter Peter Shotwell. "The Floating Leaves Taiwan Tea House began holding a games' night -- mostly go, though shogi and Chinese chess players are also welcome -- two weeks ago and each time, with little advertising, about a dozen players showed up, including members of the Seattle Go Club, who may be providing a teacher." Beginners are especially welcome, Shotwell reports. Though the Tea House has some boards and stones - with more on the way - Shotwell says to BYOB until more equipment arrives. "The tea is sensational, by the way," notes Shotwell, "they go to Taiwan to buy direct from farmers, and it's not expensive. They must have about 25 varieties, many of which I've never heard of. I gave a short go history lecture last Wednesday while visiting Seattle and it's a very impressive and friendly place." Contact info: Rob and Shiuwen Tai Bageant, Floating Leaves Tea House, 2213 NW Market St. Seattle, WA 98107 (Buses 17, 18 and 44 -- Ballard Downtown Stop); 206-529-4268; tea@FloatingLeaves.com

2006 GO CALENDAR FILLING UP FAST: There are already more than thirty events scheduled in 2006 already! Is yours on the calendar? Post now and avoid the rush (or conflicts with other events)! Check it out at http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp

2005 YEARBOOK UPDATE: The 2005 American Go Yearbook is on the press now and is expected to be mailed out to members by the end of next week. The third annual Yearbook has been completely redesigned and expanded and will once again include a CD containing all the 2005 EJ contents , organized for easy access.

COMING UP MONDAY: Phil Waldron agrees with Phil Straus on the late tourney start problem and John Dawson disagrees with Bill Cobb on the proper attitude toward the game.

WEEKEND GO ACTION: Zionsville, IN
- January 28: Zionsville, IN
Second Annual Indiana Open
Chris K. Starkey StarkeyCK@msn.com 317-873-1885
- The short month of February already has no less than six events, including one at the North Carolina site of the 2006 US Go Congress, a Pair Go tournament in Northern Virginia and a major event in Princeton, NJ. Check out the whole calendar now at http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp

GAME COMMENTARY: A Blood-Curdling Game
       "I had given up hope," Cho U 9P says in today's game commentary on Game 49th of last year's LG Cup Finals. "Even so, I resolved to fight my hardest right to the end. And a chance came surprisingly fast." You'll be on the edge of your seat watching what even Cho admits is "a blood-curdling game." The detailed commentary originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Monthly Go World and was translated by John Power for Go World #105, Autumn 2005. Go World is the quarterly English language go magazine that covers pro news and includes many commented games as well as additional instructional material. It is available from www.kiseido.com .
       Today's bonus file is the latest installment of Haruyama Isamu 9P's Questions from Actual Play, translated by Robert McGuigan.
       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

GO CLASSIFIED

PLAYERS WANTED: Venice, Fl. Looking for go players at the high-school level. Just need enough responses to begin a local go club. Kyle Weeks cooliopartyfool@yahoo.com (1/27/06)

WANT TO BUY: Used go books; ruth_ellen_thomson@seagate.com (1/27/06)

FOR SALE: Equipment: 1) ceramic stones and plastic bowls (181 white and 181 black); 2) 1-inch thick shin Kaya go board , sturdy and good-looking (seldom used, bought it new online). The stones, bowls, go board are an $80 value. Asking $40 plus shipping fee. Contact atomoptics@gmail.com (1/27/06)

Published by the American Go Association

Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb

Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL ma y be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that commented game record files MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of the E-Journal. Please direct inquiries to journal@usgo.org

Articles appearing in the E-Journal represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the American Go Association.

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