News from the American Go Association
March 27, 2006
Volume 7, #26
CHANGLONG WU REPEATS AS RALEIGH CHAMP
FUN, FRIENDS & MORE AT YOUTH GO CAMPS
FREE GO WORLDS GOING, GOING.
ANOTHER CRACK AT 2005:
CHANG HAO PROVES INVINCIBLE
CHANG HAO AND WANG XI IN LIGUANG CUP FINALS
JAPANESE PRO SCENE UPDATE
GETTING TO NORTH KOREA
GO REVIEWS WANTED
GOT CD?
YOUR MOVE: Readers Write
CALENDAR
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2006.03.27 Wang-Gu Ricoh Cup; 2006.03.27 NC Spring Fuseki Wu-Feng; 2006.03.27 Yang 2005 Puzzle
CHANGLONG WU REPEATS AS RALEIGH CHAMP: An undefeated Changlong Wu 6d won the Spring Fuseki Tournament open section title on March 19, successfully defending his 2005 title. Thirty eight players participated the 3rd annual Spring Fuseki Tournament in Raleigh, NC, a joint tournament organized by the Cary Go Club and the NCSU Wolf Go Club. "This year's open section was very competitive with a record number of 14 dan players in the open section, which included one 6-dan, two 5-dans and five 4-dans," reports Owen Chen. "Mr. Wu's perfect winning record was not an easy one, specially in his match against Sheng Feng 5d when Mr. Feng was leading the game but lost on time." The exciting game record is attached. "For the first time in any North Carolina Go tournament history, we had four young kids competing," says Chen. "They have learned go less than a year and did very well in the tournament. In fact, one of the kid s, Calvin Deng, tied for the winner of Section D with a winning record of 3-1." Complete Winner's Report: Open Section: 1st: Changlong Wu 6d 4-0, 2nd: Feng Ye 4d 3-1, 3rd: Neal Gan 2d 3-1; Section A (1k-7k): 1st: John Moore 6k 4-0; Section B (8k-10k): 1st: Bob Bacon 9k 3-1; Section C (12k-17k): 1st: Tom Carlson 17k 4-0; Section D (18k-30k): 1st (tie): Warren Lewis 19k 3-1 and Calvin Deng 30k 3-1.
FUN, FRIENDS & MORE AT YOUTH GO CAMPS: A week of go instruction, new and old friends, challenges, food, fun, and more: planning is underway for the 2006 AGA Youth Go Camps this summer. Each camp is $750 (Saturday to Saturday) and includes lodging, meals, classes, activities, and much, much more. Not long enough? Double your fun and sign up for both camps! Information at www.usgo.org/gocamp.org
FREE GO WORLDS GOING, GOING.: Just a few more days to take advantage of the March Go World bonus offer! Anyone joining the AGA - or renewing their membership - this month gets a free copy of Go World! Get a 2 or 3-year membership and double or triple the bonus with 2 or 3 free Go Worlds. And AGA chapters who join or renew are eligible too, and get double the current offer for new or renewing members (i.e. 2 Go Worlds for 1 year, 4 for 2 years and 6 for 3 years). The English-language quarterly from Kiseido provides in-depth coverage of top tournament games along with a wealth of terrific instructional material. Join now at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp
ANOTHER CRACK AT 2005: A few weeks ago, we offered a brand-new original life and death problem from Yilun Yang 7P. The well-known teacher and composer of mind-bending problems has been creating annual problems based on the digits of each new year for many years; no one won the prize for the 2006 problem so we're giving readers another crack at winning the collection of Yang life and death problem books, this time with the 2005 problem, which Mr Yang has created especially for E-Journal readers. Solutions must be in an .sgf file; email them to us by midnight on Sunday, April 2 and we'll choose a winner from those submitting the correct answer. Warning: a correct first move is often not good enough: be sure the entire sequence cannot be refuted!
CHANG HAO PROVES INVINCIBLE: In the new Kangwon-Land Cup, a six-member team match between China and Korea, Chang Hao 9P beat four Korean players in a row, concluding with Korea's Lee Changho 9P, to bring the $150,000 US winner's prize to the Chinese team. Gu Li 7P, China's number one player, wasn't even needed in the contest, thanks to Chang's string of four victories. This is the second time this year that Lee Changho has failed to seal a win for the Korean team in a team tournament. Yoda Norimoto 9P of Japan won the last three games in the Nong Shim Cup team event in February, ending with a victory over the formally invincible Lee Changho to give the
Japanese an international event victory. The Chinese are suddenly looking quite formidable on the international scene. Chang Hao won the most recent Ing Cup, while Luo Xi 9P triumphed in the recent Samsung. The Chinese women won the Jeongganjang Cup team event, and Gu Li has won three dual matches in the past year, against the Japanese Agon Cup winner, and the Korean holders of Tengen and New Star titles.
CHANG HAO AND WANG XI IN LIGUANG CUP FINALS: Chang Hao 9P will play Wang Xi 7P in the finals of the 6th Liguang Cup in China. This tournament is sponsored by Ricoh Inc. of Hong Kong and also known as the Ricoh Cup. Wang Xi was the runner-up last year, when Xie He 9P won this event. This year Xie was eliminated by Chang Hao in the third round, while Wang Xi got into the
finals again by defeating Gu Li 7P by resignation in the semifinals. Wang is only in his early twenties and has yet to win a title. Pictures and career highlights can be seen at
http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=266 . Chang Hao, who will be thirty this Fall, is one of China's more successful pros. See http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=3 for details. An SGF file of the semifinal game between Gu Li and Wang Xi is attached for your
enjoyment.
JAPANESE PRO SCENE UPDATE: Several recent developments on the Japanese pro scene are of special interest to Western fans. The US's own Michael Redmond 9P is playing in two major challenger's tournaments-the Japanese Oza and the Judan. Perhaps this will be Michael's year to finally get a crack at a major title. The winner of each of these tournaments will play the current title-holder. Another well-known figure who has been excelling lately is Cho Chikun 9P. Not only has he won the first game against Yamashita Keigo 9P in defending his Judan title, but he is also in the semifinals of the Gosei challenger's tournament where he must defeat Yamashita to reach the finals against Cho U. Yoda Norimoto 9P is the current Gosei title holder, his only title at the moment. Yoda and Yamashita are currently tied for first place on the list of 2006 game winners in Japan with identical records of 11 and 4. Cho U 9P is right behind them at 10 and 2. The Meijin League to determine the challenger for current title holder Cho U is at about the halfway point, with each of the nine players in the round-robin contest having played three or four games. The lone teenager, Ko Iso 7P is 1-3, with dim prospects of joining the amazing Iyama Yuta 7P as a teenage title holder (born in 1988, Iyama won the Agon Cup last October). At the moment, Takao Shinji 9P and current Honinbo, has the lead with a 3-1 record; no one else has won three games. The former World Amateur Champion Sakai Hideyuki 7P is at 2-1 and still in the running. We'll keep you up to date on all these stories as developments occur.
GETTING TO NORTH KOREA: Those interested in going to North Korea (LG Cup Opportunity, 3/20 EJ) should be aware that both passport and visa are required, according to AGA President Mike Lash, who works at the State Department. "The United States currently does not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea," notes Lash, who says that for visa information contact the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations, 820 Second Ave., New York, New York 10017 212-972-3105. "U.S. citizens may need a U.S. Treasury Dept. license in order to engage in any transactions related to travel to and within North Korea," says Lash, who suggests that before planning any travel to North Korea, U.S. citizens should contact the Licensing Division, Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 202-622-2480 or www.treas.gov/ofa c Lash also provided the following info on a commercial service that advertises on the internet to obtain visas: Visa Express, 3120 Southwest Freeway, Suite 108, Houston, Texas 77098. Toll Free: 800-884-7579; 713-529-0400; Fax: 713-529-0406 or email support@visaexpress.net
GO REVIEWS WANTED: The EJ is looking for reviews of the following go books: WeiQi in Culture, by Wu SongSheng (Yutopian); A Journey in Search of the Origins of Go, by Shirakawa Masayoshi (Yutopian); Mastering the Basics of Go, by Lim and Dickey (Slate & Shell); The Go Player's Almanac 2001, by Richard Bozulich (Kiseido); Reducing Territorial Frameworks, by Fujisawa Shuko (Kiseido). Reviewers receive a $25 go vendor gift certificate; email journal@usgo.org if interested.
GOT CD? The American Go Yearbook staff has an opening for someone to take over from CD-meister Mike Heinich, who's designed and produced the wonderful Yearbook CD for the last three years. You'll be working closely with Editors Chris Garlock and Bill Cobb and making a great contribution to the go community. Candidates do not need to be strong go players but must have some CD design experience. If interested, email journal@usgo.org
YOUR MOVE: Readers Write
"No such thing as an 'ex-Marine'" writes EJ columnist Joel Turnipseed ("An Ex-Marine Rediscovers His Fighting Spirit 3/20 EJ). "It's almost the most insulting thing you can say. I mean, you can go to jail (Ollie North?) and still not be an ex-Marine. Always, 'former Marine.'"
March 31: Kiseido Go Server (KGS)
2nd Kato Masao Memorial Series
Christopher Vu eternalesnow@gmail.com 281-704-0357
April 1: Piscataway, NJ
Feng Yun Go School Monthly rated tournament
Feng Yun GoLesson@yahoo.com 973-992-5675
April 2: Seattle, WA
Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley jon@airsltd.com 206-545-1424
April 2: Iowa City, Iowa
Spring Forward Iowa Go Tournament
Duncan H. Brown 641-919-7066 duncanbrown108@yahoo.com
www.researchuse.org/Go
April 15: Piscataway, NJ
The 4th Feng Yun Annual Go Tournament
Feng Yun, Golesson@yahoo.com 973 992 5675
April 22-23: Houston, TX
Spring Handicap Tournament
http://www.houstongoclub.org/HSGT2006.html
Preregistering by email required by April 20th; Free box lunch included.
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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Editor: Chris Garlock
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