News from the American Go Association
April 28, 2006
Volume 7, #35
CUI & GHERMAN SPLIT SEATTLE CHERRY BLOSSOM
BROOKLYN SAKURA MATSURI
LG CUP UNDERWAY
UPDATE ON TOP PRO WINNERS
LATEST MASTERGO ADDS GAMES
DISCOUNTS & VOLCANOS AT YOUTH CAMPS
WEEKEND GO ACTION: Hartford, Sacramento & Somerville
GAME COMMENTARY: Dialogue With An 8d
GO REVIEW: Get Strong at the Endgame
GO CLASSIFIED
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2006.04.28 Challenge, jookeer3-Dou, Hung
CUI & GHERMAN SPLIT SEATTLE CHERRY BLOSSOM: Washington State go players of all ages braved beautiful weather to play inside on what organizer Jon Boley calls "the first weekend of summer in Seattle" last weekend. On April 21, 34 players played three rounds of spirited go in the Cherry Blossom Festival Tournament with Jinhe Cui and Soren Gherman tying for first place in the Open section. Tacoma showed off its new-found go strength with first place finishes by Dennis Wheeler (2nd kyu Division) and Gordon Castanza (3rd kyu Division). Both Wheeler and Castanza were instrumental in organizing last year's Go Congress in Tacoma. "On Sunday, 22 kids showed up for the annual Cherry Blossom Youth Lightning tournament," adds Boley. Divided into two sections, the 19x19 tournament was won by Luke Allen while the 13x13 tournament featured a five-way tie for first place.
BROOKLYN SAKURA MATSURI: New York City go players can enjoy a game this weekend at Sakura Matsuri, the Japanese festival under the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. "For those who have never been there, the event is very special and attracts large crowds," reports Jean-Claude Chetrit. "Since we have a few tables to teach and play go Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5, we can use all the volunteers we can get." If you come near 1P, you can tell the guards you are part of The Brooklyn Go Club exhibit and skip paying the few bucks it costs to get in. "We have two treats for those who do come: on Saturday after 5P, we will have a dinner and party in Brooklyn and on Sunday, we will have the pleasure of meeting a visiting top female professional, Hiroko Shinkai sensei, traveling with one of her students as translator and with Mr. Takabe. She may or may not play go, but we will invite her to a restaurant after the event." If you'd like to attend, let Chetrit know in advance: jc@brooklyngoclub.org
LG CUP UNDERWAY: The original 64 participants in the opening rounds of the 11th LG Cup have been pared down to 16. Details on Monday.
UPDATE ON TOP PRO WINNERS: The list of the professionals with the most wins so far in 2006 contains some surprises. Details on Monday.
LATEST MASTERGO ADDS GAMES: The latest release of the MasterGo game analysis software adds 1210 games to the game collection, some of them as new as April 2006; 322 games are from 2006, reports Andreas Hauenstein. MasterGo version 2.2.23 also now supports the visually impaired. "All old versions can upgrade to this one," notes Hauenstein. "So if you bought MasterGo a long time ago and thought you no longer qualified for the new game collections, now you do!" (use Help->Register in MasterGo to register again. Otherwise, the upgrade will not work with old versions). Click on http://www.mastergo.com for more.
DISCOUNTS & VOLCANOS AT YOUTH CAMPS: Sign up for the East Coast Go Camp by June 1 and you'll get the $50 Early Bird Discount, plus you'll be eligible for a copy of Michael Redmond's book "ABC's of Attack and Defense" (a $22 value), report camp organizers. Register early for the best chance of winning, as campers who sign up early will be entered again in later drawings for the book. At least one book will be given away for every 15 Early Bird campers. Visit www.usgo.org/gocamp for more. There are just 17 spots remaining for the West Coast Go Camp, reports Camp Director Jon Boley. "Located on the beautiful campus of Pacific Lutheran University, this year's West Coast camp features a visit to the Mt. Rainier volcano," says Boley. Mingjiu Jiang 7P returns as head teacher and will be joined by Jin Chen 6d and Scott Arnold 3d. Camp counselors include Barbara Burrall, Kristen Burrall, Steve Burrall and Deborah Neidermeyer. "Join us here in Tacoma for a great week of go, soccer, go, hiking, go, Mt. Rainer and go!" says Boley.
WEEKEND GO ACTION: Hartford, Sacramento & Somerville
- April 29: Hartford, CT
Chinese Cultural Center Spring Weiqi Tournament
Bill Fung chiwaifung@netzero.com 860-648-1527
- April 29: Sacramento, CA
Davis/Sacramento Quarterly Tournament
Fred Hopkins cfredhop@msn.com 916-548-8068
- April 30: Somerville, MA
MGA Spring Handicap Tournament
Zack Grossbart zack@grossbart.com 617-497-1232
GAME COMMENTARY: Dialogue With An 8d
"This game is typical of my games in several ways," says Shodan Challenger Ze-Li Dou 1k. "I imagined to have gained an advantage after the opening, and then lost a tactical fight, then panicked and perhaps aimed for too quick a recovery, and finally crashed to a fiery end." Joey Hung 8d shows Ze-Li where his instincts were off and where they were on, responding directly to Ze-Li's questions in a fascinating dialogue that players of all strengths will find useful.
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 REVIEW: Get Strong at the Endgame
by Richard Bozulich.
Kiseido Publishing
Reviewed by Jonathan Hop 8k
I think I can say with full confidence that the endgame is the Waterloo for players of all strengths. However, it is a part of the game that, once mastered, could turn the tide in one's favor.
I've had many games where I had a strong middle game lead, only to watch in horror as it was slowly whittled into nothingness by a player who was stronger at the endgame. Get Strong at the Endgame, like the other books in the Get Strong series, features go problems with explanations and diagrams at the end. Divided into three sections, the first problems test your overall knowledge of the endgame, then endgame tesuji problems, and finally endgame calculation problems. I found the tesuji problems the most rewarding; they made me wonder just how many of them I've missed in actual games. The explanations at the end are clear, and incorrect paths are not followed.
I did find myself trying to read out other paths, which I think is good practice to see why extraneous sequences do not work. I think the only problem with this book is that it is not easily accessible to everyone, since I don't believe a beginner could look at the explanations and really understand what's going on, especially in the tesuji section. However, stronger players looking to close a hole in their game will find this book invaluable.
OPPONENT WANTED: 4th or 5th grader who enjoys go to play an enthusiastic 10-year-old boy beginner. Baltimore and its environs. Email contact info to mham@redshift.com
FOR SALE: $150 US Go Congress gift certificate; selling for $110 (or best offer); worth $150 when applied towards the Congress registration fee or can be redeemed for $75 in cash after the Congress. If interested contact Ze-Li Dou at zelidou@hotmail.com
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Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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