News from the American Go Association

August 18, 2006
Volume 7, #71

15-YEAR-OLD ANDY LIU 7D DEFEATS MINGJIU JIANG 7P
TOURNEY ROUNDUP
WAN CHEN/CURTIS TANG WIN PAIR GO TOURNEY
EAST PREVAILS IN 1ST EAST/WEST YOUTH TOURNEY
THE WISHFUL THINKING TESUJI
CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE ANNOUNCED
GO PROFILES: Curtis Tang 7d

SATURDAY'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Boards 1 & 2 of the 6th round of the US Open will be broadcast LIVE on the IGS starting at 9A Saturday; at 3:30 there will be a Pro-Am demonstration game broadcast live on the IGS.

15-YEAR-OLD ANDY LIU 7D DEFEATS MINGJIU JIANG 7P: In the latest in a week of stunning upsets, 15-year-old Andy Liu 7d defeated Ming Jiu Jiang 7P in the 5th round of the US Open. "I was losing, most of the game," the shy teenager cheerfully told the EJ after the match, "but I didn't feel any pressure to win and I got a few chances later on." Liu lives in New York City and has been playing since the age of 8, when longtime AGA organizer Chendao Lin taught him the game. Liu says he mostly plays online and recommends playing stronger players to improve. Liu will most likely face Curtis Tang - who has only lost to Jiang -- in Saturday's sixth and final round, which will be broadcast LIVE starting at 9A on both the IGS and KGS. Today's game -- with comments by Jiang and Liu, is attached.

TOURNEY ROUNDUP: US Open top board results (through Round 4): M. Jiang 7P 4-0 (d. R. Snyder, S. Hong, Y. Zhou, C. Tang); A. Liu 7d 4-0 (d. G. Price, Z. Chan, J. Li, Y. Ge); C. Tang 7d 3-1 (d. Z. Chan, Y. Ge, G. Burzo); S. Hong 7d 3-1 (d. S. Hyodo, M. Guan, Y. Zhou); G. Burzo 8d 3-1 (d. R. Wang, D. Kim, J. Li); D. Kim 7d 3-1 (d. L. Yu, N. Phillips, R. Wang); R. Snyder 7d 3-1 (d. J. Boley, L. Brownell, H. Kotani); J. Li 9d 2-2 (d. I. Lui, L. Brownell); Y. Zhou 7d 2-2 (d. N. Phillips, H. Kotani); Y. Ge 8d 2-2 (d. K. Shigemi, E. Lui); Z. Chen 8d 2- (d. K. Shigemi, E. Lui); R. Wang 7d 2-2 (d. M. Manabe, I. Lui); I. Lui 7d 2-2 (d. J. Gu, N. Phillips); L. Yu 7D 2-2 (d. G. Price, L. Brownell); H. Kotani 7d 2-2 (d. E. Lui, P. Waldron); M. Guan 7D 2-2 (d. J. Chen, T. Morris); N. Phillips 7d 1-3 (d. X. Zhou); G. Price 7D 1-3 (d. X. Zhou); L. Brownell 7d 1-3 (d. N. Chadwick); E. Lui 8d 1-3 (d. N. Chadwick); K. Shigemi 7D 1-3 (d. N. Chadwick); N. Chadwick 7d 0-4.
       US Open 4-0 Winners (5d & below): J. Yang 5d; L. Zhang 5d; C. Sun 4d; X. Tan 4d; A. Bresler 3d; H. Yuyama 3d; K. Burrall 1d; C. Reimer 1d; D. Frankel 1k; O. Hestnes 2k; G. Peters 3k; D. Poore 3k; A. Okun 4k; A. Eudell 4k; P. Nassar 5k; M. Dougherty 6k; N. Blake 6k; S. Hsu 7k; W. Zhang 8k; J. Li 9; E. Hlavka 9k; M. Fraser 10k; J. Preuss 11k; A. Shang 13k; P. Ye 14; T. Wu 17;
Y. Takehara 18k; W. Reese 20k; N. Nogaki 21k; J. Wang 23k; S. Xu 28k.
        SELF-PAIRED: Sudhir Vel is hanging onto a lead in the Champion and Dan Killer categories, with a 13-win record, 6 against dan players; William Phillips is leading the Hurricane and Straight Shooter, while Harold Lloyd still reigns as Kyu Killer. Horst Sudhoff is once again looking hard to beat as the Dedicated, Teacher and Philanthropist, with an impressive 29 games against weaker players and 21 losses. The tourney doesn't officially end until 2P Saturday so there are plenty more games to play.
       Look for the final tournament Winner's Reports in Monday's E-Journal.

WAN CHEN/CURTIS TANG WIN PAIR GO TOURNEY: Wan Chen 4d and Curtis Tang 7d won Thursday night's Pair Go Tournament, and will represent the US at the World Amateur Pair Go Tournament in Japan this fall. Fifty-six pairs participated in the event in which teams made up of one female and one male alternate play. Sponsored by NKB, the unrated Pair Go Tournament is one of the most popular events of the Congress and features go players dressed their best and having a tremendous amount of fun. Other table winners: Table 2: Akane Negishi 1d/Cornel Burzo 8d; Table 3: Hasegawa Kanami 1k/Hyodo Shunichi 6d; Table 4: Carrie Gustavson 7k/Akihide Murakami 1P; Table 5: Maria Ma 6k/Calvin Lee 5d; Table 6: Lee Anne Bowie 4k/Matt Bengston 1d; Table 7: Becky Mulligan 16k/Duang Rong 7P; Table 8: Jackie Yuan 16k/Juan Pablo Quizon 5d; Table 9: Tiffany Wu 17k/Steven Wu2d; Table 10: Alex Burrall 6k/Julie Burr all 11k; Table 11: Yoko Nogaki 5k/Natsaki Nogaki 16k; Table 12: Yukino Takehara 18k/Keiju Takehara 9k; Table 13: Stephanie Xu 28k/Eric Lee 4k; Table 14: Qihang Zhang 32k/Peter Zhang 2k.

EAST PREVAILS IN 1ST EAST/WEST YOUTH TOURNEY: Fourteen young players -- seven each from the West and East coasts -- battled for supremacy in an impromptu unrated tournament Friday night organized "just for fun"by EJ West Coast reporter Lawrence Ku. After one 30-minute round, the East Coast team handily defeated the West Coast, 5-2. The East Coast team featured Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 8d, Jason Gu 6d, Christopher Kiguchi 3d, Andy Liu 7d, Eric Lui 8d, and Jack Yang 5d. The West Coast had Landon Brownell 7d, Matthew Burrall 5d, Lawrence Ku 5d, Calvin Lee 5d, Guthrie Price 7d, Calvin Sun 4d, and Curtis Tang7d. Todd Heidenreich and Lawrence Ku directed. Complete results: Z. Chen (E) d. C. Tang (W); E. Lui (E) d. L. Brownell (W); A. Liu (E) d. G. Price (W); J. Gu (E) d. M. Burrall (W); J. Yang (E) d. C. Lee (W); L. Ku (W) d. L. Zhang (E); C. Sun (W) d. C. Kiguchi (E).

THE WISHFUL THINKING TESUJI: I have heard several players saying things like: "Well, see, I was hoping he would respond like this..." Needless to say, few players agree to be so cooperative when given a choice of a response that is good for themselves and one that is good for their opponents. I believe you will find that a proper tesuji forces your opponent to respond the way you want, rather than merely giving them the opportunity to do so. Search harder; they are there.
- Bill Cobb

CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP DRIVE ANNOUNCED: President Mike Lash announced a brand-new chapter membership drive at Friday night's Assembly meeting. The drive will award over $7,000 in go vendor and Go Congress credits to twelve winning chapters who will receive over $600 in such credits. Winners will be awarded in two categories: those with 10 members or more and chapters with under ten members. Winners will be the chapters who bring in most new members as an absolute net number and those with the biggest percentage increase. The drive will run through the end of February. More details will be released soon.

GO PROFILES: Curtis Tang 7d
        Curtis Tang, a thirteen-year-old 7-dan, has been playing go since he was six. He has represented the United States several times in the World Youth Go Championship (junior division) and is the 2006 Redmond Cup Senior Division champion. He currently lives in Shanghai, China, attending Ma Xiaochun's Weiqi School. Although he is a strong player, he thinks that "go is boring and hard."
- reported by Lawrence Ku
  
SPECIAL THANKS to Tim Hoel of Minneapolis, for finding a lost piece of critical EJ equipment.

2006 GO CONGRESS EJ TEAM: Chris Garlock, Aria von Elbe, Michael Kyriakakis, Laura Kolb, Lee Huynh, Lawrence Ku, Akane Negishi, Mario Moran, Chuck Robbins, John Hilt, Steve Colburn.

Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb

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