News from the American Go Association
August 28, 2006
Volume 7, #74
US INVITED BACK TO HANG ZHOU, CHINA
12 MEET THE CHALLENGE
US OPEN CROSSGRID POSTED
PENN GO SOCIETY TOPS 1ST CLUB TEAM TOURNEY
GO SEIGEN PIC TO SCREEN IN NYC
ONLINE PANDANET CUP UNDERWAY
KO GUENTAE WINS CHINA-KOREA T
ENGEN
REPORT FROM THE ISLE OF MAN
AMERICANS LOSE, KOREANS WIN, JAPANESE DEVASTATED IN FIRST ROUND OF WORLD OZA
GIVING THANKS
YOUR MOVE: Of Milligods & Kilogods; Just Around The Corner; Go CDs; Go Podcasts
THE TRAVELING BOARD: Go in Northern California
GO CLASSIFIED
US INVITED BACK TO HANG ZHOU, CHINA: The AGA has received its second annual invitation for a team tournament in Hang Zhou, China, reports AGA President Mike Lash. The tournament is in late October and there are no eligibility criteria except membership in the AGA. "Last year two teams attended and thoroughly enjoyed it," says Lash. "The level of play is quite high; most players are at least 6-7 dan." Players may play individually instead of on a team, but there are limited spaces available. Each person pays his or her own transportation costs to and from the venue, and $50 per day for meals and hotel. "This was very good value for accommodations," says Lash, who adds that the playing venue is "walking distance to beautiful West Lake and the weather this time of year is excellent. There is great shopping for silk, garments, tea and plenty of the usual market items also in walking distanc
e." Serious expressions of interest - space is limited and anyone interested needs to have a valid passport and a visa soon -- may be directed to Lash at president@usgo.org
12 MEET THE CHALLENGE: Twelve of the 50 participants in the 2005-2006 Shodan Challenge officially achieved their goals before the 2006 Go Congress, report Coordinators Laura Kolb and Lee Huynh. Reaching 1 dan: Matthew Bengston, Phil Britt, Chance Reimer, James Wu; 5 kyu: Jonathan Hop, Lee Huynh, Laura Kolb, Daniel Poore; 10 kyu: Calvin Clark, Terry McIntyre, Sean Reeves; 20 kyu: Nelson Herber. In addition, the official ratings of many other participants showed improvement. "Thanks to all who participated, and congratulations on all their hard work," said Kolb and Huynh. Stay tuned for more information on this coming year's Shodan Challenge.
US OPEN CROSSGRID POSTED: Want to see how friends and opponents fared in the 2006 US Open? The Congress web page at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.html now contains links to the complete US Open crossgrid, the Ing Cup crossgrid and the winners list, as well as three photo slide shows.
PENN GO SOCIETY TOPS 1ST CLUB TEAM TOURNEY: The first-ever Club Team Tournament at the US Go Congress drew 18 teams, reports organizer and TD Hal Small. The next club team tournament at next year's Congress will be open to any club, world-wide, that can field at least one 3-member team.
WINNER'S REPORT: First place: Penn Go Society (Matt Bengston 1d, Peter Nassar 5k, Rachel Small 11k); Second place: Feng Yun Go Club (Jason Gu 6d, Jack Yang 5d, Lionel Zhang 5d).
GO SEIGEN PIC TO SCREEN IN NYC: Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang's long-awaited biopic of Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan) -- The Go Master -- will hold its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, which runs Sept. 29 - Oct. 15. "The Go Master is based on the true-life story of the world's most renowned master of the ancient Asian game of Go, Wu Qingyuan," reports indiewire.com "A Chinese prodigy practicing a Japanese game, Wu's allegiances are torn by the increasingly bellicose relations between the two countries. Remaining in Japan in spite of the outbreak of war, and later, sucked into a religious cult which tries to exploit his celebrity, Wu (excellently played by Chang Chen) is the still center of the storm, following his own inner notions of spiritual integrity and loyalty to the discipline of his chosen vocation. Few filmmakers today can make movies as visually elegant and psychologicall
y astute as Tian Zhuangzhuang." Festival schedule and ticket information will be available online on Sunday, September 10th at http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/nyff.htm
ONLINE PANDANET CUP UNDERWAY: The 11th edition of the Worldwide Internet Amateur Go Tournament -- the "PANDANET Cup" - is now underway. Players can participate this year in either the Main Championship or in smaller groups open to players within a specific rank range (eg. 10 kyu - 5 kyu). Participation is free; check out the details at http://www.pandanet.co.jp/event/iwag2006/e/
KO GUENTAE WINS CHINA-KOREA TENGEN: Ko Guentae 5P of Korea has defeated Gu Li 9P of China 3-2 in the match between the Chinese Tianyuan and the Korean Chunwon title holders. Gu, currently the number one player in China, won the first game by 7.5 points, but Ko came back to take the next two by resignation and gain the international title. Ko just turned twenty this year. Last year's Chunwon and the international dual event title are the only titles he has won so far. Ko also won his first round game in the World Oza (see below), defeating Luo Xihe 9P of China by a mere half point. In the tournament for this year's Korean Chunwon title Ko lost in the first round to Heo Yeongho 5P back in June.
REPORT FROM THE ISLE OF MAN: The annual Isle of Man go week is one of the best-known go events in the British Isles, combining an attractive vacation opportunity with the chance for a lot of go. There were 47 participants in the main tournament this year, with two players going undefeated through the five rounds: Piers Shepperson 5d of London and Ingrid Jendrzjewski 14k of Cambridge. Four-game winners were awarded a wooden go stone and included Simon Billouet 3d and Anne Dicky 1k, both from France, along with Edmund Stephen-Smith 3k of Epsom, Edwina Lee 4k of Maidenhead, Ron Bell 5k of Reading, Wim Verstegen 5d from the Netherlands, and Jenny Radcliffe 9k of Durham. The afternoon tournament, with 33 players, was won by Matthew Cocke 5d of York, who defeated William Brooks 2d of Cambridge in the final. There were several other tournaments as well--and a sand castle competition won by Charlotte Be
xfield.
AMERICANS LOSE, KOREANS WIN, JAPANESE DEVASTATED IN FIRST ROUND OF WORLD OZA: Only three of the ten Japanese players in the 3rd Toyota Denso World Oza survived the first round, and two of them were paired against the North American representatives: Hane Naoki 9P of Japan defeated Feng Yun 9P from the US while Cho Sonjin 9P of Japan beat MingJiu Jiang 7P from the US by 3.5 points. The third Japanese winner was Cho U 9P over Zhou Heyang 9P of China. The three European representatives also lost in the first round: Guo Juan 5P from the Netherlands losing to Peng Quan 7P of China, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P of Russia losing to Lee Changho 9P of Korea, and Iliya Shikshina 6d of Russia losing by 4.5 points to Yang Shihai 8P representing Hong Kong. The Taiwanese representative Zhou Junxun 9P defeated the South American rep Fernand Aquilar 6d by 2.5 points.
Four of the seven Chinese advanced to the second round, including Chang Hao 9P, who was the runner-up in the first two editions of this event, and Gu Li 9P. All seven of the Koreans were winners, including Lee Sedol 9P, last time's winner, and Lee Changho 9P, who won the first World Oza. The odds seem to favor a three-peat by the Koreans. First prize is about $250,000 US and a new Lexus.
GIVING THANKS: Many thanks and deep appreciation to Andrew Okun of LA and Hugh Albright of PA for donating their collections of Go Worlds and go books to the E-Journal; the materials will be used as contest and Challenge prizes.
YOUR MOVE: Readers Write
OF MILLIGODS & KILOGODS: "T. Mark Hall wrote 'and Sakata has now become a milligod with over 1000 games' (GoGod Updated & Expanded 7/31 EJ)" writes Richard Dolen. "I think instead of 'milligod' he should have used 'kilogod' to suggest one-thousandfold rather than one-one thousandth. This is the standard scientific convention, with Latin for fractions and Greek for multiples. So it would be megagod for one million games, and not microgod which would imply one-millionth of a game. This is why the unit of beauty is the millihelen, defined as the amount of beauty necessary to launch one ship."
JUST AROUND THE CORNER: "Please tell Paul Glenn, author of 'My First Tournament' (7/31 EJ), about the Arthur G. Lewis Go Club," writes reader Jonathan. "The club is located in Wheaton MD, the same place that Paul Glenn lives." Find go clubs across the US online at http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi
GO CDS: Responding to Luigi De Santis' question about CDs that explain go, Mike Malveaux notes that "utopian lists a Windows CD-ROM in their online catalogue at https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?product=ETGAE&category=Ein" though he warns "I have never used it personally so I don't know how good it is, but the AGA calls it a 'lively animated introduction' at http://www.usgo.org/resources/computer.html#teaches"
GO PODCASTS: "I've been watching for podcasts about go," writes Anton Ninno. "There are a few recorded by beginning go players, but I haven't found any done by professionals or strong amateurs. Maybe someday." Anton suggests checking out Game Master 4: The Game of Go at http://www.podcastpickle.com/casts/11696/#
THE TRAVELING BOARD: Go in Northern California
By Lawrence Ku
California is a haven for go players, both young and old. In Northern California, there are go tournaments almost every month. The San Francisco Go Club and Palo Alto Go Club jointly host four Bay Area tournaments every year. In January, the Jujo Cup attracts about 80 people, including a few professional players and many top amateur players. In March and September, the San Francisco Go Club hosts the Spring and Fall Tournaments, each with at least forty participants. In July, there is the Northern California Open, also with a playing field above forty players, most of which are dan level. The Sacramento/Davis Go Club also hosts four smaller tournaments, one in each quarter of the year; their tournaments usually get about 20 players. The ING Goe Foundation also supports two youth tournaments, as well as a high school team tournament. The two youth tournaments (Jujo Youth and ING Youth) each attract more than 100 young enthusiasts, and with many pr
izes, have become the two most popular tournaments. The Northern California High School Go Tournament has attracted more than 10 teams for the last two years, demonstrating that this is a very effective way to promote go and go clubs in high school. The Bay Area also offers a wide variety of teachers, who are professionals and high ranking amateurs. Mingjiu Jiang 7P teaches actively in go classes online and at workshops. Several high-ranking amateurs such as Joey Hung and Joe Lee also call the Bay Area home. Besides teachers, Northern California also has many dedicated volunteers who not only organize and direct tournaments but also play teaching games regularly, including Ernest Brown, Steve Burrall, Reid Augustin, and Michael Bull. The Bay Area is home to more than a dozen go clubs, including several large go clubs, such as the San Francisco Go Club, the Sacramento/Davis Go Club, the Palo Alto Go Club, the San Jose Go Club, and the Berkeley Go Club. The San Francisco
Go Club - one of the oldest clubs in the country -- is unique in that members can meet every day of the week; The Berkeley Go Club meets Friday through Sunday. In addition to city clubs, many high schools also have go clubs. And more than 10 Chinese schools in the Bay Area offer beginners' go classes to students every weekend. Given the Bay Area's wide variety of go tournaments, teachers, and clubs, serious students of the game may want to seriously consider relocating there.
Ku is the E-Journal's West Coast correspondent
GO CLASSIFIED
PLAYERS WANTED (Ft Myers FL): Seeking go players of all levels in the Ft. Myers, FL area interested in starting a go club. Contact me at 239-543-7823 or my yahoo email, kentsecor@yahoo.com (8/28)
PLAYERS WANTED (Las Cruces NM): Go in Las Cruces, New Mexico? Contact Peter Shotwell, who has just moved there, at pshotwell@gmail.com (8/28)
FOR SALE: 1) Complete set of old 4.5mm Japanese shell and slate go stones with some natural yellowing and a few minor chips; $100 plus $10 shp. 2) Nice old half-inch folding go board in original box. Wood unknown. $30 plus $15 shp. DISCOUNT: Both items for $120 plus $20 shp. Pay by U.S. postal money order. Inquire by private email to Anton Ninno at antonninno@yahoo.com (8/21)
WANTED TO BUY: I am interested in buying a copy of the 1982 movie "The Go Masters," original title "Mikan no Taikyoku," with English subtitles. I think there was a VHS-version released that included English subtitles; pretty sure there was no DVD. Contact abc@glowwormpub.com (8/21)
PLAYERS WANTED (Gallup NM): Looking for go players in the Gallup, New Mexico area. There are a bunch of chess players but they turn blank at the mention of our beloved game. Lee Frankel-Goldwatermirage7i8@gmail.com (8/21)
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with over 8,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org
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