News from the American Go Association

January 8, 2007
Volume 8, #2

ZE-LI DOU WINS NYGC WINTER TOURNEY
LIVE FROM ROCHESTER
AGA MEMBERSHIP SURGES
2007 CHALLENGERS IMPROVING
GO WORLD GOING DIGITAL
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR 2 YOUTH TOURNEYS
YANG'S JOSEKI-FREE WORKSHOP
FINALISTS SET FOR CHANG-KI CUP IN CHINA
KEIGO TO DEFEND KISEI TITLE
GU LI 2-0 IN MINGREN TITLE MATCH
ONDREJ SILT WINS LONDON OPEN
TAKAO SHINJI TOPS PRO MONEY LIST
YOUTH GO: US Youth Go Championship Kicks Off
GO CALENDAR
GO CLASSIFIED

ZE-LI DOU WINS NYGC WINTER TOURNEY: Ze-Li Dou 2d topped the New York Go Center's Winter Revival Tournament on Sunday, January 7. Thirty-six players turned out for the 4-round tournament, which also featured the first installment of a Team Tournament competition, which was narrowly won by the Empty Sky Go Club with 48 points, edging out the New York HS Go Alliance, which scored 43 points. All Board 1 and 2 games were broadcast live on KGS by the E-Journal's Chris Garlock and John Pinkerton; the game records are posted online at www.usgo.org under Latest News.
       Winner's Report: Overall Champion: Ze-Li Dou 2d (4-0). Division A: 1st: Xiliang Liu 6d (3-1); 2nd: Ken Inoue 6d (3-1); 3rd: Young Kwon 7d (3-1); 4th: Jia Yu 5d (3-1); 5th: Zhuang Wang Mo 4d (3-1). Division B: Ze-Li Dou 2d; 2nd: Sam Zimmerman 4k (3-1); 3rd: Ed Gaillard 4k (3-1); 4th: Carrie Gustavson 3k (3-1); 5th: Sudhir Vel 1k (2-2). Division C: 1st: Michael Rodriguez 10k (4-0); 2nd: Bryan Chris Lim 9k (3-1); 3rd: Lisha Li 7k (2-2); 4th: Boris Bernadsky 8k (2-2); 5th: Pierre Viola 10k (2-2). TEAM CHAMPION: Empty Sky Go Club 48 points (Rochester, NY); 2nd: New York HS Go Alliance, 43 (New York City, NY); 3rd: Feng Yun Go School, 39 (Caldwell, NJ); 4th: New York Go Center, 36 (New York City, NY); 5th: Lancaster Go Club, 23 (Lancaster, PA); 6th: Upper Valley Go Club, 15 (Hanover, NH); 7th: Brooklyn Go Club, 12 (Brooklyn, NY); 8th: Canadian Go Association, 10 (Toronto, ONT); 9th: Hoboken Go Club, 7 (Hoboken, NJ); 10th: Pennsylvania Go Society, 7 (Philadelphia, PA); 11th: Wings Online Go Club, 7 (Somerville, NJ); 12th: New York Wei'chi Society, 5 (Flushing, NY)

LIVE FROM ROCHESTER: E-Journal team member Steve Colburn will broadcast Board 1 games live on KGS from the Second Annual Greg Lefler Memorial Tournament this Saturday in Rochester, NY (see Calendar for tourney details). More than 150 watched on Sunday as Boards 1 and 2 were broadcast from the New York Go Center Winter Revival Tournament. If you're interested in finding out more about arranging this kind of coverage for your event - or volunteering to help - contact us at journal@usgo.org

AGA MEMBERSHIP SURGES: Buoyed by a Go World promotional offer, membership in the American Go Association surged last month, reaching 2,111 and including a record high of 1,740 full members. Life Members and Sustainers were also up slightly, and Youth memberships jumped to 510, while Sustainers and Limited memberships registered small declines. Find out more about the benefits of AGA membership at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.html

2007 CHALLENGERS IMPROVING: "A number of Challengers have already reported improvement in their ratings," report Shodan Challenger Coordinators Lee Hunyh and Laura Kolb. The Challengers also have a book review contest going and a study buddy program. The ratings table on the web page -- http://www.usgo.org/usa/Challenge.html -- will be updated soon to show the Challenger's progress. "January's theme is joseki, and we're working on creative ways to study joseki," reports Kolb. The study buddy program began last November "When we matched up interested players of similar strengths to challenge and encourage each other" says Kolb. "Lee and I paired ourselves up and we've been meeting to study almost weekly, with me showing Lee a pro game I've memorized and Lee teaching me some joseki. Then we watch a pro game review by Guo Juan on audiogolessons.com, after reviewing the game ourselves."

GO WORLD GOING DIGITAL: The brand-new Kiseido Digital/Go World Archive is projected to be available by the end of this month, reports Bob Myers, who's been working on the project. "Kiseido Digital is a new arm of Kiseido designed to bring its wealth of go material to the digital world,"Myers tells the EJ in an exclusive interview. "The first project is Go World Archive, which is the entire 108-issue, 30-year run of Go World on three DVDs, available either as a set or individually." Myers says PDFs of individual issues will also be available for fee-based download.

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR 2 YOUTH TOURNEYS: Registration is now open for the 2007 editions of the Michael Redmond Cup and Ing-Redmond tournaments, reports None Redmond. The Redmond Cup - sponsored by Michael Redmond 9P and his family, the American Go Association, the Ing Wei-Ch'i Foundation and IGS - has a Junior League for young players under 12 and a Senior League for those 12-18. The Ing-Redmond is open to players 5d or stronger who are under 30. Preliminary games will be played on the Internet and the finals will take place at the 2007 US Go Congress. Deadline is January 31, 2007: for full eligibility details and a registration form, email None Redmond at chinski@inreach.com

US YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS KICK OFF: The new US Youth Go Championship (USYGC) kicks off with the first qualifier event at the Feng Yun Go School in New Jersey on January 20th and 21st. See Paul Barchilon's report, below.

YANG'S JOSEKI-FREE WORKSHOP: More than a dozen go players attended the recent Yilun Yang Workshop in the Davis/Sacramento CA area. Held from December 27-30th at Steve Burrall's house, go enthusiasts from high dan players to mid kyu players attended the workshop, which is held once every two years. Mr. Yang's lectures focussed on the placement of stones in corners, extensions, pincers, and defense, and he taught participants a way of thinking that can be applied to any situation. For example, when we should use tight or loose pincers, or how to choose an extension based on your goal in the local area, whether for defense, attack, territory, or moyo. Mr. Yang also provided everyone with game commentaries. Particularly attractive to many participants is Mr. Yang's claim that since his teaching method is a way of logic, you don't really have to memorize any joseki. Other highlights included Yoshi Sawada's free professional tennis lesson, Steve Burrall 's giant salads and Barbara Burrall's tasty and healthful cooking.
- Reported by Lawrence Ku, EJ West Coast Reporter

FINALISTS SET FOR CHANG-KI CUP IN CHINA: Gu Li 9P will play Kong Jie 7P in a best-of-three-games finals for the cup named for Ing Chang-Ki, founder of the Ing Foundation. Now in its third edition, this is one of the most lucrative among the Chinese national tournaments. Kong Jie won it the first year, but lost to Zhou Heyang 9P in the finals last year.

KEIGO TO DEFEND KISEI TITLE: The Kisei, the most prestigious and lucrative Japanese tournament, starts on January 17th. Yamashita Keigo 9P is defending against challenger Kobayashi Satoru 9P in the 31st edition of the tournament . Kobayashi held this title in 1995; Yamashita won it in 2003 and again last year.

GU LI 2-0 IN MINGREN TITLE MATCH: Gu Li 9P has won the first two games of
his best-of-five-games title match against Zhou Ruiyang 4P, winning both by resignation. Zhou, born in 1991, is one of China's crop of amazing teenagers, but he may not be quite ready for the likes of Gu Li yet. Zhou was also the challenger for Gu Li's Tianyuan title last year, but lost that one 0-3.

ONDREJ SILT WINS LONDON OPEN: Ondrej Silt 6d of Czechia took first place on
tie breaks in the 33rd London Open. There were 142 players in this major event on the Toyota IGS PandaNet European Go Tour. Full results are given at http://www.britgo.org/results/2006/london.html and SGF files of the top board games, which were broadcast live on IGS, are at
http://www.britgo.org/news/enews1.html#london . Li Shen 6d of London was second and Ben He 5 of Glasgow was third. All three had 7-1 records. Cornel Burzo 6d of Romania and a regular attendee at US Go Congresses took sixth place with a 5-3 record.

TAKAO SHINJI TOPS PRO MONEY LIST: Takao Shinji 9P of Japan was the top money winner among all pros in 2006, amassing a total of about $750,000 US, according to a report on GoGameWorld.com. Another Japanese pro, Yamashita Keigo 9P, was second with about $660,000 US. Gu Li 9P at third is the top among Chinese pros with about $600,000 US, while another Japanese pro is fourth: Cho U 9P with about $570,000 US. Lee Changho 9P is the top Korean and in fifth place with about $425,000, followed by Hane Naoki 9P of Japan at about $375,000 US, Luo Xihe 9P of China with about $337,000 US, Park Jungsang 9P of Korea with about $310,000 US, Lee Sedol 9P of Korea with about $300,000 US, and in tenth place Yoda Norimoto 9P of Japan at about $255,000 US. Non-Japanese pros can only achieve this kind of income by winning international tournaments. However, none of the top money winners from Japan took any international titles in 2006. In fact, the only Japanese on this list to also place in the top twenty in terms of winning games in international tournaments is Cho U and he is 17th on that list. Lee Changho is number one on the won international games list with 17 victories and 9 losses for a 65% winning rate in international competition.

YOUTH GO: US Youth Go Championship Kicks Off
      The new US Youth Go Championship (USYGC) kicks off with the first qualifier event at the Feng Yun Go School in New Jersey on January 20th and 21st. A round of qualifiers will be held on the West Coast in Tacoma (WA) and San Francisco (CA) in March and in April, Evanston (IL), Boulder (CO) and Philadelphia (PA) will all stage events as well. Winners in Senior and Junior brackets at each of the qualifiers will have their way paid to the finals in June and will also receive a $400 dollar scholarship to the AGA summer camp of their choice, courtesy of the American Go Foundation (AGF). Players of any rank may enter for their chance to be part of the very first U.S. Youth Go Championship. Hikaru no Go fans can make their dreams come true, and the qualifier could be the first step towards having a US professional league.
    Feng Yun's school claims an impressive 94 AGA youth members, exactly one third of the registered youth players in the US. Since Feng Yun 9P opened her school in 2002, she has helped bring the highest level of go teaching to American students and her efforts have paid off with an impressive group of youngsters with top ratings.
     With local favorite ZhaoNian Chen 8d out of contention (he will have turned 18 by the time of the World Finals), the Feng Yun Senior League qualifier is wide open. Next up is 17-year-old Jason Gu at 6.8d, but 16-year-old Jack Yang is hot on his heels at 6.15d, and don't underestimate Lionel Zhang 5.5d, who will have entered the Senior League by turning 12 this month. In the Junior league, 10-year-old Sudhir Vel 1k looks strong, followed closely by 11-year-old Maverick Lin at 3k. These are just the registered members of the Feng Yun Go School; serious contenders from anywhere on the East Coast could give any of these kids a run for the championships. US Open Champion Andy Liu 8d will be 16 at the time of the finals, and he could enter either the Feng Yun event or the Philadelphia qualifier in April.
     "The Europeans regularly get 200 kids at their Youth Championship," reports AGF President Terry Benson. "The key is to attract lower-ranked players as well. There need to be many prizes at all levels; small is OK. Hopefully there will be pros or very strong amateurs at many of the events to comment on games or to give lectures."
     While Los Angeles is noticeably absent from the West Coast events, there is still time for a So Cal club to step up to the bat and offer to host a qualifier (e-mail Nicole Casanta at nicole@seraphine.us to do so). Check out the summer camp video at: http://www.usgo.org/gocamp/index.html  The junior category is defined as anyone who will not yet be 12 on August 1st, 2007. The senior group as anyone who will not yet be 18 on the same date. The USYGC is only open to US citizens who are members of the AGA. In the event that a first place winner is unable to attend the finals, all second place finishers are the automatic backup players, selected by highest rank.
     For the Feng Yun Qualifier, TD Paul Matthews reports the tournament will have three sections: USYGC Under-12, USYGC Under-18, and a booster section for everyone else. The USYGC sections will be two days (Jan 20-21) with 5 rounds, and the booster section will be Saturday only with 4 rounds and faster time control. There will be trophies, go books, and other go related items for prizes as well as school t-shirts. Pre-registration is open and any players who have not yet registered should contact Paul Matthews at accelrat@compuserve.com
- Paul Barchilon, E-Journal Youth Editor

GO CALENDAR

January 13-15, 2007: Evanston, IL
8th Annual Evanston Winter Workshop with Yilun Yang
http://www.evanstongoclub.org/go4.html
Mark Rubenstein mark@easyaspi.com 847.869.6020

January 13, 2007: Rochester, NY
The Second Annual Greg Lefler Memorial Tournament
http://www.emptysky.org/tourn.html
Nick Blake emptyskygo@gmail.com 339.364.0933

January 13, 2007: Salem, OR
Salem Winter Go Tournament
Cynthia Gaty ckgaty@aol.com 503.585.3380

January 14, 2007: Somerville, MA
MGA Winter Handicap Tournament
http://www.massgo.org/tournaments.html
Zack Grossbart zack@massgo.org 617.497.1232

January 20-21, 2007: San Francisco, CA
15th Jujo Jiang Goe Tournament
January 20-21
http://www.sfgoclub.com/special_events/jujonoteey.jpg
Ernest Brown indagoe@yahoo.com 415.641.1452

January 20-21, 2007: Piscataway, NJ
U.S. Youth Go Championship Qualifier at Feng Yun Go School
(open to all)
Paul Matthews pgmatthews@stanfordalumni.org 908.722.5748
Feng Yun golesson@yahoo.com 973.992.5675

January 27, 2007: Richmond, VA
Slate & Shell Open
http://home.comcast.net/~wmscobb/
William Cobb wmscobb@comcast.net 804.740.2191

January 27, 2007: Tacoma, WA
Verna Castanza Memorial
www.TacomaGoClub.org
Gordon Castanza gcastanza@comcast.net 253.732.0874
Mike Malveaux mikem@hilltopgo.com 253.906.0095

February 3, 2007: Arlington, VA
The 1st Chinese New Year Tournament
Please preregister by 2007-01-31
Allan Abramson allango@igc.org 703.684.7676
Chung-Sung Chin chin8673@yahoo.com 703.706.4311

February 4, 2007: New York, NY
New York Go Center Monthly Ratings Tournament
http://www.nygocenter.org/020407.htm
Palani Vel, TD nygc@usgo.org 212.223.0342

GO CLASSIFIED
Locate go clubs worldwide at http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi

GO TABLE FOR SALE: Wooden go table with embedded metal grid lines & carvings on the side; includes two little wooden benches. Very good condition. $120 OBO. Yimeng Huang yhuang1@worldbank.org (1/8)

PLAYERS WANTED: Kankakee, IL: go players or want to learn in Kankakee area kennethfilipiak@netzero.com (1/8)

PLAYERS WANTED: Valrico/Brandon, FL: Looking for GO players in the area; the closer to Valrico/Brandon area the better but willing to go into Tampa for games. Contact john at johnfrancisrussell@gmail.com (12/31)

PLAYERS WANTED: Monument, CO: Are there any go players in the Monument area? Looking for people to play or a teacher at 5k or better. Please email go_player_137@yahoo.com (12/31)

PLAYERS WANTED: Indianapolis, IN: Local players looking for others who play go, and are considering the formation of a go club. We're also looking for qualified amateurs or professionals in the Indy area who give go lessons. Please send email to reberhar@iupui.edu (12/31)

PLAYERS WANTED: Mansfield, OH: Attention go youngsters...I wish to start a go club in Mansfield; anyone who wishes to play please contact me at dragonmasterbre@yahoo.com (12/25)

FOR SALE: Collector's items. The original American Go Journal from vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1949) to vol. 8, no. 4 (Sept. 1961): all 29 issues in very good condition. Also the revived American Go Journal from the 1970s. The big journal from vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan. 1974) to vol. 11, no. 3 (May/June 1976), all 15 issues. The small journal from vol. 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1976) to vol. 14, nos. 5/6 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1979), all 16 issues. The Eastern Go Newsletter from no. 1 (May 1975) to no. 12 (April 1976). The Voice of the Go Movement from no. 1 (May 1976) to no. 6 (Oct. 1976). If interested in any of the above, contact Ted Drange, tmdrange@earthlink.net (12/25)

WANTED: Go players in the area of Noblesville, Indiana. Anyone interested, email nerkel@gmail.com (12/25)

PLAYERS WANTED: Bucks/Montgomery Counties, PA: Are there any go players in the Bucks Montgomery area outside of Philadelphia? The Penn Go Society is a little bit of a drive so I was thinking more local. Contact me at tryot@aol.com (12/25)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Clifton Park, NY: Anyone interested, e-mail: nelsonbj149@yahoo.com or phone: 518-253-9706 (12/18)

WANTED: Volunteers to help run go panel/booth at upcoming AnimeNEXT anime convention, July 6 - 8, 2007, Meadowlands Exposition Center, NJ; www.Animenext.org  For more information call 646-821-5588 or email Wessanenoctupus@aol.com (12/11)

FOR SALE: Go Review, complete set, all 164 issues from Jan. 1961 to Spring 1977. If interested, contact Ted Drange, tmdrange@earthlink.net (12/11)

SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with over 9,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org

CALENDAR

January 7: New York, NY
New York Go Center Winter Revival Tournament
http://chapters.usgo.org/nygc/070107.html
Christopher Vu nygc@usgo.org 212.233.0342

January 13-15: Evanston, IL
8th Annual Evanston Winter Workshop with Yilun Yang
http://www.evanstongoclub.org/go4.html
Mark Rubenstein mark@easyaspi.com 847.869.6020

January 13: Rochester, NY
The Second Annual Greg Lefler Memorial Tournament
http://www.emptysky.org/tourn.html
Nick Blake emptyskygo@gmail.com 339.364.0933

January 13: Salem, OR
Salem Winter Go Tournament
Cynthia Gaty ckgaty@aol.com 503.585.3380

January 14: Somerville, MA
MGA Winter Handicap Tournament
http://www.massgo.org/tournaments.html
Zack Grossbart zack@massgo.org 617.497.1232

January 20-21: Piscataway, NJ
U.S. Youth Go Championship Qualifier at Feng Yun Go School
(open to all)
Paul Matthews pgmatthews@stanfordalumni.org 908.722.5748
Feng Yun golesson@yahoo.com 973.992.5675

January 27: Richmond, VA
Slate & Shell Open
http://home.comcast.net/~wmscobb/
William Cobb wmscobb@comcast.net 804.740.2191

January 27: Tacoma, WA
Verna Castanza Memorial
www.TacomaGoClub.org
Gordon Castanza gcastanza@comcast.net 253.732.0874
Mike Malveaux mikem@hilltopgo.com 253.906.0095

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

Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may 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.

American Go Association
P.O. Box 397
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-0397
American Go Association P.O. Box 397 Old Chelsea Station New York, NY 10113-0397