News from the American Go Association

February 5, 2007
Volume 8, #10

REDMOND BEATS SAKAI IN TENGEN
FUJITSU QUALIFIER DOWN TO FINAL 4
CHOU SWEEPS NOVA TOURNEY
SEDGWICK TOPS NY TOURNEY
MD YANG WORKSHOP ALMOST FULL
FENG YUN SUMMER CAMP RETURNS TO BEIJING
GO CONGRESS UPDATES
BENSON RECOGNIZED BY DIRECTOR'S GUILD
LEE SEDOL DETHRONES LEE CHANGHO IN KOREA RATINGS
LI HE WINS BAILING CUP IN CHINA
RUI NAIWEI REPEATS AS WOMEN'S MYEONGIN
GO TUBE
YOUTH GO: Building Strength - and Respect - In Oakdale, CA
CAN'T STOP THE MONKEY JUMP: A Beginner Studies the Pros: Go Vocabulary
GO CALENDAR
GO CLASSIFIED

REDMOND BEATS SAKAI IN TENGEN: Michael Redmond 9P has defeated Sakai Hideyuki 7P, the former World Amateur Champion, in the first round of the challenger's tournament for the Japanese Tengen. Redmond next plays Ishii Kunio 9P, and if he wins that game, he'll face Yamashita Keigo 9P, who currently holds both the Kisei and Oza titles. Redmond made it into this final tournament to determine the challenger for current title holder Kono Rin 8P by defeating both Kataoka Satoshi 9P (by a half point) and Ko Iso 7P, making it three in a row for the former Californian.

FUJITSU QUALIFIER DOWN TO FINAL 4: Four contenders -- Defending champion Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Huiren Yang 1P, Jie Li 9d and Andy Liu 8d-remain after the first two rounds of the 2007 North American Fujitsu Qualifier. The results of Saturday's first round: Mingjiu Jiang (d. Thomas Hsiang 7d), Wei-Yu Chen 8d (Dong Wang 7d), Huiren Yang 1P (I-Han Lui 7d), Yuan Zhou 7d (Calvin Sun 6d), Jie Li 9d (Young Kwon 7d), Jung Hoon Lee 8d (Gus Price 6d), Andy Liu 8d (Joseph Wang 7d) and Eric Lui 7d (Liang Yu 6d). Sunday's Round 2 results: Jiang (Chen), Yang (Zhou), Li (Lee), Liu (Yu). The games were broadcast live on IGS and drew more than 150 viewers and included "a nice running commentary by 'Grunt', Jiang's neighbor and former student from the SF bay area," reports TD Dennis Wheeler. The final rounds will be held next weekend, February 10-11, and will also be broadcast live on IGS (as will the top board at the New Jersey Open). The Fujitsu games are posted at http://www.usgo.org/tournaments/Fujitsu/2007/games.html

CHOU SWEEPS NOVA TOURNEY: An undefeated Daniel Chou 6d topped the February 3 Chinese New Year Go Tournament in Northern Virginia. A total of 73 players - including many new players from the Chinese-American community -- turned out for the tournament, which featured a 4-round regular tournament, 3-round Pair Go tournament and a kid's Lightning Tournament. Chou, a 29-year-old software engineer, learned the game as a child in Taipei and only recently started playing again. joined the fun. Held at the George Mason Law School in Arlington, VA, the tournament was organized by the NoVa Go Club, the Great Falls Go/Chess Club and the Hai Hua Community Center. The tournament's main financial sponsors were Yeena Liu, UBS Financial Advisor (www.ubs.com/fa/yeenaliu) and the Culture Center of TECRO. Other sponsors included Slate & Shell, Financial Tax Specialist, Inc., Fu-Lin Y. Lee, Ph.D, Frank de Groot, Teacher Chin, Michael Houh & Ivy Lang and TECRO. "The sponsors' generous contributions allowed cash prizes for the winners in each tournament," reports TD Allan Abramson, who co-organized the event with Ching-Sung Chin, who was also Editor-in-Chief of the 30-page tournament program book. "Hank Chao brought all the trophies and piggy banks in honor of the Year of the Pig from Shanghai," says Abramson. The top boards in both the main and Pair Go tournaments were broadcast live on KGS and IGS. E-Journal coverage - game recording, photography and reporting -- was provided by Chris Garlock and John Pinkerton, and Todd Blatt of the UMBC Go Club provided laptop support.
       WINNER'S REPORT (main tournament): First place winners: Daniel Chou 6d, Yi Jin Chen 2d, Peter St John 1d, Guo Xu Wei, 2k, Max Peterson 5k, Justin Blank 6k, Neil Berstein 8k, Kabe Chin 10k, Kevin Chin 14k, Alex Yen 33k, and Joey Phoon 35k. Second place winners: James Wu 3d, Jinglu Qiao 2d, Ben Bernstein, 1d, Jie Wei Fan 1d, Zhaochi Wei 1d, Kathy Qiu 4k, John Zhao 5k, Samantha Fede 8k, Patrick Allen 9k, and Nephi Griffith 19k. Perfect records of 4-0 were produced by Daniel Chou, Yi Jin Chen, Max Peterson, Neil Bernstein, Kevin Chin, Alex Yen and Joey Phoon.
       Pair Go Tournament winners were the team of Scott Waldron, 4d and Quynh Vo,
7k, with a perfect record of 3-0. Second place in a tie-breaker was taken by the team of Todd Blatt, 3k, and Stephanie Xu, 18k, at 2-1. Four other teams participated.
       The Beginners' Lightning Tournament attracted eight young players rated 30-35k. The dominant winner was Wesley Chen with a perfect record of 8-0. Second was Eric Xie at 6-2. Third was Marcus Phoon at 5-3. Other competitors included Ashley Chen, Michael Tang, Eric Tchong, Krystal Chao, and Jessie Tang.

SEDGWICK TOPS NY TOURNEY: James Sedgwick 6D took top honors in the February 4 Super Sunday Pre-Game Games tournament at the New York Go Center. Palani Vel directed and 19 players participated. "Several new faces in the field included a visitor from Canada," reports NYGC organizer Roy Laird, "and a carload from Washington DC, who played in the NoVa tournament Saturday and drove up to check out the Center." In other Go Center news, Laird reports that "Our old friend Mel Rappaport showed up with a trunkload of books and magazines he donated to the Center. As a result, The New York Go Center library is now open for business." Members can peruse the 40-odd books, 70 or so back issues of Go World, and various AGA yearbooks, Journals and other miscellaneous items. The library is also available to visitors who pay the $7 day fee.
       Winner's Report: 1st: James Sedgwick 6d (4-0); 2nd: Gregory Rosenblatt 4d (3-0), Paul Matthews 4k (3-0), Larry Russ 4k (3-0), Melvin Rappaport 5k (3-0).

RENEW NOW AND SAVE BIG! Renew now for two years or more and save! For a limited time, a 2-year AGA membership is just $50 ($10 off the usual $60 cost); save $5 for each additional year: 3 years for $75 ($15 savings), 4 years for $100 ($20 savings) or 5 years for $125 ($25 savings). It's a double savings: you save money and so does the AGA, so we can all concentrate on the game we love! Less mailing, more go, it's win-win for all! Click here now to save: http://www.usgo.org/resources/downloads/AGAMemberApp.pdf

MD YANG WORKSHOP ALMOST FULL: There are just two places left in the upcoming 12th Annual Maryland Workshop with Yilun Yang 7P, reports organizer Gordon Fraser. Scheduled for March 1-4 in Germantown, MD, the workshop is sponsored by the Greater Washington Go Club and Slate & Shell. The workshop includes lectures and game analysis by Mr Yang. Cost: $225.00 for adults, $175 for children under 18. Contact Fraser at gordon.fraser@ctipc.com

FENG YUN SUMMER CAMP RETURNS TO BEIJING: The Feng Yun Go School's summer camp returns to Beijing, China June 23-July 20. This year the camp will be held at the Hang Zhou Go School, "which has a brand new 34-story building next to the beautiful Qian Tang River," organizer Feng Yun 9P tells the EJ. "The summer camp program is intended to offer a great experience of both go and Chinese culture," says Feng. Participants will play with local go players and get an opportunity to visit China. "Be prepared to work and study hard in the summer camp," says Feng, the 9-dan professional who will be the camp director. "Along with help from the local go school teachers, we will help you improve your go. Besides a lot of go, of course you will have time to play with your old or new friends, go to local attractions, eat delicious Chinese food, see the museums and learn Chinese culture." Details at: http://fygc.com/FY_Go_School/FYGS_SC2007.htm

GO CONGRESS UPDATES: US Go Congress organizers are finalizing contracts for this year's 23rd annual US Go Congress July 28-August 5 in Millersville, PA. Look for details soon here. Meanwhile, over 200 have already signed up for the 51st European Go Congress July 14-28 in Villach, Austria. The EGC routinely attracts well over 500 participants for two weeks of go, as well as plenty of other activities, including a shogi workshop, juggling competition and side trips to the Villach and Carinthia countryside. Details at http://www.goverband.at/egc2007/index.php?page=reg_spielerliste.php〈=english

BENSON RECOGNIZED BY DIRECTOR'S GUILD: Longtime go player, organizer and former AGA President Terry Benson received the Director's Guild of America's 2006 Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award last Saturday. The award - which was presented at the 59th Annual DGA Awards Dinner in Los Angeles -- is given to an in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Benson spent much of his career as an Associate Director and Stage Manager in public television at PBS' Channel Thirteen/WNET in New York, where he was shop steward, organizer and negotiator. From 1971 to 2003 Benson was a staff associate at WNET, where he worked on programs including Theater In America, The Adams Chronicles, Live from the Met and The Metropolitan Opera Presents and the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. More at http://www.dga.org/news/pr_expand.php3?484

LEE SEDOL DETHRONES LEE CHANGHO IN KOREA RATINGS: Lee Sedol 9P is now #1 on the rated list of Korean pros, pushing aside Lee Changho 9P, who drops to second place, reports Goama, the free internet go newsletter from Russia at http://gogame.info/  Although Lee Changho currently holds five national titles, Chang Hao 9P of China just swept him in the international Samsung, a best-of-three match in which Lee didn't win a single game. Lee Sedol, on the other hand, just won the international Toyota Denso World Oza. The margin between these two is relatively narrow: 20,466 to 20,179 on the rating scale. Choi Cheolhan 9P is still third with 17,465 points.

LI HE WINS BAILING CUP IN CHINA: Li He 1P defeated Ye Gui 5P 2-1 to take the Bailing Cup, a Chinese women's event. All three games in the finals were won by resignation. SGF files of the games can be accessed at http://igo-kisen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/bl.html . Li is just fifteen and this is her first title. Ye is more than twenty years older and has had a number of notable successes, including winning the Women's Mingren title in 2005.

RUI NAIWEI REPEATS AS WOMEN'S MYEONGIN: Rui Naiwei 9P has again won the Women's Myeongin (Meijin) Tournament in Korea, defeating Lee Dahyeoi 3P 2-0. This is Riu's seventh time to win this title. Since 2000 she has lost it only once, to Cho Hyeyeon 7P, whom she will be facing in the finals for the Korean Women's Kuksu title that starts today. Rui has won the Women's Kuksu four times, and Cho twice. Rui defeated Cho in the Kuksu title match last year.

GO TUBE: Go has been featured in two TV programs recently, the British Go Association news reports. Dick van Dyke played go to get inside the mind of a potential assassin who plays the game in an episode of "Diagnosis Murder". A good bit of attention is given to the game, including some explanation of the rules and strategy. In a recent episode of "Criminal Minds", FBI agents examined a suspect's go board and determined that the player was extremely aggressive. And you can catch a BBC go report on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyllVL9fpe0

YOUTH GO: Building Strength - and Respect - In Oakdale, CA
by Paul Barchilon, Youth Editor
       Oakdale is a quiet little town in California's Central Valley, but thanks to the efforts of fourth grade teacher Vincent Eisman, it now sports a large population of go-playing kids. "Initially, I began teaching go to my students because, like chess, it develops mental discipline and concentration," explained Eisman. "I knew that playing go also utilized a number of math skills and application of traditional values of courtesy and respect." Despite little prior knowledge of the game, Eisman decided to introduce it to his students in the 2005 school year. Far from the go mainstream and unaware of the resources our community offers, the industrious Eisman made all of his own equipment to start things off. Check out all his boards at http://chiyodad.blogspot.com/2006/02/icemans-go-class-takes-off-and-grows.html
       "I received a grant from the Oakdale Education Foundation to begin a go project in my class," said Eisman. "I believe this game has tremendous potential for our students and possibly for our community. I had no idea the game would catch on as it has." In April the local paper, the Oakdale Leader ran a feature on the program. They reported "Students like Fair Oaks fourth grader Jennifer Balderas were also teaching the game to other peers, and many of them were playing Go during recesses and lunchtime. 'When I heard about go, at first, I thought it would be boring, but then I found out it wasn't. It was really fun and teaches you stuff about your opponent,' said Balderas."
       Eisman says "I have found that if you really push the etiquette element of the game, it has a huge impact and goes a long way. Last year I clearly saw the students behave one way with PE (poor sports, pride issues, cheating) and an entirely different way with go. It was very common for students to approach better students asking for 'a teaching game'. It was amazing- the KIDS WITH THE biggest attitudes became gentlemen over the board. This year my goal is to extend go etiquette into other areas of life. The kids loved the idea of 'onegaishimasu-I'll do everything I can to defeat you but will accept loss as an opportunity to learn and better myself.' They also become more at ease when they realize the ranking system is not a hierarchical system but a way of providing equally challenging games and to show growth.
       "I also push the 'Hurry and lose your first 50 games.' When kids get down in the beginning I ask how many they've lost and tell them they have X more to go. They dig that. Similarly, the pride monsters can be taught humility and responsibility. The whole character element is one of the things that has won over my principal, local administration, and parents." Indeed, Eisman's program has become so successful that the director of curriculum in Math and Science from Stanislaus County wants to put after-school go programs into as many schools as he can. And unlike individual teachers struggling to find funds, he has access to state resources to act on this wish. Look for future stories on Eisman's school district in upcoming issues of the E-Journal.
       Eisman now teaches go three times a week to kids of all grades. He has a roster of over 80 go players at Fair Oaks Elementary and a handful more at three other schools in town. To find out more about his efforts, and for some truly delightful pictures, visit his website at http://www.oakdale.k12.ca.us/fairoaks/eisman/Go.html
       Want to see your youth club in the journal? Submit your stories to us at journal.youth@usgo.org

CAN'T STOP THE MONKEY JUMP: A Beginner Studies the Pros: Go Vocabulary
by Motoko Arai
       Go has a special vocabulary all its own. As my husband and I were going over masters' games, at the same time we were also trying to read the commentary. But for beginners like us, the commentary just didn't make any sense. Okay, so maybe we couldn't understand certain things because of our skill level - that's natural enough. However, the really shocking thing was we couldn't even understand the words themselves. (We thought this was strange, but as beginners we decided to just keep reading. However, the more we read, the more we ran into these unknown words.)
    "Umm...this black stone is called a nobi (extend), right? In the book?"
    "Yeah. From the point of view of this stone attached to it, this stone is extending out. I guess that's why it's called nobi, right?"
    "That's what I thought too. If you attach a black stone to a black stone behind it, it's called nobi. But I think that's wrong."
    "Huh?"
    "Here's the same situation - a black stone attacked to the one behind it - but this time it's not called nobi. They didn't write nobi."
    "What do you mean?"
    "It's extending out just like before, but in the commentary this stone is called sagari (descent)."
    "Okay, so what's the deal with that?"
    "That's what I'm wondering. And look at this diagram. Again, the same situation with one black stone attaching to a black stone behind it, but this time they don't call it nobi or sagari."
    "So what do they call it?"
    "Narabi (stretch)."
    "But that's a completely different word."
    "Exactly! And here again - the same situation with the attached black stone, and here they call it hai (crawl). Hai!"
    "What does hai mean here?"
    "Who knows? And another... attach one black stone to another black stone and call it...oshi (push)." TRANS. NOTE: IN JAPANESE, HAI CAN MEAN BOTH "CRAWL" AND "YES", AND OSHI CAN MEAN BOTH "PUSH" AND A KIND OF WELCOMING GREETING USED BY MEN, SIMILAR TO THE AMERICAN "WHAT'S UP?"
    "Hold on - hai and oshi? These are greetings! And wait - if it's a supporting group or something like that, it's not called oshi, but osu (push)."
    "Yeah, there are books that call it osu as well."
    "What's with these greetings - yes's and welcome's and thank you's?"
    "Thank You is also a Go word. In this book it says 'Here, rather than a Thank You, the best thing is to tenuki (play elsewhere).'"
    "You're kidding! What on earth does that mean? Of course Go is a polite game and when you start you're supposed to wish your opponent good luck and when you finish you should say "Thanks for the game", but are there other little courtesies throughout the game as well? In the middle of a battle, do you really have to stop and say something like "Here's to your health" or "My, it's a lovely day"? Should we do that? Are we supposed to do that?"
           Okay, so maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration. But still, it feels this ridiculous when you see all the Go words written in your own language and, as a beginner, you have no idea what they mean.
Motoko Arai is an award-winning science fiction author in Japan. Translated by Chris Donner for the E-Journal from the 11/12/06 Nihon Kiin's Go Weekly.

GO CALENDAR

February 10-11: Princeton, NJ
New Jersey Open
Rick Mott rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu 609.466.1602

February 10: Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo's 6th tournament
http://voltar.org/kgc/tourney
Ben Schooley benjaminschooley@hotmail.com 269.672.7466

February 17-18: Sarasota, FL
Feng Yun Workshop
Dan Moise dan_moise@yahoo.com 941.284.6987

February 17: Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Chinese Week Go Open
11am - 6pm, onsite registration 9:30 - 10:30 Chinese Cultural Center
Quan Li quan52@gmail.com 602.326.7556
W Gundberg bill@azgoclub.org 480.429.0300

February 17: Boulder, CO
Rocky Mountain Winter Go Tournament
David Weiss dweiss51@yahoo.com 303.495.6352

February 17: Milwaukee, WI
Cream City Classic
Richard Hayes rhayes@wi.rr.com 414.967.1057

February 18: New York, NY
Master Player Lecture Series at The New York Go Center
Ron Snyder 7D:
http://nygocenter.org/master.html
Roy Laird nygc@usgo.org 212.223.0342

February 24-25: Los Angeles, CA
United States Youth Go Championship
Southern California Region
http://www.ocgoclub.com
Kevin Chao ocgoclub@ocgoclub.com 949.466.1479

March 4: New York, NY
New York Go Center Monthly Rating Tournament
http://nygocenter.org/070401.html
TD: Chuck Robbins nygc@usgo.org 212.223.0342

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

FREE MONEY (for the right people): If your name appears on the following list please contact treasurer@usgo.org to see how we can deal with your "Un-Cashed-Check": Landman, Howard, Baldridge, Ethan, Wong, David, Von Elbe, Aria, Williams, Russ, Boley, Jon, Cornett, Howard.
- Ulo Tamm, Treasurer (2/5)

USE IT OR LOSE IT: Notification to all those who still hold 2006 OZA Certificates, at this time those certificates are worth exactly 50% of face value, after 5/31/07, those certificates become worthless.
- Ulo Tamm, Treasurer (2/5)

PLAYERS WANTED: Roanoke, VA: Starting club in Roanoke VA and looking for players in my area. Please contact craiggarrett77@hotmail.com or call 540-297-1344 (1/29)

FOR SALE: 7 go books, all in excellent condition, $122.25 retail, just $80 for all (I pay shipping UPS ground). Contemporary Go Terms, Mastering the Basics, Making Good Shape and more. Email ctgreene@msn.com for full list. (1/29)

PLAYERS WANTED: Pikeville, NC: Go players wanted in the area of Pikeville/Goldsboro, NC if you are interested email cassady678894@hotmail.com (1/22)

PLAYERS WANTED: Metro DC: I am a new but enthusiatic player and am looking for people of any level inside the District of Columbia to play with. joel.schectman@gmail.com (1/22)

HS PLAYERS WANTED: Arizona: High School players in Arizona looking for other high school clubs to play against. Can also aid in forming a club, if you are thinking about it. Email rukamurugan@gmail.com (1/22)

CHINA GO CONTACTS WANTED: My wife and I will be traveling to China in two months to pick up a beautiful baby girl we are adopting. We're looking for go (wei-chi) contacts in Chongqing and Guangzhou, as part of learning more about Chinese culture so that we can talk about it intelligently with our daughter. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Jason Taff; jtaff@jburroughs.org (1/15)

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

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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.

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