REDMOND
CUP GETS UNDERWAY: The Redmond Cup, the longest youth
tournament in North America, got underway last Sunday online. The
senior division has ten players, including five U.S. Youth Go
Championship (USYGC) finalists -- William Zhou 7d, Jimmy Guo 6d, Ricky
Zhao 6d, Cherry Shen 6d, and Lawrence Ku 6d -- who will also be playing
this weekend in New Jersey for the chance to represent the US at the
World Youth Go Championship (WYGC). In addition, two Canadians --
Gansheng Shi 6d and Patrick Lung 5d -- are also playing in the Redmond
Cup, making it highly like that all the games will be very fierce
battles. In the junior division, there are five USYGC finalists --
Calvin Sun 7d, Hugh Zhang 6d, Christopher Kiguchi 5d, Maverick Lin 4d,
and Sudhir Vel 3d -- as well as Colorado USYGC regional winner Nathan
Harwit 4K. These rising stars will battle it out for a chance to travel
free to the US Go Congress this year in Portland, Oregon, where the two
top players
from each division will compete for the largest cash award of any youth
tournament in the US. The standings can be seen online
and will be updated periodically.
- reported by Lawrence Ku
PASADENA
BESTS SANTA MONICA IN TRAFFIC CUP: Pasadena's Yu-Go Club
team bested the Santa Monica Go Club team by one point in Southern
California's first ever Traffic Cup on May 17. Held in the Reiyukai
America Association offices in Pasadena, the two-round handicap contest
included 2-0 performances by Pasadena's Gary Fresquez, 9k, and Luis
Armendariz, 14k, and Santa Monica's Janek Klawe, 3k, while Santa
Monica's David Dows, 1k, and Ryan Downing, 2d, each won their single
games. Joe Walters, Luke Gordon and Alf Mikula also played for
Pasadena, and Andrew Okun, Samantha Davis and Terry McIntyre for Santa
Monica. It is hoped the inter-club team contest, put together by
Walters, will be the start of a series of
such match-ups between Southern California clubs. Other clubs
interested in participating can get in touch with Walters or Okun at andy@okun.name.
Photo: Terry McIntyre v. Luis
Armendariz; photo by Andrew Okun
9 PROS CONFIRMED
FOR U.S. GO CONGRESS: Feng Yun 9P and James Kerwin 1P
are the latest professional go players to confirm their attendance at
this year's U.S. Go Congress, bringing the total to nine. Feng Yun, the
second woman to ever become a 9-dan pro, became a professional after 3
years of study and founded the first 9-dan school in North America, In
New Jersey, where she resides. Kerwin, a student of Iwamoto Sensei
since 1973, was the first American to achieve a professional ranking in
the Nihon Kiin and has taught extensively throughout the the U.S.
and
Canada. Click
here for the complete list and here
to register for the Congress.
BRISCOE TOPS
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPRING GO TOURNEY: Andrew Briscoe 3d won
the May 3 Rocky Mountain Spring Go Tournament. Players ranging in age
from 11 to 71 played at Colorado Technical University in Colorado
Springs, Colorado. With many go clubs now active along the front range
of the Rocky Mountains, each is growing a group of youthful players who
are challenging the old-timers at all levels. Winner's report: Section
A: 1st: Andrew Briscoe 3d, 2nd: David Weiss 3d; Section B: 1st: Brian
Kenyon 1k, 2nd: Aeones DeVeyra 2k; Section C: 1st: Nathan Herwit 5k,
2nd: Albert Hwang 7k; Section D: 1st: Steve Ingham 9k, 2nd: Brad
Edwards 14k.
- reported by Jim Michali TD Springs Go Club. Photo
clockwise: Eric Sears vs Brad Edwards, Nathan
Herwit vs Amy Chen
GO
REPRESENTS AT CHI ANIME CONVENTION: The Evanston Go Club
(EGC) again taught hundreds of people to play go over the May 17-18
weekend at Anime Central (ACEN) (left), held at
the Hyatt Recency O'Hare in Chicago, IL. "This is our favorite event of
the year!" said EGC President Mark Rubenstein. "This is our fourth year
at ACEN, and it's always a lot of fun. We teach mostly one-on-one, and
we also do classroom-style events during the day. At the end of the day
on Saturday we close with a 9x9 tournament. These kids are great,
nearly all of them just learned to play go the same day, and they come
to the tournament and have a blast! We would like to say a very special
‘Thank You!' to Yellow Mountain for donating 50 go sets for
us to give away." Check out more pictures by clicking
here and clicking the New Photos link at the bottom of the
page.
JENNIE SHEN
WORKSHOP FILLING UP: "There are still a few openings for
the Jennie Shen 2P workshop in Kalamazoo the weekend of June 27-29,"
reports organizer Jason Preuss. The workshop will include lectures,
game play and analysis, and a simul with Shen, a Chinese pro. Click
here for details or email Preuss at preuss@jasnetworks.net
for more information.
N.A.
FUJITSU SELECTION CHALLENGED: Questions are being raised
about the selection process for this year's North American Fujitsu
Qualifier. After Mingjiu Jiang 7P won the Qualifier in February, it was
discovered that he should not have participated because of an AGA rule
that limits players to representing the U.S. or North America in two
international tournaments each year; he represented North America in
the Ing Cup in April and - along with Jie Li 9d, will represent North
America at the Toyota Denso World Oza Cup later this year. Fujitsu
runner-up Jie Li 9d was set to take Jiang's place but when concerns
were raised by the Fujitsu's organizers and sponsors, American Go
Association Board Chairman Roy Laird reinstated Jiang as the U.S.
representative to the Fujitsu, the oldest of the current international
professional tournaments. Jiang lost in the first round to Japan's Kono
Rin 9P. Li has challenged Laird's decision based on the AGA's 2-event
rule and because Laird did not consult with the full AGA Board before
acting. The Board met yesterday and after lengthy discussion issued a
statement noting that Laird, "faced with a situation that he honestly
and reasonably believed required urgent action. attempted to act in the
best interest of the AGA when he reversed the disqualification of Mr.
Jiang in the recent Fujitsu Qualifier."The Board added that it
"disapproves of the fact that Mr. Laird acted without attempting to
consult with the whole Board first, and we trust that such
unauthorized action will not happen again." Laird has apologized
privately and publicly to both Li and the Board. Click
here for Jie Li's Open Letter and here
for Laird's
response.
CORRECTION:
The photo beneath Lee ChangHo's last week was not Park YeongHoon
(right) but TaeGon Song (who is also a previous Chunwon title holder).
Our apologies for the error and thanks to John Lee and Hwa-Seo Park for
catching it.
GO CALENDAR:
Baltimore, Palo Alto & Newton
May 24-25: Baltimore, MD: 35th Maryland Open
World Mind Sport Qualifier
Keith Arnold hlime81@comcast.net
410.788.3520
May 24: Palo Alto, CA: Bay Area Go Players
Association Monthly
AGA Ratings Tournament
Steve Burrall sburrall@comcast.net
916.688.2858
May 24: Newton, MA: Boston
Open (NAIM Qualifier)
Ke Lu go.boston@yahoo.com
617.969.1959
JAPAN FIELDS
ALL-STAR TEAM FOR WMSG: The Nihon Kiin and Kansai Kiin
have put together an all-star team for the 2008 WMSG, reports Thomas
Hsiang. "Twenty pros and four amateurs make up the team," Hsiang tells
the EJ. On the pro side, the players include twelve men -- Yamashita,
Takao, Kono, Kobayashi (Satoru), Hane, Yoda, Hisosaka, Imamura, Mimura,
Yamada, Sakai, Iyama - and eight women - - Umezawa, Suzuki (Ayumi),
Aoki, Konishi, Koyama, Tsukuda, Yashiro, Manami. "This is a very young
roster that includes three ‘seniors' in Kobayashi, Yoda, and
Umezawa, mixed with all of the current title holders of
Japanese
nationality," adds Hsiang. "This shows that the Japanese are
serious about trying to do well in WMSG." The amateur players on the
team are not yet known.
TAKAO
TAKES FIRST GAME IN HONINBO TITLE MATCH: Takao
Shinji (left) 9P defeated Hane
Naoki 9P in the first game of their Honinbo
title match by 3.5 points on May 14-15. Takao is hoping to
extend his reign as Honinbo to a fourth straight year since he took the
title from Cho
U 9P in 2004. Cho got revenge by taking away Takao's Meijin
title last Fall. Takao also holds the Judan title, which he
took from Cho
Chikun 9P in three straight games earlier this year. Hane
currently holds the Okan
title, from an event that is restricted to members of the
Nagoya branch (central Japan) of the Nihon
Kiin. He
won the NHK
Cup last year and was Kisei
in 2004 and 2005. The second game in the Honinbo title match is
scheduled for May 27-28.
IYAMA
YUTA VS. CHO U IN DAIWA CUP: Iyama
Yuta 7P, the twenty year old who set records as a teen, is
matched against Cho
U (right) 9P, one of the top Japanese
players who holds five national titles at the moment, in the Daiwa
Cup Grand Championship, which is played on the Internet.
Iyama does hold the Shinjin
O (King of the New Stars) title, though he lost out in the
preliminary rounds of this year's event. The second round of the Daiwa
included a husband-wife match back in April: Kobayashi
Izumi 6P, holder of the Daiwa Women's Cup title, played her
husband Cho U. Cho won and then defeated Kono
Rin 9P to reach the finals.
IYAMA
HOLDING LEAD IN MEIJIN LEAGUE: Iyama
Yuta (left) 7P, at twenty the youngest
member of the nine player Meijin
League, is holding on to his slight lead as the eight game
round robin match passes the halfway mark. Iyama now has a score of
4-1, and all the other players have lost at least two games. The only
other player with four wins is Kobayashi
Satoru 9P at 4-2, whom Iyama has yet to play. Iyama's other
remaining opponents are Yoda
Norimoto 9P and Cho
Chikun 9P--a challenging list. Ko
Iso 7P is only one year older than Iyama, but his record is
now 2-3, so his chances are very slim. Several players have two losses.
JIMMY
CHA NOTCHES 5 WINS IN KOREAN TOURNEY: Jimmy Cha (right)
4P kicked off the GG Auction Cup with a five-game winning streak before
falling to Lee Minjin 5P, one of the
top current Korean women pros. The
Auction Cup is a win-and-continue tournament between twelve
Korean women pros and twelve senior (over-50) male pros. Last year the
women were quite successful until the last senior, Cho
Hunhyun 9P stepped in, defeating several female players
before finally losing, and the women won the Cup's first edition. The
first senior male up this year was Jimmy
(Minsoo) Cha 4P, who for many years lived in California and
was very active in US go before moving back to Korea a few years ago.
Cha managed to defeat five of the women before losing by a mere
half-point to Lee
Minjin 5P, one of the top current Korean women pros. She won
three games in a row to win the women's international team event, the Jeongganjang
Cup, in April and was in the finals of the women's Kuksu
in March, losing 1-2 to Park
Jieun 9P. She defeated Rui
Naiwei 9P to get into those finals. Park Yeongchan 3P is the
next senior male in line to challenging Lee in the Auction Cup.
TARANU
WINS ROMANIA CUP: Catalin Taranu (left)
7d won the Cup of Romania tournament, held May 17-18 in Poiana Brasov.
Dragos Bajenaru 6d took second and Lucian Corlan 3rd in the 18th
edition of the country's second main national tournament. Two dozen top
players, qualified from semifinals, participated in the event, which
started in 1991. The event's first winner was Lucretiu Calota, but
Cristian Pop 7d has won it five times. Taranu will represent Romania at
the KPMC International Amateur Baduk Championships in Korea later this
year.
- reported by Marilena Bara,
Romanian correspondent for the E-Journal
WORLD
AMATEUR PLAYER PROFILES: Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala
Players from 70 countries and territories will compete in the 29th
annual World Amateur Go Championship that start a week from today and
run May 29-31 in Tokyo, Japan. The American Go E-Journal will once
again provide full live coverage of the 8-round tournament, posting
daily
updates on the web and in the EJ, including news, features, photos and
game records from the playing venue at the Nihon Ki-in. We've been
profiling WAGC players and this week we're pleased to introduce the
players from Argentina, Ecuador and Guatemala. All profiles published
thus far are online.
- Chris Garlock
ARGENTINA:
Fernando Aguilar (right) 7d is a 48-year-old
civil engineer from Santa Fe who won the 2007 Iberoamerican Tournament.
He's married with two children and also does social work related with
habitat, especially with indigenous peoples. His favorite thing about
go is that "It
provides
a sense of equilibrium" and he adds that "I hope that go-playing
activities will serve as means for people understanding."
ECUADOR:
Sergio Quevedo 1k is a 21-year-old student from Quito who's been
playing for two years. His favorite thing about go is that it's "magic."
GUATEMALA:
Fifty-four year-old Hector Paiz Castillo (left)
1k is a civil
engineer
who's completed many housing projects in Guatemala. He's
married with five
children and his hobbies include
dancing. His favorite thing about go is its' "immense possibilities."
GO
PHOTOS: Old Stones: Former AGA President Phil Straus (r)
and E-Journal editor Chris Garlock play go in an ancient Utah canyon
last week. Photo by Joe Pacheck. Got go photos? Email them us at
journal@usgo.org!
YOUR MOVE:
Readers Write
WANT ADS WORK: " Please take down my advertisement in the E-Journal for
sale of the collection of Go World journals," writes Ed, "They've
successfully sold and your role in finding them a good home is really
appreciated."
GO QUIZ:
Remembering Chengdu
There are six former Congress Directors registered so far for this
year's U.S. Go Congress in Portland. They are, in chronological order -
Dave Weimer (7th Rochester), Jean de Maiffe (8th Salem), Ken Koester
(10th Arlington), Keith Arnold (17th York), Bob Barber (18th Chicago)
and Steve Stringfellow (21st Tacoma). I am sure the number will rise
considerably between now and the event. Congrats to winner Phil
Waldron, selected at random from those answering correctly.
THOUGHTS ELSEWHERE: Instead of worrying about a quiz answer this week,
I think it is appropriate for us to turn our thoughts to the earthquake
victims around Chengdu, China. Daniel Chou 7d informs me than Chengdu
is known as the "City of Qi" or "City of Chess." All games in China
using turn- based movement of pieces share this root term - including
Weiqi and Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). Chengdu is the birthplace of current
China top player Gu Li 9P, as well as noted female player Kong
Xiangming 8P.
- Quizmaster Keith Arnold
GO
CLASSIFIED
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with nearly
13,000 go-players worldwide! Classified
ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us 
now
at journal@usgo.org
GO
SET FOR SALE: set purchased 55 years ago in Japan (left).
With legs, 16.5x16.5x12". 36 pounds. Could use some cosmetic work; see
photo. $300 includes shipping; negotiable. Contact: whitton.norris@mcritical.com
(5/19)
GO
PLAYERS WANTED: Juneau, Alaska. email Charles McKenry at: kyouhon_chuck@yahoo.com
(5/19)
GO
PLAYERS AND/OR CLUBS WANTED: Endicott, NY: email Trevor Douglas; chaos56459@gmail.com
(5/5)
GO
PLAYERS WANTED: Greenville, NC, near ECU. Contact: o.marrow@gmail.com
(4/28)
GO
PLAYERS WANTED: Tallahassee, FL: Looking for players in the Tallahassee
area. Contact Noel at emmalark@comcast.net
(4/21)
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
Professionals: Yilun Yang 7P; Alexandr Dinerchtein 3P; Fan Hui 2P
Contributors: Paul Barchilon (Youth Editor); Lawrence Ku (U.S. West
Coast Reporter); Brian Allen (U.S. West Coast Photo Editor); Peter
Dijkema (Dutch/European Correspondent); Marilena Bara (Romania/European
Correspondent); Ian Davis (Ireland Correspondent)
Columnists: James Kerwin 1P; Kazunari Furuyama; Rob van Zeijst; Roy
Laird; Peter Shotwell
Translations: Chris Donner (Japan); Bob McGuigan (Japan); Matt Luce
(China)
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.
YEARBOOK
SURVEY: "Great quality, great value, and a great member
perk!" How about "a section with strong players describing the way they
actually thought about a game in progress"? "Include pdf files of out
of print issues of the American Go Journal." Tell us what YOU think of
the new American Go Yearbook and you could win a prize! Click
here to take our brief survey. Thomas A. DiMattia is this
week's winner. The 124-page compilation is the biggest Yearbook yet,
featuring the best of last year's world go coverage in the E-Journal,
including major event reports, photos, youth and world go news and a
Yearbook CD that includes every 2007 E-Journal, including all game
records.
presence was essential." Redmond will compete under the same conditions
as other team participants, including sharing the expense of
participating. In other WMSG news, more than 70 donors have now
contributed more than $14,000 to support the U.S. team. "Won't you help
us reach $15,000?" asks Laird;