American Go E-Journal » 2010 » January

THE TRAVELING BOARD: Go Behind Bars

Monday January 25, 2010

“I am 14 years into a 25 year sentence, and I am interested in starting a go club at the prison,” read the letter from K, forwarded to me at the American Go Foundation by Mark Rubenstein at AGA Member Services. Although our main work at the AGF focuses on children, we also offer full support for institutional settings as well. I sent K an information packet and an application for a class room starter set. Noticing the prison was here in Colorado, I also told him I would be willing to do a demonstration at the prison. Rubenstein also donated two playing sets, and a number of go magazines, but the package was refused by the prison, which had very specific guidelines about what they would accept. As K had mentioned wanting to start a program at the prison, I thought I might try contacting the education coordinator at the prison directly. So began the first of what would ultimately be six months worth of phone calls, letters, and requests to the Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood. I had given up on any chance of a program starting at the prison when I finally received a phone call from one of the education coordinators. He said he had a group of over 20 prisoners who kept asking him when the go teacher was going to come, so he finally decided to let me do a demonstration at the prison. I was also able to arrange for the prison to accept multiple playing sets for the program, and I was finally able to hand-deliver Rubenstein’s package of equipment and magazines as well.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I finally went to the prison. I had briefly worked with youth in a juvenile correctional facility a few years back, but Englewood is an adult prison, and a federal one at that. When I arrived, I was surprised at the size of the place. A guard told me they house 1,000 inmates there. I passed through multiple security screening points, with giant sliding metal grates, and went deep into the heart of the complex, where I was taken to an educational center in the prison and had a few minutes to set up before the 22 prisoners who had signed up for the program arrived. I finally met K in person, who thanked me profusely for arranging the demonstration. He and the other inmates were all polite, friendly, and very attentive. Three of the prisoners knew how to play already, and I was very pleased to see that they had a few volumes of Janice Kim’s Learn to Play series. None of them had ever played a game outside of the prison system though. The other 19 inmates were all first-timers, so I taught them how to play and then had them all play each other on 9×9 boards. I think the Education Coordinator was pleased to see all of the inmates immediately engaged in the game, and laughing as they discovered new things. After they had all played a game or two, I offered to do a simul with any five of them. They were quite excited by this, and everyone else gathered around the table where I was playing. I gave most of them a five stone handicap on the 9×9, and tried to show them some things while we were playing.

One of the men, T, had been playing for many years. He told me he had learned from a Japanese prisoner, at another prison. He had tried to show the others how to play, but hadn’t had too much luck. I played him even on the 9×9, and the other inmates all took immense pleasure in finally seeing T lose a game. After the first simul, I did a second one. This time I played both K and T on the 19×19 with a 9 stone handicap, and three newcomers on the 9×9 boards. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to come back often (or perhaps at all) I wanted very much to see if we could establish a rank for either of them. K thought he might be 17 kyu, T had no idea, but they both knew he was much stronger. T played a good game, and to our mutual delight, was able to force me to resign. Since he was within 9 stones of my rank of 1 kyu, I told him I thought he was about 9 kyu. I explained that each handicap stone was worth roughly ten points, and that from here on out he should try to give handicaps accordingly to the other inmates. If he won a game by 50 points, he should give five stones, and so forth. Hopefully the other players will be able to base their ranks off of his. My experience with many clubs has been that two things are critical for success: first, a group of beginners who are all learning together, and second, a handicap system that allows everyone to play fair games.

At the end of my three hours with the inmates, T surprised me by asking if it was possible to make a donation to the AGF. I told him we were funded entirely by donations, and would welcome one if he had the ability to give. I wasn’t expecting the prisoners to have any money, but one of the guards explained that the inmates work in the prison, and receive wages for it. I don’t know what crimes any of these men had committed, but I do know that a person doesn’t stop living once they are behind bars. I can think of no group that might better benefit from the qualities that go brings to our lives than prisoners. Perhaps learning how to play go will give them a non-violent forum to express themselves in, and they will be able to better themselves by learning how to communicate in this way. I also know that whatever a man’s crime, he should be able to play go if he wants to. They have chess and Scrabble in prison, they should have go too.
– Paul Barchilon is Vice President of the AGF; graphic by Mike Samuel

Share
Categories: Traveling Go Board
Share

GO SPOTTING: “Criminal Minds” TV Series

Monday January 25, 2010

A number of readers recently tipped us off to go showing up in the Criminal Minds television series. A police procedural drama focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself, Criminal Minds — which premiered in 2005 — featured go in the pilot. Screen grab from the “Extreme Aggressor” episode courtesy James G. McIlhargey.

Share
Categories: Go Spotting
Share

U.S. GO NEWS: Hu Wins Chi Tourney; Jujo Tourney Report; World Pair Go Deadline Weds; NAMT Qualifier Host Sites Sought

Monday January 25, 2010

HU WINS CHI TOURNEY: Thomas Hu 6d won the January 23 “The White and the Black” tournament in Chicago, IL. “A smallish tournament, but some great games,” reports TD Bob Barber. “A new player was Young Rhee 7d, who will be teaching at the brand new Go Center in nearby Arlington Heights. If we move the tourney, we may double attendance. Heady times in Chicago.” 26 players participated. Results: 1st Place Dan: HU, Thomas, 6d, 4-0; 1st Place High Kyu: RUBENSTEIN, Mark, 4k, 4-0; 1st Place Low Kyu: ZHANG, Chris, 33k, 4-0.

JUJO TOURNEY REPORT: Mingjiu Jiang 7P won the Jujo Jiang Ing Goe Tournament held January 9-10 in San Francisco, CA. Winner’s Report: 1st place: Mingjiu Jiang 7P (5-0); 2nd: Calvin Sun 7d (4-1); 3rd: Lu Wang 7d (3-2); 4th: Song Li 6d (3-2).
– reported by Chris Burg

WORLD PAIR GO DEADLINE WEDS: This Wednesday, January 27 is the deadline for registering for the World Pair Go qualifiers. “This is a high level competition, with airfare, room and board for one pair from North America at the end of March,” reports American Go Association President Allan Abramson. The qualifiers will include Canadian pairs. Abramson’s recent Members Memo included details; contact him at President@usgo.org

NAMT QUALIFIER HOST SITES SOUGHT: Beginning this year, the qualification tournament to select the 2011 Fujitsu Cup candidate will be the North American Masters tournament. The NAMT final is held at the annual U.S. Go Congress (LINK), which will be held in Colorado Spring, CO July 31-August 8. “We are now looking for clubs and people to host the NAMT qualifier tournaments around the country,” says AGA Tournament Coordinator Boris Bernadsky. Two sites are being sought in the west, two in the east and two in the central states; there will be two online tournaments as well. Anyone interested in hosting an NAMT qualifier can email Bernadsky at badukboris@gmail.com

Share
Categories: U.S./North America
Share

EUROPEAN GO NEWS: Hricova/Silt Czech Pair Champs; Li Ting Kansai Kiin 1-Dan; Diamond Sharp In Maidenhead; Hebsacker Hamburg Leads German League; Artem Tops Kill A-League; Liu 2p To Teach In Zurich; Metta Takes Trofeo

Monday January 25, 2010

HRICOVA/SILT CZECH PAIR CHAMPS: Jana Hricova and Ondrej Silt won the Czech Republic Pair Championship in Prague January 23-24, in which five pairs competed. Anna Prokopova and Jan Simara also finished at 3-1, but lost the mutual game. Ondrej Kruml swept the side event, topping 37 participants. Click here for results. David LeBaDuy won all five in the childrens tourney with 13 kids. – Peter Dijkema

LI TING KANSAI KIIN 1-DAN: In what’s being hailed as “a real sensation for Austria,” Vienna’s Li Ting will begin playing as a professional for the Kansai Kiin on March 1. Li learned go at the age of 6 in Beijing and took a BA there, a MA in Tokyo and has been working on her Ph. D in Vienna — on the spread of Go in Europe – where she’s been living and teaching with her husband Hu Bin. Both were co-organizers of the 2007 European Go Congress, where Li placed 7th, and she’s continued to do well in Europe, sharing the Slovenian Open title in April 2009 with Hwang In-seong 7d. – Peter Dijkema, after http://www.goverband.at/

DIAMOND SHARP IN MAIDENHEAD: British Go Association President Jon Diamond 4d won the 19th Furze Platt tournament in Maidenhead on tie-break, ahead of David Ward 3d and Tim Hunt 3d on January 23 at Hitachi Europe Ltd’s headquarters. Five players won all three games. The team from Central London did best with a 75% overall result. Click here for results. – Peter Dijkema

HEBSACKER HAMBURG LEADS GERMAN LEAGUE: The Hebsacker team defeated Kieloben in Round 5 of the German team leagues, or Bundesliga, on January 14. Led by captain Tobias Berben, editor of the German Go Journal, Hebsacker drew just one match, won the rest and are now two matchpoints clear of ‘eternal’ champs Karlsruhe, while St. Pauli — also from Hamburg — moved into third place after their match with Frankfurt Dragons. Unexciting Elks from Darmstadt drew their fifth match in a row, with Igoist Berlin. With ten teams in a division, four more matches are up. – Peter Dijkema, based on dgob.de

ARTEM TOPS KILL A-LEAGUE: Former European Youth Champ Artem Kochanovskiy (‘artem92’, Ukraine) leads the KGS Insei League (KILL) A-league with a 9-4 (69%) record. Kochanovskiy has only lost to league teachers and has won three crucial games with early leader ‘j13’ (Finland), who is second with 18-10 (64%), including 1-7 to teachers Alex Dinerchtein (16-2) and Ilya Shiksin (17-5). Third is ‘danigabi’ from Argentina with 9-6 (60%); he’s lost once to both leaders and the other losses are to his teachers. In the B-league, ‘feature’ (Germany) 10-5 overtook ‘monestri’ (US) 6-3. Both are at 67%, but ‘feature’ played more games and they have not played each other yet. ‘Snowbars’ (Russia) is close behind with 10-6 (63%). All three have lost all their encounters with the trainers. In C-league ‘lemurov’ (Russia) avoided teaching games and leads 6-0, while US-players ‘Sinprejic’ 6-7 (including 0-4 to teachers) and ‘Banker’ 11-16 (0-5) are 4th and 5th. Leagues end at the end of each month. – Peter Dijkema

LIU 2P TO TEACH IN ZURICH: Liu Yuanbo 2P will be at the Zurich Go Club February 12-14 for simuls and a weekend workshop, reports swissgo.org. Liu is known as PeteLiu 2p, tartaric 9d and MilanMilan 9d on KGS. A week earlier, on Friday, February 5, Li Yue 5d (Madrid) will teach on the theme “attack to benefit”. – Peter Dijkema

METTA TAKES TROFEO: Carlo Metta 1d (Pisa) won the 5th Trofeo Higashitika held January 16-17 in Remanzacco, in the Udine province in northeast Italy. Metta won his first four and drew his last game with Sandro Poldrugo 1k (Triest), who finished second. Radovan Golja 3d (Ljubljana – Slovenia) 3-2 finished 3rd in a field of 22. Only Frederico Forte 16k (Pisa) won all five rounds. Click here for results.

Share
Categories: Europe
Share

WORLD GO NEWS: Japanese Surge In The Nongshim Cup

Monday January 25, 2010

JAPANESE SURGE IN THE NONGSHIM CUP: The Japanese, who in recent years haven’t survived past the second round of the Nongshim Cup have made it through to the third round this year. Hane Naoki 9P — Japan’s last player — pulled out a win on January 22nd and then defeated Park Yeonghun 9P of Korea. The Nongshim is a win-and-continue team event between five member teams from China, Japan, and Korea. The Japanese and Chinese teams have each won only once in Nonshim’s ten-year history, with Korea winning the other eight titles. The Koreans started out strong as usual, when Kim Jiseok  6P won the first three games, defeating two Japanese: Yamashita Keigo 9P and Takao Shinji 9P. Then Xie He 7P of China took over, winning five games before being stopped by Hane. The Koreans are also down to a single player, Lee Changho 9P, while the Chinese still have three. Hane’s next game will be against Liu Xing 7P of China in early March. The other Chinese players are Chang Hao9P and Gu Li 9P. Sources: Go News, GoGameWorld, Sensei’s Library, JustPlayGo

Share
Categories: World
Share

EUROPEAN GO NEWS: Groenen Leads Dutch Champs At Halfway Mark; Marz Masters Potsdamer Panda; Dickhut Repeats As NRW-Meister; Belfast Players Dominate Irish Championship Weekender

Monday January 18, 2010

GROENEN LEADS DUTCH CHAMPS AT HALFWAY MARK: Only Geert Groenen 6d (The Hague) was undefeated after the first weekend of the Dutch Championships at the European Go Center (EGC) in Amsterdam January 16-17. Groenen was the only 6-dan able to stop 5-dan Peter Brouwer’s winning streak. Brower (Amsterdam) had defeated three 6-dans in a row, including defending Dutch Champion Merlijn Kuin, who also lost to former insei Emil Nijhuis 6d. The Dutch title tournament is an 8-round final with 16 players over two weekends in January. The finals continue on January 30-31, when the ladies and youth titles are also at stake. On Board One, Nijhuis will be the first to try to stop Groenen, while another interesting pairing this weekend will be between former Dutch Champions Frank Janssen – 4-time winner — and 3-time winner Kuin. “Usually we meet during the second weekend,” Janssen told the E-Journal. This time, however, instead of Board 1, they’ll meet on Board 6, as Janssen won only one game and was paired up. Four top boards are being broadcast every round by EuroGoTV, which will publish a booklet about the Dutch Championships with 10 commented games by Guo Juan 5P. – Peter Dijkema; photo: Peter Brouwer wins his way up the rankings. – by Judith van Dam

MARZ MASTERS POTSDAMER PANDA: German Go Federation (DGoB) President Michael Marz 3d from Marburg won the first Postdamer Panda January 16-17 in Potsdam, despite missing the first round. Marz won all his four games and stayed ahead of Judith Conradi 2d and Robert Deutschmann 2d (both of Berlin), who scored 3-2. Stefan Leon, Michael Motejat, Conny Pohle, Christoph Star and Anne Böttger also made the winner’s podium with their 4-1 results. The tournament attracted 55, who also came for two lectures on computer go and a demonstration game of man against machine on a 37×37 board. Click here for results. –Peter Dijkema,

DICKHUT REPEATS AS NRW-MEISTER: NordRhein-Westfalen state Champion Franz-Josef Dickhut 6d belatedly defended his title on January 16-17 in Lippstadt in a round-robin of six players battling for the 2009 Meister title. Matthias Terwey 4d and Lukas Krämer 4d shared second place. And with a full calendar of tourneys almost every weekend in Germany this year, the 2010 NordRhein-Westfalen title may well wind up being contested in early 2011. Dickhut’s major titles include several German Championships and the European Master at the 2008 European Go Congress in Leksand, Sweden. – Peter Dijkema, based on dgob.de

BELFAST PLAYERS DOMINATE IRISH CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKENDER: Two players from Belfast dominated the first weekend of the Irish Championship League, held January 16-17 in Dublin. Winning all four games were defending champion Ian Davis 1d and newcomer James Hutchinson 1k. In second place were John Gibson 1k and Eoghan Barry 3k. With three games each left to play “anything could still happen in the race for the final,” says Davis. Click here for latest results.

Share
Categories: Europe
Share

WORLD GO NEWS: Xie He Wins The First Round In The Nongshim Cup; Cho Hyeyeon Takes First Game In Women’s Myeongin Title Match; Cho U Goes One Up In Kisei; Korean Amateur Teen Upsets Lee Changho In BC Card Cup

Monday January 18, 2010

XIE HE WINS THE FIRST ROUND IN THE NONGSHIM CUP: China’s Xie He 7P defeated Japan’s Iyama Yuta 9P by resignation in the first round of the 11th Nongshim Cup. This is the second stage of the three-stage tournament, a team competition between Korea, China, and Japan. As players from each team lose, they are eliminated from competition until no other opponents remain. Korea has dominated this competition since it started in 2000, winning 8 out of 10 Nongshim Cups.

CHO HYEYEON TAKES FIRST GAME IN WOMEN’S MYEONGIN TITLE MATCH:

Cho Hyeyeon 8P got off to a good start in her challenge of Rui Naiwei  9P for the Korean Women’s Myeongin (J: Meijin) title, winning the first game on January 15th by resignation. Rui has held this title since 2000 except for losing it in 2002 to Cho. Since then Cho, who is more than twenty years younger than Rui, has challenged four more times without success. Rui, who continues to dominate the women’s titles in Korea, currently holds both of the current titles, the Myeongin and the Women’s Kuksu, which she has held six times since 2000. Cho has held the Women’s Kuksu twice, in 2003 and 2004. – Bill Cobb, from Go News, Sensei’s Library, GoGameWorld

CHO U GOES ONE UP IN KISEI:  On January 14-15, Cho U 9P won the first game in his challenge of Yamashita Keigo 9P for the Kisei title. Not only is this one of the top seven titles in Japan that Cho has never won, he’s never even challenged for the Kisei before. Yamashita has held it five times, including the last four years. Traditionally, the first game of this title match is played outside of Japan; this time it was in Taipei, Taiwan. The next game in the best-of-seven-games title match will be in Nagoya, Japan, on January 27-28. – Bill Cobb from Go News, Sensei’s Library, GoGameWorld

KOREAN AMATEUR TEEN UPSETS LEE CHANGHO IN BC CARD CUP: Han Taehee, a 17-year-old Korean amateur 6-dan, defeated Lee Changho 9p by resignation in the first round of the 2nd BC Card Cup, an enormous international event. There are forty players from Korea, including five amateurs, twenty-one from China, including Gu Li 9P who won this title last year, but only two from Japan and one from Taiwan. Happily for the Japanese, who continue to struggle in international events, both their representatives won their first round games on January 16th: Iyama Yuta 9P defeated 6-dan amateur Na Hyun of Korea, and Yamada Kimio 9P defeated Zhong Wenjing 5P of China. Yamada faces Yoo Changhyuk 9P of Korea next and Iyama’s opponent will be Niu Yutian 7P of China.- from Go News, Sensei’s Library, GoGameWorld & JustPlayGo.com

 

 

Share
Categories: Events/Tournaments
Share

EUROPEAN GO NEWS: Pal Balogh Leads Pandanet Rankings; Terwey Takes Essen; Florescu Wins Jubilee Jac In Bucharest; Fan Sweeps Lille Pandanet

Monday January 11, 2010

PAL BALOGH LEADS PANDANET RANKINGS: Pal Balogh leads the current Pandanet rankings at January 1 with 55 points from five tournaments. In the top ten, players from Central Europe dominate: Ondrej Silt with 41 points (5, CZ), Christian Pop 37 (3, RO), Mero Csaba 36 (4, HU), Nikola Mitic 33 (4, RS) and Jan Simara 30 (4, CZ). Young Vanessa Wong (UK) shares 7th with veteran Vladimir Danek (CZ) 17 and Herman Hiddema (NL) shared 9th with Zou Jin (DE) 15. The Pandanet season runs until Easter, closing with the Paris Open, which leaves just four events to go. Click here for the full table.

TERWEY TAKES ESSEN: Matthis Terwey 4D (l in photo at right) of Münster won in Essen on SOS in the opener of the year January 9-10 in Germany, ahead of Lukas Krämer 4D (Bonn), who defeated him in the last round. Despite the snow, a field of 79 turned out. Only Ingmar Schwarz 3k of Dortmund went undefeated 5-0. Click here for results.

FLORESCU WINS JUBILEE JAC IN BUCHAREST: Ion Florescu 6d edged out Cornel Burzo 6d and Cristian Pop 7d in the December 11-12 Japanese Ambassador Cup, held in Bucharest’s National Theatre. All three are from Romania and were former insei in Japan. The special event was organized to celebrate the jubilee anniversary of relations with Japan. Although this year the event was open to foreign guests, just a handful participated, including three Hungarians –Csaba Mero 6d finished fourth with 4-2 and Pal Balogh 6d fifth with 3-3 — two Greek, one Dutch, French and Swiss in the field of 135. A detailed report with videos is available in the news archive (dated Fri 11 Dec) on EuroGoTv.com. Click here for results. photo: winner Ion Florescu (r) with Pal Balogh; photo by Judith van Dam.

FAN SWEEPS LILLE PANDANET: Fan Hui 8d comfortably swept the Pandanet in Lille December 12-13. Female players dominated the rest of the podium, with Li Ting 6d from Vienna (Austria) losing only to him and French Champion Zhang Yanqi to them both. French Youth Champ Thomas Debarre 5d lost to the top three to finish fourth. From the best seven, only young (14y) Vanessa Wong (4d, 6th) didn’t meet Fan. Local hero Lucien Laks 2d had the honor to face Fan for his last game. Despite excellent high-speed rail connections to both Belgium and London, only a few foreigners were among the 75 participants: a handful of Belgians and 2 Brits (Vanessa and her family-member Julius 2d). In Lille many did well with 4-1, but only Sylvain Benesteau 11k (Paris) and local Xavier Seguin 18k remained undefeated in all five rounds. Click here for results.
– reports by Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, from reports on EuroGoTV.com

CORRECTION: The MoGo games were held in Cadiz, southern Spain, not Barcelona, as reported last week. Thanks to Gregorio Morales, Spanish Go Association (AEGO) member and former President, for the catch.

Share
Categories: Europe
Share

U.S. GO NEWS: Peng Wins MGA Winter Tourney; Jujo Games Broadcast Live; AGHS School Teams Tourney; U.S. Congress Site Launched; Seattle Go Center Now Tax-Deductible; AGF Drive Nets Funds For Go Projects

Monday January 11, 2010

PENG WINS MGA WINTER TOURNEY: Haijing Peng 2D won the January 10 Massachusetts Go Association’s Winter Tournament in Somerville. 26 players ranging from 2 dan to 20 kyu participated. Winner’s report: 1st: Haijing Peng 2D; 2nd: Doug Franz 12k; 3rd: Eric Reid 4k. (reported by TD Eva Casey)

JUJO GAMES BROADCAST LIVE: The EJ team partnered with KGS to broadcast from last weekend’s Jujo Jiang Tournament in San Francisco, CA. “The top games of the Jujo tourney attracted hundreds of observers from all over the world,” reports KGS Senior Administrator Akane Negishi. “The last round got over 480 observers at one point, overall it was a great turn out! The EJ’s Chris Burg did a wonderful job as a recorder, keeping the audience excited and curious, and everything went very smoothly. Here at KGS we were very happy to see that many people enjoyed and appreciated the broadcasts.” See attached for the game record of the tournament’s top-board final round: look for more game records to be posted online soon.

AGHS SCHOOL TEAMS TOURNEY: Registration is now open for the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) School Team Tournament. Modeled on the team tournaments featured in Hikaru no Go, the popular event is now in its 9th year; over 200 youth, from 70 different schools, entered last year. All games will be played on the KGS Go Server, and the deadline to enter is Feb. 2. The AGA and the AGF are providing $3,000 in gift certificates distributed among every team that completes the tournament, with extra prizes for the winners in several different brackets. Teams can be formed by any school with at least three go players, and by home-schooled kids who want to play together. Youth go clubs in alternative schools or part time schools are also allowed, as are teams from youth at public library clubs. The competition begins on the first weekend of March and continues for 8 weeks afterwards. Rounds lasts for two weeks, during which time each player on a team must complete one game against their assigned opponent. For more information, and to register, go to the AGHS website.

U.S. CONGRESS SITE LAUNCHED: The website for the 2010 U.S. Go Congress has been launched, reports AGA webmaster Steve Colburn. This year’s U.S. Go Congress runs July 31 – August 8, 2010 in Colorado Springs, CO at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

SEATTLE GO CENTER NOW TAX-DEDUCTIBLE: After a three-year effort by the Seattle Go Center board and staff, the Seattle Go Center can now receive tax deductible contributions. “Just before the holidays, the Center received notification that IRS had approved a status change to a 501(c)(3) public charity,” reports Go Center organizer Deborah Niedermeyer. “At a celebratory year-end fundraiser, the Go Center raised $2800 in donations. An additional $2100 will come from matching grants by donors’ employers.” photo: Deborah Niedermeyer with Board member John Hudson. report/photo by Brian Allen.

AGF DRIVE NETS FUNDS FOR GO PROJECTS: The American Go Foundation’s annual fundraising campaign is in high gear. “Seventy three donors have answered the call,” says AGF President Terry Benson. “We’re especially grateful to the sixteen current and former AGA members who gave for the first time during such challenging economic times.” The funds are needed to support an increased level of activity: the AGF sent more than 120 free Classroom Starter Sets to new youth programs in schools, libraries, after-school programs, 30% more than last year. Business is also picking up in The AGF Teacher Store, which opened last year with a $20,000 inventory; traffic has been so brisk that another shipment is on the way. More new programs mean greater use of matching funds, equipment grants and other resources, so the AGF is counting on more donations before the drive is over. “We’re trying to fill the gap caused by the loss of funding from the Ing Foundation. We need support to keep building the American community and maybe even find the next Michael Redmond,” Benson said. “The web makes it easy to help.”

Share
Categories: U.S./North America
Share

WORLD GO NEWS: Korean Teen Park Junghwan Wins Third Title Match; Iyama Yuta Takes Clear Lead In Honinbo League

Monday January 11, 2010

KOREAN TEEN PARK JUNGHWAN WINS THIRD TITLE MATCH: Park Junghwan 5P (l) won’t be twenty until 2013, but he is already becoming a major player. Last year he won two Korean titles, the Siptan (Judan) Cup and the Chunwon (Tengen), and he has just successfully defended the Sibdang against challenger Lee Changho 9P with a score of 2-1. Lee won the first game of the match, but Park took the other two on January 9th and 10th. In the unusual structure of the Siptan, as last year’s winner, Park was seeded into the third round, so he had to win two games just to get into the title match.

IYAMA YUTA TAKES CLEAR LEAD IN HONINBO LEAGUE: In the eight-player round robin league to decide the next challenger for the Honinbo title in Japan, Meijin Iyama Yuta 9P has a 4-0 record with three games to go. Everyone else has at least one defeat. The closest competitor at this point is Yamashita Keigo 9P with a 3-1 record. He and Iyama have not yet met in the league. Yamashita currently holds both the Kisei and the Tengen titles. Iyama is Meijin and also won the Ryusei last year.
– Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld, Sensei’s Library

Share