Korea’s Lee Sedol 9P (r) will play China’s Chang Hao 9P in the BC Card Cup finals. Lee defeated Kim Kiyoung 5P on Saturday and Chang defeated Park Junghwan 7P on Sunday. Last year’s first BC Card Cup title match favored China, with Gu Li defeating Korea’s Cho Hanseung 3-1. This year’s title match, which begins on April 25th, will undoubtedly prove to be a very exciting series with two very strong players battling it out.
– JustPlayGo; click here for more photos and game records
American Go E-Journal » 2010 » March
Lee Sedol & Chang Hao To Battle For BC Card Cup
Monday March 29, 2010
“Let My People GO”: Fragman Posts Jewish-related Go Items
Monday March 29, 2010
Just in time for Passover, Shavit Fragman has posted several go items related to the Jewish holiday, including The Go Seder (Pessach) Plate, a Happy Pessach (Passover) card and Let My People GO – New findings on GO Baduk Weiqi history, which explores the linkage between Moses’ exodus from Egypt and the game of go. Fragman is President of the Mind Go Club, an AGA chapter in Israel.
EUROPEAN GO NEWS: Hwang Tops Shusaku Cup In Romania; Bonn Tenukis To Win: Mazurek-Soldan Pair Champs: Polish Summer Camp Moved To August: Sankin Collects Japanese Council Cup In St Petersburg: Silt Sweeps Linz: Kachanovskyj Wins Kiev: Artem’s Lead Dwindles In KGS League
Monday March 29, 2010
HWANG TOPS SHUSAKU CUP IN ROMANIA: Hwang In-Seong 8d, undefeated in six rounds, swept a very strong field at the Shusaku Cup in Tirgu Mures, Romania March 26-28. Next were Catalin Taranu 7d, Ilya Shjiksin 7d and Christian Pop 7d, atop a field of 150 in the main event. Younger double-digit level players were invited to the Junior Cup. Click here for the full results. Chinese pro’s were invited for teaching and game comments and EuroGoTV to relay games from the top boards.
– Peter Dijkema, from EuroGoTV.com
GERMAN NEWS: BONN TENUKIS TO WIN: Consistent with their name and track record, the Bonn-based Tenuki Club’s team won the 2009 NordRhein-Westfalen state title last week in Detmold. The club had won the 2009-10 Rhein-Maas (international) league earlier this year, also playing out of town.
– Peter Dijkema, from EuroGoTV
POLISH NEWS: MAZUREK-SOLDAN PAIR CHAMPS: Although TD Marek Kaminski had hired a huge hall at Nature University last weekend in Poznan for the Polish Pair Go Championships, barely enough pairs showed up to fill the winner’s podium. Katarzyna Mazurek 2k and Polish Champ Leszek Soldan 5d took the title, while Klaudia Kleczkowska 4k and Krzysztof Dziolak 1d brought back home silver medals. The bronze pair took last place. Click here for a gallery of photos by the TD. That same weekend, the Poznan club promoted go at a national Fantasy meeting in town.
POLISH SUMMER CAMP MOVED TO AUGUST: The traditional July Polish Summer School has been rescheduled to August 8-22. Click here for details in English and links to a gallery of photos. PABICH TO YOUNG MASTERS LEAGUE: Mariusz Pabich 2d from Pabianice won the March 20-21 qualifier in Lódz and moves to the Young Masters League, 2 points clear of six youngsters with three wins each. BEREZA BEAT ALL AT MIKULÓW: On the same weekend, Jan Bereza 2k swept the event in Mikulów 4-0, topping the 10-player field.
– Peter Dijkema, Marek Kaminski and Vit Brunner (and EGD)
SANKIN COLLECTS JAPANESE COUNCIL CUP IN ST PETERSBURG: Timur Sankin 5d took the Japanese Council Cup March 20 in St Petersburg, Russia, winning all six rounds. Ivan Kulikovskij 4d was second. Also with 5-1 results: Makar ‘killer’ Zabijakov 5k and Anton Pleshakov 13k in a field of 59. Click here for full results.
– Peter Dijkema, after EGD
SILT SWEEPS LINZ: Czech Champ Ondrej Silt easily swept the Linz tourney in Austria March 20-21, topping the table with a two-point margin over three Austrians. Wolfgang Kremes 2d (silver) and Lothar Spiegl 4d (bronze) also made the podium. In the field of 29, only local Ronald Schatz 5k had a 4-1 result.
– Peter Dijkema (EGD)
KACHANOVSKYJ WINS KIEV: Young Artem Kachanovskyj 6d (artem92 in KILL A-league) from Rivny scored a victory at the Viktor Tishenko Memorial in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on March 20-21, topping 44 players. Veteran Dmytro Jacenko 5d won 4-1 to take silver. Click here for full results.
– Peter Dijkema (EGD)
ARTEM’S LEAD DWINDLES IN KGS LEAGUE: Artem Kachanovskyj is hanging onto his lead in the KGS Insei League’s A-league by a thin 1% threat. His 89% wining record barely leads Fredrik Blomback’s 88%, attained since organizer Alex Dinerchtein introduced bonuses for those who play more. Danigabi follows at 81%. In division B last week leader Fedor added two wins (one over Dinerchtein) for 100% and Elvina Karlsberg is close behind with 95%. Remake from Sweden is third at 81%. In C-league, Texmurphy (Hungary) is on top with 112%, closely followed by DRhazar from Canada with 118%.
– Peter Dijkema, from insei-league.com
WORLD GO NEWS: Lee Changho Wins Kuksu; Rui Naiwei Sweeps Female Kuksu, Again; Takao Shinji Wins Daiwa Cup; Cho U 2-0 In Judan
Monday March 29, 2010
Lee Changho Wins Kuksu: It took Lee Changho 9P just 145 moves to wrap up his Kuksu title win on March 23. Lee defeated Hong Kipyo 4P by resignation in the fourth game of the 53rd Kuksu to handily win the series 3-1. This is the 10th time in his career that Lee Changho has held the Kuksu title and marks his 140th title win. The last time he won the Kuksu was in 2006.
– JustPlayGo
Rui Naiwei Sweeps Female Kuksu, Again: Rui Naiwei (Female Kuksu) defeated Cho Hyeyeon 8P by a stunning 11.5 points in the second round of the 15th Female Kuksu on March 24. Rui swept the best-of-three series 2-0 to win her seventh Kuksu title.
– JustPlayGo
Takao Shinji Wins Daiwa Cup: Takao Shinji 9P defeated Kono Rin 9P by half a point in the final game of the 3rd Daiwa Cup Grand Champion tournament on Saturday. This is Takao’s first Daiwa Cup Grand Champion title win; he has held the Daiwa Shoken Cup title twice, in 2006 and 2007. Takao Shinji has held 14 major titles in his career, including the Honinbo, Meijin, and the Judan.
– JustPlayGo
Cho U 2-0 In Judan: Cho U (Judan) defeated Yamashita Keigo (Tengen) by 1.5 points in the second round of the 48th Judan on March 25. Cho now leads the best-of- five series 2-0. The third round will be played on April 8th.
– JustPlayGo
WORLD YOUTH DEADLINE MARCH 30
Monday March 29, 2010
The deadline for the World Youth Goe Championships (WYGC) qualifier is now March 30th. The qualifier will be held on April 3rd, and the finals on April 10th and 11th. The winners in each bracket will go on to compete at the WYGC in Taiwan, July 22-28. For more information click here.
PAIR GO WORLD CUP UPDATE
Monday March 29, 2010
In last week’s report on the recent the 2010 Pair Go World Cup (China’s Song/Xie Win Pair Go World Cup, 3/22 EJ), we failed to mention that U.S. pair Yun Feng and Jie Li were defeated in the first round of the 4 million yen championship by eventual champions Song Ronghui 5P and Xie He 7P of China. “This is an event held by the newly formed World Pair Go Association to celebrate the 20th anniversary of pair go,” reports IGF Vice President Thomas Hsiang. “The sponsors include a new Japanese company ‘Gourmet Navigator,’ or ‘Gurunami’ in Japanese, and All Nippon Airways (ANA).”
“SLOW GO” TOURNEY SEEKS PLAYERS
Monday March 29, 2010
Recruiting has begun for a new tournament, the Wisonet Go Cup. A “slow go” event – 2.5 hours basic time per player plus overtime – the Wisonet is requiring a minimum rating of 1-dan and will select a field of up to 32 players from those registering. Five rounds are planned, the first scheduled for May 8th in Edison, New Jersey. Rounds 2-4 can be sponsored by other go clubs and the final round will return to Edison. Up to $3,000 in cash prizes will be awarded (less if the field is smaller). Players invited to participate in the tournament will pay $50 per round for the first three rounds; no fee will be charged for the last two rounds. Wisonet specializes in games and puzzles, says company president and tournament organizer Ronghao Chen. “Our purpose is to dramatically improve the quality of games in tournaments.” Chen expects the tournament to last at least four months. “This type of time arrangement will allow players to have time to prepare games,” he says. “Go fans will have time to discuss games and the tournament. Also, it will attract the general public to learn go and be aware of the tournament. Live game analysis will be arranged at many playing days.” Dan level players interested in a seat in this tournament must sign up by April 15th by e-mailing his/her name, current AGA rating, phone number and e-mail address to chenronghao@yahoo.com. Invitations to all selected players will be sent out on April 25th. For more info call Chen at 609-799-1624 or 908-872-6202.
NEW N.A. ONLINE TOURNEY TO USE SKYPE
Monday March 29, 2010
Strong players in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are invited to register for the Strong Player’s Online Tournament (SPOT1). a new online tournament with $1,500 in cash prizes organized by the American Go Association. “This tournament will also be an experiment in requiring a web camera and a Skype account, so players will see and hear each other during the games,” says Tournament Director Edward Zhang. Players with AGA ratings of 5.0 and up, or Canadian/Mexican equivalents, are eligible. No requirement for a U.S. Green card or citizenship, but players must have maintained AGA, CGA or MGA membership continuously for the past 12 months; U.S. player must have lived in the U.S. for at least 6 of the past 12 months.. The 26 top-rated AGA players who register automatically qualify, and six places are reserved for Canadian (4) and Mexican (2) players. The tournament will be on weekends, and it is scheduled for four weekends. All players must sign up online for the tournament by midnight EST April 15. First prize is $1000, 2nd prize $400, 3rd prize $100. For further details email Zhang at zhiyuan_zhanggo@yahoo.com
SCHOOL TEAM TOURNEY HEATS UP
Monday March 29, 2010
After two weeks of intense competition, California teams have trounced the competition, leading many of the standings. In the Open Division, Redwood Shores GC and Orange County GC are holding onto the top spots for the Golden State, but defending champion Stuyvesant HS (NY) is still in the hunt for their third open title by remaining undefeated through two rounds. Richard Montgomery HS (MD), Bellaire HS (TX), Morningstar Chinese (CA), Mason Huaxia Chinese (OH), and Saratoga HS (CA) also lead their divisions with solid 2-0 performances. In the States Cup standings, New Jersey is looking for their first-ever podium finish, clinging on to the third spot behind California and New York. North Carolina and Texas round out the top five. Saratoga HS (CA) hopes to claim their second sweepstakes title, given to the school team with the highest total score. However, they only hold a two-point lead over last year’s Rookies Cup Champions, Hunter College HS (NY). Fair Oaks ES is currently in third as they attempt to become the first-ever junior team to finish in the top three. Morningstar Chinese’s debut performance has rocketed them to the top of the Rookies Cup as they look virtually untouchable for this award, while Cary Chinese (NC) will seek their second consecutive Junior Cup, as they seek to break the national record they set last year. Third round coverage begins this weekend, and the push to earn medals begins now. Click here www.aghs.cc for complete results.
– Christopher Vu, AGHS Correspondent
MEADOWDALE HS WINS IWAMOTO SCHOOL TEAM TOURNEY IN SEATTLE
Monday March 29, 2010
Meadowdale High School’s “Team Lightning” from Lynnwood, Washington won the 8th annual Iwamoto School Team Tournament at the Seattle Go Center, winning all of their games but one to best two other teams. First board: Cesar Serra, 2nd: Hayden Sherrill, 3rd: Andrea McCool.
– report and photo by Brian Allen