American Go E-Journal » 2010 » April

JIE LI TO COMMENT LIVE ON ON SPOT1 TOP BOARD

Thursday April 29, 2010

Four-time US Open Champion Jie Li 7D will provide live commentary on the key game between top seeds Myungwan Kim 9P and Yongfei Ge 7D — both two-time US Open winners themselves — in the Sweet 16 round of the Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1) at 1p this Saturday, May 1 on KGS. Ge lost to Kim at the 2009 US Go Congress and tells the E-Journal “I will try my best.  To me, Kim is best at endgame, and I will try to make it complicated in mid-game.” Ge, who works as a software architect, spent some time studying go every day to prepare for his 2007 U.S. Open win after his first Open win in 2001. Over 500 watched Kim’s game on KGS last Saturday, and our sources say that he’s studying hard as well. Five of top eight seeds are in SPOT1’s upper half, while two are in the lower half due to first round upsets. Click here for the complete Sweet 16 matchups. An innovation of SPOT1 is the use of web cameras, enabling the players to see each other on Skype, which “was proposed by the sponsor of SPOT1, AGA President Allan Abramson,” reports TD Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang. Players describe the web camera play as both “close to face-to-face playing” and “more formal than regular online games.” While it makes some “feel nervous but excited” the players also says it’s an “interesting experience” that “feels real.”

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U.S. GO CONGRESS SIGN-UP NEARS 100

Thursday April 29, 2010

Sign-up for the 2010 US Go Congress in Colorado Springs is nearing the 100 mark, “over 20% of the way to our goal of 400+ attendees,” reports Congress Director Karen Jordan. Click here for details and here to register: “Plans are underway for the July 31-August 1 event and many of them depend on how many paid registrations we have,” says Jordan. Click here to see who’s coming.

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13-YEAR-OLD WINS TAIWAN’S ZHONGHUAN CUP

Wednesday April 28, 2010

Thirteen-year-old Taiwanese professional Jian Lichen 2P (r) won the 17th Zhonghuan Cup when he defeated Zhou Junxun 9P by just 1.5 points in the final match on Monday, April 26. His win earned Jian Lichen promotion to 5-dan, continuing a meteoric rise that began when he became a professional in 2008 at 12 and was then promoted to 2-dan at the end of 2009 for obtaining 20 wins as a 1-dan.
– Based on a report on JustPlayGo

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Categories: World,Youth
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JABARIN STILL LEADS KGS INSEI A LEAGUE

Wednesday April 28, 2010

Ali Jabarin 5d is still in the lead in the A group of the Korean-style Insei League on KGS with a 10-0 record.  Fredrik Blomback 5d is in second place. Hungarian Maroncsan still tops the B-league with a single win, while three Russians are leading the C-league: Lodurr and azorot won one each and AYOCZI is third.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, reporting on EuroGoTV.

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ZHANG YI SURPRISES ZOU JIN IN 50TH MESSETURNIER

Wednesday April 28, 2010

Favorite Zou Jin 6d was twice surprised in the Messeturnier in Hannover, Germany on April 24-25, losing to the winner, Zhang Yi 5d, who went undefeated, as well as to Marlon Welter 3d, who took silver with only one loss. Dieter Rasche, who created the yearly Messeturnier, took part in the 50th edition of the event. 95 players participated in the tournament which also saw the Nihon Ki-in award diplomas to the three group winners.  In addition to Yi, Tijmen van Wettum 1d and Stefan Junger 4k (each with 4-1 records) won the diplomas.  Yoon Young-sun 5P was also present to comment on the games.
– based on Peter Dijkema’s report on EuroGoTV

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LEE SEDOL SWEEPS BC CARD CUP

Tuesday April 27, 2010

Lee Sedol 9P swept the second annual BC Card Cup 3-0, defeating Chang Hao 9P by resignation in the third round on Tuesday.
– JustPlayGo
for game records

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KONG JIE WINS RICOH CUP

Tuesday April 27, 2010

Kong Jie 9P collected his first Ricoh Cup title Tuesday, when he defeated Xie He 7P by resignation in the final match of the 10th edition of the Ricoh, which is sponsored by the Japan-based digital office solution company.
– JustPlayGo for game records

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STRAUS ON MARRIAGE, MUSIC AND GO

Tuesday April 27, 2010

Photographer and former AGA President Phil Straus has posted a brief photo montage of fellow Philadelphia go player Matt Bengtson’s wedding to Seohee You last December, scored to a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations played by Bengtson, a pianist. “I was inspired by the minister’s talk,” Straus says. “He had been at the rehearsal dinner the night before, and the conversation went to go.  No surprise to those of us who play the game.  He learned that go is a game that has few rules, but takes a lifetime to learn.  At the altar, he talked to the couple about how that’s true about marriage, too. I got to thinking about how it’s true for piano, as well. Only 88 keys, but…”

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KOVALEVA-SURIN REPEAT AS EURO PAIR CHAMPS

Tuesday April 27, 2010

European Pair Champions Natalia Kovaleva 5d and Dmitry Surin 6d kept their title with a 6-1 record in St. Petersburg April 23-25. Challengers Elvina Karlsberg 5d and Alex Dinerchtein 3p lost the mutual encounter Sunday morning and finished with silver. Unexpectedly, Russia also collected bronze when Kamysheva/Mezhov (2k), who only lost to  Laura Avram and Lucian Corlan (2d) of Romania, took third. The Romanians were the best foreign team at fourth place. Only four other teams from Europe could reach St.Petersburg in time, due to the volcano-related flight restrictions over most of Europe. Romania and Turkey flew in, while next-door neighbours Poland, Belorussia and Finland made their way there by car and ferry. Organizers filled out the field with local pairs.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, reporting on EuroGoTV

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SEATTLE GO CENTER BLOSSOMS AT FESTIVAL

Monday April 26, 2010

The Seattle Go Center participated in the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival April 16-18, doing outreach to festival attendees all three days. “In the mornings we had time for a few 13×13 games among our volunteers, but on Saturday and Sunday afternoon it got very busy” reports Center Manager Brian Allen. The AGA-rated Cherry Blossom Tournament on Saturday April 17 “was a little bit larger than last year,” Allen reports, with 18 players.  Ben Hakala won the Dan Section, Abe Taylor the First Kyu Section, Frank Brown the Second Kyu Section, and Job Betcher the Third Kyu Section. Job went on to win the Children’s 13×13 Handicapped the next day.  Owen Gow placed 2nd, and Jordon Betcher placed 3rd in the youth tournament.
– photos by Brian Allen; volunteers Bill Thompson (l) and Sam Wilhide at the Cherry Blossom Festival; Yuriko Miyake at the Cherry Blossom Tournament

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