American Go E-Journal

Hundreds tuned in Friday night to watch the action in the N.A. Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1) Canadian qualifier and Premiere round. Jin “Sarah” Yu 6D, Daniel Gourdeau 6D and Jianing Gan 6D made the SPOT1 Top 32, while Eric Lui 7D (MD), Yuan Zhou 7D (MD) and Carson Tu 7D (NJ) are just one win from the Sweet 16 round after winning their games in the First Round. SPOT1 is sponsored by the American Go Association, with $1,500 in prizes for the top three winners. Forty players from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. registered; after double-elimination in the first round, two players from each team will advance to the Sweet 16 round, scheduled for next Saturday, May 1st. For most of the players, this was the first time playing in front of a web camera, but  Patrick Lung from Canada said “It didn’t matter; I was more concentrated on my board than my opponent.” Nick Jhirad from DC said that opponent Carson Tu’s “responses to my attacks on the right were very good,” adding that “one big mistake at the end cost me the game, but I played better than I thought.” Daniel Gourdeau, a 5th grade high school student from Quebec, said that “I was proud of move 41, and move 93 is the last nail in the coffin.” Gourdeau’s plan for his next game is to “Play thick, leave few weaknesses.” Click here for the SPOT1 First Round schedule.
– Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang, Tournament Director