American Go E-Journal

Thirty two top players battled it out on KGS over the weekend to make the Sweet Sixteen in the inaugural N.A. Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1). Over 500 watched Myungwan Kim 9P(CA) play Hugh Zhang 6d (CA) Saturday, with Kim notching his latest victory in a 14-game winning streak in AGA tourneys. Also making the Sweet Sixteen – to be played next Saturday, May 1 – were Yongfei Ge 7D, Yuan Zhou 7D, Yue Zhang 7D, Curtis Tang 7D, Xinyu Tu 7D, Changlong Wu, Yinli Wang 6D, Eric Lui 7D, Jie Liang 7D, Calvin Sun 7D, Sarah Yu 6D, Jung Lee 7D, Jianing Gan 6D and Hugh Zhang 6D. The final slot will be filled by the winner of Monday’s Zhaonian ‘Michael’ Chen- Yixian Zhou game.
Saturday’s “main event” will undoubtedly be the face-off between Yongfei Ge and Myungwan Kim, both two-time U.S. Open Champions. Saturday’s winners proceed to Sunday’s Elite 8 round and winners there qualify for the Final 4 round. Spot1 is sponsored by the American Go Association; a total of $1,500 in prizes will go to the top three players – $1,000 for champion, $400 for runner up, and $100 for third place. Click here for complete results and pairings.
– Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang, Tournament Director; photo: Yinli Wang 6D (IN) and Sarah Yu 6D (ON), undefeated in the SPOT1 First Round, finished on top of Teams C and G entering the Sweet 16 round