American Go E-Journal » 2010 » August

GUOCHEN XIE WINS BOSTON OPEN

Monday August 30, 2010

Guochen Xie (front left) won the Boston Go Open on Sunday, August 29, topping a field of 26. “It’s a really competitive tournament and no player won all four games,” reports organizer Ke Lu.  Three players were 3-1 in the open division, with Guochen Xie winning on SOS, Yunzhe Zhang runner-up and Jie Liang in third.  The top four in Division A: 1st: Eric Osman; 2nd: Rebecca Torrey; 3rd: Eva Casey; 4th: Danny Yoo.  Top three in Division B were: 1st: Bowen He; 2nd: Deguang He; 3rd: Marjorie E. Hey. Click here for more photos. photos courtesy Ke Lu.

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WORLD GO NEWS ROUND-UP August 24-30: Han Zenki and Tsuruyama Atsushi Advance; Mukai Chiaki to Challenge; Olleh KT down to Eight

Monday August 30, 2010

Han Zenki and Tsuruyama Atsushi advance in Daiwa Cup: Surprising second round results from the Daiwa Cup have two of Japan’s top professionals being defeated by less well-known 7 dans.  The first was Han Zenki 7P who defeated current Daiwa Cup title holder Kono Rin 9P by resignation. The second was Tsuruyama Atsushi 7P who defeated O Rissei 9P by resignation.  Han became a pro 1996 at age 19, while Tsuruyama turned pro in 1999 at the age of 18. Mukai Chiaki to challenge Xie Yimin for Female Honinbo: In the final challenger-decision match for the 29th Female Honinbo, Mukai Chiaki 4P defeated Umezawa Yukari 5P by resignation, giving her the nod to challenge Xie Yimin 5P for the title. Mukai Chiaki is 23 years old, became a professional in 2004, and was promoted to 4 dan just this year. She is a student of Honda Sachiko. Her two sisters, Mukai Kozue 1P and Mukai Kaori 2P, are professionals in the Nihon Ki-in as well. The first round of the title match will be played on October 6th. Olleh KT down to eight as Yun Junsang 8P defeats Kim Jiseok 7P: In their sixth round game, Yun won by resignation over Kim in the inaugural edition of the Olleh KT Cup, which is a Korean professional tournament sponsored by the telecommunications company Olleh KT. This is their first sponsored tournament with total prize money of 700 million won.
JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

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EUROPEAN GO NEWS ROUND-UP: Romanian Masters, Leksand Open, Reporters Wanted

Monday August 30, 2010

TARANU WINS ROMANIAN MASTERS: Catalin Taranu 5p won the 2010 Romanian Masters, held August 25-29 in Iasi, capital of the Romanian province Moldavie. Artem Kachanovskyj won the first edition of the Iasi Cup, held August 27-29 in the same place.
SHIKSHIN NARROWLY WINS LEKSAND OPEN: Ilya Shikshin won the August 10-12 Leksand Open in Sweden, just a point ahead of Kyoungnang Kang.
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENTS WANTED! The E-Journal is seeking correspondents to report on European go news; if interested, email journal@usgo.org
– based on reports on EuroGoTV

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YOUR MOVE, Readers Write: Dude, Where Are My Classified Ads?

Monday August 30, 2010

DUDE, WHERE ARE MY CLASSIFIED ADS? “Ever since you changed the format of the E-Journal from weekly to daily, I’ve been unable to find the classifieds,” writes Craig Brown. “I’ve even gone back to the weekly newsletter thinking this would help, but I don’t see the classifieds there either.  Have you discontinued this part of the newsletter, or am I maybe just not finding it?” The classified ads run in both the daily and weekly editions of the EJ and the complete list can always be found on our news page in the Go Classified section (click on the Go Classified tab at right). Ads appear in the next daily edition after initial posting and then in the next weekly edition (but not in subsequent weekly editions).

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EYES OF WOOD, HANDS OF STONE, HEART OF PAPER

Sunday August 29, 2010

To play go,” writes programmer Reg Braithwaite, “one needs a huge amount of humility and patience. At first I thought I lacked these qualities, but then a funny thing happened: I purchased my first-ever mountain bike. In cycling, I receive regular positive feedback. I can measure my improvement with little things like occasionally feeling myself hit the balance point when working on a ‘1/2-1/4 to manual wheelie drop.’ Or popping the front wheel up onto a bench and driving the rear wheel up and under me. In go, I received no such affirmation. I play, I lose, and games are too long to be able to identify the specific mistakes without extensive personal coaching. I simply don’t know whether I am succeeding or failing when I make a move unless it’s a spectacular blunder.” Click here for the rest of Braithwaite’s thoughts on go, bikes and learning in Eyes of Wood, Hands of Stone, Heart of Paper, including Wood & Stones, his program to turn your iPad into a go board for playing face to face.
– thanks to Steve Colburn for passing this along

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MYUNG-WAN KIM 9P MAKES THREE-PEAT DONATION TO AGF

Saturday August 28, 2010

During the August 7 closing banquet at this year’s Go Congress in Colorado Springs, Myung-Wan Kim 9P (r) again donated $500 of his US Open prize winnings to the American Go Foundation (AGF). “The American go community is very fortunate to have Myung-Wan Kim living and teaching here,” said Paul Barchilon, AGF Vice President and Youth Coordinator for the American Go Association (AGA). “And his support of our youth activities is a testament to his commitment to the future of go in this country.” This is the third consecutive year Kim has donated to the AGF, which promotes scholastic and youth go programs in the U.S. “I always want to do something for the go community in the U.S.,” Kim said in 2008 when he made his first contribution at the Go Congress in Portland OR. This year he has a new plan. “I think building the professional system is the most important thing the U.S. go community needs to do. I will work with Hankuk-kiwon (Korea Baduk/Go Association) to make that happen.”
– by Zhiyuan ‘Edward’ Zhang; photos by Gen Zhang

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NEW IN PRINT 2010 (PART 1): Classic Games

Saturday August 28, 2010

by Roy Laird
Strolling through the vendor area at this year’s U.S. Go Congress, I realized that it’s time for some updates on what’s happening recently in the small but active world of go publishing. Watch for posts over the next few weeks and feel free to email me with suggestions of 2010 go books I should mention.

The first thing I noticed was that it’s been a busy year for GoGoD co-author John Fairbairn, who has embarked on an ambitious project with his publisher, Slate and Shell: a series of books on the ten-game matches Go Seigen played when he was at the top of the go world. Drawing on multiple original sources, each book provides extensive historical material, and integrates game commentary from a variety of sources.   Kamakura, covering Go’s first matchup during WW II with Kitani Minoru, came out last spring. It was followed by Final Summit, describing the last jubango, against Takagawa Shukaku in 1955-56. Then came 9-Dan Showdown, focusing on two ten-game matches and two shorter encounters with with Fuijisawa Kuranosuke (later Fujisawa Hosai), one of the great players of the 1940’s and 1950’s. In a change of pace, Fairbairn also translated The Go Consultants, in which Kitani and Seigen team up against Segoe Kensaku and Suzuki Tamjiro for a “consultation game.” Inspired by a similar practice among Western chess masters, in a “consultation game” the two-player teams discuss the game while it is in progress.  Stay tuned — more exciting titles are on the way!
Next week: A Beginner’s Bonanza
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BY 2.5, SAKAI HIDEYUKI IS THE NEW GOSEI

Friday August 27, 2010

In a true Cinderella story, Sakai Hideyuki 7P has become the new Gosei by defeating Cho U 9P by 2.5 points in the fifth and final round of the 35th Gosei, winning the series 3-2. This is Sakai’s first major title win, which also ended Cho’s four consecutive years of holding the Gosei title. Sakai’s only title win prior to this was the Kansai Ki-in Championship in 2003.  For a long time, he was the strongest amateur go player in Japan, and by winning his first major title at 37, he has defied those that say that only youth can accomplish such things.  When he won the World Amateur Go Championship in 2000, he was awarded professional 5 dan by the Kansai Ki-in (after defeating two 5D and two 7D players). He was also the first player in Japan to be awarded a special amateur 8 dan diploma.
JustPlayGo.com

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IGOLOCAL, GROWING RAPIDLY, YET TO HIT CRITICAL MASS

Thursday August 26, 2010

Barely a month after launching, IgoLocal already has more than a thousand users. IgoLocal enables players to find and contact each other, and there are now 1131 users in 62 countries, with 449 of those in North America and 570 in Europe. The network is growing at 35 new members each day, reports founder Chuck Thomas, “and that number is trending upwards.” Users “are still figuring out how to use the system to the best benefit of their communities,” says Thomas. “1,100 users may sound like a lot of go players, but it’s actually an absurdly tiny number when spread throughout the entire planet.” Thomas says he can “easily envision a quarter million users on this system,” and says that “At the current rate, it may be another two months before we begin to reach critical mass.  This is fine – the users who are already on the system are able to go about their business, and one day they’ll receive a PM or even a game challenge from a previously-unknown rival, who is well matched to their rank.” Thomas points out that “Igolocal keeps working for you even if you forget about it for a while,” and admits that “Even I have only the faintest idea what the end result will be. This has never been done before.” Two hundred of the IgoLocal users are dan-level or stronger and two professionals are also registered, Jennie Shen 2p in Santa Barbara, and An Young-gil 8p in Sydney, Australia. The site supports six languages, English, French, German, Dutch, Russian and Japanese, and volunteers are now working on Italian, Polish and Chinese translations.

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WORLD GO NEWS ROUND-UP August 16-23

Monday August 23, 2010

Sakai Hideyuki evens Gosei 2-2 with Cho U. Sakai Hideyuki 7P defeated Cho U 9P by 3.5 points in the fourth round of the 35th Gosei title match. The series is now tied at 2-2, with the final game to be played on August 27th. Lee Changho defeats Lee Sedol in Myeongin league play. In the final regular League A game of the 38th Myeongin, Lee Changho 9P defeated Lee Sedol 9P by resignation. Sedol’s loss eliminates him from the main tournament, finishing with a 2-3 league record. Lee Changho finished with a 3-2 league record but will now enter into a playoff match with An Kukhyun 2P, who also finished at 3-2. The winner will join Kang Dongyun 9P in the main tournament. Agon Cup Second Round Results. Qiu Jun 9P, Chen Yaoye 9P, Chang Hao 9P, and Piao Wenyao 5P each won their respective second round matches in the 12th Agon Cup, putting them in the semifinals. The defending Agon Cup title holder, Sun Tengyu 4P, lost to Jun by resignation. In the other three matches, Wang Xi 9P, Gu Li 9P, and Jiang Weijie 5P each lost their respective games to Yaoye, Hao, and Wenyao. The semifinals will be played on August 30th. Jiang Weijie and Li Zhe tied in Mingren challenger match. In the first game of the 23rd Mingren challenger match, Jiang Weijie 5P defeated Li Zhe 6P by resignation.  In the second game Zhe narrowly defeated Weijie by half a point. Park Yeonghun clinches 1st round spot in Myeongin. Park Yeonghun 9P clinched a first round spot in the 38th Myeongin by defeating Kim Kiyoung 5P by 3.5 points in the last round of League B play for each player. Yeonghun will now advance to the final tournament with a 4-1 record. The last regular game for League B will pit Cho Hanseung 9P against Park Jeonggeun 4P on August 26th. The winner of that match will then play a tie breaker with Won Sungjin 9P, who has a 3-2 record, to determine who among the remaining League B players will join Yeonghun in the tournament finals. Lee Sedol 9P, Choi Cheolhan 9P, and Won Sungjin 9P win in round one of the 54th Kuksu. Each won by resignation. Mok Jinseok 9P will play Ko Geuntae 7P on August 20th and Heo Yeongho 7P will play Lee Chungyu 3P on August 29th to complete the first round (game records).
JustPlayGo

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