American Go E-Journal » 2011 » February

Boyi Cui 4d Surprise Winner at Columbus Tourney

Monday February 21, 2011

Boyi Cui 4d upset Karl Wei 5d to win the Chinese New Year Festival Go/Weiqi tournament February 12 in Columbus, OH. Wei had won the dan division the previous two years and was expected to repeat again this year, but in the second round, he came up against Boyi and in a hard-fought game that came down to time, Boyi took the victory and ultimately 1st place in the dan division. This year marked the third year that the Tesuji Go Club of Columbus has partnered with the the Central Ohio Chinese community to organize the Chinese New Year Festival Go/Weiqi tournament. “This is one of the premier go events in Ohio every year and we had a good turnout of 19 players including road warriors Chris and Peter Martin, John Adams, and Asha Nakaiya who all drove 4 hours from Louisville, KY to participate,” reports organizer Corey Sanders. The event was played over four rounds with players competing for trophies in 2 divisions (dan and kyu), including a strong showing of dan players and a very competitive kyu division. “We had a large cluster of players all around the 10k range, which allowed for a lot of even or close to even games,” reports Sanders. Newcomer Rohit Prabhavalkar survived a tight first round game with a .5 point victory over fellow newcomer Jon Berg and was able to ride the momentum to a perfect 4-0 record and 1st place. Other top finishers included Karl Wei 5d in 2nd and Dajiang He 3d in 3rd in the dan division. Asha Nakaiya 5k took 2nd in the kyu division and Justin Giglio 10k took 3rd.

Categories: U.S./North America

Rising Young “Tiger Cubs” Sharpen Claws at 25th Tianyuan

Monday February 21, 2011

Three young Chinese players who reached the Tianyuan semi-finals last week — Zhou Hexi 4P, Li Haojie 4P and Shi Yue 4P — are part of a group of rising young professionals that the Chinese media has affectionately dubbed “the tiger cubs generation.” The three cubs were joined in the semi-final by stalwart Yu Bin 9P. Yu, who has been the Chinese National Coach since 2009, is extremely pleased with the progress of the younger players. He says that the time is ripe for some of these younger players to make their breakthrough. According to Yu, these young guns are very adept in the game, especially in the middle game and endgame where they typically make fewer mistakes than their older counterparts. Yu says the young players can sometimes lack experience in direction of play and vision during the opening, and can sometimes have trouble adjusting psychologically to the intense competition. However, he goes on to say that the best way to combat these challenges is to play in more high profile games such as the upcoming semi finals. This year’s Tianyuan – the 25th — has been full of surprises, with some of the favorites, Gu Li, Kong Jie and Chang Hao all eliminated in the first round. The Tianyuan tournament is one of the major go tournaments on the Chinese domestic circuit, similar to the Chunwon tournament in Korea and Tengen tournament in Japan. All three tournaments use the same characters in their name, which can be roughly translated to “the origin of heaven.” Tianyuan is also the Chinese name of the center point of the go board. In the semi final, Zhou Hexi prevailed over Li Haojie. Shi Yue couldn’t overcome old hand Yu Bin, setting up a final between teacher Yu Bin and student Zhou Hexi.

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Update 2/21: In the final (r), Zhou Hexi defeated teacher Yu Bin. Yu, playing black, was winning for the first half of the game, but there was a reversal after black made an oversight in the top left corner. Zhou held on to the lead to win by 2.5 points. With this tournament win, Zhou becomes the challenger for the Tianyuan title and will take on Chen Yaoye in a three-game match. Chen, another young Chinese star who just turned 21 in December, has already proven himself in top tournament play. In 2009 he took the Tianyuan title from Gu Li and he held it successfully against Gu in 2010. Can he make it three in a row?
– Jing Ning; adapted from her original report on Go Game Guru

Categories: World

“So You Want to Play Go?” Available as E-Book

Monday February 21, 2011

The 3-volume “So You Want to Play Go?” series is available for Kindle, the Ipad, and the Barnes and Noble Nook, reports author Jonathan Hop. The series provides a general primer on the game, from 9×9 play to the opening, overconcentration, attacking and more. “Gives you a lot to think about in terms of larger strategy,” says Alex Dinerchtein 3P.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware

Zhang, Chiu and Qu Lead Bay Area Go Monthly

Monday February 21, 2011

Two dozen players ranging from 19 kyu to 7 dan met up in Palo Alto, CA on February 12 for a relaxed but serious ratings tournament. Continuous pairing is used in the Bay Area Go monthly tournaments so that players can play as many or as few games as they want, without having to wait around for slower players to finish their games before the next round can begin. Henry Zhang 1d (right in photo) and Linden Chiu 1d (left in photo) led the dan division with three wins apiece, while Larry Qu 4k swept in the kyu division with a 4-0 record. Next month’s ratings tournament is scheduled for March 19 in Menlo Park, CA. Photo by Lisa Schrag

Categories: U.S./North America

Chen Zude 9P Battling Cancer Again

Monday February 21, 2011

The legendary Chen Zude 9P underwent a successful operation for pancreatic cancer last week, reports David Omerod of Go Game Guru. Chen, the current president of the Chinese Weiqi Association, was the first Chinese professional to become 9 dan after the introduction of professional ranks in China. “He is now recovering in hospital, where he has been visited by the Chinese Women’s Weiqi team,” Omerod tells the E-Journal. “He is in high spirits and intends to start playing weiqi again soon.” Credited with popularizing the Chinese fuseki, Chen also wrote a popular autobiography, ‘Beyond Self’, which was inspired by his first battle with cancer 30 years ago.

Categories: World

Winston Jen Donates 1,000 Hikaru Sets

Monday February 21, 2011

Winston Jen, who previously donated thousands of dollars worth of anime (cartoons) and manga (comics) for AGA youth programs, is now donating 1,000 sets of the Hikaru no Go manga series. At 23 volumes of roughly 200 pages each, this represents 23,000 books. The series follows the adventures of a 12-year-old boy in Japan, who becomes a professional go player. Reading the series sparks tremendous interest in playing go among children (and adults too). The AGF is handling distribution of the sets, and is providing them for the cost of shipping to school and public libraries. The AGF is also using the donation as a springboard for major outreach to libraries, and will be attending the American Library Association’s annual convention this June, in New Orleans. 15,000-20,000 librarians will be attending, and the AGF will staff a booth in the vendor area, where 2009 Teacher of the Year Josh Frye will join AGF board members in teaching librarians about go, and offering them free manga and equipment to launch programs. Jen discovered go through Hikaru, and wants to share his love of the series with American kids. Jen lives in Japan, and adds English subtitles to anime series, which are distributed on the internet. Known as “fansubbing,” thousands of volunteers translate various series that otherwise might not receive an audience outside of Japan. Hikaru was first translated by fansubbers, and might never have made it to the US if fansubbers hadn’t created a market for it first. “Fansubbing has increased my empathy for other cultures and inspired me to study harder than ever,” Jen told the Journal, “I’m currently in the midst of correcting TokyoPop’s Fruits Basket localization as part of my PhD in applied linguistics.” Jen’s fansub group C1anime, is looking for volunteers. Current projects include Perrine, from the 19th century novel by Hector Malot, and a translation of the Anne Frank anime movie. Interested parties should e-mail shannon-nii@hotmail.com. Those who use Internet Relay Chat (IRC) can find C1 at #c1anime on Rizon.net. Various C1anime series can be downloaded online. – Paul Barchilon, E.J. Youth Editor

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

AGF Upgrades Shipping Services

Monday February 21, 2011

The American Go Foundation (AGF) has moved into a new warehouse in Colorado. With a continuously expanding number of school-based go programs, AGF warehousing and shipping activities were being stretched to the limit at their former location in Pennsylvania. New and inexpensive items from China had become available in quantity, but a loading dock was needed in order to receive these shipments. In mid-December, after months of preparation, a truck rolled up to the loading dock at Key Fulfillment, a Colorado-based order fulfillment specialist, and offloaded fourteen pallets of boards, stones, magazines, and other paraphernalia the AGF uses in it’s educational efforts. Key has hundreds of customers, and a staff of 40, but provides customized packaging and shipping with a computerized inventory system. Mail sorting can be seen in the photo above, and hundreds of pallets are stored in giant racks in the rear. Central to the AGF move was a need to accommodate an additional 23 pallets of Hikaru no Go Manga, which is being donated by Winston Jen (see Jen Donates in this issue). The AGF would like to publicly acknowledge Marilyn Campbell, their one-woman fulfillment department who has helped supply go teachers and organizers for the past ten years, and Chuck Robbins, who hosted their shipping operation for many years at his business, CT Inc. and arranged to ship their inventory to Colorado. For more updates on AGF operations, check out their newsletter Sensei.
– Roy Laird, with Paul Barchilon. Photo by Paul Barchilon

Categories: U.S./North America

Brett Kelly 6d Wins Phoenix Open

Sunday February 20, 2011

Brett Kelly 6d won the Phoenix Chinese Week Go Open held February 13 in Phoenix, AZ. “As part of celebration for Chinese New Year, the Phoenix Chinese Week (PCW) Go Open has been an annual event at Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center for seven years,” reports organizer Quan Li 3d. The event is co-sponsored by Phoenix Chinese Week and the Arizona Go Club. Players ranged in age from 12-70 with ranks ranging from 14k to 6d.
Winners Report: Division A: 1st: Brett Kelly 6d; 2nd: Leon Luo 4d. Division B: 1st: Eric Lin 1k; 2nd: Canh Tsen 3k. Division C: 1st: Jeffrey Luo 8k; 2nd Richard Hardy 5k. Division A: 1st: Howard Liu 13k; 2nd: Charles Polkiewicz 14k. Four junior players — Eric Lin, Canh Tsen, Jeffrey Luo and Howard Liu, all students of Quan Li 3d — won three gold medals and one silver medal. “All the competitors had a very enjoyable day for playing some serious go games and celebrating the Year of Rabbit,” reports Quan Li, noting that the tournament also attracted many spectators.

Categories: U.S./North America

Youth Go Championships

Sunday February 20, 2011

The United States Youth Go Championships will be held March 26 and 27, with finals on the first weekend in April. The tournament will be held online, and will select the US representatives to the World Youth Goe Championships, in Bucharest, Romania. The finals will also determine National Dan, Single Digit Kyu (SDK), and Double Digit Kyu (DDK) Champions. The winners will receive trophies, and prizes will be awarded in the following brackets: 5-7 dan 1-4 dan, 1-4 kyu, 5-9 kyu, 10-15 kyu, 16-20 kyu, 21-25 kyu, 26 and up kyu. Contestants will be entered into a pool to receive $400 scholarships to this year’s AGA Summer Youth Go Camp, courtesy of the AGF, 16 Scholarships will be awarded. The Junior Division is for youth 11 and under, the Senior Division is for youth under 18 as of August 1, 2011. Only US Citizens may enter the finals, residents may compete in the qualifier; the winners must be able to travel to Romania for the finals, August 12-19 (expenses are covered for the youth players, but not for parents). To register, e-mail youth@usgo.org with your name, AGA #, date of birth, AGA rating, KGS ID, and citizenship.

Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth

Traveling Board: GalapaGo

Friday February 18, 2011

Just back from Ecuador and the Galapagos, former American Go Association President Terry Benson reports that “I didn’t have a go board but I did have my iPhone with the SmartGo app. The problems kept me occupied in airports and ports and odd times. The touch board — especially for playing 9×9 — is great. And it’s not a bad opponent, either; at two stones on the 9×9, I have to be cleaver to win.” While visiting the Galapagos, Benson showed the game to Dan Matzat of Chicago. “I had to get a picture after I thought of ‘GalapaGo’,” said Benson. “Here we are playing at ‘Los Gemelos’ on Santa Cruz island. Dan had never heard of the game but enjoyed it.”

Categories: Go Art

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