American Go E-Journal » 2011 » April

Ye Sweeps WYGC Qualifier

Monday April 18, 2011

Eight-year-old Aaron Ye 3d (at left) fought his way to victory in the Jr. Division qualifier for the World Youth Go Championships (WYGC), and will be going to Romania to represent the US in August. The initial rounds were held online, with a live final at the BAGPA ratings tourney in Palo Alto, CA, on April 9th. Ye faced serious competition throughout the event, and almost lost to Jeremy Chiu 1k (at right) who is just nine years old himself. Ye made a strong showing in this event last year, but lost in the finals. He studies with Mingjiu Jiang 7P, and has worked very hard on his game this past year. Chiu’s AGA rank is lagging behind his ability, he is pushing 3d on KGS, and had a very strong performance in the recent School Teams Tourney, helping his team win first place. In the semi-finals, Chiu knocked out Sammy Zhang 2d, while Ye defeated Luke Zhang 1d, setting the stage for a showdown between the pint-sized prodigies the following weekend. Chiu got off to a strong start, and dominated the game, but an endgame error gave Ye the win at the last minute. Today’s

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game commentary by Feng Yun 9P shows how both players could have improved their game. The E-Journal is pleased to have Feng Yun on board for youth commentaries, and members can get game reviews like this in their e-mail box every week. We are making today’s commentary available to everyone, as an incentive to join the AGA. Youth memberships are only $10, and get you great games like this, as well as guaranteeing you will be invited to events like the USYGC and the Redmond Cup. To join, click here. -E-J Youth Editor Paul Barchilon. Photos: Aaron Ye at left, Jeremy Chiu at right.

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

AGA Go Camp Confirmed for Summer Fun

Monday April 18, 2011

The AGA East Coast Go Camp has finalized details for this year’s camp, which will be held at the Madison Suites Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey, July 23-30. Mingjiu Jiang 7p and Yuan Zhou 7d will be the primary teachers. Jiang, one of the driving forces behind the incredibly successful Bay Area (CA) scene, and organizer of the Zhujo Jiang youth tourney every year, has a proven track record with kids. He counts some of the strongest youth in the country among his students. Zhou, one of the most popular teachers on the East Coast, is also well known for his many books on go. His deep insight into what kyu players are failing to see make his lessons all the more valuable. “Students aged 8 – 18 are invited to spend a week playing go and making friends,” says camp director John Mangual. “Double-digit kyus, upper-level dans, and anyone in-between can all participate. At previous camps, beginning players rapidly improved between 5 – 10 kyu levels in just one week, while advanced players improved their fundamentals and learned more about life and death, joseki and midgame fighting. Our professional staff will make camp worthwhile for even the strongest amateurs. The camp is an exciting chance to play go face to face, instead of just online,” adds Mangual. For more information, visit the camp page here, or e-mail Mangual at agagocampeast@usgo.org. – Photo: Kids take a break from studying to bury one of their counselors in pillows, photo by Amanda Miller (who is at the bottom of the pillow pile) from last year’s camp. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Jimmy Yang 4d & Cary Team B Top Carolina Spring Go Tournament

Monday April 18, 2011

Jimmy Yang 4d (front, left) of Virginia swept the Open section of the annual Carolina Spring Go Tournament, while the Cary Chinese School Team B won the team event. The April 10 event was organized by the Cary Go Club and the Chinese-American Friendship Association of North Carolina and held in Raleigh, attracting 30 go players from 7 to 70 years old.

For the first time in the tournament’s 8-year history, reports organizer Owen Chen, a team event was organized for the youth players. Each team consisted of three players, with each team member’s individual score being accumulated for the team score. Twelve go class students from the Cary Chinese School formed three teams while three students from the Raleigh Academy of Chinese Language formed the remaining team. “The team competition was fierce,” says Chen. “Young players kept reporting and checking the team scores posted on the wall after each round.” For the most part, the team scores were very close and each team had a chance to win the team tournament in the last round. In the end, Cary Chinese School Team B, consisting of Alvin Chen, John Zhu and Byron Qi, won the team event with 7 individual wins.

Winner’s Report: In the individual competition, Jimmy Yang 4d of Virginia swept the open section with 4-0. Jeff Kuang 5d and Owen Chen 5d tied for the second place of the open section, each with one loss. Andrew Zalesak 1k won Section A (7k-1d), Ralph Abbey 13k won Section B (8k-15k) and Samuel Sites 18k won Section C (16k-19k). All three of them went a perfect score of 4-0 to win their sections. Larry Zhang 20k won Section D (20k-25k) with 3-1. Alvin Chen 16k finished second in Section C with 3-1 and Byron Qi went 2-2 and yet still finished in the second place of Section D.

Categories: U.S./North America

Eric Lee 2d Wins Pittsburgh Spring Tourney

Monday April 18, 2011

On April 9th, 16 players from around the Pittsburgh area and from Ohio and West Virgina gathered at Carnegie Mellon University for the Pittsburgh Spring Tournament. Eric Lee 2d won the upper division with a record of 3-0, and Josaih Odhner 10k won the lower division with a record of 3-0.
– Kim Warzinski

Categories: U.S./North America

Chen Yaoye holds 25th Tianyuan against Zhou Hexi

Monday April 18, 2011

The 25th Tianyuan Tournament has ended with Chen Yaoye 9P successfully defending his title against up and coming Chinese player, Zhou Hexi 4P.

Chen Yaoye 9P (left) vs Zhou Hexi 4P

Zhou was tipped by punters to have a good chance against Chen in this challenge. He was one of three ‘tiger cubs’ who made it to the semi final and he won the right to challenge Chen by defeating stalwart and Chinese head coach, Yu Bin 9P. Unfortunately, this was not to be his year and Chen held the title with two consecutive wins – taking the best of three matches.

Chen’s own path to winning Tianyuan, for the third year in a row, is also quite remarkable. At the age of 19, in 2009, Chen successfully challenged Gu Li 9P, who himself had held the title for six consecutive years. In 2010, Chen once again held the Tianyuan, defending a strong challenge by none other than Gu Li. By winning Tianyuan in consecutive years, Chen has equalled the winning streaks of Liu Xiaoguang 9P and Ma Xiaochun 9P.

During the post game interview, Chen said he was quite lucky to win the first match, with white and black both becoming embroiled in a live or die battle. When asked about the second match, Chen said that he was quite nervous and benefited from a miscalculation on Zhou’s part. Of Zhou’s game, Chen has nothing but praise, saying that Zhou is a very strong opponent and very difficult to beat.

– Jingning; based on her report Chen Yaoye holds 25th Tianyuan against tiger cub at Go Game Guru, which includes the game records.

Categories: World

Top N.A. & Euro Youth Play Sunday in 3rd Transatlantic Youth Match

Monday April 11, 2011

Top youth players from North America will square off against their European counterparts this Sunday in the third Transatlantic Youth Match, which will be held April 17 on KGS at 11am and 2pm. “Come out and support the North American side, featuring past Redmond Cup champions and US/Canadian representatives to the WYGC, as they take on the European youth,” urges organizer Lawrence Ku.

Sunday’s line-up:

1500 GMT (8a PST/11a EST)
Ali Jabarin vs. Bill Lin; Mihai Serban vs. Jianing Gan; Alexander Vashurov vs. Peter Zhang; Roman Ruzhanskyj vs. Andrew Lu
Vladyslav Verteletsky vs. Aaron Ye; Stepan Popov vs. Oliver Wolf

1800 GMT (11a PST/2p EST)
Thomas Debarre vs. Ryan Li; Pavol Lisy vs. Gansheng Shi; Mateusz Surma vs. Ricky Zhao
Vanessa Wong vs. Hugh Zhang; Lukas Podpera vs. Daniel Goureau

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

2011 US Go Congress Registration Soaring

Monday April 11, 2011

With four months to go, early online registration has already boosted sign-up for this year’s US Go Congress in Santa Barbara, CA — July 30-August 7 — to over 150 people. “Although I’m extremely pleased with registration and the personal attention that we have been able to give to attendees thus far,” Congress Co-Director Lisa Scott told the E-Journal, “I’m still encouraging people to sign up early, since when attendance climbs above 500, we’ll be able to start giving more discounts to all attendees.”

Categories: U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

SmartGo Books Released for iPad & iPhone

Monday April 11, 2011

Calling it the “dawn of a new era,” SmartGo has just released SmartGo Books for the iPad and iPhone. The new format enables users to read go books on an iPad, replay moves directly within diagrams, and zoom diagrams to see the context. “With comments and long figures broken into logical sequences, this is the way go books were meant to be read,” says SmartGo author Anders Kierulf. SmartGo Books’ launch includes eight books by four publishers, with more in the works. The SmartGo Books app contains a free chapter for each book, which can also be read on your iPhone or iPod touch. The following books are available now: Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game by Cho Chikun 9 dan ($3.99); Double Digit Kyu Games by Neil Moffatt ($4.99); Basic Techniques of Go by Haruyama 9 dan and Nagahara 6 dan ($8.99); Understanding Pro Games by Yuan Zhou ($4.99); Go Seigen’s Ten-Game Matches by John Fairbairn ($4.99); Catching Scent of Victory by O Rissei 9 dan ($9.99); The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game by Naoki Hane 9 dan ($8.99) and Breakthrough Attacking Power Yamashita-Style by Keigo Yamashita 9 dan ($8.99). “SmartGo Books offers the full content of the print edition, with a better reading experience, at a reduced price,” Kierulf adds.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware,U.S./North America

Strong Youth Showing at Orlando Tournament

Monday April 11, 2011

Nearly a quarter of the players at the recent Orlando Go Tournament were aged 16 or under, providing “much-appreciated energy and enthusiasm to the event, and more often than not some pretty tough competition as well,” reports Paul Wiegand. Kurt Lin 5d topped the five-round, two-day tournament – the 5th annual — held April 2-3 on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Miki Hirama 1k took first in the Lower Kyu division, Shannon Jones 5k topped the Middle Kyu Division and 10 year-old Heather Crawford 16k won first place in the Upper Kyu Division. A total of 13 prizes were awarded, donated by Yellow Mountain Imports and Slate & Shell.
Winner’s Report: Dan division (1d and up): 1st: Kurt Lin 5d; 2nd: Karsten Henckell 5d; 3rd: Joshua Lee 5d. Lower Kyu Division (1k – 4k): 1st: Miki Hirama 1k; 2nd: Stephen Barberi 1k; 3rd: Efrain Davila 2k. Middle Kyu Division (5k – 10k): 1st: Shannon Jones 5k; 2nd: Jonathan Sarry 5k; 3rd: Jason Ruiz 5k; Upper Kyu Division (11k – 30k) 1st: 10 year-old Heather Crawford 16k followed quite closely by Austin Diehl 11k (2nd) and Guan Lim 29k (3rd). In addition to the placement awards, Ghianyra Forestal 30k took an award for perseverance and fighting spirit. photo at right by Kristle Luna

Categories: U.S./North America

Sawka Tops Davis/Sacramento Tourney

Monday April 11, 2011

Greg Sawka 3d topped the March 26 Davis/Sacramento Quarterly tournament in Sacramento, CA. In second place, also with three wins, was Jeff Horn 1d, with Steven Burrall 5d in third.

Categories: U.S./North America

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