American Go E-Journal

E-J Youth Editor Paul Barchilon reports live from Romania.

Some of the strongest kids in the world have gathered here in Bucharest, Romania, for the 28th annual World Youth Go Championship, which began this morning August 13.  22 children, from 13 different countries, have all come to the beautiful Parcul Herestrau, Bucharest’s equivalent of Central Park, with the sponsorship of the Ing Goe Foundation.  Players arrived from all over the world on Friday, some as late as midnight local time.  Activities began with a Team Leader meeting in the morning, where first round opponents were selected by lottery, this was followed by a presentation on the Ing Rules from Yang Yu-Chia. The first round began at 3 pm, and was broadcast live on both KGS and EuroGoTV.  The opening ceremonies were held after the first round, and organizer Catalan Taranu has set a new standard by which to measure the event.  Three different Romanian dance troupes performed, ranging from break dance to traditional folk dancing, and representatives from the Chinese, Korean, and Canadian Embassies were all on hand to show their support for Romanian go.  Romania is at GMT +2, which makes the start time 11 pm PST in the US, but game records are available on EuroGoTV. We will be broadcasting both rounds daily (look for EuroGo TV in the English Game Room) 2 and 3 are Aug. 14, 4 & 5 will be on the 15th, and the finals will be on the 17th. I will be updating daily, with commented game records whenever possible.  US Junior Champion Aaron Ye 4d, age 9, drew Liao Yunpei 5d, age 10, of China for the first match, while Senior Champion Vincent Zhuang 6d, age 15 drew Vanessa Wong 5d, also 15, of the UK.  Both US players lost their first match, but spirits remain high.  The Chinese team leader, Huang Yizhong 7p, was kind enough to comment both game records for the E-J – which are included here as a freebie.  To get great benefits like this, join the AGA for weekly game records, a steal at only $10 for a youth membership.  Photo: Liao Yuanpei 5d, China (l) vs. Aaron Ye 4d, US (r), by Paul Barchilon.