American Go E-Journal

Nine-year-old Aaron Ye 5d, has done it again, defending his title as the US Youth Champion in the under 12 age bracket. Ye entered the finals in third place, having lost a game in the qualifiers to his rival Jeremy Chiu 4d, age 9, but went on to win all other matches and secure his spot on the US team at the World Youth Go Championships this summer. The qualifiers were held on Jan. 21 on KGS, with the top four youth moving on to double elimination finals. In addition to Chiu and Ye, Justin Ching 1d and Daniel Liu 3d also made the finals. Ye got even for his loss in the qualifier, by defeating Chiu in the second round, while Ching was knocked out after losing to Liu and Chiu, which made the final matches a showdown between children who all live in the Bay Area. The last rounds were held live, at the BAGPA ratings tourney on Feb. 11. Chiu played Liu first, drawing black and opening with the High Chinese, which led to a strong win, and set the stage for his  face off with Ye.  With no losses in the finals, Ye was in strong form.  He drew black and opened with the Low Chinese.  Chiu resisted strongly, but had to resign when Ye gained the advantage in a fight between dueling eyeless dragons. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo by Steve Burrall: Jeremy Chiu 4d (l) vs. Aaron Ye 5d (r).