American Go E-Journal

Daniel Smith 2d took top honors at the May 12 “It Was 20 Years Ago Today” tournament in Chicago, IL. Not a Beatles song reference, the title refered to this being the 20th anniversary — to the month — of Tournament Director Bob Barber’s (at right, at work) first tournament. This was the indefatiguable organizer’s 70th imaginatively-named competition and the 65-year-old — who claims to have “never lost even a single game” at one of his tournaments — says he plans to keep going “for at least another 20 years.” He also noted that three people who played in his first event two decades ago were there this time as well: Ian Feldman, David Rockwell, and Chris Greene. “Greene is also the publisher of Hinoki Press, which generously donates a book to each player at Chicago tournaments,” Barber said.
Winner’s Report: 1st Place High Dan: SMITH, Daniel 2d; 1st Place Low Dan: CHENG, Lixin 1d; 1st Place High Kyu: YU, Patrick 3k; Tie 1st Place Mid Kyu: ROHDE, David 5k & GABELMAN, Joel, 5k; 1st Place Low Kyu: DAVID, Brian, 10k. All six of these players won all four of their games; 36 players participated. photo by Daniel Smith