American Go E-Journal » 2012 » July

Frank Luo 7D won the second Emory University Chinese Student & Scholar Union Go Tournament, held at Emory University on July 7. Nearly 30 players with rankings from 9 kyu to 7 dan participated in the tournament, which was organized by the Atlanta Go Club, Atlanta Chinese Go Association, and Korean Oriental Chess Club. In the high Dan division, Feijun (Frank) Luo 7D won the championship and Ge (Johnny) Wang 6D and Yongming (Michael) Zhuang 5D were the 2nd- and 3rd-place winners, respectively.  In the combined Dan and Kyu Division, Dalan Robertson and Zhou Li shared championship and Alexandros Salazar, Matt McCawley, and Alex Little tied in the second place.

“Youth players shone once again in this tournament,” reports organizer Jeffery Kerlagon. “Both 14-year-old Peiyu Tang 4D and 9-year-old Brandon Zhou 3D voluntarily played in the high-dan division and although they didn’t win a prize, their courage and go skills impressed all other players. Seven-year-old Calvin Tian has learned go for just one year and now has a rank of  near 1-dan, while Jonathan Zhang, a student in a beginning go class in the spring of 2012, played hard in his first go tournament and plan to attend more tournaments in the future.”

photo (l-r): 3rd place winner Yongming (Michael) Zhuang 5D, 1st place Feijun (Frank) Luo 7D, 2nd place Ge (Johnny) Wang 6D ; photo courtesy Jeffery Kerlagon

The roster for the “youthful” U.S. World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) team has been released. “Nine of the team’s 17 players are under the age of 18” reports coordinator Chris Kirschner. The team also features strong go families, with a father son combination, Guongzhang and Vincent Zhuang, a sister/brother pair, Cherry and Jerry Shen, and Feng Yun’s daughters, Amy and Gabriella Su. And despite the multiple Zhangs, none of the three are related. The team will compete in six events in Lille, France from August 13-23. The WMSG actually starts August 9, but the go competition was scheduled to avoid conflict with the US Go Congress. “Considering the high costs of travel, room and board, which the players have to shoulder, the team is to be congratulated for its commitment to representing us at the mind games,” said AGA Presient Allan Abramson. “We are proud of all of you!” The team, with the events they’ll play in: Matthew Burrall (Team), Wan Chen (Pairgo), Philip London (Team), Andrew Lu (Youth), Kellin Pelrine (Youth), Jerry Shen (Team), Cherry Shen (Team), Amy Su (Pairgo), Gabriella Su (Youth), Justin Teng (Youth), Yinli Wang (Individual), Jasmine Yan (Individual), Hugh Zhang (Individual), Li Zhang (Team), Lionel Zhang (Pairgo), Tina Zhang (Individual ), Guozhong Zhuang (Team), Vincent Zhuang (Youth). 7/19 update: Jasmine Yan has had to withdraw

Gordon Castanza, a Western Region representative on the American Go Association Board of Directors, announced his resignation from the Board on July 13, effective immediately. Castanza (l) said that his diabetes condition has worsened recently, necessitating his resignation “on the advice of my doctor and for medical reasons.” Regretfully accepting the resignation, AGA Board Chair Andy Okun thanked Castanza “for your years of work on the board, especially your focus on our financial issues, your careful attention to the interests of the West Coast chapters and the incredible work you did on systematizing our documents” and wished him “the best on your health.” Castanza does expect to be able to attend the upcoming U.S. Go Congress as both a player and a valued member of the EJ broadcasting team, as in previous years. Castanza’s resignation opens a vacancy on the Board, as Steven Burrall, Jeff Horn and Chris Kirschner are already running in the ongoing Board election for the Western Region seat held by Andy Okun, who was recently appointed President. The Board will appoint someone to complete Castanza’s term, which runs through 2013. photo: Castanza at the 2010 U.S. Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock