July « 2012 « American Go E-Journal

Go Scholars & Experts Set for Go Symposium at U.S. Go Congress

Sunday July 8, 2012

Eighteen scholars and experts from around the world will convene next month on August 4-5, the opening weekend of the US Go Congress, at the AGA’s 2012 International Go Symposium, principal organizer Peter Shotwell announced recently. Nolan Bushnell, who started the computer-gaming movement when he founded Atari in 1972, will deliver the keynote address on Saturday evening, August 4. Hotta Yumi, the creator of Hikaru No Go (see graphic), will also give a talk and answer questions. Other featured speakers will include filmmaker Marc Moskowitz and Chinese pro Stephanie Yin 1P, who will discuss go in China today, with some clips from Moskowitz’s film Weiqi Wonders. Chen Zuyuan, a leading expert on rules, will describe the evolution of “territory” and “area” scoring. On Sunday, a panel of experts will discuss the unique positive benefits of go on development, showing how and why every community can have a go program. Other presenters will address a wide range of topics, from multivariate analysis for computer programs to several essays on go history to how go can serve as a context for the emergence of minority leadership. The conference — which is sponsored by the International Go Federation — will conclude with the unveiling of the winners of The 2^nd International Go Art Contest late Sunday afternoon, August 5. “Almost 100 people have registered for the Symposium, but for those who can’t make it to North Carolina, we plan to stream the conference live, and make the presentations available in a video archive,” Shotwell said. Click here for a list of presenters and descriptions of what they plan to say.
– Roy Laird

Categories: U.S. Go Congress

Go Photo: Go in 1956 Berlin

Saturday July 7, 2012

The Syracuse Go Club’s Anton Ninno sent along this “1956 Press Photo Japanese Game of Go Enjoyed By Berlin Youths” found on eBay on offer by HistoricImages, “one of the largest providers of original photos and negatives on the planet.”

Categories: Go Photos

Go Spotting: Allegra Goodman ’s novel “Intuition”

Friday July 6, 2012

Go makes an appearance in Allegra Goodman ’s 2006 novel Intuition, reports Debbie Siemon. “After the author introduces a couple of secondary characters as ‘geniuses,’ they show up at a picnic (at Walden Pond, no less),” says Siemon. The reference, on page 164, reads “Next to the drinks cooler, Jacob and Aaron sat playing Go on towels in the sand.” The novel is “an intricate mystery and a rich human drama set in the high-stakes atmosphere of a prestigious research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.”
Spotted go somewhere? Let us know at journal@usgo.org!

Categories: Go Art,Go Spotting

“Surrounding Game” Documentary in Final Days to Reach Funding Goal

Thursday July 5, 2012

With less than two days to go, The Surrounding Game go documentary is within $4,000 of their fundraising goal. “We’re in the final stretch,” filmmaker Will Lockhart tells the E-Journal. The project, which is raising funding through Kickstarter, quickly achieved its initial goal (Go Documentary Expands Goals, Outreach 6/21 EJ) and with nearly 400 backers pledging over $21,000, is now tantalizingly close to the overall goal of $25,000, facing a deadline of 5:04 pm (EDT) this Saturday, July 7. “Thanks so much to everyone who’s stepped up to help out,” Lockhart adds, “With this final push we’re confident the go community will put us over the top!”

Categories: U.S./North America

Your Move: Readers Write

Thursday July 5, 2012

“All of a sudden, I can’t get Java to work for me with CGoban,” writes Ray. “The message I get is ‘unable to launch application’. Can you help?”
Sounds like there’s a problem with your KGS. We’ve seen this at the U.S. Go Congress when the network drops and we have no connection. Here are the steps we recommend to solve the issue: Uninstall KGS; Update Java to the latest version at www.java.com; Reinstall KGS from www.gokgs.com/download.jsp; Try to download and run the SGF file from usgo.org; If the above steps do not solve the issue then you should download the CGoban 3 without file extension and this will need to open cgoban first then load the sgf file.
“Works like a charm!” Ray reported. “I had removed and reinstalled JAVA to try to fix but totally forgot that KGS was integral too.
I definitely owe you a tall, cool one!”

Categories: Your Move: Readers Write

AGA Board Candidates on “Why I’m Running”

Wednesday July 4, 2012

Ultimate authority at the American Go Association resides with an elected Board of Directors, who select the President. Four of the AGA’s seven directors are up for election this year for two year terms. Ten candidates are running, Gurujeet Khalsa (top row, far left) and Feng Yun (top row, second from left) in the Eastern region, Bob Barber (top row, middle) and Lisa Scott (top row, second from right) in the Central region, Steven Burrall (top row, far right), Jeff Horn (bottom row, far left) and Chris Kirschner (bottom row, second from left) in the Western region and Jie Li (bottom row, middle), Chuck Robbins (bottom row, second from right) and Zhiyuan Zhang (bottom row, far right) for the At Large seat (Note: Thomas Hsiang has withdrawn his candidacy for the At-Large seat).

The E-Journal asked all candidates to explain “Why I’m running for the AGA Board” in 140 characters (the length of a tweet); the results are below. Complete candidate statements are posted on the AGA website. We hope to do follow-up questions later in July.

All AGA chapters with two or more members can vote for the director in their region in this election. Chapters with 2-4 members get one vote; 5-9 members gain an additional vote; and larger chapters get an additional vote for each ten additional members. Ballots will be mailed to all eligible voters in early July, the results will be tallied and announced at the US Go Congress in Black Mountain, NC, during the first week of August. All full AGA members may vote for the At-Large Director. All ballots must be received by August 3.

“Why I’m running for the AGA Board”:

Eastern Region
Gurujeet Khalsa: AGA membership is shrinking. I want to see go as a premier US mind sports game. My top priority is growth by removing the barriers to entry.
Feng Yun: “I have a wealth of experience worldwide, and will serve to promote go in this country for everyone, not just an AGA privileged few.”

Central
Bob Barber: Since I no longer make it to every Go Congress, serving on the Board will keep me in the loop while helping the AGA.
Lisa Scott

Western
Steven Burrall
Jeff Horn
Chris Kirschner

At-Large
Jie Li: My goal is to make the AGA an open, strong, and professional organization for go players.
Chuck Robbins
Zhiyuan Zhang: I want to ensure that the AGA Board benefits everyone, not just strong players, & bring my financial expertise to help ensure a viable AGA.

Categories: U.S./North America

Traveling Go Board: Matsumoto Castle

Wednesday July 4, 2012

“I just returned from a couple weeks in Japan and though I didn’t have an opportunity to play go, I did see some terrific traditional sets at various specialty shops in Kyoto and in Nagano, plus a nice one at the Edo Tokyo Museum,” reports Peter Schumer. “But the best go sighting for me was at Matsumoto Castle in the pretty town of Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps. Not nearly as famous as the White Heron Castle in Himeji, the old and distinguished Blackbird Castle of Matsumoto is still well worth a visit. The moat and surrounding walls date back to 1509 and the castle itself is nearly as old. Inside the castle, there are some displays of various samurai artifacts including suits of armor and beautiful swords. But what really caught my eye was this simple goban and stones, though they are a bit non-standard by modern standards of course. It looks like the stones have been through a great many more battles than the soldiers who played with them.”
– photos by Peter Schumer

Categories: Traveling Go Board

SmartGo Books 2.0 Released

Tuesday July 3, 2012

If you have an iPad or iPhone, reading go books just got even better. “SmartGo Books 2.0 improves the reading experience by moving the controls more out of the way, always showing the chapter title (iPad) and page number (iPhone), and speeding up navigation,” reports SmartGo author Anders Kierulf. Three new books bring the total number of SmartGo book to 35, and Kierulf says he hopes to have five more books before the upcoming U.S.Go Congress.

The three new books:

“Get Strong at Life and Death” by Richard Bozulich ($8.99): Fundamentals of life & death, with 230 problems (Kiseido).
“More Go by Example” by Neil Moffatt ($6.99): Explore the thinking required to break through the kyu-dan barrier (Learn Go Press).
“Correct Joseki” by Mingjiu Jiang and Guo Juan ($7.99): Dealing with joseki mistakes, and how to select joseki for particular game situations (Slate & Shell; published in print as “All About Joseki”).

SmartGo Books is a free app you can download from the App Store, with books available as in-app purchases. Click here for more information.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware

AGHS Seeks New Officers

Monday July 2, 2012

“Are you a good leader, and do you want to contribute to the future of youth go?” asks Justing Teng, Co Vice-President of the American Go Honor Society (AGHS), who run the popular School Teams Tournament every year. Applications are open for officer positions for the 2012-2013 school year including Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Promotion Head, Tournament Organizer, and Webmaster. These positions are limited to Go enthusiasts under the age of 18 and in grades 6-12. The window for applications closes on August 15. More information as well as the application itself can be found at the AGHS website (http://www.aghs.cc). “Feel free to email any questions to AGHSpresident@gmail.com,” adds Teng. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

AGF Twitter Feed

Monday July 2, 2012

Part of the new AGF website is a Twitter feed, which drew the attention of #Engage365 for an interview with AGF VP Paul Barchilon last week. Learn more about the redesign, and the AGF’s goals in the transcript of the interview here. The AGF hopes to build a voice on Twitter, by sharing information about new Go clubs and resources nationwide. Interested readers can follow the AGF at AGFgo on Twitter.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

American Go E-Journal » 2012 » July