In a dramatic game that saw the lead change hands several times 14-year-old Zi Yang (Matthew) Hu 1P (at right) prevailed over brand-new U.S. professional Zhi Yuan (Andy) Liu 1P in the North American Ing Masters (NAIM) tournament final round Friday night. Hu had also defeated Liu in the 5th round of the U.S. Open Friday morning, his 5-0 record giving him a virtual lock on winning the Open, which has one more round on Saturday. Liu had a winning position coming out of the middle game, according to game commentator Yilun Yang 7P, but allowed Hu to start a ko that wound up erasing Liu’s lead and he resigned shortly afterwards. Click here for the game commentary (scroll down to Game Review). Click here for latest results in the NAIM, US Open and Strong Player’s Open.
“Andy played really well today,” Hu said after the game, “I think maybe I was just a little more lucky.” Liu said that the games showed that “The difference between an amateur and a professional is staying calm no matter how complicated the game gets. I 
have a lot to learn from Matthew.”
After the game, the board Hu and Liu played on — a 2-inch kaya board donated by Yutopian — was auctioned off to benefit the American Go Foundation, with E-Journal Broadcast Coordinator Todd Heidenreich’s $600 bid winning both the board — which had been signed by both players as well as game commentors Yilun Yang 7P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P and Maeda Ryo 6P — and two unique bowls created especially for the event by Todd Blatt of MakerBot using his replicator.
Women’s Tournament: Amanda Miller 9k and Caroline Scheck 16k were both 3-0 going into the final round on Friday.
– reported by Lee Huynh
NAIM/SPO PLAYER PHOTOS POSTED: Photos are now posted of the players in the North American ING Masters and the Strong Players Open. Plus, in the crosstabs for the US Open, NAIM and Strong Player’s Open, hovering over the result shows who a player’s opponent was. “It’s a small change, but it makes viewing the crosstabs a thousand times more pleasant,” says an EJ reader.
– reports by Chris Garlock: photos by Phil Straus (top right) and Steve Colburn (bottom left); photo (l-r): AGF President Terry Benson, E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock, EJ Simulcast Manager Todd Blatt; Matthew Hu 1P, Todd Heidenreich, Andy Liu 1P, Yilun Yang 7P, Maeda Ryo 7P.
