American Go E-Journal » 2012 » September

Baduktopia Releases English Edition of “Commented Games by Lee Sedol, Vol. 1”

Saturday September 15, 2012

The English edition of “Commented Games by Lee Sedol, Vol. 1: One Step Closer to the Summit” – which some are calling “a Korean version of Invincible” — is the highlight of eight new books published recently by Korean publisher Baduktopia. Keenly awaited by his fans — Lee wrote the 3-volume series during a leave of absence in mid-2009 when he temporarily stopped playing professionally — the book doesn’t disappoint. Over 320 pages Lee Sedol 9P comments in great detail on three of his own games; click  here for sample pages. “Commented Games” also includes unusually honest and frank stories about Lee’s life, thoughts and emotions, providing rare insight into the mind of one of the world top players. There are three volumes of the Lee Sedol books, with three games in each for a total of nine commented games, the English translation of Volume II is scheduled for release in the first half of 2013. Baduktopia has also released the continuation of the “Level Up! Series,” five new “Jump Level Up!” books along with their answer book. The “Level Up” books contain short explanations, practice problems and entertaining material like comics and texts on go culture. Originally designed for children at Korean Go schools the books are intended to systematically teach essential techniques step-by-step. The “Jump Level Up!” series is recommended for single-digit kyu players. Available from Baduktopia, Go Game Guru and SchaakenGo. Note: the AGA receives a 10% commission on books sold through the GoGameGuru shop.

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30 Countries to Compete in Pandanet Go European Team Championship

Thursday September 13, 2012

Thirty European countries are fielding teams in the third Pandanet Go European Team Championship (PGETC). The PGETC is a traditional European Go Federation-style tournament in which national teams play in a league system on the Pandanet-IGS server in the EuropeanTeamChamp room. Teams are made up of up to 12 players, with four selected to play in each round. The teams are divided into three leagues and there will be nine rounds, beginning September 18. The top four teams will play in finals at the 57th European Go Congress in Olsztynin July 2013. Pandanet is currently organizing a similar AGA City League (AGA Announces New Pandanet-AGA City League 8/3 EJ) and is looking for players in cities to participate: email tournaments@usgo.org if you’re interested.

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AGA Board Welcomes New Members, Looks to Future

Thursday September 13, 2012

Newly-elected members Steve Burrall, Edward Zhang, Bob Barber, and Gurujeet Khalsa were welcomed aboard at the September 9th meeting of the American Go Association’s Board of Directors via conference call. The board thanked outgoing members Chuck Robbins, Lisa Scott, Jie Li, and Andy Okun, and appointed Daniel Smith as Chairperson and Chuck Robbins as Secretary (a position appointed by the board).

The board discussed President Andy Okun’s report including the promising early organization of the 2016 World Mind Sports Games in Brazil, the Congress liaison/coordinator role, the proposed 2014 Congress in Vancouver and the related issue of travel by non-citizen U.S. residents to Canada and the appointment of Lisa Scott to the position of volunteer coordinator. The treasurer’s first quarter report was presented, covering closure of accounts from previous congresses and new financial oversight measures the AGA will assume in future Congresses.

Addressing some items brought up at the recent Go Congress, the board had a preliminary discussion about developing a policy regarding game records and their broadcasting, which will take account of intellectual property rules affecting collections of game records, instructed Okun to look into what’s necessary to fix the AGA Go Database (which has been disabled because of security concerns), and formed a committee to propose an email privacy policy regarding access to AGA member email addresses. The board discussed options for funding international travel for strong players, but did not arrive at a conclusion.

Finally, the board began reviewing progress on the goals it set for the AGA last year, which were: rank certification; development of the AGA professional system; improving the AGA member experience in an assortment of ways; fundraising and sponsorship; using new methods to market go and increase membership.  Due to the length of the meeting, that discussion will be continued at the next board meeting, but it was clear that instituting a rank certification system will be a high priority in the coming year.
– reported by Daniel Smith

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Categories: U.S./North America
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DC Metro School Tourney Set for Sept 29

Thursday September 13, 2012

“The first DC Metropolitan Area School Go Tournament will be held at George Mason University in Arlington, VA on Saturday, September 29,” reports  American Go Honor Society Vice President Julian Erville. “Registration for the tournament is still open, and anyone is welcome to watch, or play self-paired games. AGA membership is not required, and all DC Metro schools are invited to attend,” adds Erville. For information — including about prizes — contact Justin Teng at lightvolt@gmail.com.
– Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

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AGA Pro Tourney Game Records Posted; Women Who Get Go; Vogue interviews Xie Yimin; GoGoD Publishes Chinese Classic in E-Book Form; Go Mention in Stevie McCabe Mystery; Nice Go

Wednesday September 12, 2012

AGA Pro Tourney Game Records Posted: AGA-TYGEMGO Pro Tournament game records for both the main tournament and the Exhibition League have been added to the AGA Professional System page on the AGA website. To see the tournament draw – and download game records – scroll down to “Results.” Thanks to Dennis Wheeler and Steve Colburn for their work on this.

Women Who Get Go: Go has been catching on recently among young women in Japan, Daniel Krieger reported in The Japan Times earlier this year (The women who get go 5/15/2012). “Just last year, it started to get more popular,” said Mayumi Otsuka, 29, who has been hosting monthly get-togethers since last year at a go parlor in Osaka where she and her 27-year-old sister, Satomi, have been working (and playing up to 10 times a day) for the past three years. International Go Federation vice president Thomas Hsiang said that “To facilitate the next big change, we need a model” like a “Bobby Fischer” of women’s go, and suggested that the two best bets on the pro scene are 18-year-old Joanne Missingham, who is a sensation in Taiwan, and Hsieh Yi Min (Xie Yimin), a 22-year-old prodigy who came to Japan 10 years ago and is now at the top of the women’s game. photo: Yasuko Mantani (left) and Aya Kitano commence a game of go at the Shinsaibashi Igo Salon in Osaka. photo by AIMI NAKANO, courtesy The Japan Times

Vogue interviews Xie Yimin: In a related story, GoGameGuru’s David Ormerod reports that “Vogue Taiwan and the fashion house Chanel recently did a video interview with Xie Yimin, the Women’s Honinbo Meijin in Japan. It’s part of a series of interviews with directors, musicians, go players – basically artists.” Although the video is in Mandarin, GoGameGuru has posted an English transcript along with the video here. “When I first arrived at the Nihon Kiin, I had to learn to kneel while I played,” Xie Yimin says in the interview. “I would kneel until my legs and feet went numb. However, my Go Sensei (teacher) said that, before the goban, one must learn to display a modest demeanour before one can become strong at Go.”

GoGoD Publishes Chinese Classic in E-Book Form: GoGoD has issued another e-book on Amazon: Gateway To All Marvels. Gateway is special edition of the 1347 Chinese classic Xuanxuan Qijing (Gengen Gokyo in Japanese), which John Fairbairn says “is surely the most significant go book ever produced. It has become the foundation for virtually every problem book since, as well as being the main source for early go theory.” The new e-book version “brings together every problem and every variant from perhaps every subsequent edition, and discusses how the almost 500 problems and their solutions have evolved and varied, and also how even modern professionals often disagree on the correct solutions or, dare we say it, trip up,” Fairbairn adds. Previous GoGoD e-books include Inoue Genan Inseki and The Life of Honinbo Shuei, also available on Amazon.

Go Mention in Stevie McCabe Mystery: “Go is mentioned in the fifth novel in the Stevie McCabe mystery series, No Shadow in the City by John Callaghan, a Scottish author,” reports Su Co Chon Duc (Marjorie E. Hey). “In Chapter 4, there are several pages introducing go to the private investigator, Stevie McCabe. It is mentioned again in passing in Chapters 6 and 29. There’s some mayhem, but there are no ripping viscera, no splintering skulls. Yes, there are sexual encounters, because the characters have real lives, but no lingering erotica. It is marked for For Adults because of language.” While the first four books are available in paperback and Kindle format, Su Co Chon Duc notes that this book is currently only available on Kindle.

Nice Go: Bob Barber reports that go pops up in “Mr. Nice,” a 2010 film about a Welsh drug dealer. “There’s a minute of go at minute 19,” says Barber.

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9/12 Deadline for SportAccord World Mind Games Online Tournament Registration

Wednesday September 12, 2012

Wednesday, September 12 is the deadline to register for the second SportAccord World Mind Games Online Tournament. This online tournament is sponsored by SportAccord, the city government of Beijing, Pandanet, and the International Go Federation. Top prize is an all-expenses-included trip to observe the Second SportAccord World Mind Games held in Beijing later this year. There are other prizes for sectional winners as well, plus three iPads as lottery prizes drawn among all players who finish the preliminary round.

 

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American Go Honor Society Elects New Officers

Saturday September 8, 2012

The American Go Honor Society (AGHS) announced their new officers for the 2012-13 school year on their Facebook Page.  Run mainly by high school students, the AGHS organizes the School Teams Tourney and other events every year.  The new officers are:  Co-Presidents: Justin Teng and Eric Chen;  Vice Presidents: Hugh Zhang and Julian Erville; Promotion Head: Junhee Kim; Tournament Organizer: Andrew Huang; Secretary: Viral Kotecha; Officer: Asa Euster. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

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Go Spotting: Billy Bat Manga

Tuesday September 4, 2012

“A friend that has a group in Facebook “Gakko No Go” discovered some characters in the Billy Bat manga playing go,” reports Siddhartha Avila. Billy Batt is a thriller manga series written by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki and illustrated by Urasawa. The story is set in 1949 and follows Japanese-American comic book artist Kevin Yamagata as he draws the popular detective series “Billy Bat”. When he learns he may have unconsciously copied the character from an image he saw while serving in occupied Japan, he returns to Japan to get permission to use Billy Bat from its original creator. Upon arriving there, however, he becomes embroiled in a web of murder, cover-ups, and prophecy that all leads back to Billy Bat.

 

 

 

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Categories: Go Art,Go Spotting
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WBaduk Intercontinental Team Cup Seeks American Players

Tuesday September 4, 2012

American players are wanted for the second WBaduk Intercontinental Team Cup (WITC), with $10,000 in prize money at stake. Anyone can play in this 3-continent tournament that pits players from each of the participating continents — America, Europe and Asia – in a last-man-standing prelim to choose three 5-player teams that will then play off in the finals. Prizes will be awarded in both the prelims and finals. Registration is free but the September 23 deadline for sign-up is fast-approaching, as play begins later this month. Click here for details and to see who’s signed up thus far.

 

 

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Categories: World
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Go Classified: Players Wanted in Novi, MI

Tuesday September 4, 2012

I want to start a Go club in Novi, Michigan and am looking for players in the Milford-Novi-Wixom area who are interested. Email Jonathan Hop: yithril@gmail.com

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Categories: Go Classified
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