American Go E-Journal » 2013 » April

AGA Seeks Player Comment on SportAccord Selection Process

Thursday April 18, 2013

Should the North American Masters Tournament (NAMT) be used to select North American representatives to the SportAccord World Mind Games? The American Go Association is looking for comment by strong players (players with AGA rating 6.0 and up) on this proposal. With a total prize fund of $400,000, the SportAccord World Mind Games (SAWMG) is the most lucrative international event North American go players can compete in. The event sponsors, SportAccord and the Beijing City government, pay for travel and accommodation, plus generous prize money for all players. “If we use the NAMT as the selection tournament, we raise its profile as a prestigious event,” says AGA President Andy Okun. “And for an event as significant as the SAWMG, a face-to-face selection tournament would seem better.” The NAMT points selection and 16-player format — all citizen and permanent resident professionals invited with two seats reserved for Canadian amateur participants — would remain largely the same. However, since the SAWMG previously has invited both male and female players, the proposal includes a format change to the NAMT requiring that 2-4 seats in the tournament be filled by women eligible for SAWMG (citizens), chosen by traditional NAMT qualification procedures (professional or most points). The 2013 SAWMG invitations and format have not been finalized yet, but assuming that the AGA is invited to send at least one male and one female player again this year, the highest finishing eligible male and female players (citizens) in the 2013 NAMT would be the AGA representatives to SportAccord. Strong players (players with AGA rating 6.0 and up) are urged to click here by May 1 to weigh in on the proposal.

Categories: SportAccord World Mind Games,U.S./North America

Down 0-8, Western Pros Resign Jubango Against Lee Sedol 9P

Wednesday April 17, 2013

The 10-game match on go9dan.com between Lee Sedol 9P and three Western professionals, has been called after eight fascinating games, as the Western pros — Catalin Taranu, Gansheng Shi and Andy Liu — were “out of the money,” reports go9dan’s Michael Simon. “All of the many observers found the games enjoyable and even amazing,” Simon added. “There really is no end to go strength.” The game records and reviews are available online: Game #1 Lee-Andy Liu, Game #2 Lee-Gansheng Shi; Game #3 Lee-Catalin Taranu, Game #4 Lee-Andy Liu, Game #5 Lee-Gansheng Shi (uncommented), Game #6 Lee-Catalin Taranu, Game #7 Lee-Andy Liu, Game #8 Lee-Gansheng Shi.

Categories: World

E-Journal Editor’s 200-mi UK Walk to Raise Funds for AGF

Wednesday April 17, 2013

American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock 3D and his wife Lisa are walking nearly 200 miles across England this May to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and raise funds for the American Go Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting go in the U.S. “This is a really wonderful idea,” said AGF President Terry Benson. “It’s generous players like Chris that make the AGF work possible. The more support we get, the more we can do for go.” With the AGF’s support, thousands of American children have learned go in hundreds of schools, libraries and community centers across the country. The AGF also provide scholarships and resources for youth who play go, and supports go in institutional settings such as prisons, and senior centers. “Donate what you can,” says Garlock, “whatever you give will go to help promote go across the United States.” Click here to donate. Considered the second best walk in the world, the Coast to Coast Walk is a 182-mile unofficial and mostly unsignposted long distance footpath in Northern England. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North York Moors National Parks.
– photo: Garlock on a training walk on the Seneca Creek Trail Greenway earlier this month; photo by Lisa Garlock

Categories: U.S./North America

Your Move/Readers Write: Amazing Kids Art; Choose Your Frequency

Wednesday April 17, 2013

Amazing Kids Art: “That art is amazing! (Missing Children’s Go Art 4/9 EJ),” writes Lee Frankel-Goldwater. “The AGA should do this kind of contest and display winning entries in the main hall of the year’s Congress! Maybe in coordination with Canada and Europe and offer some prize (camp scholarship?) to the winner(s).” That’s basically what the AGA and AGF have done for the past two years. “We haven’t given the kids scholarships, but they have won prizes for their entries,” says Paul Barchilon. “People also bid on the art last year, and a fair amount of money was raised. The money went both to the children and to support Comunidad Mexicana de Go Infantil y Juvenal (Mexican Youth Go Community), who run the event, and are led by Siddhartha Avila. Last year’s exhibit was a big hit, and I am sure we will do it again this year.” Barchilon also notes that a Facebook page for the art competition has just been launched; check it out here.

Choose Your Frequency: “The AGA news email is relentless,” writes Lloyd Westerman. “I would read a condensed version, with major headlines, once a month.” While we’re very proud of our thorough and timely coverage of the world go scene, we understand that not everyone wants to hear the latest news right away, and offer a weekly compilation. Switching is easy: go to “UPDATE YOUR PROFILE” at the bottom of the E-Journal and select the desired frequency (weekly or daily); you can also select your preferred format (HTML, text or mobile).
Graphic: “Dragon Slay – A Fighting Game,” April Ye, Cupertino, USA

Categories: Go Art,Youth

The Power Report: Takao to Challenge Iyama for Honinbo Title; Iyama and Hane Keep Chances Alive in Meijin League; Xie and Kobayashi Win Pair Go; Korea wins 3rd Huang Longshi Cup

Tuesday April 16, 2013

by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the American Go E-Journal

Takao to Challenge Iyama for Honinbo Title: Four years after being deposed as Honinbo, Takao Shinji 9P has earned a chance to regain the title, but to succeed he will have to overcome his nemesis, Iyama Yuta. The 68th Honinbo League ended on April 8 with the grand finale that has become customary for leagues in recent years, with all the games in the final round being held on the same day. By this stage only two results at the top were possible, a win for Takao (right) or a play-off between him and Cho U. Takao avoided complications by defeating his final-round opponent, Imamura Toshiya 9P. As it turned out, Cho U lost his game with Yamashita Keigo Meijin, so Takao could have afforded to drop his game.

Full results in this round and final placings follow. Takao Shinji 9P (W) defeated Imamura Toshiya 9P by resignation; Yamashita Keigo Meijin (W) d. Cho U 9P by resignation; Ko Iso 8P (B) d. Cho Sonjin 9P by resignation; Yuki Satoshi 9P (W) d. Seto Taiki 7P by resignation. 1. Takao Shinji: 7-0; 2. Yamashita Keigo: 5-2; 3. Cho U: 5-2; 4. Yuki Satoshi: 3-4. Ko Iso: 3-4; Imamura Toshiya, Seto Taiki: 2-5; Cho Sonjin: 1-6. The last four players lost their places in the league.

The title match will get off to a start on May 16 and, if it goes the full distance, continue until July 18. Iyama Yuta will be the favorite, as he has a 17-5 lead over Takao, but Takao won their most recent encounter, in the Meijin League in January. They have played one previous title match, when Takao challenged Iyama for the 35th Meijin title in 2010; Iyama won this match 4-0.

Iyama and Hane Keep Chances Alive in Meijin League: Cho U 9P, on 4-0, is the only undefeated player in the 38th Meijin League, but his main rivals, Hane Naoki 9P (left) and Iyama Yuta Kisei (right), who each have only one loss, both won their fifth-round games, played on April 11, so they are keeping up the pressure on Cho. Iyama (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 7P by resignation and Hane (B) beat Yuki Satoshi 9P, also by resignation. The latter game put an end to Yuki’s recent winning streak, but actually it’s more serious than that: Yuki seems unable to win in the Meijin League. In the previous league, he lost all eight games and the last two in the league before that; he has now lost four in a row in the current league, so he has lost 14 games in a row. This is surely one of the worst losing streaks ever in a league (one reason being that probably not many players who have scored 0-8 have won a place in the next league).

Xie and Kobayashi Win Pair Go: The team of Xie Yimin, holder of the Women’s Triple Crown, and Kobayashi Satoru 9P defeated Osawa Narumi 4-dan and Mizokami Tomochika 8-dan in the final of the Professional Pair Go Championship 2013. The game was played on March 10 and telecast on March 31. This is the fourth year in a row Xie has been on the winning team and fittingly she made a big contribution to her team’s victory this year with a very aggressive clamping move in the middle game that gave her team control of the game. Details of the tournament are given on the homepage of the Japan Pair Go Association.

Korea wins 3rd Huang Longshi Cup: This is a knock-out team tournament for five-player female teams from China, Korea, and Japan, run along the lines of the Nong Shim Cup and sponsored by the City of Jiangyan in Jiangsu Province in China. It is named after Huang Longshi, active in the second half of the 17th century, who was one of the greatest Chinese players of the historical period. After Korea’s first player, Kim Cae-yeong 1-dan, started with four successive wins, the tournament was dominated by the fifteen-year-old Yu Zhiying 2-dan (right), who won six games in a row. She was finally beaten by the sixteen-year-old Ch’oe Cheong 2-dan of Korea, who won three games in a row, securing victory for Korea (the final game was played on April 11). The services of Korea’s top board, Pak Chi-eun 9-dan, were not required. The Japanese team, headed by Xie Yimin 6-dan, was unable to win a game. Actually only three of the fifteen players put a win on the board. Last year, a 20-year-old from China, Wang Chenxing 2-dan, was the star, winning eight games in a row. Every year the players are getting younger.
– photo: Yu Zhiying at the Huang Longshi Cup in 2012; photo courtesy Go Game Guru

Categories: Japan,John Power Report

Sedgwick Elementary Discovers Go in California

Tuesday April 16, 2013

Wenguang Wang and Yanping Zhao presented a “Learn to Play Go” program at Sedgwick Elementary School, in Cupertino, CA, on April 2nd. “It was Sedgwick’s Annual Discovery Day,” reports Wang, “and we introduced go to four classes of third-graders (about 80 kids total). The kids were very excited when they learned some fun facts of go, learned the basic rules, and played a few 9×9 games. We also had a good time with the kids.” – Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Wenguang Wang.

Categories: Go News,U.S./North America,Youth

Go In The News: “Go Big Or Go Home” on Narrative.ly.com

Tuesday April 16, 2013

“It’s a cold night in January 2012 and Peter Armenia is sitting on a Flushing-bound seven train, anticipating culture shock,” writes Lani Conway in “Go Big Or Go Home” in the April 2 edition of Narrative.ly. “For two decades, Armenia has played the ancient Chinese game of go, always wondering how his skills would hold up at a traditional Asian club. Tonight, he’s finally getting his chance.” The piece is an excellent portrait of the current American go scene, with a focus on New York City but touching on last year’s first American pro tournament, an introduction to the history of the game and how to play, as well as a nice report on Armenia’s humbling visit to a Flushing Korean go club that weaves in stratagems from “Thirty-Six Strategies: The Secret Art of War.” graphic: detail from Mo Oh’s story illustration

Categories: Go Spotting,U.S./North America

Registration Opens for 3rd Annual Young Kwon National Online Tournament

Monday April 15, 2013

Featuring a prize purse on nearly $3,000, the third annual Young Kwon National Online Tournament (YKNOT) will take place in June. Registration is free, and all levels are welcome to participate. Prizes will be awarded in all divisions. Dedicated to promoting go in the US, Young Kwon 7D of Pearl River, NY (see “The Man Behind the YKNOT Tournament” 12/20/2010 EJ) first sponsored this tournament in 2011. The 2013 YKNOT will take place over two weekends in June, following the same format as last year: rounds 1 and 2 on Saturday June 1, round 3 on Sunday June 2, and rounds 4 and 5 on Saturday June 8. All AGA members who have lived in the US six of the past 12 month –and AGA life members living anywhere — are eligible to participate. Registration closes Friday, May 24 at midnight. Click here for tournament details and rules.

Categories: U.S./North America

First Don Wiener Memorial Draws 40 Players in Boston

Monday April 15, 2013

The first annual Don Wiener Memorial Tournament was held in Somerville Massachusetts on April 14, attracting 40 players. Gus Heck 1k (middle) won all four of his games to take first place and said he will enter his next tournament as 1 dan. Tied for second were Michael Sun (left) and Kan Yao (right), both 3-1. Runners-up, all also 3-1: Jie Liang, Jonah White, Jed Strohm, Graham Higgins, Tiantian Yuan, Karen Ogg, John Aspinall, James Peters, Wensdy Whitehead, Dmitriy Yamkovoy and Anna Wiggins.

Old technologies met new at the tournament. “The Boylston Chess Club, in whose space we hold the tournament, has an unlocked cabinet with old wind-up chess clocks,” report TD Eva Casey. The dozen or so clocks the Massachusetts Go Association owns are also wind-up. Young Manu Herskovit 17k asked Casey if the clock would tell him when his time was up. “You have to notice when the flag falls,” she told him. “What flag?” Herskovit asked. Casey demonstrated by manually moving the clock’s big hand forward until it started lifting the red flag. “It’s entirely mechanical!” Herskovit said in surprise. With the large number of pre-registrants, Casey was not sure she was going to have enough of the wind-up chess clocks, but Adam Luter got out his smart phone and found a chess clock app. “I would have had to ask Manu how to work that app,” Caseys admits.
– photo (l-r): Michael Sun, Gus Heck, Kan Yao; photo by Eva Casey

Categories: U.S./North America

Joshua Lee Wins Orlando Go Tourney

Monday April 15, 2013

Joshua Lee 5d won the Orlando Go Tournament, held April 13-14 in Orlando, FL. Thirty-three players participated in the 5-round event, with strengths ranging from 20 kyu to 7 dan and held in four divisions.

Winner’s Report: Upper Dan (4D and up): 1st: Joshua Lee (5D); 2nd: Long Nguyen (4D); 3rd: Tengxiao Yang (7D). Lower Dan (1K through 3D): 1st: Fuqian Shi (3D); 2nd: Zach Dunham (1D); 3rd: Joel Sanet (2D). Upper Kyu: (7K through 2K); 1st: Efrain Davila (3K); 2nd: Don Colladay (4K); 3rd: Tony Vick (5K). Lower Kyu (8K and down): 1st: Ellis Knickerbocker (10K); 2nd: Michael Shamp (18K); 3rd: Aaron Otero (11K).
– photo: Joshua Lee (left) and Liangyue Qian (right); report/photo by Paul Wiegand

Categories: U.S./North America

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