The American Go Honor Society hosted its 14th annual School Team Tournament on March 16th and 23rd, reports tournament organizer Andrew Huang. Close to a hundred youth players from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico participated in three divisions over two weekends. A total of 30 teams from 17 schools took part in the event. “In the first division, the top ranked team was from Richard Montgomery High School, in Maryland,” reports Huang. “Led by Justin Teng 5d, with Anatol Liu 3k, and Andrew Liu 4k, the team seemed to be early favorites, winning their first two rounds. However, they were defeated in round 3 by local rivals, from Albert Einstein High School, led by Julian Erville 2k, with Ben Withbroe 2k, and Elmer Martinez-Rivas 9k; Richard Montgomery High eventually settled for third place. Albert Einstein High clinched the Division 1 championship in the final round, fending off a fierce challenge from California’s Joaquin Miller Middle School, led by Daniel Liu 3d, with Wilson Zhang 1k, and Oscar Yeh 6k, who placed second. The bottom two divisions were as exciting as the first, with several upsets and dramatic games. Teams from Saint Ann’s School and Albert Einstein High School all placed in prize-winning positions in their respective divisions. However, Divisions 2 and 3 were dominated by teams from Cary Chinese School, from North Carolina, with two of their three teams placing first in both divisions, and another third in Division 3. Cary’s teams had a combined record of 10-2 over four rounds, and earned their school three well-deserved prizes. This year’s School Team Tournament was exciting yet again and showed us some of the best qualities of go. We encourage the kids to maintain their enthusiasm and look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s tournament,” said Huang. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.
