Wednesday June 26, 2013
Now in our 14th year of providing comprehensive coverage of the world go scene, the American Go E-Journal is looking 
for a few dedicated volunteers to help update our archives. Our current searchable online archives go back to April 2010 and while E-Journals prior to that are available online they’re not searchable. Experience with WordPress helpful but not necessary; email journal@usgo.org if interested. Volunteers will be eligible to receive recognition and a stylish EJ cap.
Tuesday June 25, 2013
Hinoki Press – publisher of “English translations of top-quality, advanced go study materials” like Yoda Norimoro’s Vital
Points and Skillful Finesse – has launched a new website. Go clubs recognized by the AGA can consolidate member orders and receive a 20% discount. The site also provides links to learn how to play go, suggestions on how to study go, and to the AGA website.
Tuesday June 25, 2013
The Mind GO club’s second largest go club in Israel is re-opening this week. The club, in Rehotot at Weizmann Science Institute, is opening under the auspices of Professor Peleg, Dean of Mathematics faculty at the Institute. Meetings start this Wednesday, June 26, 20:00 in the Ziskind building (Math and Computer Science), second floor, room 261. All are welcome. Shavit Fragman first opened the club at the Weizmann Science Institute in 2004 and it was run then successfully run for several years by Dr. Andreas Doncic from Sweden. For further details, contact Shavit @ 054-4500453.
Monday June 24, 2013
Bartel & Zimmerman Dominate Lancaster, PA Instant-Pairing Tournament: Marie Bartel 14k notched five wins against six opponents and Sam Zimmerman 5k racked up six wins against five opponents in the June 22 Lancaster (PA) Summer Ratings Tournament’s instant pairing format, which allowed players to start their next game almost immediately after finishing a game. Though the field was just seven players, first-time tournament director Jason Long said “Of course we would like to see a larger attendance, but those who came had fun and made the event a success!”
NOVA School’s Out Tournament: Two dozen players ranging from 6-dan to 21-kyu participated in the NOVA School’s Out Tournament on June 22. “In a striking demonstration of rating parity, only five players scored three or four wins,” reports TD Allan Abramson. James Pinkerton 4d, 4-0; Edward James Lane 9k, 4-0; Jonathan Barlow 15k, 4-0; and Gary Smith 9k, 3-1. David Reed 5k, scored 2-0 playing only two games, earning an honorable mention.
Monday June 24, 2013
The Evanston (IL) Go Club’s “Here Comes The Sun” tournament last weekend drew 19 players. Winners were Albert Yen 7d, Laura Moon 2k, Tim Torres 8k and Crystal Lin 16k. “No one guessed the meaning of the name of the tournament, although there were many good attempts,” reports TD Mark Rubenstein. “The name is based on the fact that on June 22 – the same date as the tournament — in 1633 The Holy Office in Rome forced Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe.”
photo: Jim McAdams plays Joyce Lin; photo by Mark Rubenstein
Monday June 24, 2013
Lukas Krämer 5d, Bernd Radmacher 4d, Marlon Welter 4d and Matthias Terwey 5d have qualified for the final round of
the upcoming German Championship. They will join Franz-Josef Dickhut 6d, Johannes Obenaus 5d, Jun Tarumi 5d and Benjamin Teuber 6d in Darmstadt for the July 4-7 final.
In Germany the championship is divided in two rounds, a preliminary and a final round. The top 60 players in Germany are eligible for the preliminary round; this year 16 players from 3-5 dan showed up June 15-16 in Kassel to compete for four seats in the final, where Dickhut, Obenaus, Tarumi and Teuber were pre-seeded, based on the results of the previous championship.
Unfortunately Robert Jasiek 5d – who took first place in last year’s prelim – arrived to late to take part in the tournament due to train problems. After six rounds in a close field nobody was undefeated. Krämer, Radmacher and Welter managed to win five out of six games. The fourth seat is often decided on tiebreakers, and Matthias Terwey 5d must have been quite worried to have lost his first two games against 3-dans, but a winning streak in the following four rounds was enough to secure him a place in the final round. Some of the games will be broadcast on KGS.
– Jan Engelhardt, German Correspondent for the E-Journal. photo: Bernd Radmacher (left), Marlon Welter (right), Lukas Kraemer (middle)
Monday June 24, 2013
Looking to sell part of my go book collection of several hundred. Many out of print English books listed; over 100 Chinese language books, as well as dozens of Japanese problem books, are also available. The more you buy, the more you save! List, prices, and ordering information here.
– Lawrence Ku
Monday June 24, 2013
The Mexican Children’s Go Tournament drew 65 players May 18th in Mexico City. Organized by Pipiolo Art School and the Buddhist Temple Eko-ji, where the tournament was hosted, the event was divided into five sections: 4k-15k, 16k-20k, 21k-25k, 13×13 and 9×9.
“Go has been a regular subject at our elementary school for 5 years,” reports Siddhartha Avila, “the tournaments are a way of gathering children, having fun, testing their performance at the board, practicing mutual learning and teaching, and also encouraging peer respect and other values. This year the Principal, Marcela Zepeda, approved a new project teaching Go to K2-K3 students, and they played in the 9×9 board section. A group of young Taiwanese players took part in the tournament, tracing new bridges to share cultures and experiences through go, their top player Leon Lee won the 4k-15k section with a perfect 4 wins.”
Winners Report: 4k-15k: 1. Leon Lee, 2. Omar Zavala, 3. Lilian Zavala; 16k-20k: 1. Adam George, 2. Carlos Gallegos, 3. Amir George; 21k-25k: 1. Angel M. Mendez, 2. Ana R. Contreras, 3. Axel E. Fematt; 13×13 board: 1. Jordi Cirujeda, 2. Marcos A. Gonzalez, 3. Alberto I. Buendía; 9×9 board: 1. Aquiles Echevarria, 2. M. Fernanda Zamora, 3. Kairi Ochoa. – Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Siddhartha Avila.
Sunday June 23, 2013
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the American Go E-Journal
Iyama Evens Score in Honinbo Title Match: Both Iyama Honinbo and the Honinbo challenger Takao Shinji have
been very busy this month, sandwiching a trip to Korea for the LG Cup in between the third and fourth games of the 68th Honinbo title match. When they left Japan, Takao (left, in Game 2) was in great form whereas Iyama was in a bit of a slump, having just lost two Honinbo games and a crucial game in the Meijin league. Both of them did well in the LG Cup, but perhaps Iyama gained more by having his self-confidence restored.
The fourth game of the series was played in the city of Shiroishi (which means ‘white stone’) in Miyagi Prefecture, which was heavily hit by the March 11 earthquake two years ago. The game was held on a Noh stage in a building called Hekisuien that is devoted to traditional arts (besides the Noh stage and auditorium, there is also a traditional tea house). This was the first official game ever held on a Noh stage, and the players wore traditional dress, at least on the first morning, to match the occasion.
In the game, Iyama, who held black, started out by going for territory, letting Takao build influence. When Takao sealed move 60 at the end of the first day, it was generally felt that the position was a little advantageous for him. However, Iyama adopted a very skilful shinogi strategy on the second day, sacrificing a few stones to rescue a group under attack. This turned the game in his favor, and he set the seal on victory by making another sacrifice while expanding his moyo. Takao eventually resigned after 167 moves. He commented later that he had made a miscalculation in the play after the sealed move and that he had kept playing just to see what would happen.
Every game in a title match is important, but some are more crucial than others. Ishida Yoshio (the 24th Honinbo Shuho) believes that the fourth game often plays a significant role in a contest between closely matched players. In this case, the difference was that Iyama leveled the score at 2-all rather than having Takao take a two-game lead. The fifth game is being played June 28-29. photo courtesy 2014 European Go Congress website
Cho’s Lead Improves in Meijin League: Cho U didn’t play a game in the 38th Meijin League last week, but still his position improved, as his nearest rival suffered a setback. Hane Naoki had been the only player on one loss, but in a game played on June 17 he lost to Murakawa Daisuke 7P. Taking white, Murakawa secured a resignation. He is considered the most promising player of his age group at the Kansai Ki-in; this was his third win, so he now has quite a good chance of keeping his place in the league (one more win will make that certain). Hane joins Iyama Yuta, Kono Rin, and Takao Shinji in the two-loss group. In another game played on the same day, Kono Rin 9P improved his score to 4-2 by defeating Mizokami Tomochika 8P; Kono had white, and Mizokami resigned. The latter is now 1-5, but could still force a play-off for a place in the next league if he wins both his remaining games and Murakawa loses both of his.
38th Kisei League Update: Two games, both in the A League, were played on June 20. Cho U 9P suffered an early setback to his hopes of making a Kisei comeback when he lost to Yamashita Keigo Meijin. Taking white, Yamashita won by 3.5 points. On 2-0, he is now the only undefeated player in the A League. Cho U is 1-1. In the other game, Kiyonari Tetsuya 9P of the Kansai Ki-in (B) defeated Kobayashi Satoru 9P by 7.5 points. Both players are now 1-1.
Promoted After 38 Years: Ms. Kitani Toshimi, a member of the Osaka branch of the Nihon Ki-in, has earned 
promotion to 2-dan, 38 years after qualifying as a professional. Born in 1952, she became 1-dan in 1975. She qualified for 2-dan under the cumulative-win
promotion system by winning 30 games.
Correction: There are four go events at the upcoming Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, not three, as previously reported (4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to Include Go 6/17 EJ). I based my report on this event on the local press release here, and as Japan is not entering a women’s team, I incorrectly assumed there was no such event.
Sunday June 23, 2013
David Chau 11k led a field of eight players at the June 22 Davis/Sacramento Summer Quarterly tournament with a perfect four wins. The event drew players from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra foothills, including William (Bill) Dreher 20k, who was participating in his first AGA tournament.
– Willard Haynes