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The Power Report: Summer Round-up from Japan (Part 2): Kita Fumiko Inducted Into Hall Of Fame; Iyama To Challenge For Meijin Title

Tuesday August 27, 2013

E-Journal Japan Correspondent John Power catches us up on go events in Japan and international events in which Japanese players took part. Click here (link) for Part 1. 

Kita Fumiko Inducted Into Hall Of Fame: At a July 16 meeting at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo, Kita Fumiko, honorary 8-dan, became the first woman to be inducted into the Go Hall of Fame. Kita (1875-1950) was the adopted daughter of the pioneering woman player Hayashi Sano (1825-1901). She became professional 1-dan in 1891 and reached 3-dan in 1895. In the same year, she married the head of the Kita No school, Kita Roppeita, and retired from active play. She made a comeback in 1907 and achieved good results, leading to her being promoted to 4-dan by the Hoensha group in 1911. In 1921 she became the first woman player to reach 5-dan. She played an important role in the founding of the Nihon Ki-in in 1924. She retired from active play and devoted herself to teaching. After her death, she was promoted to 7-dan and then to 8-dan. She is famed as “the mother of women’s go” and had many disciples, one of whom, Sugiuchi Kazuko 8-dan, is still active.

Iyama To Challenge For Meijin Title: After the 38th Meijin League ended in a tie between Iyama Yuta Kisei and Kono Rin 9P, a play-off to decide the challenger to Yamashita Keigo was held on August 5. Iyama drew black and beat Kono by resignation. This win gives Iyama a chance to regain the title that he lost to Yamashita Keigo in 2011. It also means that he will set yet another record by becoming the first player ever to appear in all top-seven title matches in one year. That will also give him a chance to revive the dream of holding all the top seven titles simultaneously (he would need to win all his title matches up to the Kisei next year, then regain the Judan title).

Below is an update of Meijin League results since my last report.
Round 7 (July 18). Yuki Satoshi 9P (B) d. Mizokami Tomochika 8P by half a point. This was the last game in the seventh round and it put an end to Yuki’s losing streak of 16 games over three leagues. His loss made demotion from the league certain for Mizokami; even though he had only one win, as a seeded player he could have retained his league seat if he had won his final two games. Three players, Yuki, Mizokami and Sakai, now had only one win with one round to go, so Murakawa Daisuke, with three wins, became certain of retaining his place.
Round 8 (August 1): As has become the practice in recent years, all the games in the final round were played on the same day, to ensure a dramatic finish. If Cho U won, he would win the league outright and become the challenger. If he lost his game with Kono Rin, Kono would end in a tie for first with the winner of the game between Iyama Yuta and Hane Naoki. Kono Rin 9P (B) d. Cho U 9P by resig; Yuki Satoshi Judan (B) d. Takao Shinji 9P by resig; Murakawa Daisuke 7P (B) d. Mizokami Tomochika 8P by resig; Iyama Yuta Kisei (B) d. Hane Naoki 9P by resig.
The final order in the league was: 1st, Iyama 6-2; 2nd: Kono 6-2; 3rd Cho U 6-
2; 4th Hane 5-3; 5th Takao Shinji 5-3; 6th Murakawa 4-4. Yuki (2-6), Mizokami
(1-7), and Sakai Hideyuki 8P (1-7) lost their places.
In an interview after the play-off, Iyama said that he was lucky. He was not
just being modest. When he was beaten by Cho U in the seventh round (actually the sixth round for Cho, his score was 5-2 compared to Cho’s 6-0, so his prospects didn’t look very good. Fortunately for him, other players managed to defeat Cho in his last two games. This is an example of relying on “tariki” (the strength of others) instead of “jiriki” (one’s own strength). It worked for Iyama.

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The Power Report: Summer Round-up From Japan (Part 1): Iyama Defends Gosei Title, Maintains Quintuple Crown; Yuki Reaches Third Round Of Mlily International Tournament

Monday August 26, 2013

I spent the summer traveling overseas (that is, away from Japan, where I live), so in a 3-part series this week I will catch up on go events in Japan and international events in which Japanese players took part. Some of these may have been reported on previously in the E-Journal so these reports will provide additional information of interest.
– John Power

Iyama Defends Gosei Title, Maintains Quintuple Crown: In the 38th Gosei title match, Kono Rin 9P made an excellent start, winning the first two games, but defending champion Iyama Yuta Kisei (right) fought back to defend his title with three straight wins. The third game was played at the Kansai Headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in in Osaka on July 26. Taking white, Iyama picked up his first win of the series, edging Kono by 1.5 points. This win could have been predicted, as Iyama has never lost a title match (this was his 14th) with straight losses. This was a fairly quiet game in which Iyama exploited a small slip by Kono in the middle game, then played steadily to keep his lead. The fourth game was played at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on August 9. Taking black, Iyama secured a resignation after 189 moves. Iyama took the lead in territory, then wrapped up the game by living inside Kono’s moyo. For the deciding game, played on August 23, the title went back to Iyama’s home ground, the Kansai Headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in. Kono won the nigiri and so took black. In some very difficult fighting that started in the middle game, Iyama took a small lead and once again carefully nursed it to the end of the game. The final margin was 2.5 points. This is Iyama’s first defence of the Gosei title and his 19th title overall.

Yuki Reaches Third Round Of Mlily International Tournament: Three Japanese started out in the first round of China’s new international tournament, the 1st Mlily Cup, but only one made it to the third round. That was Yuki Satoshi of the Kansai Ki-in, who frequently represents Japan in international tournaments, despite his “advanced” age, by international standards, of 41. I have reported on this tournament previously, but there are some added details below. Note that I give only a selection of the results in the first two rounds.
Round 1 (Chinese Qiyuan, Beijing, July 9; China 41 players, Korea 18, Japan 3, Chinese Taipei 2): Yuki Satoshi 9P (Japan) (W) defeated Cheong Seung-hyun amateur (Korea) by resig; An Dongxu 4P (China) (B) d. Yamashita Keigo 9P (Japan) by 2.5 points; Li Qinsheng 2P (China) (W) d. Piao Wenyao 9D (China) by resig; Lei Zhenkun 1P (China) (W) d. Yi Ch’ang-ho 9P (Korea) by resig; Peng Quan 7P (China) (B) d. Pak Cheong-hwan 9P (Korea) by resig; Hu Yaoyu 8P (China) (B) d. Murakawa Daisuke 7P (Japan) by resig; Yi Se-tol 9P (Korea) (W) d. Chang Hao 9P (China) by resig; Na Hyeon 3P (Korea) (W) d. Shi Yue 9P (China) by 2.5 points; Mi Yuting 4P (China) (B) d. Kang Tongyun 9P (Korea) by resig; Ch’oe Ch’eol-han 9P (Korea) (W) d. (Ms.) Song Ronghui 5P (China) by resig. (China 25 wins, Korea 6, Japan 1)
Round 2 (Chinese Qiyuan, Beijing, July 11): Yuki (W) d. Li Qincheng 2-dan (China) by resig; Mi Yuting (W) d. Yi Se-tol by resig; Kong Jie 9P (China) (B) d. Chen Yaoye 9P (China) by resig; Cho Han-seung 9P (Korea) (B) d. Qiu Jun 9P (China) by resig; Gu Li 9P (China) (W) d. Na Hyeon by resig. (China 13 wins, Korea 2, Japan 1)
Round 3 (August 9, Shanghai): Wang Xi (B; at left in photo above) d. Yuki (at right in photo)by resig; Dang Yifei 4P (China) (B) d. Tang Weixing 3P (China) by resig; Zhou Ruiyang 9P (China) (W) d. Guo Jianchao 5P (China) by resig; Wu Guangya 6P (China) (B) d. Hu Yaofeng 5P (China) by half a point; Lian Xiao 4P (China) (B) d. Ch’oe Ch’eol-han 9P (Korea) by 1.5 points; Gu Li (W) d. Hu Yaoyu by resig; Wang Lei 8P (China) (B) d. Cho Han-seung by 1.5 points; Mi (B) d. Kong Jie by half a point. (China won all eight games.)
Quarterfinals (August 11, Shanghai; I don’t have winning margins): Gu (W) d. Wang Lei; Zhou (B) d. Lian; Wang Xi (B) d. Wu; Mi (W) d. Dang.
In the semifinals, to be played in September, Gu plays Zhou and Wang plays Mi.
– photos courtesy Go Game Guru

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MacFadyen Sweeps Isle of Man Go Festival Main Tourney

Monday August 26, 2013

The 11th Isle of Man International Go Festival finished up on Friday August 23, bringing an end to a week of go and social activities for about fifty players. The Festival, which opened on August 18, hosted three tournaments, the Main, Afternoon and Handicap.

The Main was taken with a 5-game sweep by  former British and European  Champion Matthew MacFadyen 6d of Leamington, UK, with Matthew Cocke 5d of Epsom, UK in second and Piers Shepperson 4d, also of Epsom, third. Click here for full results.

In the shorter Afternoon tourney, Shigehiko Uno 4d of the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo prevailed with a full three wins, while James Hutchinson 1d of Belfast took second place and Toby Manning 2d of Leicester, UK third. Click here for full results.

The handicap tournament was won by young Edmund Smith 15k of Milton School, who beat Oscar Selby 11k in the final round. Richard Hunter 3d of Bristol won the 13×13 event. The Japanese husband and wife team of Shigehiko Uno 4d and Keiko Uno 20k won the rengo.

The event took place at the Cherry Orchard Apartments in Port Erin on the Isle of Man, a small island off the west coast of Scotland. Although it is one of the British Isles, it is not strictly part of the UK, being a self-governing British Crown Dependency. It is perhaps most well-known internationally for the TT motorcycle races.

Click here for the preliminary report on the British Go Association website, and here for an updated report of prize-winners and side events.

Tony Collman, British Correspondent for the E-J. photo by Seamus Whelan, courtesy of Cherry Orchard Apartmentswebsite.
NOTE: this post was updated 8/27 with several corrections and the handicap tourney results.

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Phoon Wins AGF Scholarship

Monday August 26, 2013

Joey Phoon 5k is the winner of the American Go Foundation’s College Scholarship. Phoon is off to college on familiar turf this month, as he starts the fall term at George Mason University, site of the 2009 Go Congress, which he attended when he was 14. “Walking through campus brings back memories of running through the rain to get to simuls and occasionally getting lost in the huge campus,” Phoon told the E-Journal. Phoon started a go club at George C. Marshall High, in his junior year. “At first it was only me and a couple of friends that I had taught in preparation for the club,” said Phoon, “but we slowly gained momentum and gained member after member. At the end of the year we had 11 members. Every Wednesday we would play a few games then review life and death problems. From just these sessions, the students learned quickly and got to 20 kyu within a couple weeks. I took two of the members to their first AGA rated go tournament and one of them won first place in the 25 kyu division. The go club carried on the following year and we gained 3 new members.” Phoon says running his club “made me understand that teaching a complete stranger is different from teaching a friend. They may be complete novices when it comes to the game but they show great potential. I hope now that I have graduated they will continue the club, and promote go to other people.”

Phoon says going to the Go Congress as a young man had a big impact on him: “Us Eastern shore kids finally got a chance to participate in one of the largest go events in the Western hemisphere. Naturally, my friends from the Great Falls Go Club and I decided to attend as it was a once in a life time chance for us. The Go Congress gave me a chance to meet children around my age throughout the United States that had an interest in go. Not only that, but I met many famous pros along the way like Ryo Maeda and Feng Yun. Their lectures were not only compelling but also gave me a glimpse into the pro go world. Overall, go has changed the way I look at life and how I treat every situation. Rather than focusing on a particular aspect of life, stepping back sometimes can help you find a better solution, because then you can see life from a broader point of view.”

The AGF College Scholarship is presented annually, usually to one male and one female student. There were no female applicants in this past cycle though, so only one scholarship was awarded. Applications for the AGF Scholarship are open through November 20th, and interested students can find more information on the AGF Website. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Joey Phoon.

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Big Turnout for Bay Area Go Summer Tournament

Monday August 26, 2013

Forty six kids and adults came out to San Francisco’s Japantown Center on August 17th for the Summer Go Tournament organized by Bay Area Go Players Association. Players ranged in strength from 7 dan to 21 kyu, and 13 people joined or renewed their AGA memberships in order to play in the event. Naoyuki Kai 7d (in photo at right) led the pack with an impressive 4-0 record.

“Some folks traveled three hours or more to get here, so I’m glad we could offer them a full day of competitive face-to-face go,” said Tournament Director Steve Burrall. Reports event organizer Roger Schrag, “Longtime local go leader and past US Go Congress co-director Ernest Brown took lots of pictures and made a beautiful slide show. I hope people who haven’t yet experienced playing in a go tournament will watch it to get an idea of how rewarding, fun, and social it is to play go over a physical board with dozens of other go players all around you.” Bay Area Go’s Fall Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, November 2 in Berkeley.

Winners report: First Division (7d-2d): 1st: Naoyuki Kai 7d. 2nd: Norman Tsai 5d. 3rd: Marshall Quander 2d. Second Division (1d-4k): 1st: Roger Schrag 4k. 2nd: Peter de Blanc 1d. 3rd: Daniel Yoo 4k. Third Division (5k-21k): Douglas Miller 16k. 2nd: James Lee 10k. 3rd: John Lengyel 8k.

Photos by Ernest Brown. 

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Park Younghun Falls to Chen Yaoye at 2013 Tengen

Sunday August 25, 2013

China Korean Tengen 2013Much was riding on this year’s China Korean Tengen tournament on August 24 in Hangzhou, China. After Chinese player Chen Yaoye 9p (left) defended his title last year, the score of wins per country was tied at 8-8. During their match, when Chen won the first game and Park won the second, creating another tie, the stakes were even higher. Korean fans hoped Park’s Chunwon win in January and killer endgame skills would give him the advantage – not so. Chen edged Park out, taking not only his third win in three years but also giving China the lead in total victories for the first time in the tournament’s history. For more information about Chen, Park, and this year’s China Korean Tengen including photos and game records, please visit Go Game Guru.
— Annalia Linnan, based on a longer report by Go Game Guru; photo courtesy of Go Game Guru

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U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Thursday (8/7), Friday (8/8) & Saturday (8/9)

Sunday August 25, 2013

The previously-published Congress Photo Scrapbooks (below) have now been updated with full-size slideshows of EJ photographer Phil Straus’ albums for each day. We’ve also published three all-new albums of Straus’ photos. Enjoy!
– The Editors


U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Saturday, August 3  
Click here to see the new daily slideshow.
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Sunday, August 4 
Click here to see the new daily slideshow.
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Monday, August 5 
Click here to see the new daily slideshow. 
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Tuesday, August 6 
Click here to see the new daily slideshow.
NEW! Thursday, August 7:
Click here for Phil Straus’ complete album of the day.
NEW! Friday, August 8: Click here for Phil Straus’ complete album of the day.
NEW! Saturday, August 9: Click here for Phil Straus’ complete album of the day.

 

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Go Game Guru Celebrates 3rd Year Anniversary and Looks Ahead

Sunday August 25, 2013

Congratulations to Go Game Guru, which recently celebrated its third birthday. “When we started this project, we set out with the idea of building a sustainable business that exists to promote go worldwide,” writes GGG founder David Ormerod. While conceding that “I didn’t fully anticipate exactly how much work that would be, or how long it would take to get certain things done,” Ormerod says the GGG team and systems “are running very smoothly at last, which frees up a lot of time to improve how we’re doing things and to work on new stuff.” That includes new go equipment in the GGG store, more articles for beginners and intermediate players, and affordable, basic equipment for beginners. Perhaps GGG’s most ambitious idea is one that the E-Journal strongly supports as well: worldwide go demonstrations on the same weekend in 2014. Stay tuned for more details. Meanwhile, happy birthday to Go Game Guru and best wishes to the team for many happy returns!
– Chris Garlock, Managing Editor, American Go E-Journal 

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2013 U.S. Go Congress at a Glance: Report/Game Index

Saturday August 24, 2013

From before the Opening Ceremonies to the closing Awards Banquet, the American Go E-Journal once again provided comprehensive coverage of the annual U.S. Go Congress, this year held August 3-11 in Tacoma, WA. In addition to broadcasting and posting dozens of top games, many with commentary by professional go players, the EJ published daily tournament recaps and previews (a new feature this year), interviews, features and scrapbooks of photos from the biggest event on the US go calendar. Here’s a selection of our coverage, organized into a handy overview. All the coverage is available online: click on U.S. Go Congress under Categories or search for specific keywords. Game records are posted on the US Open, NAMT  and Strong Players Open; also see below for clickable links to the professional game commentaries. 

Tournament Reports
U.S. Go Congress Recap: Yuhan Zhang Wins U.S. Open
2013 North American Masters Tournament: Final Results (includes player photos)
2013 Strong Players Open: Final Results (includes player photos)
Los Angeles Tops Inaugural Pandanet-AGA City League
Amy Wang and Justin Ching Win Pair Go Tourney
Andrew Lu Repeats As Die Hard Winner

Daily Recaps/Previews

U.S. Go Congress Preview: Sunday, August 4
U.S. Go Congress Recap/Preview: Monday, August 5
U.S. Go Congress Recap/Preview: Tuesday, August 6
U.S. Go Congress Recap/Preview: Wednesday, August 7
U.S. Go Congress Recap/Preview: Friday, August 9
U.S. Go Congress Recap/Preview: Matthew Hu Repeats as NAMT Champ; Cong Li Wins SPO

Congress Photo Scrapbooks
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Saturday, August 3 
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Sunday, August 4 
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Monday, August 5 
U.S. Go Congress Scrapbook: Tuesday, August 6

Other Reports
Everyone’s A Winner at NAMT Board Auction
Dolen & Fukuda Receive Lasker Awards
Go History Lessons on Display at Congress
Takemiya on Teaching
Korean Leaders visit Seattle Go Center
Auto Exec Turns His Sights on Popularizing Go
Go Quiz: Something In Common

Youth Reports
Defending Champs Hold Onto Redmond Cup Titles
Ching, Huang, and Xu Top Youth Team Tourney
Kurebayashi’s Top Youth-Adult Pair Go
Frisbee Go – Youth Room Style
Gan and Ye Score in Redmond Cup; Lightning Tourney in Youth Room

Game Commentaries: The E-Journal team broadcast 15 professional commentaries during the 2013 U.S. Go Congress. In addition to the U.S. Open, the North American Masters and the Strong Players Open, we also covered the Pandanet-AGA City League A-League final as well as the Samsung Qualifier taking place in Korea.

U.S. Open Round 1, Board 1: Jennie Shen 2P on Zi Yang (Matthew) Hu vs. Tianyu (Bill) Lin
U.S. Open Round 2, Board 1: Cathy Li 1P on Zi Yang Hu vs. Jianing Gan
U.S. Open Round 3, Board 1: Shirley Lin 1P on Zi Yang Hu vs. Yuhan Zhang 7d
U.S. Open Round 3, Board 1: Chujo Chihiro 3P on Zi Yang Hu 1p vs. Yuhan Zhang 7d
U.S. Open Round 3, Board 2: Myungwan Kim 9P on Calvin Sun 7d vs. Peilun Li 7d
U.S. Open Round 4 Board 1: Wei Chen 3P on Yuhan Zhang 7d vs. Calvin Sun 7d
U.S. Open Round 5 Board 1: Mingjiu Jiang 9P on Yuhan Zhang 7d vs. Peilun Li 7d
NAMT Round 1 Board 1: Yang Yi 6P on Matthew Hu 1p vs Jianing Gan 7d
NAMT Round 2, Board 1:  Yilun Yang 7P on Calvin Sun 7d vs. Zi Yang Hu 1P
NAMT Round 4 Board 1: Takemiya Masaki on Stephanie Yin 1p vs. Zi Yang Hu 1P
NAMT Round 4 Board 2: Mingming Yin 1p on Hugh Zhang 7d vs Andy Liu 1P
SPO Round 2 Board 2: BeomGeun (Evan) Cho 7d vs Yuhan Zhang 7d (player commentary)
SPO Round 4 Board 1:  Myungwan Kim on Cong Li 3P vs Yuhan Zhang 7D
SPO Round 4 Board 2:  Huiren Yang 1p on Peilun Li 7d vs Evan Cho 7d
Pandanet-AGA City League A-League final: Myungwan Kim 9P on Beumgeon (Evan) Cho and Jie Li
Samsung Qualifier: Mingjiu Jiang 7P on Eric Lui 7d vs Ben Lockhart

2013 US GO CONGRESS EJ TEAM
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock; Assistant Manager: Todd Heidenreich; Broadcast coordinator: Steve Colburn and Dennis Wheeler; Photography: Phil Straus; KGS admin: Akane Negishi, with Sadaharu Wakisaka; Youth Editor: Paul Barchilon; Myron Souris (off-site support). Simulcast Manager: Solomon Smilack; US Open Game Recorders: Dennis Wheeler, Richard Dolen, Mike Lepore, Frank Lam. NAMT Game Recorders: Dennis Wheeler, Richard Dolen, Andrew Jackson, Solomon Smilack, David Weimer, Logan Lancaster, Brian Leahy, Ethan Frank, Matt Payton, Alex Salazar, Mike Lepore. Professionals: Cathy Li, Myunyan Kim, Yilun Yang, Shirley Lin, Huiren Yang, Mingjiu Jiang, Takemiya Masaki & Pro Coordinator I-Han Lui. photo by Phil Straus

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Upcoming European Tournament: V.A. Trost Memorial in Odessa

Saturday August 24, 2013

Sergii Rydzel and the UFGO will host the fourth Trost Memorial Vitaly Anatolievich TrostInternational Go Tournament in Odessa (Ukraine) on October 19-20. In memory of the “permanent head of the Odessa Go Club” Vitaly Anatolievich Trost, this annual tournament honors the trainer, educator, and tournament organizer who inspired generations of players including Alexander Falixon and Elina Serebryakova. This year, the main prize will be 100 EU with additional prizes for second, third, and others to be announced. Players who register online before October 9 will receive a discount. Youth players (under 18) who register by the same date can participate for free. To register or for more information about the tournament including rules, schedule, and accommodations, please visit the Trost Memorial official website.
— Annalia Linnan; for complete listings, check out the European Tournament Calendar; photo courtesy of Kosumi Go Club

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