American Go E-Journal » 2013 » December

“Study life and death problems.” We’ve all heard that advice on how to get stronger at go, but it turns out that there’s a missing word that’s key to improving. The word is easy. Literally. Michael Redmond 9P revealed the missing word during one of his KGS audio commentaries on SAWMG games last weekend: “Study easy life and death problems.” Hard problems, “especially really complicated ones,” tend to be discouraging, “and they rarely come up in actual games,” Redmond said. Studying easy problems — “at least 15 minutes a day” — trains your eye to quickly see shapes and patterns and solving problems provides positive reinforcement that makes studying more likely, he adds. And since everyone’s definition of “easy” will necessarily be different, look for problems you can solve in two minutes or less.
– Chris Garlock

Click here for latest winner results and Ranka Online’s full coverage. At 9 pm EST (6p PST) Tuesday night, Michael Redmond 9P and E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will provide live audio commentary on KGS on the top boards at in the Pair Go competition.

The men’s team competition at the 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games came to a dramatic finish Monday in Beijing as China battled Korea for the gold medal. The games on the first two boards both ended in resignation after intense fighting, with Korea’s Park Jeonghwan winning on board one and China’s Zhou Ruiyang on board two. On board three Korea’s Cho Hanseung, who had lost a game in the match against Chinese Taipei in the first round, faced China’s undefeated Wang Xi and eked out a win by a fraction of a stone, and the jubilant Korean team (right) took home the gold medals. The other two men’s matches were also dramatic. Chinese Taipei defeated the European team (which won 5th place) to capture the bronze medal, and Japan defeated North America (which finished 6th) to finish fourth, but Canada’s Yongfei Ge ended the North Americans’ winless streak by beating a Japanese opponent on board three. The European team also won a game, and they very nearly won two; Chinese Taipei’s lead player Chou Chun-hsun was sweating profusely after a last-minute come-from-behind victory over France’s Fan Hui. In the women’s individual competition, Yu Zhiying (left) defeated Wang Chenxing in the all-Chinese final match to take the gold, with Wang winning silver, and Korea’s Park Jieun the bronze. – James Davies; click here for his full report in Ranka

Day 5 (Monday, 12/16) Summary: (click on links for game records, uncommented unless otherwise noted)
Men’s team tournament (fifth round): Korea 2-1 over China: Park Jeonghwan beat Fan Tingyu (Redmond Commentary), Cho Hanseung beat Wang Xi; Zhou Ruiyang beat Kim Jiseok; Chinese Taipei 2-1 over Europe: Chou Chun-hsun beat Fan Hui, Ilya Shikshin beat Wang Yuan-jyun, Lin Chun-yen beat Pavol Lisy; Japan 2-1 over North America: Fujita Akihiko beat Huiren Yang, Hirata Tomoya beat Daniel Daehyuk Ko, Yongfei Ge (right) beat Tsuruta Kazushi. 

Women’s individual tournament (seventh round): Yu Zhiying (China) beat Wang Chenxing (China) (Redmond Commentary).
Check the KGS Plus 12/16 games (under Recent Lectures) for Redmond’s audio commentaries on both the men’s and women’s finals with EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock) 
– photos by Ivan Vigano 

The third annual SportAccord World Mind Games are taking place December 12-18 in Beijing, China. Click here for latest go competition winner results, here for Ranka Online’s full coverage and here for reports on all 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games competitions (chess, go, bridge, Chinese Chess & draughts). CLICK HERE TO WATCH GAMES LIVE! 
NOTE: At 9 pm EST (6p PST) on Monday, December 16, Michael Redmond 9P and E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will provide live audio commentary on KGS on the SAWMG China-Korea men’s team final.  

China & Korea Sweep to Final Showdown in Men’s Team Tourney: In the fourth round of the men’s team event at the 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games China swept Europe 3-0 to remain completely undefeated. Korea rolled over North America 3-0, but on the top board in this match, the USA’s Huiren Yang (left), the oldest player competing, played an outstanding game against Korea’s top-rated pro Park Jeonghwan (right). The Koreans following the action on the monitor screens outside the playing room praised Yang’s opening and thought he had ample opportunity to win, even though Park prevailed in the end. In contrast, Daniel Daehyuk Ko was completely hamstrung by Kim Jiseok on board two, and Yongfei Ge, who tried an unusual opening with a three-stone corner enclosure on board three, was quickly beaten by Cho Hanseung. So China and Korea will meet on Monday to decide which team will take home the gold medals.

Attention now focused on the match between Japan and Chinese Taipei. The game on the top board, between Chou Chun-hsun (Chinese Taipei, black) and Fujita Akihiko (Japan, white) was played to a YouTube audience with live commentary from Michael Redmond. Black framed the lower side. When White made a capping invasion, Black jumped into the lower left corner. In the next twenty moves White let Black capture the corner but built a solid wall above it, reducing Black’s framework to thirty points of territory buried under the wall. ‘At this point I thought White had a slightly better position,’ Fujita said. After a black mistake in the choice of joseki in the top right corner and a favorable exchange on the top left, White had a taken over large area stretching from the left side into the center and had a clear lead. Black tried unsuccessfully to reduce White’s area, and then resigned. First game to Japan.

On board two, Hirata Tomoya (black) started well for Japan, but then made a life-and-death mistake and lost a big group. ‘This game was very tough for me,’ said his opponent Wang Yuan-jyun. ‘In the opening I made a mistake that let Black capture five stones and get a strong position. Then Black made a minor mistake and I caught up a little, but I made another mistake that let him thrust out into the center and I was then even further behind. My only chance was to attack one of his groups and try to kill it. This should not have been possible–there were many variations and none of them worked–but fortunately for me he overlooked a move and the group died.’ Second game to Chinese Taipei.

The result of the match now rested on the outcome on board three, where Japan’s eighteen-year-old Tsuruta Kazushi was playing Chinese Taipei’s fifteen-year-old Lin Chun-yen. “I felt that I had the advantage in the opening,” Lin said later. “I may have been about ten points ahead – but I lost that lead in the middle game. Now I was behind and the game was quite unfavorable for me, but I managed to regain the lead in the endgame. At the point when my opponent resigned I was about ten or fifteen points ahead.” Match to Chinese Taipei by a 2-1 score, putting them in a strong position to capture the bronze medals. They also won the bronze medal last year in men’s individual competition, after Japan beat them to take the bronze in mixed team competition two years ago.

Wang Chenxing & Yu Zhiying in All-China Women’s Individual Final: In the fifth round of women’s repechage competition, played in the morning before the men’s team round, Wang Chenxing (China) was matched against Svetlana Shikshina (Russia) and Park Jieun (Korea) against Chang Cheng-ping (Chinese Taipei). Park and Chang played a classical opening, and their game looked close until Park isolated four of Chang’s eyeless stones on the lower side. Chang fought desperately to counterattack, and though she succeeded in slicing White apart, she could not kill the cut-apart pieces. Instead, another black group died and Chang resigned. In the Wang-Shikshina game, Wang forced a weak black group to live with just two small eyes. Both sides then made big territories elsewhere. Shikshina declined a chance to start a major fight and the game ended without incident, Wang winning comfortably by 10.5 points.

The final round of the women’s repechage was therefore played between Wang and Park. Their game proceeded until all the territories had been completed and only neutral points remained to be filled. At this point Park counted that she was a bit behind and resigned to take possession of the bronze medal. Wang will play China’s Yu Zhiying again on Tuesday to see who gets the silver medal and who gets the gold. While Wang was defeating Park, a playoff for fourth place was also taking place. Chang Cheng-ping (right) and Svetlana Shikshina (left) played a lively game that proceeded with lots of skirmishes but no decisive battles. Shikshina found herself increasingly on the defensive, however, forced to concede territory in order to keep her groups alive. Late in the endgame, when Chang succeeded in capturing five white stones in the center, Shikshina resigned. Fourth place therefore goes to Chinese Taipei’s Chang Cheng-ping while fifth place goes to Russia’s Svetlana Shikshina.
– James Davies, Ranka; photos by Ivan Vigano

Day 4 (Sunday, 12/15) Summary: (click on links for game records, uncommented unless otherwise noted)
Men’s team tournament (fourth round): Chinese Taipei 2-1 over Japan: Fujita Akihiko beat Chou Chun-hsun (Redmond commentary); Wang Yuan-jyun beat Hirata Tomoya; Lin Chun-yen beat Tsuruta Kazushi (Redmond commentary); China 3-0 over Europe: Fan Tingyu beat Fan Hui; Zhou Ruiyang beat Ilya Shikshin; Wang Xi beat Pavol Lisy; Korea 3-0 over North America: Park Jeonghwan beat Huiren Yang; Kim Jiseok beat Daniel Daehyuk Ko; Cho Hanseung beat Yongfei Ge
Women’s individual tournament
Fifth round: Wang Chenxing (China) beat Svetlana Shikshina (Russia); Park Jieun (Korea) beat Chang Cheng-ping (Chinese Taipei)
Sixth round: Wang Chenxing (China) beat Park Jieun (Korea)

Redmond Audio Game Commentaries: This year, in addition to the various video feeds made available by SportAccord, Michael Redmond 9P and American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock are doing live audio game commentaries on KGS, which are also being posted on KGS Plus under Recent Lectures.“12/15/13 8:59″ is the commentary on the Men’s Team Round 4 game between Fujita Akihiko (Japan) and Chou Chun-hsun (Chinese Taipei); “12/15/13 9:29″ is the Tsuruta Kazushi (Japan) vs Lin Chun-yen (Chinese Taipei) Men’s Team Round 4 game.

Japan’s National Team: Members of Japan’s brand-new national team — nicknamed ‘Go-Go Japan’ — talk about their practice sessions and how being on the team has changed their approach to the game… Interview with Park Jieun: The bronze medalist in the women’s individual event says go in Korea has changed from an enriching cultural activity to a sport that’s “only about winning”…The Red-Faced King: Inspired to aim for the top by Mikhael Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, who also has a prominent “port-wine stain” birthmark, Chou Chun-Hsun 9P (right), known as the ‘Red-Faced King’, talks about why teaching is an important responsibility and why go players need to maintain good physical fitness… Designing a Tournament with Martin Stiassny: The European Go Federation President discusses possible format changes for next year’s World Mind Games and the need for an internationally standardized ratings system…
photo at left by Ivan Vigano; Chou Chun-Hsun photo courtesy Pandanet 

The third annual SportAccord World Mind Games are taking place December 12-18 in Beijing, China. Click here for latest go competition winner results, here for Ranka Online’s full coverage and here for reports on all 2013 SportAccord World Mind Games competitions (chess, go, bridge, Chinese Chess & draughts). CLICK HERE TO WATCH GAMES LIVE! 
NOTE: At 9 pm EST (6p PST) on Sunday, December 15, Michael Redmond 9P and E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will provide live audio commentary on KGS on Round 4 games from the World Mind Games.  

Yu Zhiying Clinches Medal in Women’s Individual Tourney: How does men’s go differ from women’s go? Aside from superficial matters such as the players’ average height, some have pointed to a temperamental difference: women tend to play more impetuously–to start a fight at the drop of a hat; men tend to play more patiently, laying deep strategic plans that only slowly mature into victory, sometimes with little or no fighting at all. Others find men’s go more coldly logical and women’s go more ‘human’. Womanly qualities were on full display in the centerpiece game in the fourth round of women’s individual competition at the SportAccord World Mind Games on December 14th. The two players, China’s Wang Chenxing and Yu Zhiying (right), the last remaining undefeated duo, came out fighting to kill from the word ‘go’. Black (Ms Wang) laid out a loose group on the left side. White (Ms Yu) immediately surrounded it, with lethal intent. Black, with equally lethal intent, cut off and attacked some of the surrounding white stones. White defended them by attacking an adjacent black group, and so it went, both players carefully pondering their moves, with the life of their stones at stake. And then this battle royal had a heartwarming ‘human’ outcome. Every single threatened group lived. Peace descended on the board, the pace of play quickened, and in the end Yu Zhiying won by 5.5 points (click here to see the Michael Redmond’s game commentary), ensuring a berth in the final, one win away from a gold medal, and assured of at least the silver.
– James Davies, Ranka; click here for the rest of his report on the Women’s Individual competition. 

China & Korea Continue to Steamroll Men’s Teams, North America Blanked Again: The powerhouse men’s teams from China and Korea continued their dominance in the third round Saturday, with China sweeping Japan on all three boards and Korea chastening the European team — exuberant after their victory over North America in the previous round — with a perfect 3-0 score. The North American team suffered their third straight shutout defeat, this time at the hands of the Chinese Taipei team (NA’s Huiren Yang, at left, plays Taipei’s Chou Chun-hsun). These games amply displayed the “manly” qualities of strategy and deliberation. The young Japanese team in particular seemed determined to make the most of their opportunity to take on three of the best players in China, and their games were among the last to end, even though they all ended in resignation. Two other players, both amateurs, who strove patiently against strong professional opponents were North America’s Daniel Daehyuk Ko, who lost to Wang Yuan-jyun by 12.5 points, and Europe’s Pavol Lisy, who stayed in a tough contest against Korea’s Cho Hanseung until fairly late in a game that was broadcast live via YouTube, with commentary by deputy chief referee Michael Redmond 9P and American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock. The duo also took time to do live audio commentary on KGS on two Men’s Teams Round Two games. – based on a report by Ranka’s James Davies

Day 3 (Saturday, 12/14) Summary: (click on links for game records, uncommented unless otherwise noted)
Men’s team tournament (third round): China 3-0 over Japan: Fan Tingyu beat Fujita Akihiko, Zhou Ruiyang beat Hirata Tomoya, Wang Xi beat Tsuruta Kazushi; Korea 3-0 over Europe: Park Jeonghwan beat Fan Hui, Kim Jiseok beat Ilya Shikshin, Cho Hanseung beat Pavol Lisy; Chinese Taipei 3-0 over North America: Chou Chun-hsun beat Huiren Yang, Wang Yuan-jyun beat Daniel Daehyuk Ko, Lin Chun-yen beat Yongfei Ge (Redmond Commentary).
Women’s individual tournament (fourth round): Yu Zhiying (China) beat Wang Chenxing (China), Park Jieun (Korea) beat Oh Jeonga (Korea), Chang Cheng-ping (Chinese Taipei) beat Joanne Missingham (Chinese Taipei), Svetlana Shikshina (Russia) beat Natalia Kovaleva (Russia).

Redmond Audio Game Commentaries Now Available: This year, in addition to the various video feeds made available by SportAccord, Michael Redmond 9P (at left in photo) and American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock (at right) are doing live audio game commentaries on KGS, some of which are also being posted on KGS Plus under Recent Lectures. “12/14/13 9:52” is the commentary on the Men’s Team Round 3 game between Yongfei Ge 6D and Chun-yen Lin 9P (starts at 6:53); “12/14/13 8:56” is the commentary on the Women’s Individual Round 4 game between Yu Zhiying and Wang ChengXing (starts 3:43).

Benjamin Teuber on Playing Michael Redmond 9P and Studying in China: The promising young German Benjamin Teuber 6D took on Michael Redmond 9P in a special exhibition match held Saturday morning. South African Victor Chow (‘RoseDuke’), the winner of the SAWMG 2013 Pandanet tournament, was originally slated to play, but Teuber (at left in photo) — who’s currently studying go in China — substituted at the last minute when Chow was unable to attend. The game was calm with Teuber playing a very solid opening, but when he failed to use his thickness to attack, he slowly but surely fell behind. In the Ranka interview, Teuber talks about the new go training program being held in China for top European players and playing soccer with Gu Li.

Draughted In: Why Zhao Hanqing Changed Games: Once a fervent go player, 19-year-old Zhao Hanqing (right) began to study international draughts in 2008 and has already secured victory in the World Championship (Junior Girls). She is currently taking part in the draughts competition at the SportAccord World Mind Games being held in Beijing. Find out more about why she switched games and how China is promoting mind games.

Going to the Max: As games wrap up each day in the playing room at the Sport Accord World Mind Games venue in the Beijing International Conference Center, the review room next door fills up with players, pros and fans who review their games while keeping an eye on monitors showing the games still being played. The rapid clicking of go stones competes with the excited swirl of languages from around the world. Eventually, as darkness falls outside, the game room will empty, the day’s results will be marked on the scoreboard, and even the most hard-core players will tear themselves away from the go boards. For now. Until tomorrow, when the cycle begins again.
– Chris Garlock; all photos this page by Ivan Vigano