American Go E-Journal » 2014 » February

Go Quiz: A Fujisawa by Any Other Name

Sunday February 23, 2014

“Go Seigen is my favorite player!” comments Albert Yen on last week’s quiz, which asked who was the only player to defeat Go in a jubango match. Longtime quiz players may recall that your quizmaster considers him the greatest player of all time (though the same group may recall I have a different favorite player). A wonderful 43 of you responded. Six chose the razor-sharp Sakata Eio, perhaps confusing his breaking up the dominance of Takagawa Kaku, whose Honinbo dominance may have confused two of you and a solitary, unidentified responder chose a time-traveling TARDIS possessing Shusaku. An impressive 32 correctly chose Fujisawa Kuranosuke, although several shared Richard Jankowski’s concern that “I hope this person is the same as Fujisawa Hosai.” Putting aside existential questions about whether we really are the same person during different times of our lives, Fujisawa did not adopt the name “Hosai” until much later. However you want to refer to him, Fujisawa beat Go Seigen 6-4 in 1942 (right), although, as many pointed out, he took black in each of the no komi games, and he later lost two jubango to Go, also at handicap. Interestingly, Reinhold Burger suggested that this question would be difficult without special resources, while Roland Crowl felt it was “too easy to find online” While the number of correct responses give the nod to Mr. Crowl, I thought I would take a moment to comment on how we structure quiz question choices. Ideally, we first hope to be interesting and topical. After that, your quizmaster personally believes clever, difficult questions will always be appreciated by those interested in this clever and difficult game. However, even if folks easily get online and find an answer, then your interest has been sparked and hopefully you’ll have learned something. Congratulations to David Rohde of Carpentersville, IL this week’s winner, chosen at random from those answering correctly. photo courtesy Go’s Everywhere website.

THIS WEEK’S QUIZ:
Let’s learn something about China’s Gu Li (left). While Gu benefitted from instruction by several teachers, one teacher nurtured him since he was a youngster. Is it Yang Yi 6P, Yang Yilun 7P, Song Xuelin 9P or Zhang Wendong 9P? Hint: He has attended the U.S. Go Congress several times. Click here to make your guess by close of business on Thursday.
– Keith Arnold, HKA & AGA Quizmaster

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Categories: Go Quiz
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Your Move/Readers Write: How to Find Iyama

Sunday February 23, 2014

“In response to the question about viewing the rest of the Iyama program (Your Move/Readers Write: Where’s the Rest of Iyama? 2/22/2013 EJ): it is possible but you must pay,” writes Todd Dahlquist. “Click this link and it will ask you to either pay the 210 yen ($2) for just watching this program or 945 ($9.22) for unlimited access for a month. Clicking those links brings you to another page to register. All of it is in Japanese though so it would be difficult for someone who does not know Japanese.”
Editor’s Note: Google Translate may help.

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Fan Hui Wins Ireland’s 2014 Confucius Cup

Saturday February 22, 2014

Fan Hui 2P of France swept the Confucius Cup at the 2014 Irish Go Congress, posting a perfect 5-0 score. Fan (right) topped a field of 44 players over the February 15-16 weekend in a surprisingly sunny Dublin. Celebrating 25 years of go in Ireland, the main tournament, the third Confucius Cup, was well represented with a strong field of players. Csaba Mero 6d (Hungary) took second place, Antoine Fenech 5d (France) was third, and Ondrej Silt 6d (Czech Republic) was fourth, with Kim Ouweleen 4d (The Netherlands) fifth. In an interesting historical note, Professor Liming Wang, Director of the UCD Confucius Institute, played in both this Confucius Cup and the first Irish Open in 1989. 

Winning four games were Julia Bohle 19k (Austria), Josefa Kubitova 8k (Czech Republic) and Gabriel Aussibal 1k (France). The Rapid Tournament was won by Karol Janyst 2k (Poland), with 5 wins, followed by Marek Gutkowski 7k (Poland), who edged out four other players with four wins. Click here for full results, game records and photos by Tiberiu Gociu.
– adapted from a report by the Irish Go Association 

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Categories: Europe
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Your Move/Readers Write: Where’s the Rest of Iyama?

Saturday February 22, 2014

“Just wondering if the NHK program on Iyama (Go Spotting: Iyama Yuta on NHK 2/15 EJ) is available online in its entirety,” wonders Brian Olive.
Perhaps one of our readers who reads Japanese can check out the NHK site and let us know. email journal@usgo.org

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Go Spotting: Boxing Fuseki

Friday February 21, 2014

In the manga Ashita No Joe — also known as Tomorrow’s Joe in America — the main character Joe Yabuki talks about fuseki. The manga isn’t about go at all — its about boxing — but here Joe is in the middle of a brutal match and in danger of losing. His coach wants to take him out of the match but Joe uses the concept of fuseki to explain his plan.
Thanks to Henry Hathaway for passing this along.

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Categories: Go Spotting
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AGA City League Round 2 Set for Feb 22

Thursday February 20, 2014

The second round of the AGA City League is set for February 22. The first round concluded on February 10 with a win by Katy TX 1 defeating Syracuse to complete the round. “As always catch the action live on game day at 3PM EST on Pandanet using the new GoPanda2 software,” says TD Steve Colburn. Games will be played in the AGA City League room.

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$50 Off for Osaka Go Camp Pre-Registrants

Wednesday February 19, 2014

Save $50 USD by registering by February 28 for Maeda Ryo 6P’s 3-week  intensive go camp in Osaka, which runs June 29 through July 19.  Osaka Go Camp activities include intensive training by Kansai Kiin professionals, the opportunity to play go at the Kiin with professionals, play against top amateurs and former inseis, as well as sightseeing, cultural trips and making new go friends. The camp is sponsored by Kansai Kiin and the Osaka University of Commerce. Email osaka.go.2014@gmail.com for more info or to reserve your space.

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Upcoming European Tournament: Swiss Go Championship

Wednesday February 19, 2014

The 38th Swiss Go Championship will be April 4-6 at the Hotel Ascona as part of the Ascona Mind Games. Prizes include cash prizes for the top three players and qualification for World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) and Korea Prime Minister Cup (KPMC). Players who also choose to stay at the Hotel Ascona will receive discounted rates as well as two meals per day. Hwang In-Seong 7d will analyze games throughout the tournament and give a two day’s stage prior to the tournament. To register or for more information, please visit the official Swiss Go Championship website.
—Annalia Linnan; for complete listings, check out the European Tournament Calendar

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Kyu Players Win Big

Tuesday February 18, 2014

48 kids and teens competed in the AGA’s new North American Kyu Championships (NAKC) for youth, held Feb. 15th on KGS.  The event was dominated by younger players, with 41 kids competing in the Junior Division (12 and under) and just 7 players in the Senior (13-17). Mexico made a strong showing, with 17 players, competing from the Biblioteca de Mexico (a public library in Mexico City), with 11-year-old Valeria Gonzalez 17k (r) taking top honors in the 16-20k bracket.  Everyone who entered became eligible for AGF scholarships to Go Camp or Go Congress, and first place winners will receive personalized trophies with their names engraved.

Nine-year-old Raymond Feng 1k was the Jr. winner in the 1-5k bracket, while Yukino Takehara 2k won in the Sr.  For complete results in all brackets, click here.  The event was run by Paul Barchilon, with very able support from new Assistant Youth Coordinator Justin Teng. The NAKC replaces the former US Youth Go Championships, while the Redmond Cup will provide dan level players in Canada, the US, and Mexico with the chance to compete (dan players can register here).  -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photos by Siddhartha Avila: top: Valeria Gonzalez 17k contemplates her next move; bottom: at the Biblioteca de Mexico.

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Lee Sedol-Gu Li Jubango Commentary US Broadcast Date Saturday, Feb 22 (not 2/24)

Tuesday February 18, 2014

The date for the live commentary on the second game of the Lee Sedol-Gu Li jubango is this Saturday, February 22, not the 24th, as originally reported (Lee Sedol-Gu Li Jubango Game 2 Broadcast Set for Feb 24 (US time) 2/17 EJ). Also, the correct name for the location of Myungwan Kim 9P’s game commentary broadcast is GoPanda2.

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Categories: World
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