American Go E-Journal

The first award of the Washington Open Baduk Championship was announced after just one round on the first day of play. Tournament Director Allan Abramson (right) presented retired Ambassador Suh Dae-won of Korea with an award recognizing his work promoting the game of go. Ambassador Suh played a key role bringing the annual Cotsen Open to the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles in recent years (dates were recently confirmed for 2014-2016), facilitated the organizing of the first Washington Open Baduk Championship this weekend in Northern Virginia – where nearly 100 players turned out Saturday — and is now in discussions about an event in Europe. “Bringing together the various go communities in our country has long been a dream of ours and efforts like this show just how far we have come,” said American Go Association president Andy Okun. “I’m very honored to receive this award,” said Ambassador Suh. “The Korean Amateur Baduk Association is committed to developing baduk in the United States. As the world’s largest economy and because of its huge influence worldwide this is a very important place to grow this global game. Thanks to all the organizers of this event for your dedication and hard work to make this event a success.” In addition to Abramson, Keith Arnold of the Baltimore Go Club was recognized, as was Myungwan Kim 9P. Also on hand was Korean Minister for Economic Affairs Gheewhan Kim, who declared himself “Very happy to see so many people playing the game in this country,” adding that “our embassy hopes to see this event continue next year and on into the future.”
– report/photo by Chris Garlock