American Go E-Journal

Xu Jiayang 2P and Huang Mingyu 5d, both of China, won the 31st World Youth Goe Championship, held in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia from August 13th to 19th. The US players were chosen by the Ing Foundation, and included Albert Yen 6d in the senior division (under 16 years old) and Brandon Zhou 4d in the junior division (under 12 years old). Eric Liu 1d was also invited to compete as a special representative. “I have learned a lot from this tournament,” Yen told the E-Journal, “especially from the games in which I was defeated. I lost to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Fortunately, our team leader, Mingjiu Jiang 7p reviewed several of my games so I could learn from my mistakes. Although I wanted to do better than 8th place, I have tried my best. Overall, the 31st World Youth Goe Championship gave me an opportunity to make friends and compete with the top youth players in the world.” Fourteen countries participated, with twelve players in each division. Yen placed 8th in the Senior, while Zhou and Liu placed 6th and 8th in the Junior. The runner up of the Senior was Lee Eodeokdung 5d from Korea, and the runner up in the Junior was Shih Ching Yao 6d from Taiwan.  Complete results, plus photos of the event can be found on the 31st WYGC website. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor, with Albert Yen. Photo: Albert Yen (l) of the US vs. Low Rea Qiu of Malaysia.