September « 2014 « American Go E-Journal

Nick Sibicky Class Returns to Seattle Go Center

Thursday September 25, 2014

Nick Sibicky will start up the popular Double Digit Kyu Players Class (DDK) on Monday, September 29, at 6:30, at the Seattle Go Center. The class is open to anybody who can finish a 19×19 game. The class is free, and a new member’s first 10 visits to the Go Center are also free.

Nick tapes his lectures and posts them on youtube.com. He has 79 lectures posted now, and he has gathered a world-wide following. All his lectures have thousands of views, and youtube lecture #46 has more than 15,000 views. Nick’s lectures have brought donations from Austria, and visitors from Los Angeles and North Carolina.

This class was started for players in the 25 kyu to 10 kyu range, but stronger players have certainly benefited from these lectures as well. Dan Top will be the alternate teacher when Nick is not available. Dan and Nick play a game in youtube lecture #79.

This completes the Fall class lineup at the Seattle Go Center. The Beginner’s Class with Carlos Encalada is on Thursday Evenings, the DDK class is on Mondays, and the more advanced SDK class with Andrew Jackson is on Wednesdays. Visitors can also find informal instruction on Tuesday, the most popular day at the Go Center, and on Saturdays.

Categories: Go News,U.S./North America

Your Move/Readers Write: Diamond Go Salon Not Just for Women

Thursday September 25, 2014

“In your recent article (Your Move/Readers Write: Where to Play Go in Japan 9/13 EJ), Devin Flake states that the Diamond Go Salon is ‘mainly for women,'” writes” Adam Harding. “I am a long term member of that salon and I would say that DIS (Diamond Igo Salon) is not as much ‘mainly for women,’ but more for young and middle-aged players. The salon owners do run a monthly ‘Igo for women’ session which is for women only.” Harding says that Diamond’s other strong points include “a strong connection to the professional world; the owner runs her program on the Igo/Shogi channel; the atmosphere is that of a high-class wine bar instead of smoky back-room, with drinks and food available and the age range of players is about 20-50 on Wednesdays and Fridays instead of 40-60 as seems to be at most other places.” While Harding says DIS “is most slightly more expensive,” he notes that membership brings the entrance price down to that of other salons.” Click here for DIS lesson and Go Circle information and the club’s instructor listing (all in Japanese).

Categories: Your Move: Readers Write

Last week to sign up for the Pandanet-AGA City League

Monday September 22, 2014

pandalogo-4885cf7392ac5bc75a68d553b7287b04 This is the last week to sign up your city’s team for the upcoming year of the Pandanet-AGA City League. “We almost have a full roster for this season,” reports League Coordinator Steve Colburn. Any information can be found on the rules page or at steve.colburn@usgo.org.

Categories: Pandanet-AGA City League,U.S./North America

Seth Cardew 2D Upset Champion at Triangle Memorial Tourney in North Carolina

Monday September 22, 2014

A glorious fall day at the Umstead State Park in Cary, North Carolina welcomed the 14th annual Triangle Memorial Go Tournament on September 20. Despite the tranquil surroundings, mental chaos reigned under the picnic shelter as 34 contestants from four states battled through four rounds. The early prediction for a final repeating last year’s showdown between the two 7-dan prior champions, but all expectations changed when the top three players all fell in the first round. Ultimately Seth Cardew (at right, in white shirt) of Tennessee, entered as 2-dan, emerged as the Open champion with a perfect score of 4-0, defeating both 7-dans in the process, including an astonishing kill against many-time champion Changlong Wu in the final round (right), taking just two stones, which secured the $500 top prize. Second place went to Liqun Liu 7D at 3-1.

Other prize winners were Justin Blank at 4-0 followed by Anthony Long, both 4k, in Group A, Alvin Chen 10k scoring 4-0 in Group B, and Dale Blann 14k sweeping section C at 4-0 with Ellen Zeng at 3-1. Following long tradition, all entry fees were returned to the players in prizes, augmented by a gift from the sponsoring Triangle Go Group, and all players were treated to lunch and snacks throughout. The tournament was directed by AGA membership coordinator Charles Alden (left), with logistical assistance from Bob Bacon, Paul Celmer and Adam Bridges.
– report by Charles Alden; photos by Bob Bacon

Categories: U.S./North America

Peter Nelson Wins Seattle Pandanet Team Qualifier

Monday September 22, 2014

Peter Nelson, a recent arrival to Seattle from Minnesota, was selected for the Seattle 1 Pandanet-AGA City League Team, after winning the Qualifier Tournament at the Seattle Go Center by a narrow margin. Longtime Northwest player Edward Kim placed second at the tournament, with the same win/loss record, and will also join the team. Returning first team members are Simon (Ximeng) Yu, and Ho Son. The Seattle Pandanet-AGA team placed second last August in the A League competition, losing to the team from neighboring Vancouver B.C. The board order for the teams in the online tournament is determined by AGA ratings, so Nelson will probably have the alternate position. Nelson had an AGA rating of 3 dan last month, and has a 4 dan rating at present. However, he won two even games against a 7 dan at the tournament, plus a game against Xiaowu Li, who is a 5 dan in China, so observers expect his rating to continue to improve.

The open tournament was a challenge to both players and Tournament Directors Sonny Cho and Dennis Wheeler. Due to “circular wins” four players had identical records after four rounds, necessitating a playoff round. The tournament lasted 9 hours and some players had five games. In addition to Peter Nelson and Edward Kim, Dong Baek Kim and Xiaowu Li were finalists. This was the first Seattle event for Xiaowu Li, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington Law School, and former director of the faculty go club at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Photo: Simon (Ximeng) Yu watches the game of Peter Nelson and Xiaowu Li. Report/photo by Brian Allen

Categories: Events/Tournaments,Go News,Pandanet-AGA City League,U.S./North America

1-Day SAWMG Qualifier set for Monday on KGS

Sunday September 21, 2014

The AGA is holding a 1-day tournament on KGS on Monday, September 22 to select the replacement for Gansheng Shi, who was selected to represent North America at the SportAccord World Mind Games (SAWMG) but could not go. Mingjiu Jiang will play Eric Lui on Monday at 12 noon EDT in the AGA tournament room, and the winner will later play a deciding game with Jie Liang. The time for the second game is yet to be determined, but we’ll try to post it on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Categories: SportAccord World Mind Games,U.S./North America

Arnold Tops NOVA Back to School Tourney

Sunday September 21, 2014

Keith Arnold 4D took top honors in the NOVA Back to School Special tournament held on Saturday, September at GMU Law School in Arlington VA.

Winner’s Report:
First place: Keith Arnold 4D (at right, in cap), 3-1; Yukino Takehara 1K, 4-0; Bob Ehrlich 5K, 4-0; Bob Crites 8K, 4-0; and Sarah Crites 15K, 4-0. “Bob and Sarah (left) are father and daughter,” reports Allan Abramson, “Sarah is done with 15K and probably will be 12K by the Pumpkin Classic next month!

Second place: Kabe Chin 2D, 3-1; Frederick Bao 1D, Julian Erville 1D, Quinn Baranosky 3K, and Weisong Kong 3K, all tied at 2-2; Diego Pierrottet 5K, 3-1; Keith Krulack 9K and Tevis Tsai 8K, tied at 3-1; and Keith Crank 13K, 2-2.

photos by Gurujeet Khalsa

Categories: U.S./North America

Cotsen Open Registration Opens

Sunday September 21, 2014

Registration for this year’s Cotsen Open is now open. The 2-day tournament will be held on October 25-26 at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Sponsored by Eric Cotsen (at right), the tournament is one of the biggest on the annual U.S. go calendar and features thousands of dollars in prizes, an extremely competitive Open Division, live KGS commentary on top board games, free masseuses for players, and free food truck lunches to all those who pre-register for both days of the tournament. There will also be a demonstration game between Yilun Yang 7P and Yigang Hua 8P. As usual, everyone who pre-registers and plays in all five of their matches will have their full entry fee refunded; click here to register. Follow the Cotsen on Twitter and Facebook for the latest tournament news.

Categories: Cotsen Open,U.S./North America

Go Takes Over Seoul Streets

Sunday September 21, 2014

Hundreds of people gathered to play Go in Korea’s Gwanghwamun Square, on September 21. The event was part of Seoul’s Street Without Cars Festival and Learn Go Week. Go fans got autographs from players like Lee Changho, Lee Sedol and Kim Hyojeong, president of the Korean Baduk Professionals’ Union. One hundred professional go players played simultaneous games with attendees, including international visitors from the 51 countries participating in the 9th Korean Prime Minister’s Cup. Over 1,000 people attended, including many families with children. However, because not everyone played games, the goal of 1,004 simultaneous games was not achieved, and the Guinness World Record — 1,000 players at Take-machi-dohri and Chuo-cho Shopping Streets, Oita, Japan on June 6, 1999 — remained unbroken this year.
– Younggil An, Go Game Guru; right: 100 professional Go players play simultaneous games in Seoul, Korea; left: Seo Neungwuk plays international visitors, including AGA president Andy Okun (3rd from right) and Andrew Jackson (far right).

Categories: Korea

EuroGoTV Update: Hungary, Luxembourg, Croatia

Sunday September 21, 2014

Hungary: Pavol Lisy 1p took the Hungarian Open Go Championship on September 14 in Budapest while Pal Balogh 6d was second and Viktor Lin 6d placed third. Luxembourg: Also on September 14, Yaqi Fu 6d (left) bested Jonas Welticke 5d at the 7th Luxembourg Go Tournament in Hollenfels. Andreas Goetzfried 4k came in third. Croatia: The 491st Velika Gorica weekend go tournament finished on September 13 with Mladen Smud 1 in first, Marko Popovic 7k in second, and Filip Galekovic 20k in third.
– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news; photo courtesy of EuroGoTV

Categories: Europe,Events/Tournaments,Go News

American Go E-Journal » 2014 » September