American Go E-Journal

Mark Lee 7D (right), the odds-on favorite to win this year’s Cotsen Open, was upset in the second round on Saturday by Youwhan Kim 7D in a edge-of-the-seat 299-move thriller.  The former Korean insei swept the US Masters 9-0 last August and has been visiting Myungwan Kim 9P in LA since then, where he’s also been teaching go and studying English. The Cotsen is being held in Los Angeles, CA this weekend, with a field of 126 players. Lee defeated Yixian Zhou 6D handily in the first round Saturday morning but ran into a formidable opponent in Kim — another former Korean insei — in the second round. Kim and Beomgeun Cho 7D (left) won all three rounds on Saturday and now lead the field. Click here for the crosstab and top-board game records. Other top players at the Cotsen include Calvin Sun 7D, Leran Zou 7D and Qipeng Luo 7D. The E-Journal will broadcast the final two rounds live on KGS on Sunday starting at 10:30 am (PST). from the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, as well as tweeting @theaga and posting updates here.
– report/photos by Chris Garlock; check us out on Facebook and @theaga on Twitter for more photos.