American Go E-Journal » 2014 » November

The Washington Post included an article on go on November 4th, reporting on a tourney held in Arlington, VA. “Frederick Bao studies the yellow board that sits on the table between him and Sarah Crites,” wrote Jennifer Huget in her article. “Clasping a white ‘stone’ between the pad of his middle finger and the nail of his index finger, he makes his move, tapping the stone onto the board. Then he quickly slaps the palm of his hand on one end of a clock that also sits on the table.” The full article is here. NOVA Go Club member Gary Smith notes “while Sarah Crites, 13k and Frederick Bao,1d did not meet in the tournament, the photo in the Post was of a practice game during registration.” -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo and quotes courtesy of The Washington Post.

Students, parents and educators from across Chicago gathered on November 1 to celebrate the Chicago Public Schools Seal of Bi-literacy program, designed to help students to learn and understand more than one language, culture and art. Volunteers from the local community, the Go and Math Academy and the Confucius Institute in Chicago participated to promote Chinese language and arts. Visitors, especially young kids, were attracted by go, known as weiqi in China. “Some kids stayed at our booth and played weiqi for more than an hour,” reports Xinming “Simon” Guo. “They even called their friends over to learn the game together. Photographers and news video camera crew also circled around our booth and the weiqi board. The event organizer told us that our booth, with the weiqi game introduction and Chinese characters Tattoos activity, was the most popular one among all exhibitors.” photos courtesy Simon Guo; click here for more photos.

The Young Lions Tournament, hosted by the American Go Honor Society (AGHS), will take place on November 22 and 23 in the AGHS Tournaments Room on KGS. The first round will begin at 1 pm EST, and the second round at 4 pm EST. The second day will follow the same schedule. “This tournament is one of the biggest youth go events in America,” says AGHS Promotion Head Amy Su, “young go players will fight tooth and claw to emerge on top, will you be the one to lead the pride this year?” Anyone 18 or under may participate, and there will be prizes for the winners in multiple categories.  Visit the official Young Lions website for more information, to register fill out this form. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

Students at the Feng Yun Go School got a special treat last month when Kwon Kapyong 8P paid a visit. “Among other accomplishments, Mr. Kwon was Lee Sedol’s teacher,” reports Paul Matthews on the school’s website. “In fact, almost 20% of all Korean professional players were taught in his school.” Matthews reports that Feng Yun 9P “had a long talk with Mr. Kwon, and offered to help in his efforts to promote go in the United States.” They also discussed differences between teaching young students in Korea and in the United States. Parents in east Asian countries are willing to support their child in putting a lot of time into go study because there are more professional career opportunities there, American parents want to use go as an educational tool to train critical and logical thinking, problem solving, concentration, and good learning habits. The October 3 visit included a friendship match between six of Mr. Kwon’s students and the Parsippany students. Accompanying Mr. Kwon were Kim Young Ran, CEO of the Kwonkapyong International Baduk Academy, Joseph Sung, translator, and Kim Dae Yol, a very strong amateur player and go club entrepreneur in New Jersey.
photo: Kwon Kapyong 8p, Feng Yun 9p, and Joseph Shun are standing; Kim Dae Yol and one of Mr. Kwon’s stronger students are seated in the foreground.Click here to see more photos by Paul Matthews