American Go E-Journal » 2015 » October

Fujita Harvests NOVA Pumpkin Field

Monday October 26, 2015

Saki Fujita 5D was undefeated in four rounds against a field of 29 at the October 24 NOVA Pumpkin Classic in Arlington, VA. Other division

winners include Quinn Baranoski 1K (undefeated), Patrick Sun 6K, Jeff Martyn 10K, Sara Crites 11K, and Kurt Haldeman 15K. Second place winners include Josh Lee 6D, Victor Kang 3D, Zhao Zhao 5K, Garrett Smith 9K, Deirdre Golash 11k (tie), Robert Cole 12K (tie), and Amber Boyden 20K.

While the go was very serious, the prizes were fun. All first and second places with a better than even record won a pumpkin. Gurujeet Khalsa was the TD.Photo by Garrett Smith; champion Saki Fujita is in the front, second from the right.

Categories: U.S./North America

Second Time the Charm as Mark Lee 7D Sweeps to Win Cotsen Open

Monday October 26, 2015

Mark Lee fended off a last-round challenge to clinch the 2015 Cotsen Open with a perfect 5-0 record. Lee uncharacteristically misread in a capturing race against Ho Son 7D of Seattle but fought back and then pulled ahead decisively in the endgame to win by more than 20 points. Large audiences watched the top-board matches, broadcast by the E-Journal team on both KGS and the AGA’s YouTube channel — where Myungwan Kim 9P and Jennie Shen 2P commented the games live — and Lee’s sharp focus throughout the tournament was impressive. “I was the runner-up last year and really wanted to win this year,” he told the E-Journal. “The games were tough but when I got ahead I tried to stay ahead and when things got complicated I just focused on the immediate problem.” Lee (second from right) donated his $1,000 winnings to the American Go Foundation to support their work with young go players; the donation was gratefully accepted by AGF board member Larry Gross (right), along with AGA President Andy Okun (second from left, next to Eric Cotsen at far left; click here for more photos).

The Cotsen drew a large field of nearly 150, mostly from Southern California but also from other West Coast and Western states. After several years at the LA Korean Cultural Center, the Cotsen returned this year to the LA Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles. Players feasted on free food truck tacos from Komodo Food on Saturday and Kogi BBQ on Sunday, and two experienced masseuses massaged out sore muscles (left) as the players sweated out their moves over the go boards.

Tournament sponsor Eric Cotsen said he was “Really happy with the way the tournament went; everyone seemed to have a good time.” Although he didn’t win as many games as he would have liked, a beaming Cotsen said that “I think the game is awesome! The challenge, the people, everything about it. Figuring out a battle and winning the game, it’s just an awesome feeling.”
– report/photos by Chris Garlock; click here for a Facebook album with more event photos.

2015 Cotsen Winner’s Report (CLICK HERE FOR FINAL CROSSTAB)
Open: 1. Mark Lee (7d) 5 – 0; 2. Jeremy Chiu (7d) 4 – 1; 3. Beomgeun Cho (9d) 4 – 1; 4. Aaron Ye (7d) 3 – 2; 5. Xaiocheng Hu (5d) 3- 2; 6. Ho Son (7d) 3 – 2

A (3d & 4d): 1. Melissa Zhang (3d) 4 – 1; 2. Jinming Pan (4d) 4 – 1; 3. Tyler Oyakawa (3d) 4 – 1

B (1d & 2d): 1. Justin Urban (2d) 4 – 1; 2. Meng Cai (2d) 4 – 1; 3. Andrew Okun (1d) 4 – 1

C (1k – 5k): 1. Shawn Blue (5k) 5 – 0; 2. Ernest French (1k) 4 – 1; 3. Lisa Scott (2k) 4 – 1

D (6k – 10k): 1. John Bulcher (6k) 4 – 1; 2. Caleb Chen (7k) 4 – 1; 3. Samson Chio (8k) 4 – 1

E (11k+): 1. Luke Weatherby (14k) 5 – 0; 2. Alexi Kopylov (20k) 5 – 0; 3. Derek Su (12k) 4 – 1

Round 4-5 Top-Board Game Records:
Rd4 Mark Lee v. EvanCho ,
Rd4 Daniel Ko v. Boyang Chen ,
Rd4 Aaron Ye v. Jeremy Chiu ,
Rd4 Ho Son v. Daniel Liu ,
Rd5 Mark Lee v. Ho Son ,
Rd5 Evan Cho v. Boyang Chen ,
Rd5 Stephen Hu v. Jeremy Chiu ,
Rd5 Norman Tsai v. Daniel Ko

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

Mark Lee Looking to Score First Cotsen Title

Saturday October 24, 2015

Mark Lee 7D (left) stormed through the first three rounds of the 2015 Cotsen Open on Saturday as he tried to capture his first Cotsen title. Only young Aaron Ye even came close to upsetting the former Korean insei, in a third-round slugfest in which Ye managed to gain a slight advantage in the middle game, only to see his position collapse in the endgame under time pressure and an exquisite tesuji by Lee. Top boards in the final two rounds will be broadcast again live on KGS Sunday starting at 10a PST, with live-streaming of Board 1 on the AGA’s YouTube channel. Yilun Yang 7P will play another Chinese professional starting at 8a on KGS. Click here for a crosstab of results through Round 3.
Games from the top boards:
Rd1 Michael Zhou v. Mark Lee ,
Rd1 Evan Cho v. SukJun Kim ,
Rd1 Daniel Ko v. Vincent Zhuang ,
Rd1 Kevin Chao v. Boyang Chen ,
Rd2 Jeremy Chiu v. Mark Lee ,
Rd2 VincentZ huang v. Evan Cho ,
Rd2 Boyang Chen v. Daniel Liu ,
Rd2 Aaron Ye v. Stephen Hu ,
Rd3 Aaron Ye v. Mark Lee ,
Rd3 Daniel Liu v. Evan Cho ,
Rd3 Matthew Burrall v. Daniel Ko ,

photo: awaiting Round 1 pairings Saturday morning on the patio at the LA Center, just outside the Strong Players Room; report/photos by Chris Garlock

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

Americans Liu & Shi to Play in 12th Sankei Tournament in Osaka

Saturday October 24, 2015

Andy Liu 1p and Gansheng Shi 1p will play in a Kansai Kiin pro tournament this coming week; their games will be broadcast on Pandanet. The game will take place starting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 26, Japanese time, or 9P EST in the US. Liu will play against Imayi Kazuhiro 6p and Shi will play against Mine Yasuhiro 3p.

The Sankei tournament is a Kansai Kiin knock-out tournament, created in 2005, with 16 pros and 16 amateurs competing in two separate preliminaries. The current title holder is Daisuke Murakawa Oza 8p. This year, in addition to the two AGA pros, two European Go Federation pros will play, Mateusz Surma 1p of Poland against Kurahashi Masayuki 9p and Ali Jabarin of Israel against Yo Seiki 7p. There is also an exchange match scheduled for Oct. 30th, with Liu playing Sinntani Yousuke 1p at 10 a.m and Shi playing Yinaba Karinn 1p at 2 p.m. Japanese time.

Last year, two EGF pros played the pro preliminaries, Pavol Lisy 1p of Slovakia lost to Yuki Satoshi 9p, but Ali Jabarin beat Saito Tadashi 8p, advancing to the second round, where he lost to Nakano Yasuhiro 9p. While American pros have played many times in Japan, and a number of Americans, including Michael Redmond 9p, James Kerwin 1p (retired) and Francis Meyer 1p, received professional status from the Kansai Kiin or Nihon Kiin, this will be the first time AGA-certified pros will play in Japan as professionals.

Categories: Japan,U.S./North America

Young Lions Nov. 14 & 15

Friday October 23, 2015

The American Go Honor Society (AGHS) will be hosting the 2015 Young Lions Tournament in November. “This is the premier competition for North American youth under 18, and has been one of our longest running tournaments,” says AGHS Promotion Head Stephen Hu. “There will be 4 rounds in the tournament. The first round starts at 1pm EST, and the second at 4pm EST on November 14th. The third and fourth rounds rounds will follow the same schedule on November 15. There will be great prizes, as well as trophies and medals for the top three places in each rank division,” adds Hu. The tournament will be held on KGS, with games broadcast on Twitch. The registration form is here, the deadline will be Saturday, November 7, so sign up today. -Paul Barchilon, E- J Youth Editor

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Cotsen Pre-Registration Closes; On-site Registration Available Saturday Morning

Wednesday October 21, 2015

Pre-registration for this weekend’s Cotsen Open has ended — 143 pre-registered! — but organizers report that “you can still register at the door” on Saturday morning. Registration will open at 8a on Saturday at the LA Center Studios, 1201 W. 5th Street, Ste. T-100 (450 S. Bixel Street will get you to the correct gate to enter) and closes at 9a sharp; anyone registering after 9a will not be able to play in the first round (click here for the complete schedule). “Even if you pre-registered, you must still sign in Saturday morning,” notes Tournament Director Chris Sira.

The Cotsen offers a free food truck lunch on both days and the entry fee is refunded if you play in all five rounds. Yilun Yang 7P will play a match against Qun Wang 8P on Sunday morning, followed by an analysis of the game. Kiseido/Yutopian will have a vendor table on the Saturday of the event. The E-Journal will broadcast top-board games on KGS.
photo: Eric Cotsen reviews a game with Yilun Yang 7P at last year’s Open; food truck in background; photo by Chris Garlock

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

Jonathan Fisher 4D Wins Cocoa Go Tournament

Wednesday October 21, 2015

Jonathan Fisher 4D topped a field of 18 at the 2015 Cocoa Go Tournament on October 17. The Space Coast Area Go Association hosted

players from West Palm Beach, Sarasota, Orlando, and the local area which is near the Kennedy Space Center. The top division included three 4 dan players while the lower kyu division included the three youngest players rated at 13K, 15K and 26K.

“Due to the generosity of Slate and Shell, Yellow Mountain Imports and our club President, George Lebovitz, there were prizes for all,” reports tournament director Bart Lipofsky. Top winner Jonathan Fisher 4D, who swept all three of his games, took home the 24 inch oil canvas of go stones from Yellow Mountain Imports. Aaron Otero 8K was also undefeated to take first place in the mid kyu division. Heather Crawford 13K had 2 wins, 1 loss, for first place in the lower kyu division.

“It was very nice to see a family team like the Crawfords who also played last year,” said Lipofsky. Paul Wiegand, who directs the Orlando Go Tournament in April, very graciously supplied all the clocks from his club. Afterwards Lipofsky and his wife Judy hosted a pizza party at their home.

Photos by Bart Lipofsky; collage by Chris Garlock
(top right) Winners Heather Crawford 13K (left); Aaron Otero 8K (center) & Jonathan Fisher 4D (right);
(bottom right) Front left – Dan Micsa 4D Front right – Jonathan Fisher 4D, Back left – Steve Barberi 1K Back right, hidden behind Fisher – Karsten Henckell 4D;
(middle bottom) Paul Wiegand 6K, Orlando TD
(bottom left): 3 Crawfords: Front left at table – Eric Crawford 8K Front right at table – Aaron Otero 8K, Back left, standing – Heather Crawford 13K Back right, standing – Eddie Crawford 26K
(middle left): 3 youngest: Front left – Eddie Crawford 26K, Front right – Yuliang Huang 15K, Back left – Kevin van Workum (the older player) 10K Back right – Heather Crawford 13K
(top left): Front left – Dan Micsa 4D Front right – Steve Barberi 1K, Back left – Karsten Henckell 4D Back right – Jonathan Fisher 4D

Categories: U.S./North America

East Coast Go Players Have 3 Tourneys to Choose from this Weekend

Wednesday October 21, 2015

East Coast go players who can’t make the Cotsen Open in Los Angeles this weekend can still get their dose of go competition by attending tournaments in Arlington, Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Rochester, New York. The NOVA Pumpkin Classic will be held Saturday, October 24 in Arlington, the 11th Annual Greg Lefler Memorial Tournament in Rochester will also be held Saturday and the Philadelphia Fall Open — the first AGA-rated tournament organized by The Penn Go Society in many years — will be held Sunday, October 25th in Philadelphia. Anyone attending two of the tournaments should email photos to us at journal@usgo.org!

Categories: U.S./North America

Cotsen Registration Tops 120; Volunteers Wanted

Monday October 19, 2015

Registration for this weekend’s Cotsen Open has topped 120, organizers report. Coming up October 24-25 at the LA Center Studios in Los Angeles, CA, the popular tournament features a free food truck lunch on both days: Komodo Food on Saturday and Kogi BBQ on Sunday. The $20 entry fee is refunded if you play in all five rounds. Yilun Yang 7P will play a match against Qun Wang 8P on Sunday morning, followed by an analysis of the game. Kiseido/Yutopian will have a vendor table on the Saturday of the event.

Volunteers are needed to help set up on Friday and record top-board games during the tournament. To help set up (free pizza!), email CotsenOpen@gmail.com; if interested in recording/broadcasting for the E-Journal (free EJ caps!); email journal@usgo.org.

photo: top board at the 2014 Cotsen; photo by Chris Garlock

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

Obama Played Go in College

Monday October 19, 2015

President Barack Obama learned go in college, reports American Go Association President Andy Okun. In a brief conversation in the meet-and-greet line at a recent fundraiser in California, Okun says he mentioned his position with the AGA and Obama responded, “I learned to play go in college from a guy named Tim” adding that “Tim was a go master.” He asked a nearby aide if the aide had ever played go (he hadn’t), noting that “It’s a very complicated game … non-linear.” As quickly as it started, the discussion ended and staff moved Okun and his son out of the room.

Obama presented then-Chinese President Hu Jintao with an American-made go board and glass bowls (also American-made) during a visit in 2010 (Go Community To Attend White House Event Welcoming Chinese President 1/17/2011).

photo of go board made by Frank Salantrie by Salantrie

Categories: U.S./North America

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