American Go E-Journal » 2015 » November

The Portland (Oregon) Go Club meets almost every day of the week at various locations, but every Tuesday evening the meeting is at Powell’s City of Books at 10th and Burnside. And every second Tuesday of the month the club hosts a self-paired ratings tournament. Of course, AGA membership is required, but you do not have to be a PGC member to participate — all are welcome to play whether just passing through or driving in from a neighboring city. The photo shows some of the games in progress on November 10. At the front right is the tournament director, Daniel Wagner.
– Roy Schmidt
Reports — and photos — about local club activities are welcome! Send them to us at journal@usgo.org

Players traveled from as far away as Houston and Dallas to play in the Austin Go Club’s tournament on Saturday, November 7 in Austin, Texas. Lei Xu 3k, with a 4-0 record, was the overall winner, topping a field of 17. Six other players went 3-1 including John Zhang 4d, Matthew Machado 1d, Stephen Walker 3k, Tracey Su 4k, Ray Heitmann 5k and John Ruder 6k. “We were able to take advantage of the AGA Chapter Rewards Program and supply a pizza lunch to all participants,” reports organizer Bart Jacob.
photo: (l-r) Tracey Su, John Ruder, Ray Heitmann, John Zhang, Matthew Machado, Lei Xu and Stephen Walker; photo by Bart Jacob

Facebook’s Go Study Not Deep Enough: “Only good moves? Did anyone tell Facebook that they will lose their first 1000 games?” wonders Chris Uzal (Facebook Tackles Go With “Deep Learning” AI 11/7 EJ) “This is what happens when you think the world can function great with only a “like” button but the sky is full of frowny faces if you have a “dislike” button. I don’t think Facebook is psychologically equipped to play go let alone research the game. In their world, missclicks and undos are part of the game. The only people who lose are not friends with their friends. They would possibly learn more by studying moral hazard.”

More Levels in Go Than Poker? “Christopher F. Chabris, whom I know from chess, has written an article for the WSJ (Could an Amateur Win the World Series of Poker?) in which he writes ‘In the Asian game of Go, there may be even more levels.’ I thought he should have written ‘…there are even more levels,’ in lieu of ‘may be.’ What say you?”
– Michael Bacon; photo courtesy John Locher/Associated Press

Excellent Live Streaming: “Thank you so much for this live streaming,” Fabio G. Moreno from Bogotá, Colombia, posted on Facebook after last week’s Ke Jie-Lee Sedol streaming on the AGA’s YouTube channel. “Andrew and Myungwan did excellent work. I think is great contribution for the spread of go in the world to make this excellent live streaming in English and open access (to) this level of tournament, like the Samsung Cup, and a game in the semi-finals. Was great.”

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