December « 2015 « American Go E-Journal

Go Take a Bath this Saturday

Thursday December 10, 2015

“There are very few things that beat saunas in the winter,” says Boris Bernadsky. “One of them is playing go in the sauna in the winter.” That’s why he’s hosting an unusual go Meet-Up this Saturday at the King’s Spa, a Korean style bathhouse in Palisades Park, NJ. Here’s a link for a discount entrance fee. “The spa has a space separated by gender where the bathing occurs and a coed area where there are many dry sauna and activity areas, including go boards,” says Bernadsky. “I will bring two more just in case.” The spa provides clothing for the coed area. There is also a restaurant, and for $10 extra you get a blanket and can spend the night on a lazyboy — the go event runs from 5p Saturday through 8a Sunday — although as Berndsky notes, playing all night “is not mandatory. Anyway it will be fun!”

Categories: Traveling Go Board,U.S./North America

China’s Yuqing Hu Wins Korean Prime Minister’s Cup; Europe’s Christian Pop is 3rd & U.S.’ Eric Lui is 4th

Tuesday December 8, 2015

China’s Yuqing Hu won the 10th Korean Prime Minister’s Cup (KPMC), held November 22-27 in Seoul. Hu (left) topped a field of 55 countries. Heesu Kim (right) of Korea was second, Christian Pop of Romania took third place, Eric Lui of the U.S. took 4th place with a 5-1 record, and Shinichiro Osawa of Japan was fifth. At 5-0, Lui played for the championship in round 6 against China with both players undefeated, the first time an American has played in the deciding game of an international tournament. This is the second time a Chinese player has won the KPMC; Korea has won seven times and Taiwan has won once. Complete results can be downloaded from the European Go Federation’s report.

Categories: Korea

Finland’s Antti Törmänen Newest Nihon Ki-in Pro, First Westerner in Nearly 20 Years

Tuesday December 8, 2015

Finland’s Antti Törmänen has just been accepted as the newest Nihon Ki-in professional, the first westerner to qualify since the late Hans Pietsch, 18 years ago. Törmänen, 26, is a three-time Finnish champion, and a founding member of the Nordic Go Academy. Törmänen started playing go back in spring 2002, has participated in over a hundred European amateur tournaments, and became an insei at the Nihon Ki-in in Fall 2011. Though he did not reach the top two in the most recent Nihon Ki-in pro exam this fall, winning more than half of his games was deemed enough to qualify. His professional debut is scheduled for April 1st, 2016. “I plan to remain in Tokyo and compete in professional tournaments indefinitely,” Törmänen said in an interview with the European Go Federation. “Early on my salary will be fairly limited, so I imagine I will also be teaching go both online and offline, and possibly writing some go literature in English.” Click here to read his “Go of Ten” blog, where Törmänen’s latest post includes a report (in Japanese) in the Mainichi newspaper about the promotion.
– Chris Garlock, based on reports by Tuomo, an E-Journal reader in Finland, and the EGF Facebook page.

Categories: Europe,Japan

China Update: Hangzhou Team Wins Jin Li Smartphone Cup

Tuesday December 8, 2015

The Hangzhou team defied the odds to win the Jin Li Smartphone Cup on December 6. The Cup is actually a 22-round professional league, the biggest in China, also known as the 17th Chinese Weiqi League A. The Jin Li company sponsors a few other tournaments, including amateur tourneys. The Hangzhou team came in first, with the Wuhan team coming in second and the Zhuhai team in third. The Hangzhou team, not being a famous team or really an elite team, was not necessarily expected to win, but pulled through and was victorious in the end. The player with the best record was Ke Jie with a final score of 16 wins and 5 losses. Following him were Zhou Ruiyang with 16 wins and 6 losses, and Wu Guangya with 15 wins and 7 losses. It has been a hot topic that the Shanghai team, the former marquee team, was demoted to the B league, even with elite players like Chang Hao 9P, Qiu Jun 9P and Hu Yaoyu 8P. The Guangxi team was also demoted. This result is considered due to lack of positive competition within a team, in contrast to surge of the younger generation.
– Jonathan Hop, China correspondent for the E-Journal, with updates from Edward Zhang (12/12).

Categories: China

Syracuse Tourney Draws Upstate Crowd

Sunday December 6, 2015

Thirty-two players participated in Syracuse Go Club’s Fall Self-Paired Tournament on Saturday, November 21, with thirteen driving an hour or more to attend (four from Cornell University’s club, two from Rochester’s Empty Sky Go Club, two from near Buffalo, one from Utica, two from the Albany area, and two who drove up from Harrisburg, PA). Free refreshments were provided throughout the tournament, and at the end of the day, every player was able to select a nice prize from the new books kindly provided at a discount by Slate and Shell. The club will hold its annual four-round Salt City Tournament on April 16.
– report/photo by Richard Moseson; click here for our Facebook album of photos from the tournament.

Categories: U.S./North America

December 9 Deadline to Register for Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tourney

Sunday December 6, 2015

Go players wishing to participate in the 20th Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament have until next Wednesday, December 9 to register. All games must be played on the Pandanet server. As in previous years, the registrants are divided into three regions, and in each region further divided into several ranking bands. Winners in each band will receive prizes. In the preliminary round, players play with others in the same band and in the same region. Regional winners then move on to play in the international final rounds. This online tournament is supported by International Go Federation and organized by Pandanet.

The preliminary rounds will be played December 18 through January 11.

Categories: World

Gu Li Dominates Second Round of the Nongshim Cup

Saturday December 5, 2015

Choi Cheolhan 9P, the third player from Team Korea, defeated China’s Wu Guangya 6P (who stopped Ichiriki Ryo’s winning streak at the end of Round 1) and Japan’s Ida Atsushi 8P to get the second round of the Nongshim Cup underway November 27 to December 1 in Busan, Korea. Then Choi ran into Gu Li 9P (Team China), who took an early lead and never let go. Gu then beat Japan’s Kono Rin 9P and Korea’s Park Junghwan 9P to extend his winning streak to three. The final round will be played in Shanghai, China, where play resumes on March 1, 2016. Thanks to Gu Li’s dominating performance during this round, China still has three players – Gu Li 9P, Lian Xiao 7P and Ke Jie 9P, while Japan has two, Murakawa Daisuke 8P and Iyama Yuta 9P and Lee Sedol is the last man standing for Korea.
– Adapted from a report on Go Game Guru which includes game records and more photos.

Categories: China,Japan,Korea

Myungwan Kim 9P Launches Weekly Go Class in Pasadena

Saturday December 5, 2015

Myungwan Kim 9P is launching a weekly go class in Pasadena, California. A continuation of the Acadia Go Center Saturday class, the target level is players from 7 kyu to 4 dan. Lectures will include participant game reviews, dan level game reviews, pro game analysis, openings and more.

The class will be held most Saturdays from 10am to 1pm, at Reiyukai America in Pasadena (Yu Go Club meeting place), 20 N Raymond Ave, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91103. Fee: $30 per session. Reiyukai membership ($3/month) is required and is not included in the lecture fee. Class size is limited to 10, and monthly members have priority. Reserve your place by emailing bigtory@gmail.com. Just showing up does not guarantee seats.

The series began on December 5 and continues on December 12 and 19. The January schedule will be announced soon. You can also check out Kim’s live commentaries here.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware,U.S./North America

Nick Sibicky talks Pandanet City League; Round 2 Results

Saturday December 5, 2015

As the second round of the Pandanet AGA City League concludes, a few contenders have risen to the top of the field. Two teams in each league have won their first two rounds; Greater Washington and Canwa Vancouver 1 in League A, Washington DC 1 and 2 in League B, and Boston 3 and Atlanta 2 in League C. The next round will be January 24th. This month bring us a review by Nick Sibicky. He talks about “Seattle’s Secret Weapon” in the A League in his first two games of the season. Sibicky adds that “teams are the way to go” when watching go as a spectator.

Categories: Pandanet-AGA City League

American Go E-Journal » 2015 » December