July « 2016 « American Go E-Journal

AGA Teams Up with Hope Chinese School to Teach Summer Camp Students

Tuesday July 19, 2016

Nearly 60 students in Northern Virginia learned go basics on Monday, thanks to an AGA chapter’s initiative teaming up with the summer camp of Hope Chinese School (HCS). “We started with First Capture to get the students interested,” reports Edward Zhang 6D of the Capital Go Club. “Then we introduced the true goal of the game, strategically getting more territory.”

Justin Teng 6D (right), Assistant AGA Youth Coordinator, also lectured about some basic Go concepts, which students then practiced with each other. A Go Congress introduction and Weiqi Boy video (Chinese) showed off the game’s rich culture as students inquisitively watched them.

Zhang emphasized the etiquette and sportsmanship of go, including greeting the opponent and bowing at the beginning, as well as showing appreciation at the end of the game. “Summer is a great time to learn go and the HCS summer camp is a great platform for the AGA,” says Zhang. “Students were very active in the go class, and while it’s hard to match their energy level, it was certainly a fun experience for us.” Zhang credited Yuan Zhou 7D, Dinny Li and Bin Wen for the event’s planning and administration.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Your Move/Readers Write: Pokemon Go?! Senior Invitation in Sunnyvale

Tuesday July 19, 2016

Pokemon Go?! “I thought I was into real go but they stole the name!! How disappointed was I?” writes Ted Terpstra after reading about Pokémon Go in The New York Times recently .

Senior Invitation in Sunnyvale: “I would like to encourage go players 50 and older to meet at the Sunnyvale, CA, Senior Center on Thursdays between 2:30pm and 5:30pm,” writes Jean DeMaiffe, responding to our Beginner at 80, Still Playing at 90 7/10 EJ post. “The Senior Center chess players have graciously agreed to share their playing room with us. For now, I am providing two go sets plus a few books, all of which are stored with the chess players’ equipment.” Although DeMaiffe, who’s taught beginners for years, says she won’t always be able to attend, “if a go player contacts me in advance, I will happily make an effort to attend any particular meeting.” Reach her at 408-930-5888 or jean@dougandjean.com.
UPDATE (7/29): This invitation has been retracted due to circumstance beyond DeMaiffe’s control; we regret any inconvenience.

Categories: Your Move: Readers Write

Robert Jasiek Releases Life and Death Book for Beginners

Tuesday July 19, 2016

Robert Jasiek, go teacher, author, and strong German amateur player, has released a new book on life and death, or tsumego problems. Titled “First Life and Death,” the book promises to “teach life and death from scratch,” starting with building two eyes and creating dead shapes (nakade). Continuing with techniques for attack and defense of one’s eyespace, 274 problems guide the reader through the theory of life and death, including liberty shortage, capturing races, strategy, and tactical reading. With an approach designed for those first venturing into the concept of life and death, Jasiek says beginners can expect to reach the life and death skill of intermediate players. The book can be purchased here.
– Noah Doss

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware

Last Minute Chance to Sign Up for Major China Amateur Tournament

Tuesday July 19, 2016

China Qiyuan has announced the 2016 Gold Cup World Amateur Go Tournament, with online preliminaries for players outside of the major go countries to be held on Tygem. “It is a last minute invitation, but the prizes and playing opportunities for the players who make it past the prelims make it worth a shot,” said AGA President Andy Okun. The deadline for registration is July 21; details and the registration form can be found here. The preliminaries will be held from July 27 to Aug. 10, selecting 10 Chinese players, six Korean players and four from the rest of the world. Although competition can be expected to be rough, players down to 18 kyu are welcome to register. Winners of the online prelim will play face to face at the Xiamen Aqua Resort Hotel in Fujian from Sept. 13-18.

Categories: China,Go News

Matthew Cheng & Tia-An Cha Top Davis/Sac Tourney

Monday July 18, 2016

The Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Summer Tournament on July 2 at the Colonial Heights library in Sacramento. There

were 9 players. The upper division was won by Matthew Cheng 2d (right), and the lower division was won by Tia-An Cha 4k (left). Tim Boldt 12k, played in his first AGA tournament.
– Willard Haynes

Categories: U.S./North America

National Go Center Seeks Volunteers

Monday July 18, 2016

The local Committee that responded to INAF’s request for proposals for a new Go Center on the East Coast is very gratified that Washington DC has been selected. “To get the new National Go Center up and running we’re seeking volunteers with a wide variety of skills,” reports Gurujeet Khalsa, who chaired the Committee’s response. “Most urgently we need help in finding a suitable home for the National Go Center and legal advice as we incorporate and apply for non-profit status.”

Former AGA President Mike Lash is leading the search for a location in DC. “We are looking for a great location in DC that can serve the greater Washington area, support efforts to teach go in schools, and be a great place to play and learn go,” Lash says. If you have knowledge or expertise around DC commercial real estate, contact Lash here: mike.lash@nationalgocenter.org

For all other volunteering opportunities including legal and non-profit expertise contact Khalsa here: gurujeet.khalsa@nationalgocenter.org. You can find the National Go Center at their new website, or on Facebook.

Categories: U.S./North America

2017 Mind Sports Conference in Cuba to include Go

Monday July 18, 2016

A go competition will be part of the International Conference of Mind Sports which will be held in Camaguey, Cuba May 3-6, 2017. The program will also include academic papers on Mind Sports games. It is sponsored by the University of Camaguey. Professor Lazaro Bueno Pérez, who attended the 2015 Go Congress in St. Paul, is the lead organizer. The city of Camaguey, founded in 1514, is one of Cuba’s leading cities, and the Historic Center of Camaguey is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. “I visited Camaguey in 2015 and very much enjoyed it,” says Bob Gilman, AGA Executive VP. “It’s full both of history and of present day activity.” Go players from other countries will be welcome at the conference. You can find more information here.

Categories: Latin America

Pair Go in Seattle

Sunday July 17, 2016

The recent Pair Go World Cup in Japan prompted your correspondent to post this photo from the May 15 Pair Go Games at the Seattle Go Center. All 16 contestants were kyu players, so the emphasis was on having fun, and trying to play turns in the correct order. The intermission featured oolong tea from Taiwan, presented by Huei-Ling Shiang. Table 2 winners were Lucy Wang and Bryan Newbold. Table 1 winners were Brian Allen and Deborah Niedermeyer. The Seattle Go Center is planning a gala Holiday Pair Go Tournament for December of this year. Photo: Table 1. Photo and Report by Brian Allen

Categories: Pair Go,U.S./North America

Michael Redmond 9P on Pro Pair Go Tsumego 1

Tuesday July 12, 2016

[link]

Michael Redmond 9P is graciously providing all E-Journal readers with a set of tsumego problems featured at the 2016 pro pair go tournament. Of course, these problems are quite tough, but nevertheless entertaining to everyone, especially because Michael will later provide each solution.

In this tsumego contest, each pair has up to 10 minutes to answer each problem, but only the first 5 pairs can answer. The race to answer first makes these problems highly challenging. After signalling having an answer, a pair must play each move within 5 seconds. The pair team plays Black’s moves, while the composer plays White’s, which allows the composers to show their favorite variation for White.

Michael gives this interesting background for this tsumego from Ohashi Hirofumi 6P:

“This problem is misleading, in that Black’s first and 3rd moves are relatively easy to find, while White 4 is counter-intuitive. Ohashi tells me that he saw surprise and maybe shock in the top Chinese pairs faces when he played move 4, but Ke Jie quicky recovered, flickering his fingers in a burst of concentration, and was in time to give the correct answer.“

Categories: Pair Go

Chiu, Yang Sweep Redmond Prelims

Monday July 11, 2016

Jeremy Chiu 6d and Luoyi Yang 4d swept the preliminaries of the 2016 Redmond Cup, beating out last year’s champions Albert Yen 7d and Ary Cheng 4d. However, both defending champions will have a chance for revenge in the finals. All four youth have won a free trip to congress to compete in person.

The Senior Division featured a field of 16 players under the age of 18, including five former Redmond Cup Finalists. Chiu 6d, age 14, seeded fourth by rating, displayed his power by sweeping the competition, including last year’s champion Yen, and 4-time Redmond Cup champion Aaron Ye 7d. This will be Chiu’s second appearance in the Redmond Cup Finals since 2014. “The preliminaries were very tough and I faced many strong opponents,” Chiu told the E-J, “however, I think I played quite well, and fortunately, I was able to come out on top.”

The battle for the second coveted spot in the finals came down to defending champion Yen, and newcomer Muzhen (Alan) Ai 7d, both boys are 16 years old. Yen came out on top, ending with a 5-1 record and losing only to Chiu. “I am very happy to make the finals again, and I hope to continue my strong performance from last year,” Yen told the EJ.

The Junior Division featured seven budding dan players all below the age of 13, including both of last year’s finalists, Ary Cheng 4d, age 10, and Raymond Feng 2d, age 12. However, newcomer Luoyi Yang 4d, age 12, of Canada came out firing, sweeping the competition. The race for second place was much tighter, and a bit over halfway through the tournament, it seemed that defending champion Ary Cheng would be the likely candidate to make the finals with a 3-1 record. However, nine-year old Matthew Cheng 2d (not related to Ary) upset the defending champion and won the rest of his games to take second place by one SODOS point. Because Matthew is also this year’s Junior representative for the World Youth Go Championships, which occurs the same time as the Redmond Cup Finals, he chose to give up his spot in the finals, and Ary Cheng will have the chance to defend his title.

The Redmond Cup Finals is a best-of-3 match that will occur at the US Go Congress this year, complete with KGS broadcasts and live video commentary by pros. The matches will occur on 7/31, 8/2, and 8/4 (if necessary) at 3 pm EDT. Stay tuned for more detailed player profiles about this year’s finalists. – Story by Justin Teng, photos courtesy Jeremy Chiu (l) and Luoyi Yang (r).

Categories: U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Youth

American Go E-Journal » 2016 » July