Tuesday September 20, 2016
Myungwan Kim 9P will comment the second game in the Bailing Cup Final live on Wednesday, September 21 on the AGA’s YouTube Channel. The players are Ke Jie and Chen Yaoye, currently ranked number 1 and 2 in China. The commentary will start at 11p PST (2a EST). The Bailing Cup is a Chinese international tournament created in 2012.
Tuesday September 20, 2016
Nearly two dozen game records have now been added to the 2016 US Open crosstab and the AGA is conducting its annual Go Congress survey. The Open is held at the US Go 
Congress, the single biggest go event in North America each year, drawing hundreds of go players from across the country for a week of go events. Whether you’ve attended a Congress or not, the AGA would like your opinions on a few basic questions “so that we can make the Congress an even better annual event,” says AGA president Andy Okun. Click here now; survey participants will be eligible for cool go prizes.
If you’d like your 2016 US Open game records added to the crosstab, email them to journal@usgo.org. Please make sure that all the game info is completely filled out. Thanks to Steve Colburn and Dennis Wheeler for posting the records.
Tuesday September 20, 2016
An online preliminary round will be held on Pandanet to select the 16 students who will participate in the 15th World 
Students Go Oza Championship February 20-24, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan to decide the world’s number one student player.
Click here for details and here for the entry form.
University or college students under the age of 30 can participate in the preliminary round, although students living in China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei cannot participate in the online preliminary round. The application deadline is Oct 17. For further information, email sota@pandanet.co.jp or the All-Japan Students GO Association at world.sgo.oza@gmail.com.
photos: at the 14th World Students Go Oza
Sunday September 18, 2016
Sunday September 18, 2016
The Nihon Kiin Summer Go Camp, an intensive training program targeted at non-Japanese go players, was held from 
August 21st through September 3rd at the Nihon Kiin in Tokyo. Vermont go player Peter Schumer was among those attending; here’s his report.
The 2016 Nihon Ki-in Summer Go Camp was attended by around 20 go enthusiasts from all over the world, all of whom were warmly welcomed and got to participate fully in all activities. World renowned professionals including Kobayashi Koichi 9d, Ishida Yoshio 9d, O Meien 9d, and Michael Redmond 9d gave regular lectures, went over famous games, and played several simultaneous games with the attendees. Sometimes you really had to pinch yourself that you were actually there hanging out with these stars of the go world. In addition to pro instruction, the daily routine was packed with go activities, including games, problems, tournaments, social events, and sightseeing to Kamakura, Asakusa, and Yokohama.
Camp attendees had ample opportunity to play many games throughout the two weeks, participating in goodwill matches with college students, insei, and go clubs from around the city. Notably, attendees were given the unique chance to play in the Takara Shuzo Cup, the most popular amateur go tournament in Japan, which featured over 1,400 people this year.
The night before the first game of the Meijin title match, camp participants joined go legends including Cho Chikun 9d, Cho U 9d, Takemiya Masaki 9d (at right, with Schumer), Otake Hideo 9d, Iyama Yuta 9d, and Takao Shinji 9d to enjoy a lavish reception at the 5-star rated Hotel Chinzanso. The following day they were allowed to sit in the same room as the players for a few minutes during the match itself, which was 
truly a special honor and very exciting.
The camp featured its own league system with participants playing against one another in a double-elimination tournament. The winner, a 4-dan from Europe, was given the honor to play a 3-stone handicap game against none other than O Meien 9d, with Michael Redmond providing live commentary.
All in all the go camp was enjoyable, highly educational, and well worth it; the price of the camp was very reasonable. The camp was a first-rate experience where you can improve your go, meet wonderful people from around the world, and get to enjoy some Japanese sites and culture.
– Edited by Brian Kirby
Friday September 16, 2016
The fifth year of the Pandanet AGA City League is starting soon. Register your team before October 16th to ensure your team is able to play. Please make sure to read the latest rules for the tournament. Email Steve Colburn to register or re-register your team. Any questions can also be sent to this address.
Friday September 16, 2016
The American Go Honor Society (AGHS) is looking for volunteers. “For all you high school students out there: Are you looking for ways to promote go?” asks new Co-President Brandon Ho. “The AGHS is still looking for applicants, and you’re free to join. The AGHS runs youth tournaments like the School Team Tournament and Young Lions, and by joining, you can help us run them.” Fill out the application here 2016AGHSOfficerApp (3) and email it to aghspresident@gmail.com. Applications are due by September 19 and officers will be selected by September 26.
Thursday September 15, 2016
The American Go E-Journal has several openings for game recorders for the upcoming Cotsen Open, the annual go 
tournament sponsored by go-lover Eric Cotsen, which will be held in Los Angeles, CA October 22-23 at the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles. Game recorders will get a chance to broadcast top boards on KGS — an excellent learning opportunity — and each will receive an E-Journal cap. Experience not required but helpful; volunteers with their own laptops (with KGS already installed) preferred. Email Chris Garlock at journal@usgo.org for details.
photo: at the 2015 Cotsen; photo by Chris Garlock
Thursday September 15, 2016
Cho U wins Kisei A League: So Yokoku 9P was a little unlucky in the Kisei A League. He had won six games in a row and held the lead all the way (enjoying the sole lead in the 5th and 6th rounds), but he lost his final game to Cho U 9P on September 8 (taking black, Cho won by resignation). That left them tied on 6-1, but there is no play-off in the Kisei Leagues. Cho was ranked 4th to So’s 7th, so Cho won the league. He gets a seat in the irregular knock-out tournament to decide the challenger.
Yo to challenge for Oza title: A week after the Tengen challenger was decided, another play-off between a veteran
player and a new star was held and resulted in a win for the latter. On September 8, the 21-year-old Yo Seiki 7P of the Kansai Ki-in beat Takao Shinji in the play-off to decide the 64th Oza challenger. Taking white, Yo had white and secured a resignation after 190 moves. He commented that he was inspired by Ichiriki’s success. Yo had a frustrating history in play-offs, having lost to Iyama Yuta both in the Oza play-off last year and in the Judan play-off the year. As that shows, Yo played a crucial role in giving Iyama the opportunity to secure his Grand Slam. The first game of the Oza match will be played on October 17.
The Oza and Tengen challenges are perhaps signs that the post-Iyama generation is getting ready to move up. Before Iyama, the go scene was dominated by the “four stars of the Heisei era.” Of the four, Cho U and Hane Naoki haven’t
challenged for a while, but
Yamashita and Takao had been doing a good job of holding back the younger players (except for Murakawa Daisuke). There could be big changes in the make-up of the tournament scene in the next few years.
Xie makes good start in Women’s Honinbo defence: The first game of the 35th Women’s Honinbo title match was held at the Kashoen, a Japanese-style inn, in Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture on September 13. The challenger is Fujisawa Rina 3P. Playing black, Xie (right) forced a resignation after 151 moves. The second game will be played on September 26.
Promotion
To 3-dan: Fujimura Yosuke (40 wins)
Wednesday September 14, 2016
The theme of the day at the sixth Annual Emory University Chinese Student/Scholar GO Tournament had to be “Youth hands the Old Guard walking papers.”
Zhongfan Jian defeated Sooil Kim for top honors in the high Dan Division and Brandon Zhou had a strong showing defeating long time favorite Frank Luo for 3rd place. In this division Sooil Kim, Frank Luo and Eric Wang are the usual favorites but only Sooil got to the top three.
Held on Saturday, September 10 at Emory University, “It was a beautiful end-of-summer day” for the tournament, reports organizer Jeff Kerlagon. “Emory hosts a wonderful venue, and the Atlanta GO players are grateful for such a grand facility,” Kerlagon added.
In other results, Walter Langendorf topped the Kyu/Dan Division with an undefeated afternoon of 3-0 and Darrell Speck grabbed second place.
