American Go E-Journal » 2016 » December

Bailing Cup Game 4 Live Commentary Thursday Night

Wednesday December 14, 2016

Stephanie Yin 1p will join the AGA broadcast team Thursday night for Game 4 of the Bailing Cup. Chen Yaoye 9p is up 2-1 against Ke Jie 9p. Commentary on the AGA’s YouTube Channel begins at 9:30PM PST; if Ke Jie 9p wins, we’ll broadcast the fifth and final game on Friday, December 16th, also at 9:30PM PST. Click here for the Game 4 commentary, with Mingjiu Jiang 9P. The Bailing Cup is a biennial international go tournament, which started in 2012 and is sponsored by the Guizhou Bailing Pharmaceutical Group.

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Categories: China
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How to Clean Go Stones

Wednesday December 14, 2016

David G Doshay2016.12.11-dirty-go-stones
I always wondered what the best way is to clean clamshell go stones. So when I saw these used stones for sale (right), I decided it was time to find out. Searching the internet I saw many ideas, and the one I decided to try 2016.12.11-go-stones-h202suggested soaking in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I used the 3% solution that is available in drug stores (It’s possible to get 10%, but that will do painful damage if it gets on your skin). After a month of soaking the solution was very cloudy so I poured it off, rinsed the stones in tap water and dried them. About half the stones were clean so I put the remaining dirty stones in fresh H2O2 and after two more months they were all clean (left), with no damage from the extended soaking. As a side note, rubbing the clamshell stones did not do much to remove what I assume were tobacco stains. I soaked the slate stones in diluted liquid dish-soap and they were clean in just two weeks; dish soap did not work on the clamshell stones.

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Shanghai to Host Yike New Year Go Congress

Tuesday December 13, 2016

The first-ever Go Congress in China will be held in Shanghai December 31 – January 3 at the Jianguo Hotel. The Yike New 2016.12.11_Yike New Year Go CongressYear Go Congress offers go players a chance to enjoy go in the country where the ancient game originated. “Meet with the people, feel the real Chinese culture and philosophy that the game of go reflects,” organizers say. The Congress schedule includes a 7-round tournament and evening events including pro simuls, Lightning and Pair Go and a 13×13 tournament. Yike is a major mobile social network application providing non-real time mobile play services with more than 30,000 daily active users. Yike does not yet have an English version.
Contacts: (English): Shen Yao, Mobile&Wechat: (+86) 18018602100; yao.shen@golinksworld.com
Chinese: Zhao Ruiliang, WeChat; Mobile: 18918521273

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San Diego Prepares to Host 2017 US Go Congress

Tuesday December 13, 2016

On December 4, the San Diego Go Club kicked off its organizational campaign to host the 2017 U.S. Go Congress next August2016.12.11_san-diego-congress-prep 5-12, by sponsoring a go-pizza party for local Congress volunteers at the club president’s home. Some two dozen people showed up to play go, eat pizza and hear about jobs that need to be done over the next eight months. From moving more than 2,000 pounds of Congress equipment — including boards, stones, easels, etc — to the Congress site at the Town and Country Resort, to scheduling the lectures, game analyses and simultaneous exhibitions for the professional go players coming from Japan, China and Korea, many tasks have to be coordinated. Co-Directors for the Congress, Les Lanphear III and Ted Terpstra say they’re confident that the team of workers will be up to the challenges as many past Congress volunteers have already stepped up for 2017. “New volunteers are always welcome, especially for Check-in Day on Saturday, August 5,” says Terpstra. Anyone interested in helping at the 2017 Congress should email him at ted.terpstr2016.12.11_2017GoCongressLogoa@gmail.com.

The 2017 Congress web site is not quite ready, but should be shortly. “People will be able to register for the Congress, choose a dining package and book a room with a special negotiated price,” says Terpstra. The Town and Country Resort is a 46-acre enclave in the heart of the San Diego tourist area. The zoo, museums in Balboa Park, the airport, Seaworld, the beaches and downtown are all within a 10-minute drive. All Congress events and meals are a short walk from the rooms. “No streets need to be crossed in going from the rooms to the playing area,” Terpstra promises.
– photos by Ted Terpstra; Congress logo by Emily Shedlock

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National Go Center Launches Updated Website

Monday December 12, 2016

The National Go Center in Washington DC last week launched it’s updated website. The site features a news feed, resources 2016.12.11_NGC-new-websitesection, contact page and links to the forum. The Center also has a Facebook page and Twitter account. “Please like/follow us!” urges Nate Eagle. “If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or critiques related to any of our nascent efforts for the NGC’s internet face, please head over to the forum and let us know.”

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Categories: U.S./North America
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Lockhart on Go in “Games World of Puzzles”

Monday December 12, 2016

“There is no losing in go,” says Ben Lockhart in the December edition of Games World of Puzzles magazine, now on 2016.12.11_Games World of Puzzles-lockhartnewsstands. Lockhart represents go in “Perspectives on Play in 2016,” in which Games “polled everyone from top-flight game players to serious scholars who ponder the role of play in our lives to bring you their perspective on the state of games and play in 2016.” The proverb, says Lockhart, “refers to the feeling that you play your best and any mistakes you made you now have the privilege of being able to think about and correct, thus improving.” Lockhart also surveys the current state of competitive go, including this year’s stunning win by AlphaGo over Lee Sedol.

 

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Chile Repeats as ORION Champion

Monday December 12, 2016

Chile won the Latin American ORION U18 Team Tournament for the second consecutive year. The tournament was played2016.12.11_orion-tourney on November 26-27 on the Online Go Server and drew 11 teams of three players each from Chile, México, Ecuador and Venezuela. This is the third edition of the annual event.

Results (top three places):
1. CHILE: Benjamín Mimiza, Matías Salinas, Fernando Gallardo
2. MÉXICO: Diego A. Luciano, Mateo Nava, Bruno Michaca
3. VENEZUELA: Abel Pérez, Angel Rengifo, Iverson Rosales
More info here.

– Siddhartha Avila, Latin American correspondent

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Catching Up: Obama on go, AlphaGo helps predict the future, and more

Sunday December 11, 2016

We’ve fallen behind again on responding to and publishing go-related finds from our sharp-eyed readers; here’s a partial round-up to start catching up.

President Obama on go: “If you’ve got a computer that can play Go, a pretty complicated game with a lot of variations, then developing an algorithm that lets you maximize profits on the New York Stock Exchange is probably within sight.” President Obama, in his August 24 interview with MIT’s Joi Ito and WIRED’s Scott Dadich. Thanks to Felipe M Pait.

“MIT researchers are now teaching computers to predict the future” (NBC) “Many experts had thought Go — which has significantly more sequences of valid moves — could be harder for computers to grasp…(but) A network for identifying coral knows nothing about identifying, even, grass from sidewalk. The Go network isn’t just going to become a master at checkers on its own.” Thanks to Michael Bacon.2016.12.11_starcraftII

DeepMind, Master of Go, takes on video game Starcraft (Bloomberg) Google’s DeepMind AI unit, which earlier this year achieved a breakthrough in computer intelligence by creating software that beat the world’s best human player at the strategy game Go, is turning its attention to the sci-fi video game Starcraft II. Thanks to Ted Terpstra and Les Lanphear. photo: Blizzard.com

Get a clue: The clue for 9 down in The New York Times crossword for Friday October 21 was is “Go, for one” and the answer was “game.” Thanks to Roy Laird.

LeGuin’s “Left Hand”: “On Page 240 of my Penguin copy of Ursula LeGuin’s ‘Left Hand of Darkness’ she writes ‘… Ai (the space traveller) taught me a Terran game played on squares with little stones, called ‘go’, an excellent difficult game. As he remarked there are plenty of stones here to play ‘go’ with..'” – None Redmond 

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Tia-an Cha Wins Davis/Sacramento Go Club Winter Quarterly tournament

Sunday December 11, 2016

Tia-an Cha 4k (right) bested Willard Haynes 1k to win the Davis/Sacramento Go Club Winter Quarterly tournament on November2016.12.11_Tia-an Cha San Diego winner 19th at the Arcade library in Sacramento. “The field was small, only six players, but the games were good,” Haynes reports. Tai-An Cha and Haynes both had 3-1 records and Tia-an Cha won on tie breaks.

 

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South Central Go Tournament Open for Registration

Sunday December 11, 2016

The second South Central Go Tournament, February 18 and 19, 2017 in Dallas, is now open for on-line registration here. In 2016.12.06_south-central-2015the 2016 tournament (right) 46 players from five states registered with strengths ranging all the way from 7d to 2d (Open Section) and 1k to 20k (Handicap Section). “It was enjoyed by all,” says Robert Gilman. For more information about the tournament visit South Central’s Facebook page or email bobgilman.aga@gmail.com. “We are targeting players from the south central part of the US, but all are welcome,” says Gilman.

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