American Go E-Journal » 2017 » August

by Karoline Li

Down the street from our hotel Jeff Shaevel and I found the One Two Book Cafe, where we hoped to find good coffee to complement our otherwise local – and entirely delicious – culinary adventures here in Tongling. The cafe is also a bookstore and local hangout for young people to come and play games, on top of being a lovely coffeehouse. Jeff and I found ourselves there a couple of mornings when our schedule allowed, and were delighted – but not surprised – to find a Go set at one of the tables, on which he promptly trounced me two games in a row. However, our time there was not only a celebration of Go and good coffee; a room at the back of the cafe is festooned with balloons and stuffed animals and is specially designated as the Happy Birthday room. We looked no further for how to properly acknowledge Jeff’s recently under-celebrated birthday, which had begun only a few minutes prior to the boarding of our flight on Monday August 21 and as a result lasted only a few hours and was over by the time we landed.
–report/photos by Li, EJ Tournaments Coordinator

by Karoline Li

After the beginning of Ryan Li’s top 16 game on Thursday 8/24 here in Tongling, Stephanie Yin 1P and I got a chance to sit down to chat about her Go career and her experience here at the MLily Cup. “I think I’m more nervous than Ryan is,” she laughed. “I am so proud that he has achieved this all on his own, without a teacher.” She is also happy that there are AGA representatives here to support Ryan, and not just her. “We think that last time, we were like individual soldiers, but this time we’re a troupe.” She and Ryan have been together since just after the 2016 US Go Congress in Boston. Since they are both professional go players, I wondered whether or not they ever play against each other; Stephanie says they have played a total of four games, and they each won two of them. “We haven’t played since his top 64 MLily Cup game,” she explains with a smile. “I think that after that tournament experience and his match with Chen Yaoye 9P he has improved a lot.”

Stephanie’s own Go journey began at the age of seven. Her father is a go player and big fan of the game. “He and Ryan are the same,” she laughs. “If they don’t touch go at least once a day they feel like something is wrong.” She started studying under her father’s teacher, and after only a year she won first place in the student city tournament, winning against older students who had been studying longer. She started studying at a professional Go school in Beijing at age nine, and became a professional Go player at age 16 in 2007. “I only competed for one or two years before moving to the states,” she says of her competitive career. After moving the US, she attended Fordham University in the Bronx studying finance. After graduation, she worked as a stock broker and taught go for a year before quitting her finance job to found the New York Institute of Go in August of 2016. “Teaching go full time makes me more proud of myself,” she explains, her passionate about teaching evident. “When I see a beginner who didn’t know about go begin to like it and improve, even after just one lesson, that makes me happy.” She has about 50 students now in group lessons, school programs, and after-school programs, and her Go program has just been approved by the parent teachers association of a network of schools in Manhattan; they will be starting Go clubs in September. “A new way to promote Go in the US is through rating competitions,” she suggests. She held just such a competition recently for her students in New York. These competitions are held with the purpose of assigning a rating to a beginner who hasn’t played in tournaments yet; they can use their new rating to compete in other tournaments, and work towards promotion. One of the things she’d like to see in the US is an organized system of rating and promotional competitions to get more beginners interested in learning and improving their Go skills. One of the most important things we need, she says, is to encourage teachers to put in the effort to promote Go in schools and community places like libraries to reach out and introduce new people to the game. “I think the market for Go in the US is large,” she says after her first year of full-time teaching experience. “We need to find sponsors like MLily for our events so we can reach more potential players and really work to promote Go.”
–report/photo by Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief

It never stops
During the welcome dinner, many of the professional players including Ke Jie 9P (at right in photo left) reviewed games on their smartphones while the tournament and local officials kicked off the festivities with remarks and toasts.

MLily sponsor gets a game in
Ni Zhanggen (bottom left in photo at top right), CEO of MLily Furniture and sponsor of the MLily Cup, got a game in with Hua Xueming 7P (right), the head of China’s national go team, in the discussion room during the top 16 MLily Cup match. MLily Cup tournament director Liu Jing 8P looks on from the end of the table.

VIPs host the public game review
Hua Xueming 7P and Wang Runan 8P, President of the Chinese Weiqi Association, hosted the public commentary of board one, Park Jungwhan 9p vs Ke Jie 9p (photo bottom right).

–report/photos by Karoline Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief

Li Xuanhao 6P prevailed in Thursday afternoon’s top 16 match against Ryan Li 1P, who lost by resignation. “Li Xuanhao has been on a winning streak,” Stephanie Yin 1P says. “He has momentum.” It was a match between friends; Yin and Li Xuanhao grew up together, and he and Ryan Li spent time quite a bit of time together during the previous MLily Cup rounds. However, Ryan Li says it didn’t affect the match, and that when friends face off in tournament games they play the board and not each other. Despite his loss, Li feels good about the match. “One thing I can say after playing this game is that I don’t feel that he’s much stronger than me,” Li explains. “He’s definitely stronger and he won today, but I feel like the gap between us is not big; I think I definitely need more tournament experience.” Li looks forward to future competitions, and would like to continue to represent North American in international tournaments with the full support of the AGA. “I’m excited to see Ryan test himself against the best players in the world.” AGA President Andy Okun says. “He is a great inspiration to folks working to promote go at every level outside of Asia.” Li isn’t only interested in high level competition; he’d like to see more people play go at all strengths. “One thing I want people to know is that go isn’t hard,” Li says. “There is so much to learn and enjoy at every level, and beginners should not be intimidated.” He emphasizes that players think too much about the set theory and too many unnecessary rules, and he thinks that a big takeaway from the recent successes of AI programs is that nothing in go is set. There are no joseki. You don’t have to save all your groups. “It really should be enjoyed,” Li concludes. “Go is not hard. Just play.”
–photo: Ryan Li 1P during the opening of his top 16 game against Li Xuanhao 6P
–report/photo by Karoline Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief

Ryan Li 1P has begun his match against Li Xuanhao 6P (photo) in the top 16 of the MLily Cup in Tongling City. Check out live coverage and commentary on Twitch and Youtube to follow his game.
–report by Karoline Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief