American Go E-Journal » 2017 » August

MLily Cup: Setting the Stage

Wednesday August 23, 2017

by Karoline Li

The 3rd MLily Cup tournament venue is the beautiful Tong Que Tai New Century Hotel International (photo top left) in Tongling City, located in Anhui province, on the Yangtze River just a few hours south-east of Hefei, the provincial capital. One block away, and visible from the hotel, is a large lake called Tianjinghu surrounded by walking paths and parks. A few tree studded walking paths cut across the center of the lake (photo right), joining the banks with several islands and peninsulas. In some areas of the park, it was easy to forget that I was walking in the middle of a city as I climbed stone paths surrounded by forest. I was able to explore the park in the early morning light, before the heat of the day set in – which made the temperature comfortable despite sky-high humidity – and found it to be a popular place for locals to jog, swim, practice martial arts, and warm up their vocal chords to get ready for the day.

The city is filled with copper and bronze statues (bottom left) that provide evidence of the city’s industry. Tongling City is named for it’s copper history, which stretches back 3500 years; Tongling was the site of the first industrial production of copper in China. As a result, it was an early center of industry and wealth in the region. Tongling’s copper continues to serve as the base of industrial copper production in China (historical information from the MLily Game Guide).
–report/photos by Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief

Categories: China,Events/Tournaments,Go News,Other

Watch Ryan Li 1p vs Li Xuanhao 6p LIVE tonight (Wednesday), 10pm PDT (UTC -7)

Wednesday August 23, 2017

Tonight, Ryan Li 1p continues his run in the MLily Cup and you can watch LIVE on the AGA’s YouTube and Twitch channels, starting at 10p PDT.

After defeating world champion Chen Yaoye last month, Ryan’s next opponent is Li Xuanhao 6p. Currently rated #22 in China, Li Xuanhao will be a tough challenge for the Canadian phenom. You can read Ryan’s thoughts on his opponent here: Ryan Li’s journey to the top 16 of the MLily Cup

As if that weren’t enough, also playing tonight is Park Jungwhan 9p and Ke Jie 9p — and we’ll cover that game as well!

Jennie Shen 2p will provide commentary, starting at 10:00pm PDT (UTC -7) on the AGA Youtube Channel and Twitch, Wednesday, August 23rd.

Categories: U.S./North America

Catching up: news, want ads & go spotting

Wednesday August 23, 2017

Here’s a round-up of some news, want ads and go spottings sent in over the last few weeks that we missed in the run-up to the recent U.S. Go Congress. Keep ’em coming!

Horn & Malinas win Davis-Sac Summer Tourney: The Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Summer Tournament on July 29, 2017 at the Rancho Cordova Library in Sacramento. There were twelve players. Jeff Horn 1d (left), won the Upper Division and Alex Malinas 6k (right), won the Lower Division. Both had 3-1 records.
– Willard Haynes

Go art for sale: Six 12×16″ Go-themed original oil paintings on canvas stretched over wood frames, plus one smaller painting. $50 plus shipping from WV for all, payment by Paypal or credit card OK. Email gerratt5@aol.com and I will send you photos, or call 304-820-3167 anytime.

Promoting U.S. go in 1914: “If we Americans should adopt the game of go, the national game of Japan, it might do us a lot of good,” Lee Foster Hartman told The Sun in an article published in the New York City paper on April 12, 1914. Check it out here. Thanks to Catherine Fricheteau, who posted this on Facebook.

Caliban’s War: “It’s like playing go. It’s all about exerting influence. Controlling the board without occupying it.” That’s from James S. A. Corey’s “Caliban’s War (The Expanse Book 2, page 332),” which Garrett Smith says features “A discussion about political influence illustrated with our favorite game. Book series is basis for Expanse TV series on SyFy.”

Categories: Go Classified,Go Spotting,U.S./North America

Ryan Li’s journey to the top 16 of the MLily Cup

Wednesday August 23, 2017

by Karoline Li

Official MLily Cup tournament festivities kicked off Tuesday (local time) in Tongling City with a welcome dinner attended by players and association officials. Ryan Li 1P and his partner Stephanie Yin 1P (photo at right) sat down to talk with AGA National Tournament Coordinator Jeff Shaevel (photo at left on the right) and I after dinner to discuss the upcoming match and Li’s journey to reach this moment. He was born in Beijing, and began playing go with his father around the age of five. He attended a go school a few times a week, and by the time his family moved to Canada at age eight, he had achieved amateur 4 dan status. After the move to Canada, he played mostly online. “He didn’t have a teacher,” Stephanie explained. “He practiced and learned on his own.” When I asked when he started competing seriously, he explained that for a while he only played in a few local tournaments in Ottawa, and his first big competition was the 2010 Canadian Open. “I took second to Matthew Hu,” Ryan says. “That was the year he became a professional.” He represented Canada in the Korean Prime Ministers Cup that year. “I didn’t do much between 2010 and 2012,” Ryan laughs. Then he joined the Pandanet AGA City League team captained by Cathy Li 1P, and was a North American representative to the first MLily Cup. He lost in the preliminaries of the MLily, but his City League team has won the championship three times out of five. He played in the second pro qualification tournament, then won the third tournament in 2015 becoming the fourth North American professional go player. Both tournaments were directed by Jeff Shaevel. “The tournament venue was in Boston right by the ocean, and it was beautiful,” Ryan remembered. “ “It was freezing!” Jeff laughed, and though Ryan agreed he viewed that as a positive. “Well I’m Canadian, so I like the cold.”

The last few years, Li has also been busy studying. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Toronto, and became interested in atmospheric sciences after an internship with a professor who worked in the field. After earning his degree he went straight into a PhD program in the field at Yale University in New Haven, CT. “Does the logic for that fit with the logic of go?” Jeff asked. “I knew you were going to ask that,” Ryan laughed. “No, they don’t really go together.” Ryan explained that atmospheric sciences involves a lot of programming, data science, and theory. “Which is easier?” Jeff pressed. “Definitely go,” Ryan answered right away. “I really enjoy playing go,” he continued, his love of the game evident. “It started as a hobby, but after all these tournaments and becoming pro, it’s beyond a hobby, but it’s still fun. It’s one of the things I enjoy most.”

Li will face Li Xuanhao 6P on August 24th (local time), at 12:30pm in the top 16 match. He has prepared for this game for months by reviewing games and competing at the US Go Congress — where he went 8-1 and took second place in the Masters — in San Diego, and is excited for the match. “I have no secret weapon,” he said with a smile. “I’m just going to play my best and try to play move by move. At this point, I’m trying to relax.” He gives a lot of credit to Stephanie Yin, who has been helping him prepare for his matches and acting as his coach. Jeff smiled as Ryan talked about his preparations and his attitude towards tomorrow’s match. “This is such a proud moment for me,” Jeff beamed. “The pro qualifiers are a big deal for us, but we’re never sure what our pros will be doing after they qualify, and to see you playing in this tournament and doing so well is the most exciting thing. Whatever happens, I’m very, very proud.”
–report/photos by Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief

Categories: China,Events/Tournaments,Other,World

The Traveling Go Board: Eclipse go in Casper, Wyoming

Tuesday August 22, 2017

“Thanks to Facebook, my wife Margaret discovered that (longtime Princeton NJ go organizer) Rick Mott and his family were also in Casper, Wyoming for the total eclipse of the sun,” reports EJ photographer Phil Straus. “That was a great surprise, but in hindsight, I am not surprised another go player would find the spot on the path of totality that had the best probability of clear skies.”

“We all met at a lovely country road intersection within a few hundred yards of the center line of the totality path,” Straus writes. “We had trees, birds, and no crowds and a clear view of the southern sky.”

“After the thrilling minutes of totality, we of course, pulled out a go board. Note the eclipse glasses and binocular filters.”

photo by Margaret Harris

Categories: Traveling Go Board

U.S. Go Congress 2017 EJ Team Recognition

Tuesday August 22, 2017

The American Go E-Journal’s comprehensive coverage of the annual U.S. Go Congress would not have been possible without the following team of dedicated volunteers who arrived early, stayed late and worked hard every single day to bring this major U.S. go event to the world. Our coverage included broadcasting — on our YouTube and Twitch channels and KGS — top-board games from every round of the US Masters and US Open, the City League and Redmond Cup finals, the Pair Go tournament and the Bao Yun Blindfold game. Reports appeared daily on our website and in the E-Journal, as well as on our Twitter feeds and Facebook page.

Steve Colburn and Todd Heidenreich anchored the EJ Congress team as usual, helping coordinate the E-Journal’s editorial and game recording teams. Dennis Wheeler led the game recording team and was our liaison for KGS support, aided by Lee Schumacher and Akane Negishi. Tournament reporting was once again coordinated by Tournaments Bureau Chief Karoline Li, who served as a broadcast host as well. Phil Straus was our lead photographer (check out his Congress photo album here)

Michael Wanek headed up the video broadcasting team, taking the coverage to a whole new level with an impressive studio that featured a green-screen skybox overlooking the main playing area. (Sorry about the coffee crisis, Babs; steps have been taken to deal with those responsible!) Also on the core team were Alaina Wanek, Alex Weavers and Andrew Jackson, who originated this effort just a few years ago. Video broadcast hosts included Andrew Jackson, Chris Garlock, Stephen Xhu, Matt Burrall, Julie Burrall, Justin Teng, Karoline Li, Ricky Zhao and Lionel Zhang.

Game recorders included Lionel Zhang, Meng Cai, Richard Dolen, Nate Eagle (who won the 1-dan division in the U.S. Open), David Weimer and Diego Pierrottet. Many thanks to them, especially Zhang, Cai and Dolen, who recorded the morning rounds.

Special thanks as always to our professional commentators, who bring such depth and understanding to our coverage: Myungwan Kim 9p, Feng Yun 9p, Mingjiu Jiang 7p, Yilun Yang 7p, Jennie Shen 2p, Michael Chen 7d, Cathy Li 1p, Shirley Lin 1p, Eric Lui 1p, William Shi 1p, Stephanie Yin 1p.

Finally, huge thanks and appreciation to the entire 2017 U.S. Go Congress team, led by co-directors Ted Terpstra and Les Lanphear, for organizing this amazing week of go and providing such terrific content for us to cover.

– Chris Garlock
Managing Editor, American Go E-Journal

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

A seat at the board: a game recorder’s view

Tuesday August 22, 2017

by Nate Eagle

Move 110 of Wu Hao’s game against Ryan Li in this year’s U.S. Masters is remarkable: two seemingly dead white stones reach out a toe to the first line, creating a connection to the outside that turns out to be unbreakable due to an invisible sente, one that ends up swallowing up black’s four outside stones and becoming a game-winning fortress of territory. You can check out that move now and relive it—the timelessness of game records is one of the magical things about go, better even than baseball’s much-loved box scores—but I got to actually be there.

I sat next to Ryan Li, across the table from Wu Hao (right), my hand perched in readiness near the trackpad on my laptop, and traveled with two amazing players for several hours. I did my best to be as easy for them to forget as an extra chair at the table, trying not to stretch or fidget or distract from the game. How did I spend those hours? As well as I could, I tried to understand the game and think about white and black’s choices. If you had a magical view into the brain activity of the three humans at that table, of course, you would see two brains afire with electrical tempests of analysis and one brain with a single red LED blinking fitfully. But I was there with them, waiting while they thought, ready to ink their moves into electronic permanence before the stones stopped vibrating.

That waiting, those long stretches of silence, is the difference between being forced to watch a match in its entirety and viewing a record afterward. It’s what gives one’s mind the time to ask questions, and those questions are what make watching a game edifying. It’s exciting when I anticipate a move correctly; even more so when—far more commonly—I’m wrong, and I get to spend the next few minutes learning about why the move actually played was stronger, sharper, bigger, or better-timed. The Socratic principle holds true in go as it does in all things: no teacher can give us knowledge, they can only help us answer our own questions.

Getting to be a recorder during this year’s Go Congress was a privilege and a pleasure: if you’re interested in volunteering to record at a future AGA event, please email journal@usgo.org.

Eagle, who recorded evening Masters games (as well as the City League final), went 6-0 to win the shodan division of the 2017 U.S. Open
photo (top right): Eagle’s view of Wu Hao; (bottom left): Eagle recording a game between Matthew Hu and Tim song during the Pandanet AGA City League finals on August 5; photo by Chris Garlock

Categories: U.S. Go Congress

Ary Cheng 3-peats as Redmond Cup Junior Champion

Sunday August 20, 2017

11-year old Ary Cheng 6d (r) defeated 10-year old Matthew Cheng 5d (l) in the third and deciding game of the Redmond Cup Junior Division Finals Thursday August 10th at the 2017 US Go Congress to claim his third consecutive title. While Matthew has been the only challenger so far to defeat Ary in his 3 consecutive Junior Finals, Ary has still established his dominance at the top of the Junior scene. In addition to clinching the Redmond title with the final match, he also defeated Matthew in the US Open that same day. Taking black in game 3 of the Redmond, Ary was off to an early lead due to a joseki mistake by Matthew. However, Matthew fought back strongly. While there were several opportunities for him to turn the game around, he wasn’t able to take full advantage of them and Ary seized victory. Ary and Matthew both took home trophies as well as $300 and $200 respectively. In addition, all of the Redmond Cup finalists also had all of their Congress expenses covered, courtesy of the AGF and AGA. Both kids still have at least one year left in the Junior Division (Under 13), so we can expect them to clash again in the near future and continue to develop as rising stars in the youth Go community. If you missed the game, you can check out the exciting live video commentary of the third game provided by 2005 Redmond Cup champions Zhaonian Chen 8d and Lionel Zhang 7d. Registration for next year’s tournament will open in early February 2018; check out the Redmond Cup page to learn more about the tournament and eligibility requirements.

Special thanks to Ashish Varma, Ethan Frank, and Dennis Wheeler for broadcasting the Redmond Cup Finals on KGS, and if you missed any of the video broadcasts, you can find them on the AGA’s Youtube channel. Stay tuned for highlighted videos of the commentaries; game records of all of the games will be uploaded on the Redmond Cup page within the next week. – Story and photos by Justin Teng, AGA Youth Coordinator

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Ryan Li 1P ready to face next opponent in the MLily top 16

Saturday August 19, 2017

Ryan Li 1P is gearing up for his next match in the MLily Meng Baihe Cup World Go Open Tournament (MLily Cup), achieving his place in the top 16 after a stunning upset win against Chen Yaoye 9P (photo at right) in the last round on June 21st; see the story and game record here. “My goal going into the match was to not let him win too easily,” Li (right) said of preparing for the June match with Chen. In an interview at the recent U.S. Go Congress, Li said that he was excited for the match against Chen as a learning opportunity since Chen is a world champion who had previously beaten Ke Jie 9P. During the match, there was a moment at the beginning of the endgame, after all the groups had been settled, when Li realized he could actually win. “He told me that it felt like his heart would pop out of his chest,” Stephanie Yin 1P said with a smile. Li remembers that his first professional go tournament was as an amateur player invited to participate in the MLily preliminaries in 2012 where he lost in the first round, and he characterizes his place in the top 16 of this year’s MLily as a life achievement. “I’ve always wanted to be in the top 16 in a professional go tournament,” he says. “I set that goal right before this tournament started, and it immediately happened. It’s just amazing.” Ryan Li is only the fourth professional go player to be certified by the AGA, winning the January 2015 pro certification tournament, and when not playing go, he is pursuing a PhD in atmospheric sciences at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Li will face Li Xuanhao 6P in Tongling, Anhui on August 24th, and he used the 33rd US Go Congress as training to prepare for the match. He won eight of nine games in the US Open Masters Division, taking second place and losing only to tournament champion Wu Hao 2P of China. On top of his Go Congress training, he has been studying his opponents’ game records for the past year, and says Li Xuanhao’s style is calm; he expects playing against Li to be difficult, and not just because of his calm, solid style. “I know him pretty well,” Ryan says. “If I were playing someone else, I could review games with him and discuss strategy, but since he’s my opponent of course that would be awkward.” What is he most looking forward to? “I’m really looking forward to all the time before the match, because I’m still in the top 16 right now,” Ryan laughs. Stay tuned for our on-site coverage of the top 16 of the MLily Cup this week.

-report by Karoline Li, EJ Tournaments Bureau Chief; photo by Stephanie Yin 1P

Categories: China,Events/Tournaments,Go News,Other

Last chance to add your U.S. Open games to the crosstab

Saturday August 19, 2017

With nearly 100 game records already added to this year’s U.S. Open crosstab, we’re extending the deadline for submitting games. The new deadline is 11:59pm next Sunday, August 27. Email your sgf files to us at journal@usgo.org and be sure to complete the game information with both player’s names and the game result.

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

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »