The go activities during last two days of the IMSA Elite Mind Games included three medal competitions: pair go, men’s blitz and
women’s blitz. The format for these tournaments were new: the six teams were divided into three tiers, China and Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Europe and America. Then one team from each tier is drawn to form a group of three teams. In the first day, each group play within the group to determine the three teams’ position. Then in the second day, the top 
four teams from the two groups play two rounds to determine the top four finishers, while the two third place teams play to decide the 5th and 6th places. In the end, Ke Jie from China won the men’s blitz, while Korea took the two other gold. Japan won all four bronze medals, a surprisingly good result. Canadian pair Sarah Yu and Ziyang Hu (at left in photo above right) played hard to narrowly defeat Manja Marz and Mateusz Surma (above right) and took a valuable, lone, 5th place for the American team. Wan Chen lost to Manja Marz of Germany, and Mingjiu Jiang forfeited his game with Ilya Shikshin. For the whole event, Ziyang Hu was the top performer from America’s team, winning two games – one against Surma in team play and one in pair go.
women’s blitz. The format for these tournaments were new: the six teams were divided into three tiers, China and Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Europe and America. Then one team from each tier is drawn to form a group of three teams. In the first day, each group play within the group to determine the three teams’ position. Then in the second day, the top 
four teams from the two groups play two rounds to determine the top four finishers, while the two third place teams play to decide the 5th and 6th places. In the end, Ke Jie from China won the men’s blitz, while Korea took the two other gold. Japan won all four bronze medals, a surprisingly good result. Canadian pair Sarah Yu and Ziyang Hu (at left in photo above right) played hard to narrowly defeat Manja Marz and Mateusz Surma (above right) and took a valuable, lone, 5th place for the American team. Wan Chen lost to Manja Marz of Germany, and Mingjiu Jiang forfeited his game with Ilya Shikshin. For the whole event, Ziyang Hu was the top performer from America’s team, winning two games – one against Surma in team play and one in pair go.During the closing ceremony, medals were awarded in all five mind sports represented by IMSA. China and Russia were the big winners, followed by Ukraine and Korea. It was announced that the next chapter of this event will likely be held in mid-November, 2018. It is expected that the final details will be announced in February next year.
– Thomas Hsiang; photo above left: Pair Go finalists
– Thomas Hsiang; photo above left: Pair Go finalists
