American Go E-Journal

With a small field of 26, this year’s Santa Monica Coffee Cup on June 23 was topped by Yixian Zhou 6d (left, with TD Andy Okun), a long time Southern California player and organizer.  At the other end of the field, the so-called “Decaf Division,” Yixian’s children, Anna and Andy (at right), each around 30k, came in joint first.  Other winners of the fabled hand painted and lettered mugs, this year colored in a stately “sangue de boeuf,” were Shangze Bi in the low dan section, Les Lanphear and Sangho Wang in the strong kyu section, and Marc Sarrel in the mid-kyu section.  Organizer Andy Okun promised to announce next year’s Coffee Cup much earlier.