On August 11, about 40 go players gathered in Mason, Ohio, for the 4th annual Cincy/Tri-state go tournament. The tournament’s impact reached beyond Ohio and neighboring states like Kentucky and Indiana, as passionate go players 
traveled from Wisconsin and Tennessee to the south-western corner of Ohio.
Local resident Ning Shao won the tournament champion by defeating Shawn Ray 4D from Tennessee. “This is the first time in the past four years that a local go player won the title,” reports local organizer Frank Luo. Since no youth played in the dan level open division, Shawn Ray also won a trophy. In order to encourage participation, trophies have always been awarded to both adult and youth winners in each division in the 4-year history of this tournament. Other winners of the tournament include: Matthew Qiu (9K, youth division B), a Mason Middle School student; Wilson Parks (6K, Division B) from Middle Tennessee Go Club; Kyler Huang (18K, Division C) a UC Berkeley student and Cincinnati resident; and Manny Jauregui (18K, youth Division C) from Cleveland, Ohio.
During the main 4-round tournament, a fun-mini-game tournament was also held in the middle of the day, attracting seven local young players. Both William Xiang (9 years old) and Ethan Tu (10 Years old) achieved four wins. Although no trophy was awarded for winners, every kids left with a medal and a go-themed T-shirt designed by Claire Meng, a local high school student.
photos courtesy Frank Luo
