Sunday October 21, 2018
The Western Massachusetts Go Club continues to enjoy high attendance, reports Eric Osman. This photo was taken 
Thursday, October 18, at The Blue Wall food court of the University of Massachusetts student center where the Western Mass Go Club meets every Thursday evening. “Come join us!” says Osman.
Photo (l-r): Geordie Morse , Rachel You, Katie Williams, Micah Feldman, Chris Morse, Tom Yilun, Bryan Denley, and Bill Saltman; photo by Eric Osman
Wednesday October 17, 2018
Do you want to play against the strongest players in the US and Canada? Six Professionals and many more of the top players will play monthly from November to May in the Pandanet AGA City League. Check our updated rules page for full information and dates of play. Contact TD Steve Colburn to register.
Monday October 15, 2018
November 5th has been designated “Baduk Day” in South Korea. The Korea Baduk Association made the announcement earlier 
this month, following the resolution to establish “Baduk Day” at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House on October 8. November 5th was the day that “Hanseong Kiwon,” the predecessor to the current Baduk Association, was created at Namsan-dong in Seoul by the late Cho Nam-chul, the pioneer of modern baduk. The Korea Baduk Association will be holding a commemorative ceremony to celebrate the first Baduk Day next month at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building.
– KoreaBizWire; image: WBaduk
Monday October 15, 2018
September 22. Forty two players turned out and Ying Shen 2P offered game reviews onsite.
with a perfect 4-0 score and Chengyu Fu 7d and Brian Wu 3d share second place in Open section. Tao Ma 2k swept all four games to take first place in Division A (2d-2k) and 8-year old Sheng Hou 1d and Peter St. John 1k took second. Bob Bacon 6k managed to not only serve as one of the tournament organizers but also won first place with a perfect score in Division B (3-6k) while Harrison Pedigo 4k, LeRoy Anderson 5k, and Justin Blank 3k shared second place. First-time tournament player Ki Y. Kim 8k collected the top award in Division C (7-11k) and Tom Roncoli 7k and Andrew Thieman 7k shared second place. Justin Su 15k was first in Division D (12k & up) and Janus Childester was second.Sunday October 14, 2018
As expected, the key game determining the 2018 Cotsen Open winner was Round 4 on Sunday morning, when defending 
champion Mark Lee 7d faced Andy Liu 1P, both 3-0. The two players wasted no time getting down to business, beginning playing while the room was still bustling with noisy players finding their seats. The opening played out very quickly, with Liu taking cash and 
Lee sketching out a large moyo. Liu’s AlphaGo-like move 45, adjacent to the center star point on the very edge of Lee’s right-side moyo, set the tone for the rest of the game, as Lee fiercely attacked Liu’s eyeless dragon and the fighting got ever more complicated as ladders and nets spiraled out across the board (see game record, below). As more than 130 viewers on KGS hotly debated whether Liu’s group would survive, the players moved into an extended and complex endgame battle for sente and the handful of points that would secure a victory, and the championship. In the end, Lee’s endgame tesujis prevailed and Liu resigned, a few points behind on the board, plus komi. “Andy’s very strong,” Lee said, “it was a tough game.” Liu returned the compliment, saying that Lee “played well; it was really a great game.” Lee went on to win the final round against Luan Bo 6d to complete his 5-0 sweep and collect his fourth consecutive Cotsen Open championship. “We may need to re-name this the Mark Lee title,” joked Eric Cotsen, who thanked all the players for turning out for the 29th annual tournament. “You’re what makes this event so special.”
Results
Open section: 1. Mark Lee 5 wins; 2. Andy Liu 4 wins; 3. Bowen Zhang 4 wins; 4. Yufei Jin 3 wins; 5. Bo Luan 3 wins; 6. Qi-Hao Zhou 3 wins
Division A: 1. Yuelun Yang 5 wins; 2. William He 5 wins; 3. King Bi 4 wins
Division B: 1. Josiah Frias 5 wins; 2. Ernest French 5 wins; 3. Kosuke Sato 4 wins
Division C: 1. Anthony Long 5 wins; 2. Han Chung 5 wins; 3. Michael Mei 4 wins
Division D: 1. Lev Marcus 5 wins; 2. Chris Kaynor 5 wins; 3. Luke Belyeu 4 wins
Division E: 1. Tony Yang 5 wins; 2. Kevin Yang 5 wins; 5. Lucia Moscola 5 wins
Club winner: Orange County Go Club
– report/photos by Chris Garlock; click here for the 2018 Cotsen Open album on Facebook
Sunday October 14, 2018
The first AGA-rated youth tournament in New York will be held November 17 in Little Neck, NY. “Players of all strengths are
welcome!” says organizer Stephanie Yin. Pre-registration is required, please register here. The deadline for registration is Sunday, November 11, 2018. AGA membership is required; click here to become a member. More info can be found here.
Trophies will be are awarded in each bracket and both elementary group and middle/high school groups. Cash prizes and trophies are awarded in Open sections. Deadline for registration is Sunday, November 11, 2018.
photo: ranking competition, by Stephanie Yin
Sunday October 14, 2018
To celebrate its 23rd anniversary, the Seattle Go Center held a 3-round tournament on Sunday, October 7. Notably, among the
32 players in attendance, “a quarter have AGA youth memberships,” reports Seattle Go Center Programs Manager Mike Malveaux. Tournament Director Bill Chiles “handled clock malfunctions and consequent pairing delays with aplomb,” Malveaux adds, “and Daniel Top stepped in smoothly to render assistance.” Thanks to the generous assistance of the Seattle AGA Chapter and the AGA Chapter Rewards program, Malveaux reports that six large pizzas were demolished between the first and second rounds.
The “Open” section was limited to eight players vying for the top prize of $150 cash, won by Alex Xinlei Liu 7d with a 3-0 record. Liu has been a strong contender at Seattle tournaments, winning the Seattle Go Center Spring Tournament Open in 2017.
The twenty-four players in the “Handicap” section all had games with handicaps of three stones or fewer, and all but two games were at two stones or less. “Handicap” players who won all three of their games were awarded prizes of go books and equipment. In addition, there was a cash prize for the under-18 youth player with the best win-loss record, which was divided among three young players who went undefeated.
Open Section 3-game winner: Alex Xinlei Liu (7 dan)
Handicap Section 3-game winners: Yao Zhihong (2 dan), Chen Xiangnan (3 kyu), Frank Brown (6 kyu), Lucas Wu Lu (9 kyu), George Schmitten (9 kyu), Yulissa Wu Lu (10 kyu), Amy Ling (15 kyu)
photo by Brian Allen
Sunday October 14, 2018
Attention students, the deadline for entering the World Students Go Oza Championship is coming up October 21. Students under the age of 30 and currently enrolled in an American university/college are eligible to participate in the online preliminary round, irrespective of nationality. Airfare and accommodations for the World Students Go Oza Championship — Feb 18 to 22, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan — will be covered by the event organizers. Click here for details and here for the entry form.
Sunday October 14, 2018
A surprise walk-in Saturday morning may be all that stands between Mark Lee 7d and his fourth consecutive Cotsen Open title. 
Andy Liu, the East Coast-based 1P, decided to make the trek to Los Angeles with some friends, and, like Lee (right, relaxing between rounds), was 3-0 at the end of a long day that started 90 minutes late due to delays following Friday night’s downpour and pairing issues. Neither top player had any trouble dispatching their opponents, however, and the clash of titans could occur 
as soon as Round 4 Sunday morning, set for 10:30, and, failing that, almost certainly the final round, unless one of the other strong players manages to pull off an upset.
Despite the delays and overcast skies, the 155-strong field was in good spirits, enjoying casual games and of course the free Korean tacos from the Kogi food truck as well as free shoulder massages throughout the day. Tournament founder Eric Cotsen personally greeted each player as they waited on line to register and explained his mysterious Cotsen Go Tournament poster.
Local go fans who are early risers can check out the pro-pro game Sunday morning starting at 8a at the Korean Cultural Center, featuring Yilun Yang 7P.
The day began with a visit by visiting Korean dignitaries (left), who welcomed the assembled go players to the Korean Cultural Center, which has hosted the annual Cotsen Open for a number of years now. On hand were Kim Wan-joon, Consul General of Korea in Los Angeles, Kim Nakjung, Director of the KCCLA, Oh Seung Keol, President of the Korean Education Center, Los Angeles, Sen Neung-uk 9P, Na Jong Hoon 8P and Ahn Dal Hoon 9P.
– report/photos by Chris Garlock
Saturday October 13, 2018
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Hirose wins King of New Stars: Fittingly enough, the younger player prevailed in the 43rd King of the New Stars (Shinjin-
O) title match, with the 17-year-old Hirose Yuichi 2P (right) beating the 23-year-old Onishi Kenya 3P (left). The first game was played on September 21; taking white, Hirose won by resignation after 144 moves. The second game was played on October 1. Hirose (B) won by 4.5 points. The venue for both games was the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo. Prize money is 2,000,000 yen (about $18,000). This tournament has traditionally been regarded as a stepping stone for future champions. Recent winners include Shibano Toramaru (2017), Kyo Kagen (2015), and Ichiriki Ryo (2014). You won’t find Iyama Yuta’s name in the list, because at the age of 16 he was promoted to 7-dan for winning the Agon Kiriyama Cup. The conditions for participation are that you be 6-dan or under and 25 or under, both as of August 1.
Iyama eliminated from Samsung: The best eight in the 2018 Samsung Cup was as far as Iyama Yuta could go. He was
matched against the player who beat him in this year’s LG Cup final and he failed to take revenge. Full results in the quarterfinals follow (games played on October 2).
Xie Erhao 9P (China, right) (W) beat Iyama Yuta 9P (Japan, left) by resig.; Ke Jie 9P (China) (B) beat Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) by resig.; Tang Weixing 9P (China) (W) beat Shin Minjun 9P (Korea) by resig.; Ahn Kukhyun 8P (Korea) (B) beat Lian Xiao 9P (China) by resig.
Pairings in the semifinals are Ke v. Xie and Tang v. An. The semis are best-of-three and are scheduled for Nov. 5, 6, and 7.
Correction. I got the name of Iyama’s opponent in the second round wrong. It should be Li Xuanhao, not Li Jianhao.
New tournament for non-winners: The Masters Cup is a tournament for senior players who have won a top-seven title. Now a new tournament has appeared that is the reverse: it is for players at the Nihon Ki-in aged from 31 to 60 who have not won a top-seven title or the Ryusei or the Agon Kiriyama Cup. The tournament is the 1st SGW Cup: Golden Mean Tournament. The golden mean is a Confucian term referring to acting without bias; I don’t know what the significance of the term is here, and an enquiry with the Nihon Ki-in did not enlighten me. The main sponsor is a real-estate company called St. Grande W. First prize will be 2,000,000 yen (about $18,000) and second prize is 500,000 yen. Preliminaries will be held on the Nihon Ki-in’s Net site in October and November; time allowance will be 20 seconds per move plus 1 minute x 5. The top 16
will play in the main tournament, which will be a four-round Swiss System held at the Nihon Ki-in on December 8 and 9. Here the time limit will be 30 seconds per move plus 1 minute x 5. The winner will “graduate” from the tournament.
Ichiriki wins Agon Kiriyama Cup: The final of the 25th Agon Kiriyama Cup featured a clash between two of the top players in the post-Iyama generation: Ichiriki Ryo 8P (left), the top player among those in their early 20s, and Shibano Toramaru 7P, the top teenager. The game was played at the Mt. Shaka Bodai Temple, the Kyoto headquarters of the Agon Buddhist sect. Taking black, Ichiriki won by resig. after 213 moves. First prize is a handsome 10,000,000 yen (about $90,000), which is more than for two top-seven titles (the Gosei, with 8,000,000, and the Judan, with 7,000,000). Financially, Ichiriki is undoubtedly doing better than his classmates at Waseda University, where he is a “full-time” student, as recently he also won the Ryusei title (worth 6,000,000 – see my October 1 report).
Onishi wins again in Kisei knock-out: The second game in the irregular knock-out to decide the Kisei challenger was held on October 8. Taking white, Onishi Ryuhei 3P, winner of the C League, beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P, winner of the A League, by resig. Next, he will face Kono Rin 9P, who came second in the S League. The winner of that game will meet Yamashita Keigo 9P, winner of the S League.