American Go E-Journal » 2019 » February

NGC’s Pair Go/Paella Night a big hit

Tuesday February 26, 2019

The National Go Center’s first ever Pair Go and Paella Night last Friday was a big hit. Nearly 30 turned out to sample E-Journal 2019.02.26-ngc-paellaManaging Editor Chris Garlock’s vegetable paella with garlic sauce and then thirteen 2019.02.26-ngc-pair-gopairs competed with strong contingents from University of MD and the Baltimore Go Club, including the undefeated pair of Blair Chisholm and Keith Arnold. Organizer and TD Hal Small also went undefeated with his wife Betsy.

“There was a strong sentiment for a monthly Friday night social with interest in either Pair Go or a Lightning Tourney – and of course paella!” reports organizer Haskell Small.

In other NGC news, last week’s snowed-out Community Meeting will be held this Wednesday. “This month we’ll be discussing social media and promotion to get the word out about the NGC,” says Gurujeet Khalsa. “We’ll talk about our first 2-day Cherry Blossom tournament coming up on 3/30-3/31 as well.” The meeting starts at 7p on Wednesday Feb. 27; “bring your best ideas, then stay and play some Go.” Pizza will be served.
photos by Chris Garlock

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International Collegiate Go Tournament deadline approaching

Sunday February 24, 2019

The deadline for the 2019 International Collegiate Go Tournament is fast approaching. Hosted by the Ing Foundation, the tournament will be held at the University of Sydney, in Australia this summer. The event runs July 7-13 and is open to any current, future, or recently graduated college (both undergraduate and graduate) student who will, or has attended school in the year 2019. All costs related to room, board, tours, and travel during the event will be covered by the Ing foundation. The student is responsible for getting to and from the tournament site (both international and domestic travel costs), and for any personal expenses.

Links for more info and to register: Facebookscheduleregulationsregistration form.

Players of all skill levels are welcome to participate. There will be five divisions this year: a high dan, low dan, single digit kyu, double digit kyu and women’s division. “There is currently no deadline for applying, but please apply early as there are a limited number of spots available,” says Mike Fodera, who notes that “The selection process will be on a first come first serve basis.” You can send your registration forms directly to him at mdf116@gmail.com.

 

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Categories: Main Page,Youth
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Go Classified: Help with Leela Zero

Sunday February 24, 2019

Help with Leela Zero: Looking for assistance in installing Leela Zero on my MacBook Air (Mid 2013) running Mac OS X 10.13.5. Contact Arunas Rudvalis at rudvalis@math.umass.edu or call 619-985-4048

 

 

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Categories: Go Classified,Main Page
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Redmond’s Reviews, Episode 14: Honinbo Shuwa vs Inoue Genan Inseki

Saturday February 23, 2019

Michael Redmond 9p and the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock take a break from their AlphaGo commentaries to take a look at a 2019.02.15_shuwa_genan_thumbnailgame that’s hundreds of years old, between Honinbo Shuwa and Inoue Genan Inseki (click here for the video). It was chosen because a position in 2019.02.15_shuwa_genan_redmond-thumbnailthe game reminds Redmond strongly of one in AG-AG 27. “Its not so much that they played the same moves, as that they got into a very similar game.” Redmond also considers Honinbo Shuwa “One of the greatest players in the history of go, even though his style wasn’t flashy and he wasn’t as popular as some other players.”

“Wow finally a historical match! I’m so glad right now,” said Alperen Yaşar. “I love the AlphaGo reviews (what I can understand of them) and I love when Michael reviews his own games,” said Synecdoche09, “but I think historical games are my favorite series on here.” “I’d love to hear more Go history!” adds Bill Dugger.

These videos are made possible by the support of the American Go Association; please consider joining today!

Video produced by Michael Wanek & Andrew Jackson.

[link]

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The Power Report: Murakawa to challenge for Judan; Park wins NY’s Cup; Honinbo League; Meijin League: Iyama falters

Friday February 22, 2019

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal2019.02.22_57judan Murakawa

Murakawa to challenge for Judan: 
The play-off to decide the challenger to Iyama Yuta for the 57th Judan title was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on January 31. It matched Takao Shinji 9P, who was aiming at a comeback as Judan after a gap of four years, and Murakawa Daisuke 8P (right) of the Kansai Ki-in, who was aiming at making his second successive challenge. The two players seemed to be evenly matched, as past results were 6-6. Murakawa drew black in the nigiri and won the game by resignation after 173 moves. He will be hoping to improve on his performance last year, when he was unable to take a game off the titleholder. He did beat Iyama 3-2 in the 62nd Oza, which so far is the only top-seven title he has won. He commented that his style has changed since last year, through his study of AI go. The title match starts on March 5.

Park wins NY’s Cup: The 7th CCTV New Year’s Cup is an invitational tournament 2019.02.22_Shibano (R) loses to Parkfounded by the Chinese TV channel to commemorate the Chinese New Year. This year the world’s number one and number two, Park Junghwan 9P of Korea and Ke Jie 9P of China, were joined by Shibano Toramaru 7P of Japan, who was standing in for Iyama Yuta, who was too busy with title games to take part. The tournament is an irregular knockout, with the players drawing lots to decide who plays in the first game. The loser of that game meets the third player, with the winner going on to the final. The loser of the second game is the only one who doesn’t get two chances. Park, who in recent months, has regained his former position as the world’s top-rated player, stumbled in the opening game but resurfaced in the final and took revenge. Games are played by the NHK format, and first prize is 800,000 yuan (about $118,000). Park also won this tournament last year.
(Jan. 31) Ke (B) beat Park by 1.5 points.2019.02.22-honinbo-league
(Feb. 1) Park (B) beat Shibano by resig.
(Feb. 2) Park (B) beat Ke by 7.5 points.

Honinbo League: No one has an unbeaten record in the 74th Honinbo League, so six of the eight players are probably still in contention. Having played one more game and scored 4-1, Ichiriki Ryo 8P is doing well, but of the three players on 3-1, two are ranked higher than he is. Those two, Yo Seiki 8P and Shibano Toramaru 7P, will clash in the 6th round in March.
Most recent result:
(Jan. 31) Ichiriki Ryo 8P (W) beat Anzai Nobuaki 7P by resig.2019.02.22-meijin-league

Meijin League: Iyama falters: With only two and a half rounds out of nine in the 44th Meijin League played, it’s early days yet, but it’s beginning to look tough for Iyama Yuta to become the challenger. In his third game, with new star Shibano Toramaru, he suffered his second loss. One consolation for him, though, is that only one player is undefeated. That’s Kono Rin, who will play Suzuki Shinji in his third-round game. If the other members of the league cooperate by beating each other, Iyama may yet have a chance.
Recent results:
(Feb. 7) Shibano Toramaru 7P (W) beat Iyama Yuta by 1.5 points; Hane Naoki 9P (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by half a point.

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Fang Jia Hsu wins 2019 Jujo Ing Cup

Tuesday February 19, 2019

Fang Jia Hsu topped a field of 62 players competing for $3,000 in prizes at the 27th Jiang Zhu Jiu Ing Cup on February 10 in San Francisco, California.  The annual event is sponsored by Ing’s Goe Foundation of California.  Players competed for four rounds in five sections with Fang Jia Hsu winning the top section. Prizes in each section were given to fourth place.2019.02.19_JujoCup-collage-updated

Once again several players came from China for the tournament, including the family of Rui Naijian, the brother of Rui Nai Wei 9P. You can find the complete tournament summary here.

Section summary of prize winners:

Open Section
1.    Hsu, Fang Jia
2.    Tao, Shuaiheng
3.    Xie, Chao
4.    Rui, Naijian

Dan Section
1.    Steven Chen
2.    Jin Yao
3.    Christopher
4.    Linden Chiu

Expert Section
1.    Nan Zhong
2.    Ke Yan Rui
3.    Jay Chan
4.    Hojin Lee

Intermediate Section
1.    Tai-An Cha
2.    Ryan Lear
3.    Ke Xin Rui
4.    Tyler Moore

Novice Section
1.    Eric Yang
2.    David Baran
3.    Steven Scher
4.    Michal sawicki-ciuk

report/photos by Ernest Brown; collage by Chris Garlock

 

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Eric Lui (1P) sweeps Chinese Lunar New Year tourney in DC

Monday February 18, 2019

Forty four players turned out for the annual Chinese Lunar New Year Tournament at the National Go Center last weekend, which Eric Lui 1P (left) swept 4-0. There was continued great support and prizes from the local Chinese community and organization by 2019.02.18_NGC-Chinese-New-Year-Eric-LuiChing-Sung Chin including an additional beginner’s tourney for children in the afternoon.

The National Go Center is planning its first ever 2-day tournament on March 30-31. This 5-round event will be an annual Cherry Blossom celebration and an AGA State Championship for the Greater DC Area.

The prize winners were:
5D-8D – 1st Eric Lui (1P), 2nd Justin Teng (6D)
1D-4D – 1st Shane Tellier (1D), 2nd Alexander Qi (3D)
1K-2K – 1st Jacob Lewellen (1K), 2nd Yizhan Ao (1K)
3K-5K – 1st Stephanie Zhou (5K), 2nd Erik Rodriguez (5K)
7K-9K – 1st Barreal Anderson (7K), 2nd Jack de la Beaudarjiere (7K)
11K-14K – 1st Qidi Xu (14K), 2nd Julian Turim (14K)
15K-19K – 1st Antonina Perez-Lopez (19K), 2nd Amber Boyden (15K)
20K+ – Justin Wang (29K), 2nd Ethan Li (28K)
In the children’s beginner tourney – 1st Adrian Yang, 2nd William Lu

– reported by Gurujeet Khalsa

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The Power Report: Kisei: Yamashita evens score, Iyama takes lead again; Fujisawa Rina attains historic goal; World Go Championship preliminaries; Ueno Asami defends Women’s Kisei

Monday February 18, 2019

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal2019.02.18_43kisei2 Yamashita

Kisei: Yamashita evens score, Iyama takes lead again: The second game of the 43rd Kisei title match was played at Yumeminato Tower in Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture, on January 21 and 22. The name of the tower translates as Dream Port Tower; it is a sightseeing facility with an observation deck (details can be found on the Net under the English or the Japanese name). The key to this game was the opening: Yamashita Keigo (right), who had white, took advantage of a slack move by Iyama Kisei to seize the lead and was able to rebuff Iyama’s attempts to get back into the game. Black resigned after 164 moves. It’s unusual for Iyama, who usually starts slowly and carefully, to fall behind on the first day.
The third game was played at the Olive Bay Hotel in the city of Saikai in Nagasaki Prefecture on February 2 and 3. Taking white, Iyama won by resignation after 252 moves. Iyama seemed to take an edge in the opening; Yamashita attacked aggressively, but Iyama kept control of the game. Yamashita eventually managed to start a large ko, but didn’t have enough ko threats to win it.
The fourth game was played at the Former Tanaka Residence in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, on February 13 and 14. The venue is a house with a Western wing built in 1921 and a Japanese wing built in 1934. It was designated a cultural treasure in 2006. Taking black, Iyama won by resignation after 183 moves. Yamashita will face his first kadoban in the fifth game, scheduled for February 27 and 28.

Fujisawa Rina attains historic goal: Fujisawa Rina reached a goal that has long been a target for women players. In a 2019.02.18_Fujisawa Maingame in the first round of the main tournament (a knockout) of the 45th Tengen title, played on January 21, she became the first woman professional to win a game in the final section of a top-seven title. Playing white, she beat Takahashi Masumi 3-dan by resig. Starting with Honda Sachiko in 1979, ten women players had reached the final section, called “the main tournament,” a total of 12 times, but had lost in the first round each time. For Fujisawa, the 13th time was “third time lucky”; she had reached the main tournament in the 43rd and 44th Gosei tournaments. Four more wins and she will be the challenger. Incidentally, the number of seats in the main tournament varies according to the tournament from 16 to “around 32” (which means that some players may be seeded into the second round of the knockout).

World Go Championship preliminaries:  The international preliminaries for the thirdWorld Go Championship were held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo from January 25 to 29. Eight-nine players vied for the three seats in the eight-player main tournament that were at stake.
The senior preliminary was won by Yu Chang-hyeok 9P of Korea, who beat Yuki Satoshi 9P (Japan) in the final. Incidentally, Jimmy Cha (Cha Minsu) played in this preliminary; as far as I know, this is his first international appearance for some time. The gener2019.02.18_Ueno defends WKiseial preliminary was split into two sections, both of which were won by Chinese players: Jiang Weijie 9P and Liao Yuanhe 7P. The eight-player tournament will start on March 18.

Ueno Asami defends Women’s Kisei: As the current women’s number one, Fujisawa Rina looked like a tough challenger for the 17-year-old Ueno Asami (left), but the titleholder had other ideas. The second game of the 22nd Women’s Kisei title match was held in the Ryusei Studio at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on January 28. Taking black, Ueno forced Fujisawa to resign after 243 moves. The game featured fierce fighting from start to finish, but Ueno showed that her surprise victory in this title last year was no fluke. Xie Yimin is still going strong, so the Japanese women’s go world looks like entering a period of three strong rivals.

Tomorrow: Murakawa to challenge for Judan…

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Registration Open for the 26th Redmond Cup

Thursday February 14, 2019

51966196_545908055910977_7621509304582930432_nThe 26th edition of the Redmond Cup is open for registration, and strong young players are invited to compete in the most prestigious North American youth tournament of the year.  Online preliminary competition will begin on March 11th, with the top two players in the Junior (12 and under) and Senior (13-17) divisions receiving invitations to a best-of-3 finals that will take place between July 13-20 at the  US Go Congress in Madison, Wisconsin. Finalists win a free trip to the Congress, courtesy of  the American Go Foundation, and all participants who complete the preliminary tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to congress.

Competitors must have an accredited rank of 1 dan or higher to enter the Redmond Cup, reside in either the US, Canada, or Mexico, and be a member of his or her respective national go association. Registration is open until March 6th; for more details about the tournament, please read the Rules and Regulations. –Story and photo by Justin Teng.  Photo: 2018 Finalists Jeremy Chiu 7d (l) vs. Redmond Meijin Aaron Ye 7d (r).

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DC hosts Chinese Lunar New Year Tournament

Wednesday February 13, 2019

This Saturday, February 16 is the annual tournament celebrating the Lunar New Year. “This is always a great event with prizes 2019.02.13_nga-new-yearsponsored by the Chinese cultural community of the DC area,” says the National Go Center’s Gurujeet Khalsa. This will be a 4-round AGA rated event. Doors open at 8:30 AM.

Pre-register now for the Lunar New Year Tournament to guarantee your place and receive the 20% pre-registration discount ($16/adult, $12/youth)

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