The 8th Virginia Open took place in Vienna, Virginia on September 28th and featured a 26-player field, including nine 5-dan and stronger players in the 10-person Open section. Eric Lui 1p emerged victorious in all three of his games to become the overall champion. Justin Teng 6d took second place after losing to Lui in the final round, while Qingbo Zhang 5d and Joshua Lee 6d took third and fourth place respectively. Among Virginia residents, Qingbo Zhang 5d, Joshua Lee 6d, Yaming Wang 7d, and Ran Zhao 5d qualified for the Finals of the Virginia State Championship, which will take place at a later time. In the Handicap division, Xuhui Zhang 3d, Derek Zhou 7k, and Adam King 15k won first place in their respective sections. All participants received a free Go Book courtesy of Hinoki Press and the Capital Go Club.
The venue also hosted the Jinghua Cup, which was a three vs. three team match between alumni of Peking University and Tsinghua University. Liang Yu 6d and Sihao Li 3d were able to score crucial wins for Peking University to clinch victory with a 2-1 score. Fairfax County Cable TV came to the event mid-day to record some of the action as well as a presentation by Edward Zhang about the cultural aspects of Go in both the West and the East. Virginia House of Delegates member Mark Keam also visited the event to give a brief talk about how he sees Go as a metaphor for global society and a bridge to connect Asian and American culture. More photos from the event can be found in this album compiled by Liang Yu, Hejun Kang, and Anna Liu.
– report by Justin Teng
