Thursday January 16, 2020
Do you have a need to watch high level go? Join us this Sunday January 19th at 3PM EST for the start of the third round. Follow your favorite local teams and players as they battle it out this season. Games can be found using the GoPanda2 client in the AGA City League rooms. Check the schedules for each league for detailed information for each game; A League, B League, C League, D League.
Thursday January 16, 2020
“The AGHS is hosting its Youth Go League which will start in February 2020,” says Promotion Head Sophia Wang, “Because playing games is crucial to improving quickly, the league offers young go players an opportunity to play more serious online games.”
There will be 4-5 rounds each month, paired by divisions using a ladder system such that players face others of similar strength. All youth ages 18 and under from the US, Canada, and Mexico are invited to participate in these friendly yet competitive matches. Prizes will be awarded. The registration deadline is 11:59 PM PST on January 26, 2020.
For rules and regulations, click here.
For registration, click here.
Thursday January 16, 2020
Tune in the AGA’s Twitch channel tonight at 7p EST for a livestream game commentary by Michael Redmond 9P with Chris Garlock. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams. “Hope this series never ends!” said psyopus syzygy. “Learn so much from Michael. Thank youuuuu!!”
Monday January 13, 2020
Registration is now open for the 36th annual U.S. Go Congress, which will be held August 1-9 at the YMCA camp near Estes Park, CO. Click here for details on registering.
The main playing site is Assembly Hall in the center of camp, which is surrounded by many indoor and outdoor amenities, plus the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains. “It’s the perfect setting for both players and non-players alike, an ideal vacation destination for the whole family!” say Congress organizers.
The camp is just outside Estes Park, just under two hours from Denver International Airport (DIA). You can sign up for the airport shuttle during registration, or rent a car at the airport. The Congress has plenty of rooms reserved on-site, or you can choose from many off-site locations (but act soon as summer fills up quickly). Click here for detailed information about the Congress.
The Start Here tab on the Congress website allows you to register and sign up for lodging and meal plans, the banquet, and the day-off activities.
“There are official tours to please almost everyone, from open-air trollies servicing Rocky Mountain National Park, ghost tours at the historic Stanley Hotel, cable-car rides to the top of Prospect mountain, and horseback riding,” says Congress Co-Director Eric Wainwright. “If any of these don’t fit the bill, there’s an abundance of informal tours and other activities as well.” Click here to see the full list.
“We hope to make this the best congress yet!”
Saturday January 11, 2020
The New York Go Association kicked off the New Year with its first 2020 NYGA Monthly Tournament (NMT) on January 4. A field of 21 players participated their first go tournament of the year, with Alexander Qi 4D winning the open division by 2 SOS points in the tie breaker against Joel Kenny 4D, who defeated Alex in the final round. Afa Zhou 1D and Leo Martin 22K won Division 2 and 3 respectively, both with perfect 4-0 records.
Starting this month, the top eight players in the NMTs will earn NMT Points for the NYGA Grand Final Championship. Players who collected NMT points this month are Alexander Qi (20), Joel Kenny (16), Chen Yong (12), Micheal Fodera(10), Enyo Shirakata(8), Ozawa Toranosuke(6), Afa Zhou(2) and Andy Segal(1). For more information regarding NMP points and rules, click here https://www.ny-go.org/nyga-gf for more details.
Saturday January 11, 2020
South Korean Go icon Lee Sedol closed out his illustrious career last month in a three-game match with home-developed artificial intelligence (AI) program HanDol, according to a report by the Yonhap News Agency.
Lee, who turned pro at 12 and went on to capture 18 international and 32 domestic titles, defeated HanDol in the opener of the best-of-three match in Seoul, playing with a two-stone advantage. The second match was played without any handicap, and HanDol was victorious. In the decisive third game, HanDol, developed by South Korea’s NHN Entertainment Corp., took down the 36-year-old master after 181 stones in Lee’s final match, held in his hometown of Sinan, 400 kilometers south of Seoul.
“I should have done better early, and then the (final game) would have played out much like the first one,” Lee said. “To be honest, I don’t think HanDol is particularly strong when playing with an advantage. I think some of the younger players would have beaten HanDol.”
Looking back on his career, Lee said, “I’ve enjoyed this ride. In the past, I used to say, ‘Baduk is my life,'” he said. “But now, I think there’s more to my life than baduk. I take away a lot of fun memories. Even though I lost today, I was happy to have played a good match.”
Note: This post has been updated to clarify the game sequence.
Friday January 10, 2020
The AGA has been working to help those who run our tournaments across the country. A new mailing list has been created to help both veteran and new directors with the goal of creating a sounding board for issues and questions that might arise throughout the year. If you are or would like to become a tournament director, please consider joining the TD Support mailing list. Discussions will be most useful with a good blend of both veteran tournament directors and fresh perspectives from new TDs. The mailing list will also be a great place for TDs to ask questions and share experiences.
We have updated our information to help you join these lists to connect with TDs and Chapter leaders. Full Mailing List information can be found on the left menu bar of the USGO website.
Thursday January 9, 2020
“Over 70 players from across North America competed intensely in the AGHS’s annual Young Lions Tournament, which took place over the past month,” says AGHS Promotion Head Sophia Wang, “There was impressive participation, including several high-dan competitors and many new players joining the Go community.” Frederick Bao, who won first place at the 2019 US Open as well as multiple recent tournaments, emerged victorious as the champion of the 2019 Young Lions Tournament after being undefeated in the highly competitive open division. Zhixiang Lou followed closely as second place and Ruihan Cao took third.
Winners’ Report: Open Division 1st: Frederick Bao, 2nd: Zhixiang Lou, 3rd: Ruihan Cao; Division A 1st: Toranosuke Ozawa, 2nd: Sophie Lin, 3rd: Chase Lin; Division B 1st: Steve Zhang, 2nd: Kyle Fenimore, 3rd: Samantha Soo; Division C 1st: Jason Yang, 2nd: Stephanie Tan, 3rd: Juanshu Lan; Division D 1st: Zhiyong Huang, 2nd: Joshua Wong, 3rd: Allen Tan; Division E 1st: Shinyan Hu, 2nd: Christina Wang, 3rd: Ethan Tu; Division F 1st: Zhihan William Huang, 2nd: Noah Carrafa, 3rd: Enzo Aozono-Araldi -Lionel Zhang, EJ Youth Correspondant
Tuesday January 7, 2020
The New York Go Association will be hosting the 2020 NYIG Open in Little Neck, NY on February 8, 2020. The NYIG Open is a 4-round, AGA-rated tournament from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Fancy spending the evening with a Go World Champion after the tournament? This year’s special NYIG Open will be joined by two esteemed professional players from China, Gu Zihao 9P (right) and Wang Xiangyun 3P (below), who will teach and interact with our Go fans in the “Night With the Pros” event. After a Go lecture by World Champion Gu Zihao 9P and pizza, you get to ask your own questions during “Ask the Pros” with Gu Zihao 9P, Wang Xiangyun 3P, Stephanie Yin 1P, and Ryan Li 1P.
For more details, please visit https://www.ny-go.org/2020-nyig-open or contact info@ny-go.org.
-report and photos provided by Ryan Li
AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo; Game 34: The AI and the ponnuki
Friday January 10, 2020
After a brief break for the holidays, Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary.
The game features a ponnuki* near the center of the board,” and Redmond says that “nowadays with people getting new ideas from AI’s, a lot of the old ideas — the old values, you might say — about things like ponnukis or josekis have been questioned. So in this game we get to see how an AI handles a ponnuki.” After that, Redmond warns, “things get very tactical, there’s a lot of calculating, a lot of groups and you have to figure out what’s alive and what’s dead; there’s a lot to figure out.”
The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries — some AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo and some of Redmond’s games — on January 16, 23 and 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.
* Capturing a single stone, leaving a diamond shape. According to the proverb, “A ponnuki is worth thirty points” Sensei’s Library
[link]