American Go E-Journal » 2020 » January

Registration Open for the 2020 North American Kyu Championships, Redmond Cup, and AGA Girls Cup

Tuesday January 7, 2020

Registration is now open for the annual suite of AGA-run youth tournaments, including the 7th North American Kyu Championships (NAKC), the 27th Redmond Cup, and the 3rd AGA Girls Cup. For all three tournaments, competitors must reside in North America and be a member of the his or her country’s national Go organization.

Young Go players competing at the 2018 US Go Congress

The year kicks off on February 1st with the 7th North American Kyu Championships, which is a four-round, one-day tournament on the KGS Go Server for North American kyu players under the age of 18. Top junior (under 13) and senior (13-17) players in each of five rank divisions can win personalized crystal trophies, and the junior and senior champions of the top division will be invited to play in the Redmond Cup, which traditionally requires one to have a dan-level rank to compete. Players who complete all rounds of the NAKC will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the 2020 US Go Congress (USGC) in Estes Park, Colorado, courtesy of the American Go Foundation. Registration for the NAKC closes on January 26th, and interested competitors can read about the rules and additional details here.

Frederick Bao 5d (l) vs Kevin Huang 5d (r) at the 2019 Redmond Cup Junior Division Finals

The 27th Redmond Cup and 3rd AGA Girls Cup are premier tournaments for North American youth under 18 and females under 16 respectively. Players must have an accredited rank of 1-dan or higher to participate in the Redmond Cup, and an accredited rank of 10-kyu or higher to participate in the AGA Girls Cup. The Redmond Cup features both a Junior (under 13) and a Senior (13-17) division, while the AGA Girls Cup will feature one division. Both tournaments are online preliminaries to determine two finalists in each division who will be invited to play in a best-of-three match at the 2020 US Go Congress. The American Go Foundation will cover all reasonable expenses for the finalists of both tournaments to travel to and compete at the 2020 USGC. Players who complete all rounds of either tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the 2020 USGC. Registration for the Redmond Cup will close on March 11th, with competition starting on March 15th. Registration for the AGA Girls Cup will close on March 18th, with competition starting on March 22nd. Interested competitors can read about the rules for the Redmond Cup here and rules for the AGA Girls Cup here. – Story and photos by Justin Teng, AGA Youth Coordinator

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Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America,Youth
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Go Clubs: Bloomington, Indiana

Monday January 6, 2020

The American Go Association’s newest chapter is The Stone Cutters Go Club in Bloomington, Indiana. “We welcome anyone with an interest in Go to come and visit, new players included!” says the club on its website. “Our goal is to help provide a network for Go players and bring awareness of Go to the community.” Club founder Vera Flocke especially encourages local or visiting AGA members to drop by. “It would be great to see our club grow,” she says. The club meets Thursday evenings at 7p at the Runcible Spoon, 412 E 6th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408.
Got club news? Email us at journal@usgo.org

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Categories: AGA Chapters,Main Page,U.S./North America
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New AGA Chapters for December 2019

Monday January 6, 2020

The AGA is regularly asked for new chapters around the country. These are the newly registered chapters from December 2019:

Stonecutters Go Club Bloomington – We meet at the Runcible Spoon (412 E 6th St, Bloomington, IN 47408) on Thursday evenings at 7pm. – Contact Vera Flocke

High School North Go Association – We meet every Thursday, 3-4 pm at High School North. The address is 90 Grovers Mill Rd, Plainsboro Township, NJ 08536. For any students or staff of West Windsor-Plainsboro school district, you are free to come, just email us beforehand. Anyone who is not under these categories can email us at hsnchineseclub@gmail.com to work it out. – Contact Seth Liang (The High School North Go Association is a subsidiary of the High School North Chinese Club.)

Members should check their information when logging in. If you are not receiving the EJ make sure your email is up to date. Chapters can always update their current chapter through the AGA Membership Manager if they have changed.

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Upcoming events at the National Go Center

Sunday January 5, 2020

Pair Go/Paella Next Friday, 1/10

The National Go Center is welcoming in the New Year with another Pair Go/Paella night on January 10 at 7 PM. Chris Garlock will be making his famous paella for the event. Come with or without a partner (we will pair you up and explain the rules) for this social event. Please pre-register by Wednesday night so we can give Chris a head count at Pair Go/Paella Night – 1/10/2020. $5 at the door to cover costs. Side dishes, desserts, and beverages most welcome. 

Yuan Zhou’s Monthly Workshop on 1/12

The full year’s schedule for these popular workshops are in the Calendar. Get the year off to a great start with a day of sharpening your Go skills at Yuan Zhou’s Monthly Group Lesson – 1/12/2020. After an in-depth review of a famous pro game in the morning, participants pair off after lunch and play a tournament style game followed by reviews. 

Winter/Spring Tournament Schedule

Our first three tournament dates of 2020 are set. First up will be the annual Chinese Lunar New Year tournament on 2/15. This is always a great event with trophies and cash prizes. It will be followed by the traditional Cherry Blossom event on 3/28 and May Madness on 5/2. Registration is open now for the Chinese Lunar New Year Tournament – 2/15/2020.

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Go Spotting: Brain Myths Exploded

Saturday January 4, 2020

“In Lecture 24 of her course Brain Myths Exploded (available at The Great Courses.com) entitled Does Technology Make You Stupid? Indre Viskontas uses Go to support her thesis that the answer to the title question is no,” writes Joel Sanet. “After spending about a minute and a half (at minute 23) describing Go in which she calls it ‘the most complex game ever devised by our species’ and ‘the pinnacle of human intelligence,'” she points out AlphaGo’s defeat of Lee Sedol. However, in defense of her position she also mentions Fan Hui’s statement that playing against AlphaGo has made him a better Go player.”

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2020 International Collegiate Go Tournament registration opens

Friday January 3, 2020

The Shanghai Ing Foundation will be hosting the 2020 International Collegiate Go Tournament in Shenzhen, China this summer. The tournament starts on July 7th and will conclude on the 13th. This event is open to any current undergraduate or graduate level college student. All costs related to room, board, and tours during the event will be covered by the tournament organizer.

“This is a truly unique experience as the Shanghai Ing Foundation does not spare any expense during the planning of this event,” says Mike Fodera. To find out more about this program, check out the schedule and regulations as well as additional information on the Shanghai Ing Foundation’s website.
While play is competitive, players of all skill levels are welcome to participate. There will be five divisions: a high dan, low dan, single digit kyu, double digit kyu, and women’s division. The deadline for applying is March 15th. Please send all registration forms directly to Mike Fodera – mdf116@gmail.com.
If you have any questions about the event, or would like to find out more about previous events hosted by the Ing Foundation, email Mike Fodera.  

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Club Report: Western Massachusetts

Friday January 3, 2020

photo: Chris Morse, Bryan Denley, Nate Converse, Kylie, and Allie (Osman’s daughter). “Actually, Nate is playing Tom Yilin, who appears in the mirror on the wall,” says Osman.

“Play go! It’s not just for the older folks,” writes Eric Osman. “I love it when the kids play go with us at the Western Mass Go Club. This picture was taken at the Haymarket Café in Northampton Massachusetts. The Club plays every Thursday evening.”
Note: it was Osman who wrote the recent Gray power item.

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Your Move/Readers Write: Gray power; Neil deGrasse Tyson on Go? Drawing the line(s)?

Wednesday January 1, 2020

Gray power: “Being 67 years old and still enjoying competing in tournaments, I was happy to hear that Haskell Small won the NGC Winter Warmer tournament,” writes Eric Osman. ” It’s great to show that we older folks can still give the youngsters a run for their money. As for giving go books out to the winners, how about giving go books to the losers.  Don’t they need them more?”
Note: this post has been updated; Eric Osman wrote in, not Bill Saltman.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Go? “A friend just emailed me and mentioned that he had seen NdeGT last night talking about Go,” writes David Doshay. “I did not get anything with several Google attempts, so … Does anybody else out there have anything that would point the interested Go player in the right direction to see what he had to say?”

Drawing the line(s)? “Kurikowgoishi’s website states that they redraw lines (on Go boards),” writes Anthony Craig. “I was wondering if there’s a US equivalent?”

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