American Go E-Journal » 2020 » August

Officer Applications for the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Open

Friday August 21, 2020

“Applications for the 2020-2021 American Go Honor Society (AGHS) officer team are now open,” says Vice President of Operations Melissa Cao, “The American Go Honor Society is an organization driven primarily by high school students to promote go among young players throughout America. Tournaments, leagues, and other go events catered towards youth are hosted throughout the school year by the AGHS.”

To apply, please fill out the form here
The application deadline is Monday, August 31st at 11:59pm PDT.

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America,Youth

Redmond live commentary Sunday night; latest Redmond Review posted

Saturday August 15, 2020

Michael Redmond 9P’s live commentary series resumes this Sunday, August 16 at 8p EDT on Twitch when he and E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will review Game 45 in the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series.

In the latest episode in the Redmond’s Reviews series — which originally aired live on Twitch back in May on Mother’s Day — Redmond takes a look at his game against Yao Zhi Teng 5P. Once again, Michael tries some AlphaGo moves and “things get messy,” he says. Yao Zhi Teng 5p “is one of the younger really strong players,” and this game was played in late 2019 before the competition hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.

Also, Redmond continues to post new content on his YouTube channel, including life and death problems and his 1988 Judan final against Sakata Eio.

Categories: Computer Go/AI,Main Page,Redmond Reviews

First North American Youth Open scheduled for September 5th

Friday August 14, 2020

The 1st North American Youth Open will take place on KGS on September 5th! The NAYO (North American Youth Open) is an open youth tournament held by the American Go Association for players of all levels who are under 18 years old. With the support of the AGF, the tournament has a prize pool of over $1000.

The goal for the NAYO is to provide an opportunity for young players to once again compete in a high standard North American tournament. The AGA intends to host this competition annually and make this event the largest open youth Go tournament in North America. This tournament was originally conceived as a face-to-face tournament sponsored by the New York Institute of Go and the American Go Foundation. The organizers hope to return to this model once in-person tournament play is safe.

Eligibility: All of the participants must be under 18 years old by the date of the tournament. There is NO rank requirement to enter, players of all levels are welcome. Players with no rank may register as 25 kyu. All players must be a current AGA, CGA, or MGA members. Players whose ranks at their associations are out of date, but have a solid KGS rank with at least 10 recent games may enter. Pre-registration is required. Please visit the website for more information and registration.

Categories: Main Page,Other,U.S./North America

International Osaka Go School to open in September

Friday August 14, 2020

After the popular Osaka Go Camp was cancelled for the 2020 year due to COVID-19, organizer Maeda Ryo 6P has decided to organize and open a new online Go school for players of all levels. The International Osaka Go School will allow members to play four reviewed league games amongst each other, play one teaching game with a professional, and attend two lectures per month. Teachers include Maeda Ryo 6P, Francis Meyer 1P, and Ting Li 1P of the Kansai-Kiin. Interested players should visit the International Osaka Go School’s website for more details and to sign up. Any players who sign up for two full months of the school will be eligible for a discount of 10000JPY off of registration for the next Osaka Go Camp, to be held during the summer of 2021.

Categories: Japan,Main Page,World

2020 e-Go Congress tournament results

Thursday August 13, 2020

After a week of online play between nearly one thousand participants, the results are in! This year’s 2020 e-Go Congress hosted eight tournaments, plus the Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest.

Pandanet AGA City League Tournament and Championship
TD: Steve Colburn
A League Champions: New York City – Ryan Li 1P, Hanchen Zhang 1P, Zhongfan Jian 7d; Runner Up: Bay Area – Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Hajin Lee 4P, Jeremy Chiu 7D; 3rd place: Greater Washington, 4th place: Canwa Vancouver 1, 5th place: Waterloo 1
B League 1st place: Chicago, 2nd place: Waterloo 2, 3rd place: Canwa Vancouver 2
C League 1st place: Los Angeles, 2nd place: Montreal, 3rd place: Atlanta
D League 1st place: Seattle 2, 2nd place: New Mexico, 3rd place: New York City 2

Double Digit Kyu Tournament
TD: Bart Lipofsky; ATDs: Ke Lu, Andrew Zhang
Group 1 (10 kyu) – 1st: Jingfan Feng 10k; 2nd: Tim Cowles 10k; 3rd: Piotr Milian 10k
Group 2 (11-12 kyu) – 1st: Tyle Stelzig 12k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Ryan Gustafson 12k
Group 3 (13 kyu) – 1st: Joe Fratianni (Goooplayer) 13k; 2nd: Christina Wang 13k; 3rd: abenthy 13k
Group 4 (14-15 kyu) – 1st: Lucia Moscola 14k; 2nd: Isaac Zhang (Irz112) 15k; 3rd: Murasakino 15k
Group 5 (16 kyu) – 1st: Anna Zhou 16k; 2nd: Elias Tew 16k; 3rd: Nathan Han 16k
Group 6 (17-19 kyu) – 1st: Matthew Wang 18k; 2nd: Jason Li 19k; 3rd: Cody Tang 17k
Group 7 (20-22 kyu) – 1st: Regina Kim 22k; 2nd: Angel Zhou 22k; 3rd: Daniel Luo 21k, Gavin Turner (gturns) 21k
Group 8 (23-30 kyu) – 1st: Zak Li 28k; 2nd: Junxiong Lin (Linnobita) 30k; 3rd: Caleb Tan 28 k

9 X 9 Tournament
TD: Eric Wainwright; ATDs: Ke Lu, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack
Dan Division – 1st: Jing Huang (game sorry); 2nd: Panpat Sirimongkoi
Single-digit Kyu Division – 1st: Pawel Stepnowski; 2nd: Milos Stojanović
Double-digit kyu Division – 1st: Angel Zhou; 2nd: cdingo

Pair Go Tournament
TD: Andrew Zhang; ATD: Kevin Hwang
Table winners: Joanne Leung and Wei Zhou, Seowoo Wang and Justin Teng, Yingzhi Qian and Will Lockhart , Katherine Xie and Willis Huang, Elizaveta Plyugina and Kanno Hiroki, Marianna Szychowiak and Steve Zhang, Brian Dai and Harvey Bai, Elizaveta Antonova and Jonathan Fisher, Cody Frias and Josiah Frias, David Wallach and Shai Simonson, Valeria Sánchez Aguilar and Felipe Herman van Riemsdijk, Eva-Dee Beech & Trevor Morris, Romain Guimard & Jason Liu, Joanna Li and Tao Li, Jingfan Feng and Staysee Yod Teague, Angel Zhou and Yixian Zhou, Bijan Betel Miri and Ryan Woolgar, Rachel Small and Joshua Johnson, Joe Fratianni and Daniel Luo, Paola Sarmiento and Alan Yeray Cortés, Jaedon Ruan and Jerry Ruan, Theo Waitkus and Nikolas Heintz, Timothy Chen and Justin L. Wang

Youth Relay Go
TD: Devin Fraze; ATDs: Justin Teng, Lionel Zhang
All of the 63 youth participants from will receive a prize! Players ranged from 30k to 6d. Winning teams: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11

Team Relay Go
TD: Audrey Wang; ATD: William Luff; Top Board Coaches: Michael Chen, Eric Lui; Coaches: Michel Fodera, Sichen Zhong
Winners by Team – Michael Chen’s Team: N. A. Doss, Seowoo Wang, Steve Zhang, Xinzhou Song; Eric Lui’s Team: Guanyu Song, Justin Teng, Brandon Zhou, Joshua Guarino; Michael Fodera’s Team A: Jiayang Su, Colin Williams, Christopher Morse, Alan Yang; Michael Fodera’s Team B: David Kahn, David Rohlfing, James Putnam, Stegan Weissner; Sichen Zhong’s Team A: Laurence Ip, Joseph Chaves, Serena Tu, Francois Wolf; Sichen Zhong’s Team B: Marc Sarrel, Kenny Glekel Qian, Jason Yang, Peter Vander Valk

Blitz Tournament
TD: Jon Boley, ATDs: Orion Campbell, Katherine Xie
Group 1 (7 dan) – 1st: Xinyu Tu 7d; 2nd: Shuaiheng Tao 7d; 3rd: Yilin Xu 7d
Group 2 (4-6 dan) – 1st: Soren Jaffe (trickyruin) 5d; 2nd: Quentin Turlot 4d; 3rd: Blake Kang 5d
Group 3 (1-3 dan) – 1st: Jerry C. Jaffe 1d; 2nd: vegmandu 3d; 3rd: Helcio Alexandre Pacheco 2d, Jared Nishikawa 2d
Group 4 (1-3 kyu) – 1st: Alan Yang (Silent123) 3k; 2nd: Alvin Chia (RiftMix) 1k, Eliot Yoon 1k, Andrew McGowen (dangerdoom) 1k
Group 5 (4-7 kyu) – 1st: Stephanie Tan 4k; 2nd: Tevis Tsai 6k; 3rd: Jason Liu 4k, Jason Yang (JY0034) 4k
Group 6 (8-14 kyu) – 1st: Zhiyong Huang 8k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Piotr Milian 10k
Group 7 (15-30 kyu) – 1st: Angel Zhou 22k; 2nd: Roxin Cao 15k; 3rd: Wilton B. 18k

e-Go Congress Open
TD: Dan Ritter, ATDs: Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter
7d+ Division – 1st Xinyu Tu 7d; 2nd: Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 7d; 3rd: Kanno Hiroki (Myosu) 7d
6d Division – 1st: Guanyu Song 6d; 2nd: Tony Zhao 6d; 3rd: Willis Huang (Kaihua) 6d
5d Divsion – 1st: Atlbrandon 5d; 2nd: Toranosuke Ozawa 5d; 3rd: Robert Tirak 5d
4d Division – 1st: Ke Lu 4d; 2nd: Chanho Park (Ewak) 4d; 3rd: Quentin Turlot 4d
3d Division – 1st: Patrick Zhou 3d; 2nd: Juanshu Lan 3d; 3rd: Zhihong Yao 3d
2d Division – 1st: Eyz 2d; 2nd: Sathya Singh 2d; 3rd: Vladimir Nesterov (Vladgen) 2D
1d Division – 1st: Juraj 1d; 2nd: Tao Li 1d; 3rd: chownwil 1d
1k Division – 1st: The Amazing Jerboa 1k; 2nd: Benjamin Gunby 1k; 2rd: Howard Wong 1k
2k Division – 1st: Torr 2k; 2nd: George Beck 2k; 3rd: Richard Solburg 2k
3k Divison – 1st: Derek Zhou 3k; 2nd: Slb_ 3k; 3rd: Alan Yang (Scythe1798) 3k
4k Division – 1st: Patrick Sun 4k; 2nd: Stephanie Tan 4k; 3rd: Jason Yang (Driftlikelightning) 4k
5k Division – 1st: He Who Walks In Shadows 5k; 2nd: Seanp 5k; 3rd: Alex Mitrani 5k
6k Division – 1st: Badukadunk 6k; 2nd: Anderson Barreal (Tobi_4) 6k; 3rd: Squidmd 6k
7k Division – 1st: Mario Espinoza (Chrysalis) 7k; 2nd: Eric Mao 7k; 3rd: Mark Fraser 7k
8k Division – 1st: Zhiyong Huang 8k; 2nd: Alexander Trotter 8k; 3rd: Robert Qi 8k
9k Division – 1st: Esther 9k; 2nd: Benoit Cordoba 9k; 3rd: David Rohlfing 9k
10k Division – 1st: Drsparkle713 10k; 2nd: Paul Landers 10k; 3rd: Tim Cowles 10k
11k – 12k Division – 1st: Eva-Dee Beach 11k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Joanna Li (quantumjo) 12k
13k – 14k Division – 1st: Christopher Graham (chgraham) 13k; 2nd: Joe Fratianni (Goandchessplayer) 13k; 3rd: Steve Zilber 13k
15k – 16k Division – 1st: Isaac Zhang (Hypernova) 15k; 2nd: Roxin Cao 15k; 3rd: Vaughn Hannon 16k
17k – 21k Division – 1st: Cody Tang 17k; 2nd: Eric Beach (ebeach) 18k; 3rd Felix Tee 20k
22k+ Division – 1st: Angel Zhou 22k; 2nd: Mari Oshima 29k; 3rd: Junxiong Lin (Linnobita) 30k

Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest
Organizers: Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner; Judges: Brady Daniels, Mike Lash, Hajin Lee 4P, Audrey Wang
Poetry – Winner: Confinement with Go by François Wolf; Runner Up: The Machine by Jonathan Fisher
Song – Winner: Komi on Your Side by Todd Blatt; Runners Up: I’ve Played Every Shape Man by Hector Lampert-Bates and Song to Terry by Roy Laird
Youth and 1st Time Entry Category Winner: I’ve Played Every Shape Man by Hector Lampert-Bates

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Uncategorized

Korea plans Go stadium

Tuesday August 11, 2020

In a bit of welcome good news in the midst of the uncertainty around in-person play during the global pandemic, an exclusive stadium for Baduk – as Go is known in Korea — is being planned for a municipality north of Seoul, reports Korea Bizwire. The proposed Baduk stadium will be located on the grounds of the former Defense Security Command (DSC) in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, according to an official at the city government.

According to the proposal, the Go stadium will cover an area of 10,000 square meters with four floors above ground, along with one basement level, and the city government is planning to complete the construction by 2023.

The stadium will include Baduk playing rooms, viewing rooms, education halls and exhibition rooms, as well as media rooms and reception rooms for broadcasting Baduk games. The city of Uijeongbu has already completed a feasibility test for the proposal and held a final report meeting on Tuesday. The project cost is estimated at 30 billion won, excluding land purchase costs.

Go drew worldwide attention in 2016 when Google arranged a groundbreaking match in Seoul between South Korean Lee Sedol, one of the world’s best Go players, and AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence system designed by a team of researchers at DeepMind.

Categories: Korea,Main Page

2020 eGo-Congress credits

Monday August 10, 2020

e-Go Congress social hours on Zoom, hosted by Julie Burrall, gave old friends and new a chance to mingle, catch up, and play fun games

Nearly one thousand players took part in the AGA’s first e-Go Congress from August 1 – 9 across multiple online platforms. This dedicated team of volunteers worked tirelessly to put the e-Go Congress together in under three months after the US Go Congress in Estes Park, CO was cancelled due to COVID-19. We wanted to take a moment to gratefully acknowledge their work. Next year’s Congress is set for July 24 – August 1, 2021 in Cleveland, OH; if you’d like to consider being a part of the Congress team, email lisa.scott@gocongress.org or journal@usgo.org if you’re interested in the E-Journal team.

Congress Staff
Director/Congress Coordinator – Lisa Scott
Deputy Directors – Audrey Wang, Stephen Hu
Registrar – Emil Meng
Pro Coordinator – Audrey Wang
Pro Facilitators – Cat Man, Megan Wheeldon
Logo Design – Ken Lukas
Teachers – Myungwan Kim 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 8P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Yilun Yang 7P, Guo Juan 5P, Cathy Li 1P, Francis Meyer 1P, Eric Lui 1P, Ryan Li 1P, In-seong Hwang 8d, Michael Chen 7d, Yuan Zhou 7d, Julie Burrall, David Kahn, Joseph Chaves, William Luff, Cat Mai, Howie Marshall, Milan Mladenovic
Tournament Directors – Steve Colburn, Dan Ritter, Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter, Eric Wainwright, Ke Lu, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack, Jon Boley, Orion Campbell, Katherine Xie, Bart Lipofsky, Andrew Zhang, Devin Fraze, Justin Teng, Lionel Zhang, Kevin Hwang, Audrey Wang, William Luff, Michael Chen, Eric Lui, Michael Fodera, Sichen Zong
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest organizers – Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest Judges – Brady Daniels, Mike Lash, Hajin Lee 4P, Audrey Wang
AI Round Table Hosts – Devin Fraze, Audrey Wang
AI Round Table Guest Speakers – Lukas Baker, Andreas Hauenstein, Hajin Lee 4P, Sichen Zhong
Hangouts Host – Julie Burrall

Broadcast Team
Executive Producer – Stephen Hu
Line Producers – James Funk, Jared Meadows, Shawn Ray
Twitch stream hosts – Julie Burrall, Michael Fodera, Devin Fraze, Stephen Hu, Cat Mai, Shawn Ray, Jonathan Schrantz, Lisa Scott, Audrey Wang, Brandon Zhou, Steve Zilber
Twitch stream commentators – Myungwan Kim 9P, Michael Redmond 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 9P, Guo Juan 5P, Eric Lui 1P, Inseong Hwang 8d
Twitch Chat Moderators – @anago, @cdpruitt, @clossius, @ejournal, @gobaduk, @hajinlee21, @istari2022, @nicksib, @omniraden, @perigril, @polarbearsplaygo, @s_singh99, @thelovingsun, @vash3g, @xed_over, @xhu98
Braodcast Overlay Design – Stephen Hu
Motion Graphics/Transition – Jared Meadows
Music – “Centered” by Tritonal x Nick Sibicky, Tritonalmusic.com
Content Sponsors – AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5P), New York Institute of Go (Ryan Li 1P and Stephanie Yin 1P), Yunguseng Dojang (Inseong Hwang 8d)

Special Thanks
Will Lockhart and Cole Pruitt of The Surrounding Game Movie, Darrell Malick, and prize sponsors AI Sensei, Guo Juan’s Internet Go School, ZBaduk, Feng Yin 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 8P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Yilun Yang 7P, Eric Lui 1P, Ryan Li 1P

e-Go Congress Coverage
Twitch broadcast videos

-screenshot by Phil Straus

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

Mystery man no more

Sunday August 9, 2020

We have a winner! The mystery go player shown in the last 50 years aGO is Takagi Shoichi, 9-dan. We had a number of incorrect guesses, including Noriyuki Nakayama – well-known for his wide and infectious smile — and Takagawa Kajiwara, who did write an Ishi Press book. “It does look like Kajiwara,” says Keith Arnold, “However the timing is way off, this guy is way too young to be Kajiwara, and Kajiwara never came to a Congress.”

In the end, Alexandre Dinerchtein came through, saying that Takagi is “One of my favourite masters. I really like his active playing style and fuseki (5-4 stones, thickness). He is the author of Beyond Forcing Moves.” Takagi “had a mane of wild hair Sakata- or Cho Chikun-style as he aged, so the closer cropped hair totally stumped me,” says Arnold.

This is a preview of the upcoming August 50 years aGO, which will feature Takagi, who won the Shin’ei Tournament — final match with Kudō Norio played on 2 August 1970. The caption mentions that he had recently won the Shushō Cup in 1969.

Categories: 50 years aGO,Main Page

Get in on the e-Go Congress fun with Go songs, game reviews, and the AGF board auction

Friday August 7, 2020

This year’s e-Go Congress is providing hundreds of players with opportunities for competition, fun games, and connection with friends while streaming live on Twitch, proving that even a pandemic can not stop Go players from getting together – albeit virtually – in summer for the Go Congress. Even if you haven’t registered for the event or played in one of the many tournaments that have started so far, there are still ways you can participate in this year’s e-Go Congress!

If you have been thinking about upgrading your playing equipment and want to support youth and Go education, consider bidding on the AGF auction board. This year’s board is an antique floor board and stones generously donated by Solomon Smilack, who has spend a considerable amount of time tracking down and collecting vintage Go equipment from Japan.

There have been several creative submissions to this year’s Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest, and voting is open! Vote on your favorite go-themed song and poem here.

Want to get your game reviewed or play against a professional? There are still spots open for the final three 2020 e-Go Congress Pro Small Group Sessions on Friday 8/7 and Saturday 8/8. See details and sign up here!

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

AGF board auction goes virtual

Thursday August 6, 2020

A vintage Goban is being auctioned online as a fundraiser for the AGF, in lieu of the traditional auction held at the final banquet at the Go Congress. “I’ve spent the last several months of the quarantine tracking down vintage go equipment from Japan with the hope of bringing it to US players at affordable prices. To that end, I have opened an Etsy shop called DangerMonkeyGoStones where I have listed a number of pieces of Go Equipment,” writes Solomon Smilack.

The auction is live on ebay and will close on Sunday Aug. 9 at 12:30 pm. The board and stones were donated by Smilack, and 100% of the proceeds will benefit the AGF. Click here to visit the auction. -Paul Barchilon, AGF VP

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

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