American Go E-Journal » 2021 » August

The Power Report: Kisei S League; Iyama plays in top Chinese league

Monday August 16, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Kisei S League
Two players were undefeated in the 46th Kisei S League on 3-0, so their clash on July 26 was the key game of the league to date. Ichiriki Ryo beat Yo Seiki, so the former took the sole lead. On 2-1, Murakawa Daisuke is still in the running if Ichiriki falters and he wins his remaining two games, as he is ranked above Ichiriki and there are no play-offs within the league. For the same
reason, Yo, though on 3-1, is out of the running, but he could come second and make the knock-out tournament to decide the challenger. Takao Shinji is also in the running for second place. Results since my last report follow.

(May 31) Yo Seiki 8p (B) beat Takao Shinji 9p by resig.
(June 10) Yo (W) beat Kono Rin 9p by resig.
(June 17). Ichiriki Ryo Tengen (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 9p by resig.; Takao (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9p by 3.5.
(July 15) Takao (W) beat Kono by resig.
(July 26) Ichiriki (W) beat Yo Seiki by resig.

In the A League, Onishi Ryuhei 7p and Shibano Toramaru Oza share the lead on 4-2. In the B1 League, Shida Tatsuya 7p has the sole lead with 5-1. In the B2 League, So Yokoku 9p and Son Makoto 7p share the lead on 5-1. In the C League, four players have started with three straight wins: Yamashiro Hiroshi 9p, Numadate Sakiya 7p, Otake Yu 5p, and Yuki Satoshi 9p. Scores of the female players in this league are: Fujisawa Rina, Women’s Honinbo, 1-2; Xie Yimin 6p 1-1; Nakamura Sumire 2p 0-2.

Iyama plays in top Chinese league
The Chinese A Class League, a large-scale team tournament, probably represents the top level of go competition in the world. Unfortunately, information about it is hard to come by for people who do not know Chinese, but the ejournal published an excellent article by Yuan Zhou on July 20. This year Japan’s top player, Iyama Yuta, is participating for the first time, and he played his first game on June 12. This happened to be the day after he suffered his third
successive loss in the Honinbo title match. Iyama is a member of the Zhejiang Ticai team, and his opponent was Xie Ke, one of China’s top players, who represented the Supoer Hangzhou team. Taking black, Iyama scored a good win, keeping the initiative throughout the game. This game was actually in the 10th round of the league; so far his team has three wins, four losses, and three draws, and is running 10th out of 16 teams. By the way, earlier in the year, Shiban
o Toramaru and Ichiriki Ryo both played a game in this league but lost.

Categories: China,Japan,Main Page

Hai Li’s go school reconvenes outdoors in Southern California

Monday August 16, 2021

Last Sunday, over 50 Go players, students, and parents of Hai Li’s go school gathered in an Irvine, CA park to celebrate in-person Go for the first time in over a year.

Hai Li 5P of China relocated to Southern California about a year after bringing several of his Go students from his school in China to attend the 33rd U.S. Go Congress in San Diego in 2017. He has since has become a well-known local teacher with students in San Diego and Orange counties. His students are regular participants in tournaments and Li himself has assisted with coordination of the California and San Diego Go Championships.

The party naturally featured Go games between the students and players, but the focus of the afternoon was the reacquaintance of friends. A lavish lunch, featuring many Chinese dishes provided by the families, capped the afternoon.

-report and photos by Ted Terpstra

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

Ryan Li wins 1st Transatlantic Pro League

Monday August 16, 2021

Ryan Li 3P, a North American Go Federation certified professional, defeated European Go Federation professional Ilya Shikshin 4P by 2-0 in the best-of-three final of the 1st Transatlantic Pro League on August 15. Li wins the €1,000 prize along with the Transatlantic Pro League title. A recording of the live commentary on Twitch can be viewed by clicking here.

In the match to decide the 3rd place winner, Artem Kachanovskyi 2P defeated Tanguy Le Calve 1P by 2-1. For full details on the Transatlantic Professional Go League, visit the official tournament website.

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

The Power Report: Ichiriki takes lead in Gosei; Ichiriki wins Meijin League

Saturday August 14, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ichiriki takes lead in Gosei title match
Iyama Yuta became the challenger for the 46th Gosei title, held by Ichiriki Ryo, on May 6 when he beat Ida Atsushi 8p in the play-off (Iyama had black and forced a resignation). Iyama won this title six terms in a row, from the 37th (2012) to the 42nd (2017). He lost it to Kyo Kagen in 2018, who lost it to Hane Naoki in 2019, who lost it to Ichiriki in 2020. Perhaps Iyama thinks it’s time to bring some stability back to the title. Be that as it may, he made a good start to the title match, winning the first game, which was played on June 26. Iyama had black and forced Ichiriki to resign after 135 moves. The venue was the Mabi Contact Center, a kind of community hall, in Mabi Town, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture. This town was subjected to extensive flooding in July 2018, with a lot of damage to the area. It has taken three years to fix the damage; the Gosei game was one of the events held to commemorate the reopening of the center.
Ichiriki also had his pride on the line, as his family newspaper, the Kahoku Newspaper, is one of the sponsors of the tournament, and his hometown was the venue for the second game in his hometown. It was played at the Hotel Sakanin Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 12. Taking black, Ichiriki won by half a point after 242 moves. (For some information on the Ichiriki family newspaper, see my report of April 11, 2020.)
The third game was played in the Hokkoku (North Country) Newspaper Hall in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, on July 19. This newspaper is another of the sponsors of the tournament. Ichiriki (W) played positively and attacked strongly; Iyama had to resign after just 138 moves when he lost a group. Ichiriki is now well placed to defend his title, but there is a bit of a gap until the next game, which is scheduled for August 17.

Ichiriki wins Meijin League
Ichiriki Ryo won his eighth-round game in the 46th Meijin League while his closest rival, Kyo Kagen, lost his, so the former won the league with a round to spare. This will be Ichiriki’s second challenge for a top-three title: he lost the 42nd Kisei title match to Iyama 0-4. The best-of-seven will start on August 26. Results since my previous report follow.

(June 7) Ichiriki Ryo Tengen (B) beat Hane Naoki 9p by resig.
(June 10) Kyo Kagen Judan (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9p by 4.5.
(June 14) Motoki Katsuya 8p (W) beat Kono Rin by resig.
(June 17) Shibano Toramaru Oza (W) beat Yo Seiki 8p by 3.5.
(July 1) Ichiriki (B) beat Kono by half a point.
(July 5) Anzai Nobuaki 7p (B) beat Yo Seiki by 5.5.
(July 8) Hane (W) beat Kyo by resig. (This win made sure of Hane’s seat in the 47th league.)
(July 15) Yamashita (W) beat Motoki by resig. (This win made sure of Yamashita’s seat in the next league.)

Categories: Japan,John Power Report,Main Page

SDGC teaches Go at the Toro Nagashi Festival

Saturday August 14, 2021

The San Diego Go Club participated in the Japanese Friendship Garden’s celebration of its ancestors at the annual Toro Nagashi Festival in honor of the tradition of Bon Odori. Toro Nagashi (floating lanterns) is a ceremony in honor of those who have passed. The floating lanterns commemorate loved ones and wish them peace.

SDGC took over the exhibition hall during the festival to teach Go, recruit new members, and demonstrate how the game is played. Over 65 copies of “The Way to Go” (provided by the American Go Foundation) were handed out to those festival participants who asked for a Go lesson. All were required to wear masks in the indoor spaces. The eight-hour event, attended by thousands of people on a perfect 73-degree San Diego day, also included food vendors, dancers, singers, sales of Japanese products, and ended with the traditional floating of lanterns down the creek running through the garden.

For over ten years, the SDGC has been giving weekly Go lessons at the Japanese Friendship Garden (JFG), located in Balboa Park. Based on it volunteer work, the SDGC is invited to participate in the JFG’s special celebrations.

-report and photos provided by Ted Terpstra, President of the San Diego Go Club

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

Ryan Li 3P and Ilya Shikshin 4P advance to Transatlantic Professional Go League final

Saturday August 14, 2021

The final round of the 1st Transatlantic Professional Go League will feature a showdown between North American pro Ryan Li 3P and European pro Ilya Shikshin 4P. The players will compete for a first-place prize of €1,000.

In the semi-final round, Li defeated Artem Kachanovskyi 2P and Shikshin defeated Tanguy Le Calve 1P to earn their seats at the final table. Kachanovskyi and Le Calve will play on Saturday, August 14 to determine the third- and fourth-place finishers. The final best-of-three match between Li and Shikshin will begin on Sunday, August 15.

All games will begin at 11AM EDT (5PM CEST). The European Go Federation will broadcast the match with professional commentary on its Twitch channel. For full details on the Transatlantic Professional Go League, visit the official website.

-report by Hajin Lee

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

Evanston Go Club hosts first in-person tournament since beginning of pandemic

Saturday August 14, 2021

The Evanston Go Club returned to in-person competition with a tournament on Saturday, July 31. “Turnout was excellent, with 36 players ranging from 30 kyu to 8 dan, including 15 first-timers and seven players from out of state,” says club president and TD Mark Rubenstein. “I wasn’t sure whether attendance would be low due to COVID concerns, or high due to people eager to get out and play in person. But I had an inkling it would be the latter, since attendance at our weekly club meetings in the last month has been much higher than normal.” Rubenstein also notes that this may be a very good time for clubs to reach out to new players. “We’re seeing lots of first-time players, and they’re coming back each week!” Winners received cash prizes, and the winner of the low dan band also received a copy of Albert Yen’s new book “Overcoming Human Igo” (available on Amazon).

Results:
High dan 1st place: Albert Yen
High dan 2nd place: Alexander Qi
Low dan (three-way tie): Wanqi Zhu, Lee Huynh, Sungsoo Kim
Low kyu 1st place: Aaron Soley
Low kyu 2nd place: Mike Neigebauer
High kyu 1st place: Robert Qi
High kyu 2nd place: Lewis Herman

-report by Mark Rubenstein

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

The Power Report: Iyama defends Honinbo title, matches Cho’s record; 4th Wu Qingyuan Cup

Monday August 9, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

*Iyama Yuta celebrates 10th consecutive Honinbo win*

Iyama defends Honinbo title, matches Cho’s record
As of our previous report (June 4), the 76th Honinbo title match between Iyama Yuta, also known as Honinbo Monyu, and Shibano Toramaru Oza was tied 1-1. When the defending champion won the first game, Shibano fans would have been worried that this match might follow the path of last year’s Honinbo and Meijin title matches, both of which were one-sided, ending in 4-1 victories for Iyama. However, Shibano roared back in the second game, crushing Iyama in 96 moves.
The third game was played at the Hotel Agora Osaka Moriguchi in Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture, on June 1 and 2. Taking black, the challenger, Shibano Toramaru Oza won by resignation after 149 moves. In the opening, Shibano staked out a large moyo. Iyama was confident he could erase it, but a large group of his inside the moyo got into trouble. When he was unable to save it, he had to resign. This was another convincing win for Shibano, who incidentally took a lead over Iyama for the first time in a best-of-seven.
The fourth game was held at the Art Hotel Kokura New Tagawa on June 10 and 11. This game also featured aggressive fighting and once again Shibano came out on top, capturing a large group. Iyama (black) resigned after just 124 moves. O Meien 9P, the newspaper commentator, said: “I felt Shibano’s reading was awesome. Iyama can’t often have been outread like this. It was a convincing win for Shibano.” This was the first time Iyama had fallen behind 1-3 in the Honinbo title.
Game Five was the first kadoban (a game that can lose a series) for Iyama.It was played at the Matsumoto Hotel Kagetsu in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, on June 21 and 22. The game started peacefully. In the middle game, a kind of trade took place, with Iyama (white) capturing a group in exchange for letting Shibano put a large white group into ko. The game was dominated by this ko, which went on for 90 moves. In the end, Shibano captured the group, but was forced to let White take a fair bit of profit with his ko threat. Shibano resigned after White 218. Yamashita Keigo, the newspaper commentator, said: “There’s no move that I can clearly label as bad among the Honinbo’s moves.” This convincing win by Iyama changed the flow of the match.
Game Six was played at the Todaya hotel in Toba City, Mie Prefecture, on June 29 and 30. Iyama (B) took a small lead on the first day. In the middle game, the lead became confused, but Iyama was saved by a mistake made by Shibano, who resigned after move 153. Iyama saved his second kadoban and tied the match. He now seemed to have better momentum than the challenger.
The final game was held at the Tokiwa Hotel, Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, on July 6 and 7. Iyama drew white in the nigiri. He convincingly outplayed Shibano and won by resignation after 180 moves. He made an excellent recovery after losing three games in a row by returning the courtesy to his opponent. Having won the title ten years in a row, he matched Cho Chikun’s record. Shibano missed out on his chance to become the youngest tournament Honinbo. First prize is 28 million yen (about $254,500).

4th Wu Qingyuan Cup
The opening rounds of the 4th Wu Qingyuan (Go Seigen) Cup World Women’s Go Tournament were held on the Net on July 18 to 20 with 16 players competing. Of these, three Chinese players and one Korean survived to make the semifinals. For Japanese fans, the highlight of the tournament was Nakamura Sumire’s scoring her first international win. The best performer for Japan was Fujisawa Rina, who picked up two wins. The dates of the semifinals and final have not yet been decided. Below are the results so far.

Round 1 (July 18). Fang 4p (China) (B) beat Stephanie Yin 1p (US) by resig.; Oh Yujin 7p (Korea) (W) beat Natalia Kovaleva 5d (Russia) by resig.; Cho Seunga 3p (Korea) (W) beat Hei Jiajia 7p (Ch. Taipei) by resig.; Li Xinyi 3p (China) (W) beat Manuela Marz 3d (Germany) by resig.; Lu Minquan 6p (China) (B) beat Xie Yimin 6p (Japan) by 1.5; Ueno Asami 4p (Japan) (W) beat Luo Yuhua 3p (Ch. Taipei) by 0.5; Suzuki Ayumi 7p (Japan) (W) beat Feng Yun 9p (US) by resig.; Nakamura Sumire 2p (Japan) (W) beat Kim Jaeyoung 6p (Korea) by 0.5.
Round 2 (July 19). Fujisawa Rina 5p (W) beat Li by 2.5; Yu Zhiying 7p (China) (W) beat Ueno by resig.; Wang Chenxing 5p (China) (W) beat Suzuki by resig.; Zhou Hongyu 6p (China) (W) beat Nakamura by resig.; Choi Jeong 9p (Korea) (W) beat Lu by resig.; Fang (B) beat Rui Naiwei 9p (China) by resig.; Cho (B) beat Tang 4p (China) by 1.5; Oh (W) beat Li He 5p (China) by 2.5.
Quarterfinals (July 20) Yu (W) beat Fujisawa by resig.; Fang (W) beat Cho by resig.; Wang (W) beat Oh by resig.; Choi (B) beat Zhou by resig.
Semifinal pairings (date undecided). Wang v. Yu; Choi v. Fang

Categories: China,Japan,Main Page

Seattle Go Center Seeks New Operations Manager

Sunday August 8, 2021

The Seattle Go Center is looking to hire a part time Operations Manager, who can work 50 hours a month. Their current operations manager, Brian Allen, is planning to retire and concentrate on documentary photography. He started volunteering in 2002, and became General Manager in 2008. In 2018, his manager position was divided into two roles, programs and operations. Kyle Burg is the current Program Manager.

The Operations Manager position includes paying bills, doing payroll, filling out tax forms, doing maintenance, supervising maintenance contracts, and meeting and coordinating with the Board. The Operations Manager should be familiar with the game of go, and passionate about sharing it, but they do not have to be a strong player.

The Seattle Go Center was built in 1995 in the University District, and it has the largest weekly gathering of go players in North America. A new building is being planned for their location, and when it is done, the Seattle Go Center will be on the 2nd floor of a very tall apartment building. The center will move to an interim location during the construction. Because of these changes, the Operations Manager will be organizing for two moves, but they will have less maintenance work to do once the Seattle Go Center leaves its old building.

For additional information about this unique position feel free to contact Board President Bill Chiles. Report by Brian Allen. Photo by Cullen Mott.

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

The Power Report: Wang wins Globis Cup; 6th LG Cup starts; Fujisawa defends Women’s Hollyhock Cup

Sunday August 8, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Wang wins Globis Cup
The 8th Globis Cup World Igo U-20, which decides the world’s top teenaged player, was held on the Net on June 5 and 6. It was won by Wang Xinghao 6p, who defeated his compatriot Tu Xiaoyu 6p in the final. This was the fourth victory for a Chinese player, to three for Korea, and one for Japan (that was Ichiriki Ryo in the first term).
This tournament has a dual structure, starting with four mini-leagues, each with four players, who compete over three rounds. Players who score two wins proceed to the next stage, a standard knock-out; players who lose two games are eliminated (this is known as the “double elimination” system). As the host country, Japan fields six players; they are joined by three each from China and Korea, and one each from Chinese Taipei, Europe, North America, and Asia/Oceania. The time allowance follows the NHK format: 30 seconds per move plus ten minutes to be used in one-minute units.
Three Japanese players, Ueno Asami, Otake Yu, and I Ryo, made the best eight, but here they were eliminated. China also got three in the best eight, of whom two sent through to the final. Park 5p of Korea beat Moon 4p, also of Korea, in the play-off for third place. First prize is 1,500,000 yen (about $136,000). Second is 250,000, and third 100,000.

6th LG Cup starts
The opening rounds of the 26th LG Cup, a Korean-sponsored tournament with a first prize of 300,000,000 won (about $262,000), were held on the Net on May 31 and June 2. Korean players did best, scoring four wins in each round, China
scored three in each, and Chinese Taipei won one game in the first round and Japan one in the second. For Japan, Ichiriki Ryo qualified for the quarterfinals for the third international tournament in a row. He seems to be the only player Japan can rely on. The quarterfinals are scheduled for November 7 and 8. Incidentally, the number of participants was reduced from 32 to 24 this year.

Round 1
(May 31) Weon Seongjin 9p (Korea) (B) beat Kyo Kagen (Xu Jiayuan) 9p (Japan) by resig.; Kim Jiseok 9p (Korea) (B) beat Ida Atsushi 8p (Japan) by resig.; MiYuting 9p (China) (B) beat Lee Changseok 7p (Korea) by resig.; Tao Xinran 8p (China) (W) beat Heo Yongho 9p (Korea) by resig.; Kang Dongyun 9p (Korea) (B) beat Xie Erhao 9p (China) by resig.; Tan Xiao 9p (China) (W) beat Park Jinsol 9p (Korea) by resig.; Kim Myounghoon 8p (Korea) (B) beat Xie Ke 9p (China) by resig.; Chen Chirui 7p (Ch. Taipei) (W) beat Hong Seongji 9p (Korea) by 1.5 points.

Round 2 (June 2). Ichiriki Ryo 9p (Japan) (W) beat Chen by resig.; Mi (B) beat Lee Donghun 9p (Korea) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9p (Korea) (W) beat Tao by 3.5; Shin Minjun 9p (Korea) (B) beat Kang by resig.; Byun Sangil 9p (Korea) (W) beat Kim Myounghoon by 4.5; Park Junghwan 9p (Korea) (W) beat Tan by 1.5; Ke Jie 9p (China) (W) beat Weon by 0.5; Yang Dingxin 9p (China) (W) beat Kim Jiseok by resig.
Quarterfinal pairings are: Byun v. Mi, Park v. Ke, Shin J. v. Ichiriki, Shin M. v. Yang

Fujisawa defends Women’s Hollyhock Cup
The semifinals and finals and the best-of-three title match of the 8th Aizu Central Hospital Women’s Hollyhock Cup were all held at the Konjakutei Inn in Aizu Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, over a period of five days. Ueno
Asami became the challenger, but Fujisawa Rina defended her title with straight wins. She has now held the Hollyhock Cup for five years in a row and six times overall. This is her 18th title.
Results are given below.

Semifinals (June 15). Ueno Asami Women’s Kisei (W) beat Kato Chie 2p by resig.; Nyu Eiko 3p (B) beat Nakamura Sumire 2p by 6.5.
Final (June 16). Ueno (W) beat Nyu by resig.
Title match, Game 1 (June 18). Fujisawa (W) beat Ueno by resig.
Game 2 (June 19). Fujisawa (B) beat Ueno by resig.

Categories: Japan,John Power Report,Main Page

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