The 3rd Virginia State Go Championship final featured a best-of-three series, with Game 1 at the National Go Center in Washington, DC, and Games 2 and 3 in Vienna, VA.
Qingbo ‘Jeff’ Zhang 5d took comeback wins in games 1 and 3 vs Yaming Wang 5d, who used to be a key go organizer in Richmond, VA. Both good at fighting, Zhang and Wang had plenty of ko fights and exchanges, but Zhang was sharp to seize opportunities in the endgame.
Growing up in Luoyang, China, Zhang was a classmate of Shi Yue 9P. He loves reading books of a variety of subjects, including over 100 WeiQi TianDi magazines. He graduated from George Washington University with a Master’s degree. Prior to the pandemic, Zhang was on the top of AGA’s list for both tournaments played and rated games played. Zhang is a passionate go lover who has even taken multiple trips by bus and train to west coast and midwest tournaments.
Despite having lost, Wang always remained calm and reviewed every move after each match, demonstrating sportsmanship: friendship trumps competition.
The VA State Championship utilizes 5 periods of 1 minute byo-yomi to provide ample thinking time to the players, and the three games totaled over 10 hours of deliberation.
CAFA-DC, a financial safety and technology company, sponsored the past three Virginia Open and VA State Championship tournaments. Both prizes are $200 / $70 for the champion/runner-up.
The semifinal was held at Korean American Baduk Association in Annandale, VA on Nov. 6, 2021. Yaming Wang 5d defeated Edward Zhang 5d, and Qingbo Zhang 5d defeated Ruoshi Sun 4d (who defeated Irvin Pajarillo previously to earn the spot). James Lee was the director.
Previous VA State Championship winners:
1st (2019): Joshua Lee, Qingbo Zhang (runner-up),
2nd (2020): Edward Zhang, Qingbo Zhang (runner-up).
– Story and photo by Edward Zhang
