American Go E-Journal » 2022 » October

By Claudio Mendoza and David Richter for the Kalamazoo Go Club

The Vicksburg Go Tournament took place at the Community Center in Vicksburg, Michigan, on Saturday October 1st, 2022. This event was organized by the Kalamazoo Go Club and the Vicksburg Cultural and Arts Center as part of the “Destination Japan” program to celebrate Japanese culture. The contribution by Daniel ML (West Michigan Go Club) of boards, stones, clocks, name lists, and recommendations was instrumental in getting our act together and is gratefully acknowledged. 

Thirty players from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio registered in three categories under a self-pairing format: dan (9), single digit kyu (8), and double digit kyu (12) with seven rookies in the latter. Prizes were sponsored by the Kalamazoo Go Club, GoMagic, Al Sensei, and Yellow Mountain Imports. Results were as follows. Dan level: Meng Wang (1st); Stephanie Tan (2nd); Justin Johnson (3rd). Single digit kyu: David Fang and Jamie Tang (tied for 1st); Winston Yan (3rd). Double digit kyu: Jaden Pan (1st); Noah Braasch (2nd); Sam Blyveis (3rd). Beginners: Carolyn Esther and Renée Szostek. 

For the Kalamazoo Go Club the organization of this tournament was a worthy experience inasmuch as its involvement in local collaborations, inter-club relations, fund raising, and gender equality. The positive outcome of the event is encouraging us to repeat it next year with a more enticing prize structure.

Winners of the Vicksburg Go Tournament (l-r): Renée Szostek; Jaden Pan; Noah Braasch; Sam Blyveis; Winston Yan; Meng Wang; David Fang; Jamie Tang; Carolyn Esther; Stephanie Tan; David Richter (TD and co-organizer); Claudio Mendoza (co-organizer). Photo: Natalya Critchley.

More than 50 players turned out for two go tournaments hosted by the San Diego Go Club on Sunday, September 25: the 2022 U16 Girls and U16 Boys California State Go Championship and the San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament.

Abigail Wanyu Chen was the U16 Girls California State champion, while Chunwei Shi won the U16 Boys California State Go Championship. The event was a handicap only competition with players from all over Southern California competing. As has become a San Diego Go Club tradition, a trophy was awarded to the youngest player, five year old Michelle Lin 25k. With the surge of new and renewing AGA members at the tournaments, reports club president Ted Terpstra, the San Diego Go Club now has 100 AGA members, and will most likely break the 100 AGA-member mark when registration opens on October 1 for the 2022 King Cup – California Go Championship over the Thanksgiving weekend. In 2021, 70-players took part in the King Cup  go tournaments over the Thanksgiving weekend.

2022 U16 handicap tournament report:
U16 Boys: 1 Chunwei Shi 1d (4-0); 2 Kevin Huang 6d; 3 Andy Shunwei Zhou 1d.
U16 Girls: 1 Abigail Wanyu Chen 5k; 2 Angel Shunying Zhou 2k; 3 Zoe Tan 5k.
In the Third Section: 1 Skye Haotian Chen 7k; 2 Fei-Lian Zhang 8k; 3 Jeremy Li.

The second competition of the day was the San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament. Intended to be a fun tournament, with no prizes, no trophies, and no titles, 26 players showed up, including a very strong Open section, with one 7-dan and four 6-dans.

Xingang Huang 2d and Arunas Rudvalis 6k were the only undefeated players in the handicap section. All players and spectators were treated to free pizza for lunch.

San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament report:
Open Section: 1) Shang Zhou  7.0d; 2) Aiyang Lu 6.8d; 3) Moxuan Liu 6.0d
Handicap Sections:
First Division: 1. Xingang Huang 2.4d; 2. Qi Xia 2.0d; 3. Henry You 4.1d    
Second Division: 1. Lester C Lanphear 2.0k; 2. Paul Margetts 2.8k; 3. Aaron Demby Jones  4.3k
Third Division: 1.  Arunas Rudvalis 6.0k; 2. George G Spellman Jr  11.0k; 3. Edric Chan 18.0k                                                     
Reporting by Ted Terpstra; photos by Enrique Garcia and Henry You.