In August of 2021 the Grande Ronde Go Club in Oregon took a trip to the Alvord Desert in Southern Oregon, a vast, dry lake bed, to get away from the hustle and bustle and play some go, reports Ty Bowen.
American Go E-Journal » 2022 » December
The Traveling Board: Oregon’s Alvord Desert
Saturday December 31, 2022
Registration Open for 2023 AGHS Pair Go Tournament
Wednesday December 28, 2022
“We are excited to announce the return of the Pair-Go event, our biggest event!” says AGHS President Jenny Li, “Players across the globe of all ages and gender are allowed to participate, and there will be no restrictions on who you can partner up with. The tournament will be held on Sunday, January 15th, 2023 and will consist of 2 rounds held at 1pm and 4pm PST on KGS. The registration deadline is Saturday, January 7th, 2023 at 11:59 PST.”
If you already have a partner, please register using this form.
If you are looking for a partner, please register using this form.
Players will be paired up based on rank. Only one person needs to fill out the registration form for each pair. Please email Aghsregister@gmail.com if your registration status changes (e.g. found a partner or need a partner).
For more information on rules and regulations, please read this document:
Kevin Yang wins 2022 China – North America Youth New Pro Tournament
Friday December 23, 2022
Kevin Yang 1P won the 2022 China – North America Youth New Pro Tournament by defeating Alexander Qi 1P in the final round. The 2022 China – North America Youth New Pro Tournament was hosted and organized by the Chinese Weiqi Association as part of the 2022 Youth Weiqi Forum.
A total of four professional players under the age of 16 were invited to the tournament – Kevin Yang and Alexander Qi from North America, and Haozhe Yang 1P and Youjia Deng 1P from China. The players competed in a single-elimination tournament over five days between December 11 and 15, 2022. The matches were played online on Yike Go Server, with an online proctoring system.
Final results:
Winner: Kevin Yang 1P
Runner-up: Alexander Qi 1P
3rd place: Haozhe Yang 1P
4th place: Youjia Deng 1P
North American Online League to launch beta season in January
Friday December 23, 2022
Under the banner of the North American Go Federation (NAGF) a new online league is launching in January. North American Online League (NAOL) playwill be a benefit open to American and Canadian members of the AGA or CGA. The league is built upon the successful models that have been run by the Massachusetts Go Association (MGA) and the CGA. “We are thrilled to offer a new venue for passionate go players of the AGA and CGA to play competitive games without traveling,” says NAGF Executive Director Hajin Lee.
The NAOL will run two-month seasons with five weekly games in each season played in round-robin groups of six. Milan Mladenovic, who currently runs the MGA league, will be the Director of the NAOL. Games will be played on OGS and integrated with the AGA and CGA membership systems through Leago, a league management software system developed under a grant from the Iwamoto North American Foundation (INAF). “The NAOL coming into existence is sure to be the start of a great year for the go community,” says Akita Noek of OGS. “The OGS team is proud to be part of it and look forward to the many seasons to come!”
“We are very happy with the partnership and support received from OGS and Leago to make this happen” says AGA President Gurujeet Khalsa. “It will also allow us to give our members an online rating to parallel the one from face-to-face games.” CGA President James Sedgwick adds that “We’re very pleased to be joining our American friends to create a joint league with a larger player base, modernized playing infrastructure, and important additions like commentaries from high level players”.
The initial January-February season will be a beta version while testing and refining the software interfaces. It will be limited to 96 players with priority given to current CGA and MGA league members. To join the wait list to be added to the initial season, send an email to naol@usgo.org with your name, location and either AGA or CGA membership ID. The March-April season will be open to all current members.
Lambert Li wins 2023 World Student Go Championship Qualification Tournament
Thursday December 22, 2022
Eight students competed last weekend for a chance to travel to Japan in February to represent North America in the 21st World Student Go Championship.
“The final game between Jiehui Kwa and Lambert Li was incredibly close,” says Joel Kenny. “Neither player was ever more than a couple points ahead of the other during the entire game. Eventually, Li managed to win by 3.5 points and win the qualification tournament.”
The final game can be viewed here.
“Thank you to all the players who competed in the tournament this weekend, and best of luck to Li in Japan!” says Kenny.
Just a few days remain to register for the Pandanet AGA City League for 2023
Wednesday December 21, 2022
Registration ends Friday December 23rd. Make sure all of your team is signed up and has a current AGA or CGA membership. Read through the rules on the Pandanet League site to learn of the new qualifications. Send the registration link to your team to have them sign up. If there are any questions contact the TD for more information.
INAF announces two new lectures on YouTube
Monday December 19, 2022
Two lectures by Yanagisawa Satoshi 6p, sponsored by the Iwamoto North American Foundation and Nihon Kiin, are now available on Youtube. The first, “Ko Threat for Dan players”, discusses how to make ko threats bigger before using them. The second, on “AI joseki“, discusses a popular AI joseki frequently seen in modern games.
2023 South Central Go Tournament (in person) scheduled for Presidents’ Day weekend in Dallas
Monday December 19, 2022
The 2023 South Central Go Tournament will be held February 18 and 19, 2023 in person in the Dallas area. This will be the 8th annual running of this tournament. (The 2021 and 2022 tournaments were held online because of the pandemic.) There will be an Open Section and a Handicap Section, with three rounds on Saturday and two on Sunday. The Texas resident placing best in the Open Section will become the Texas State Champion. Registration for the tournament is open now at GoClubs.org. All AGA members wishing to participate are welcome.
50 years aGO – December 1972
Sunday December 18, 2022
By Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister
The month began with the 4th Bled International Go Masters event in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) on December 1-3. The undefeated winner was a Japanese visitor, a Mr. Takahashi. Second was Mr. Merrissert of France on five wins.
On December 20, challenger Honda Sachiko 4d defeated Kitani Reiko 6d to take a one game lead in the Ladies’ Hon’inbo title. (Game record available here.)
Sakata Eio continues his domination of the smaller titles with a victory over Hashimoto Utarō in the Ōza title on December 14, winning the 3 game series 2-1. (Game record available here.)
Ōhira Shūzō 9d (author of the Ishi Press Classic Appreciating Famous Games) defeated Yamabe Toshirō 9d for the right to challenge Sakata in the Nihon Ki’in Championship. The first game was held on December 20-21. Sakata won by resignation. (Game record available here.)
Photos courtesy of Go Review, game records from SmartGoOne.
Just over a week remains to register for this years Pandanet City League
Saturday December 17, 2022
Registration ends Friday December 23rd. Time is running out to register your team. The TD should be reaching out this week to some teams if there are issues. League announcements will not be announced until after registration is completed. Read through the rules on the Pandanet League site to learn of the new qualifications. Send the registration link to your team to have them sign up. If there are any questions contact the TD for more information.