American Go E-Journal

THIS JUST IN (5/7, 7:51p): Live from Beijing, Kuo Yin 3P will provide game commentary for the SPOT1 games begining at 1P Saturday. Runner-up at the 2008 US Open, Kuo only lost to Kim; Kuo holds a BA from Fudan University, and won the China Ing Cup University Championship in 2006.
It’s perhaps no coincidence that the Final Four players in the Strong Players Online Tournament I (SPOT1) are all students. Leading contender MyungWan Kim 9P – a two-time U.S. Open champion — studies accounting at UCLA and besides school he focuses on sharpening his go skills.  “I  really enjoy teaching go,” Kim tells the E-Journal, and, with his summer break starting soon, “I can also teach outside of L.A. , especially before the US Congress.” Kim likes to teach principles instead of techniques, because one can self-study techniques. “The principles I teach apply to both high-kyu and dan players.” About the final four games ahead Kim said “I am studying Lee Se-dol’s games these days, and and I feel I am getting back my strength.” Kim’s semi-final opponent is Michael Chen 7D, 2006 NAIM champion and 2009 US Open runner-up. Chen is a junior at Princeton University, with an emphasis in finance, who’s hoping to get some experience in an investment bank before entering his senior year this fall. Chen has improved his game rapidly during the last few years while maintaining an excellent GPA at Princeton, providing a great example to youth players that one can play go well and do well in school at the same time. The other semi-final match-up is between Jianing Gan 6D and Eric Lui 7D. Just 13 years old, Gan is a bit shy in face-to-face play, and plays much better online. The only Canadian in the Final 4, Gan says that “I am so lucky that I have the opportunity to challenge the top players of North America. I will take each game seriously.” Lui 7D attends the University of Maryland, and has represented United States internationally for the last four years: World Amateur Go Championship (2009), World Student Oza (2008), International Amateur Pair Go Championship (2007) and Korea Prime Minister’s Cup (2006). SPOT1 is sponsored by American Go Association. The Strong Players Online Tournament I resumes this Saturday, May 8 at 1p EST on KGS.
– Reported by Tournament Director Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang