American Go E-Journal » Redmond Reviews

Tune in to the AGA’s YouTube Channel at 6p EST today when Redmond’s Reviews Episode 18 with Chris Garlock and Michael Redmond 9p is released.

In this episode, Michael reviews his Oza tournament game with Ri Ishu 8P from Taiwan. This game, played in Tokyo, came after Redmond’s win against Otake, and was the final game in the Oza B section. “Ri Ishu is a very strong young player,” says Redmond. This game features some modern, post-AI joseki, “and then a fairly dangerous fight develops near the end of the game, so the game actually resembles AG-AG 35”

The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries in the weeks ahead on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.

Video produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy, Chris Garlock and Andrew Jackson.

Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return to the AGA’s Twitch channel this Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7p EDT with two brand-new live game commentaries. Both will be on games by Redmond in the Judan B elimination tournament last year, one against Shiraishi Yuichi, the other against Kudo Norio, who won the Oza in 1977 and the Tengen in 1997. “Lots of fighting and dead groups,” says Redmond. “The high point of the game against Kudo was that I calculated a difficult endgame to win by half a point and got it right.”

“Love these commentaries,” says viewer Frank van Will about the latest Redmond Review (Redmond’s Reviews, Episode 17: Michael Redmond 9P vs. Takao Shinji 9P). “The analysis of the lower right corner joseki was fascinating,” added hippophile. “You could have gone on for an hour and I would have been happy!”

Tune in to the AGA’s YouTube Channel at 6p EST today when Redmond’s Reviews Episode 17 with Chris Garlock and Michael Redmond 9p is released.

In this 93-minute episode, Michael reviews his Meijin tournament game with Takao Shinji 9P, which he calls his “best game of the year,” or as he also puts it, “my one half-decent game.” Most of the time, Redmond adds, “I seem to have the right idea” in this game, which features a lot of fighting. Takao held the Meijin title three years ago, dropped out of the league the next year, and the following year made the league’s final section. “He’s still at the top of the tournament scene in many ways,” Redmond says, noting that Takao is in the highest league of the Kisei tournament. A prodigy from an early age, Takao “played a thick, influence-oriented style, until he was confronted by Cho U,” whose territory-oriented style “inspired Takao to adapt his style and he does more fighting nowadays.” Chris and Michael also chat about what they were up to during their break from producing video commentaries, along with an update on their AlphaGo book-in-progress.

The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries — some AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo and some of Redmond’s games — on January 23 and 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.

Video produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy, Chris Garlock and Andrew Jackson.

Tune in the AGA’s Twitch channel tonight at 7p EST for a livestream game commentary by Michael Redmond 9P with Chris Garlock. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams. “Hope this series never ends!” said psyopus syzygy. “Learn so much from Michael. Thank youuuuu!!”

Grab an extra-large bucket of popcorn and tune in to the AGA’s YouTube Channel at 6p today when Redmond’s Reviews Episode 16, with Chris Garlock and Michael Redmond 9p is released.

In this 90-minute episode, Michael reviews his game with Otake Hideo 9P. This game was played in August 2019, just a week after the RR #15 game against Ishida Yoshio that started Redmond’s winning streak. The game was in a different tournament than the Ishida game — this one is from the Oza — but Redmond once again has white, plays the star points and the opening is similar to the game against Ishida. Things take a few different turns in this game, and Redmond provides a detailed and entertaining commentary.
In his prime, Otake held a number of titles, including the Meijin. “He said he didn’t like to get too busy,” so Otake never held multiple titles, Redmond says. Otake plays “a very natural style and tends to play for thickness, but he can play any kind of game.”

“Great to see one of Michael’s games, and congratulations on the nailbiting win!” commented Rory Mitchell on RR #15. “Interesting background on how computer analyses are being used by pros and amateurs alike nowadays.” Quang Nguyen said that “I subscribed to this channel for Redmond’s brilliant analyzing, seeing him analyzing himself makes me understand better how to make more of my games and how to improve.” Tolux303 added “Early Christmas with this many Redmond vids!”

Video produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy, Chris Garlock and Andrew Jackson.

The latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary — Game 33 — from Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock. The popular series resumed last week after a 6-month hiatus. “This time we’re going to be seeing some slightly unusual josekis,” says Redmond, “including some of the fighting follow-ups to the 3-3 invasion. And, unlike the crash we saw in #32, this is another of those long, close games.”

NOTE: The EJ plans to livestream from the First Southeast Asia GO Congress, which runs December 15-22 in Singapore. Be sure to follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.