Organizers of this year’s U.S. Go Congress are searching for a Registrar. Registrars receive a full comp to the event, which runs July 8-16 in Kent, Ohio. “The ideal candidate would be a veteran of at least one Congress, and comfortable with using spreadsheets and web apps such as ClubExpress,” says Congress Director Steve Zilber. The Registrar’s job begins as soon as registration is launched and continues until a few weeks after the Congress ends. If interested – and for more details on what’s involved – email Zilber at steve.zilber@gocongress.org
The San Francisco Go Club hosted a 3-round tournament on Saturday, February 25th, in memory of longtime club member Guy Moreau. The tournament was held in the SF Go Club’s dojo in San Francisco’s Japantown, with all games being played on new go sets imported from Japan. Lunch was provided by Andersen Bakery.
“The tournament was spirited and lively with participants and supporters filling the dojo to capacity,” reports San Francisco Go Club President Matthew Barcus. In Division 1, Chao Xie was the first-place winner, with Weiming Guo in second and Amy Guo in third. In Division 2, Max (Zeyuan) Zhang took first place, with Ricky Dira taking second and Yiran Shu in third. In Division 3, Andrew Shi was the first-place winner, Igor Pisarev came in second, and Benjamin Lam in third. Prizes included certificates and cash for the first-place winners of each division.
“The tournament was a great success and a fitting tribute to Guy Moreau,” says Barcus. “The San Francisco Go Club would like to thank all participants and supporters who made the tournament a vibrant and memorable event.”
The Austin Go Club will be holding a Spring Fling Go Tournament on April 22nd/23rd in Austin, TX. The tournament will consist of 5 rounds held over two days. There will be both Open and Handicap sections. Registration is open now at GoClubs.org.
Please contact co-tournament directors Gilbert Garza and/or Bart Jacob for more information.
The venue will be near downtown with easy access to Lady Bird Lake and its popular hike and bike trail. “We hope to see you in Austin for a fun weekend of go!” says Jacob.
Sign-up is now open for the second season of the North American Online League (NAOL). NAOL is an online league funded by the North American Go Federation in collaboration with the American, Canadian, and Mexican go associations. It is intended to be a primary driver of an online rating connected to your go association ID.
Click here to sign up for the League; sign ups end March 14th, and pairings will be posted March 15th. Anyone with an active American, Canadian, or Mexican go association member is eligible to play in the NAOL, and you do not have to live in one of these countries to be a member of their go associations.
The league runs for five weeks. On March 15th, participants will have their pairings for all five weeks, and can choose to play them at the recommended start time or contact opponents to reschedule. Tuesday night 8pm Eastern time is the standard scheduled time to play. The MGA hosts a Zoom meeting during Tuesday nights, so you can reach out to the other players of the league. Wednesday night 6:00 pm – 10:45 pm eastern, a certain number of games, played on time, will be reviewed. Games will be played on OGS with a 45 min byo-yomi 3 x 30 second timer, no handicap, AGA rules.
Registration for the 2023 Chicago Open on May 27-28 in Evanston, Illinois, has started, with eight out-of-state players already registered, including five high-dan players. See the Who’s Coming List to view the current registrants. Co-organizers Cheuk To Tsui and Albert Yen expect a high turnout.
“The Chicago tournaments have seen steady growth, and we hope to see this trend continue,” Tsui said. “Our goal is to make the 2023 Chicago Open a mainstay event on the calendar.”
Register before May 6 to seize the early bird discounts, customized name tags, and limited Evanston Holiday Inn discounts. Groups are encouraged to register together for both days of the tournament to be eligible for the club discounts: Groups of 5-6: $3 off per person; Groups of 7-8: $5 off per person; Groups of 9+: $7 off per person.
New updates have been made to the registration form to support travelers. Firstly, the Chicago Open now offers an optional $10 breakfast plan for Saturday on top of the pre-existing lunch plans and Saturday dinner. Secondly, registrants may indicate on the registration form if they need help finding a roommate or carpool to have their contact added to the public Open Room/Carpool Spreadsheet. The registrants are responsible for contacting others on the spreadsheet to arrange room sharing and carpooling. Feel free to send questions or concerns to Evanston Go Club President Mark Rubenstein at mark@evanstongoclub.org.
Lastly, the Chicago Open organization team welcomes AGHS website manager Jamie Tang, who is grateful for the support of the co-organizers. “We’re very excited that Jamie has joined the Chicago Open organization team,” Yen said. “She has been invaluable in heading our outreach efforts, being responsible for everything from E-Journal reports to club contact.”
Championship Division 1st-6th places (left to right)
The New York Institute of Go’s new Manhattan location celebrated its grand opening the weekend of February 24-26 with over 100 players from around the country. To mark the occasion, Will Lockhart, director of the Surrounding Game documentary, donated a treasured ING board to the center. Players were also treated to some passionate Hikaru No Go karaoke, sung by Edward Zhang in honor of the many years of Japanese support for the community.
Saturday night’s activities consisted of Crazy Go, hosted of course by Terry Benson, half a dozen tables of PairGo organized by Devin Fraze, and lots of drinks and snacks. In addition, they celebrated four youth birthdays with song and cake.
The tournament featured 44 youth players, with awards being split by youth and adults into a total of 10 award sections. The top three youth players in each section were awarded trophies with places 4-6 receiving a certificate. Adults in each section were awarded $100, $75, and $50 in order of place, with the top division earning far more.
Championship Division 1st-6th places (left to right in the above photo):
Ninghan Duan (FL)
Michael Chen (PA)
Tianhao Li (NJ)
Xiaodi Huang (MA)
Haoran Wang (NY State Champion)
Alan Huang (NY)
Apparently the final Board 1 game was decided by half a point. Duan’s endgame skill got him a comeback and $1,200 prize, making it perhaps is the most expensive point in 2023 even in Manhattan’s standard.
reported by Devin Fraze; click here to see more photos.
The Gotham Go Group of New York City has teamed up with the New York University Game Center to host the next Gotham Go Tournament on Saturday, April 1. The tournament will be held in NYU’s Brooklyn location. “A relationship between the Gotham Go Group and the NYU Game Center is a natural fit” says local organizer Peter Armenia, who only recently discovered the center’s existence. Frank Lantz, an expert on games, is one of the center’s founders and is a go player himself; you may have seen him interviewed in The Surrounding Game movie.
The first Gotham Go Tournament was held 10 years ago in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This year’s tournament, known for the large strong field of players, tasty treats, generous and unique prizes, is expected to be the largest yet.
The tournament will be held on Saturday, April 1st at the NYU Game Center, 370 Jay Street in downtown Brooklyn.
“We are back!” says longtime Maryland Open organizer Keith Arnold. The 47th Maryland Open will take place Memorial Day Weekend, May 27 and May 28 at the same great location in Catonsville. “Details and Registration coming soon!” Arnold promises.
The North American Go Federation (NAGF) will hold the 2023 Pro Qualification Tournament at the San Francisco Go Club at 22 Peace Plaza #501, San Francisco, California from August 6 to 11, 2023.
The NAGF will certify one player from this tournament as a new professional player. For more information on the tournament, including eligibility requirements, please click here. Details of the competition rules and the selected contestants will be announced in May.
Any player who is eligible and interested in participating in the tournament must submit the application form by the end of April 16, 2023 to be considered for entrance.
For questions regarding this tournament, please contact the NAGF at contact@nagofed.org.
Edward Zhang 6D (left) plays Samuel Lee 7D (right) for 1st place (front), James Park 6D (left) plays Yaming Wang 5D (right) for 3rd place (back)
Samuel Lee 7D
In a two-day, double-elimination tournament, Samuel Lee 7D defeated Edward Zhang 6D at the Seoul Kiwon Baduk club in Annandale, Virginia to become the 2022 Virginia State Champion. “Lee is a longtime player with over 50 years of experience,” Zhang said. “His sharp reading and amiable personality speak to the positive health benefits of go as a mind-sport hobby.” James Park 6D was third place and Yaming Wang 5D took fourth place. Other 2022 Virginian champions include Richard Duan, who claimed the 2022 Virginia Youth Champion title, and Mei Cai, who improved from a slow start in the 2022 Virginia Open to a 5W-4L record in in-person tournaments to become the 2022 Virginia Women’s Champion.
Since 2019, the Virginia Open has served as the preliminary round for the Virginia State Championships. In the 11th Virginia Open held in 2022, Hongkui Zheng 7D took first place while Thailand champion Karuehawanit Wichrich 8D came in second, and Xiaodi Huang 8D took third. The winners’ prize pool, partially sponsored by Virginia-based company CAFA-DC, totaled $660 and was awarded to winners across different divisions. The tournament also featured talented international players, such as Wichrich and Thailand youth star Pongsakarn Somarra, who finished sixth place with a 3W-3L record despite a twelve-hour time zone difference. The full winners’ list is available here. Shortly after the Virginia Open, Yoonyoung Kim 8P reviewed games per players’ request. The class was free for all players thanks to the AGA’s Chapter Reward program.
The Virginia Open and the Virginia State Champions were directed by by Devin Fraze and Edward Zhang with the help of Jeff Zhang and Jeremiah Donley from Ohio’s BadukHouse, and Garret Smith from the NOVA Go Club.
Listed below are a few featured games from the Virginia Open:
