American Go E-Journal » U.S. Pro Tournament

The field in the TygemGo Online Pro Prelim has been narrowed down to the final 21 players, six of whom are Canadians. The tournament’s last round will be this weekend, with the last seven players qualifying to go to North Carolina in late July for the ‘face to face’ final rounds with the other nine finalists. The top two winners in North Carolina will be the first American-certified pros. Myung-wan Kim 9P will provide live commentary on Tygem on Saturday and Sunday starting at 12:30p EST at Korea1 server. “I think observers will see very interesting games in this final round since the competition is getting tougher,” Kim tells the E-Journal. “I really enjoy the interactive live commentary with observers. If you come to my commentary, be sure to vote for the next move. It’s not only fun but also the better way to learn from my commentary. And of course, questions are always welcome.”

The final 21 players:
U.S.: Matthew Burrall, Wei Chen, Daniel Chou, Bert Hallonquist, Kevin Hong, Dae Kim, Sooil Kim, Ben Lockhart, Andrew Lu, Eric Lui, Daniel Puzan, Cherry Shen, Justin Teng, Aaron Ye, , Vincent Zhuang.
Canada: Will Gan, Juyong Ko, Bill Lin, David Lu, Jing Yang, Oliver Wolf.

Myung-wan Kim 9P (r) will provide live video and audio commentary Saturday on the AGA-Tygem Pro Online Prelim game between ‘regular456’ 9-dan and ‘CptJack’ 5-dan.The live commentary will be in Tygem’s World room starting at 12:30P (EST). “The live commentary feature is one of the favorite things Korean go players love in Tygemgo and I think US go players will also enjoy it,” Myung-wan Kim tells the E-Journal. “Regular456 seems to be much stronger than CptJack but observers will still enjoy the game, especially as regular456 is a somewhat famous and serious go player in the US who wants to be a pro.”
photo: Myung-wan Kim doing online game  commentary at the 2012 Cotsen AGA-Tygem Go Pro Prelim; photo by Chris Garlock

If you didn’t sign up by Sunday’s deadline for the AGA-TygemGo Online Pro Prelim, there’s still time to participate in this historic tournament, joining over 100 who have already signed up. The registration deadline has been extended until midnight (EST) on Tuesday, June 5. “I’m playing in the AGA-Tygem tournament so that I can say, ‘I tried to become a US Go professional'” says Devin Flake 11k, a Systems Administrator in Orem, UT. Monsoon Shrestha 18k, a student in Elmhurst, NY, signed up “To be part of history,” while Peter Freedman 2D, a retiree in Portland, OR, wants to “Support the new ground-breaking American pro system.” Sign up and click here to let us know why you’re playing. “This tournament is meant to include as many players as possible, regardless of rank,” says AGA chair Andy Okun. “Though it’s just a dream for most of us, contending for pro will be a moment of pride for all of us,” he added. Every player who participates will receive a high-quality enamel “Go for Pro” pin. The tournament will be played on Saturdays and Sundays starting June 9. The online tournament gives both WMSG and NMT points. For further details, click here or email Okun at sponsorship@usgo.org or TD Yixian Zhou at missbear@gmail.com.

Maryland Open/AGA-Tygem Prelim, May 26-27
Catonsville, Maryland
68 players; Sam Zimmerman, TD
2012 Maryland Open at a Glance: Report/Game Index

Open Section: 1st: Zhi Yuan (Andy) Liu 7D; 2nd: Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 7D; 3rd: Yixian Zhou 6D; 4th: Jie Li 7D; 5th: Kevin Huang 7D; 6th: Xie Rui 7D; 7th: Philip Waldron 6D; 8th: Eric Lui 7D; 9th: Yuan Zhou 7D; 10th: Lu Lin 7D

A Section: 1st: Jimmy Yang 5D; 2nd: Craig Nelson 3D; 3rd: Andrew Jackson 4D; 4th: Mathew Hershberger 3D
B Section: 1st: Justin Ching 2D; 2nd: Keiju Takehara 2D; 3rd: Willis Huang 1D
C Section: 1st: Adam Jacoby 1k (Kyu Champion); 2nd: Lisa Scott 1k
D Section: 1st: Arnold Eudell 4k; 2nd: Steve Colburn 5k
E Section: 1st: Gurujeet Khalsa 7k; 2nd: William Xu 6k
F Section: 1st: Philip Dreher 11k (undefeated); 2nd: Zongli Huang 11k
G Section: 1st: Frederick “The Vicious” Bao, aka The Smiling Assassin, aka The Toothless One; age 5 and a half (undefeated); 2nd: Claudia Hendrick 18k
Greg Lefler Award: NOVA Go Club
– reported by Keith Arnold; photos by Chris Garlock (top) and Phil Straus (bottom)

Maryland Open Champion Andy Liu 7D (hjekshdf 9D) will play Cotsen Open Champion Calvin Sun 7D (4ebz728 9D) in an East-West Coast Championship Exhibition Match on the Tygem server this Saturday, June 2 at 4P (EST), with live commentary by Myung-wan Kim 9P. This event is part of the 1st AGA-TygemGo Online Pro Prelim event series and will take place in the Tygem Competition Room.
photo: Liu (right) & Sun (left); photos/photo collage by Chris Garlock

Myungwan Kim 9P (right) will be doing live game commentary on top games at the TygemGo Online Pro Prelim, which begins June 2 on the Tygem go server. Games will be played at 12:30p (EST) throughout the month of June. “Remember, everyone can play in this online prelim,” said President Allan Abramson. “Plus, you’ll get a button commemorating your participation!”  Click here to register. Live commentary on Tygem includes audio and video feed and is one of the features of the Korea-based go server. “They started the company with live commentaries and it still is a very popular feature with Korean go players,” Kim tells the E-Journal. The schedule: Lower round: 2 rounds of single elimination on June 2nd and 3^rd; Middle round: 3 rounds of double elimination on June 9th,10th and 16^th; Upper round: 3 round of double elimination on June 17th, 23th and 24th. Final head to head: June 30th. photo: Myung-wan Kim commenting a game at the recent Cotsen Open; photo by Chris Garlock

The 39th Maryland Open and AGA-Tygem Go Pro Prelim was played May 26-27 in Catonsville, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, organized by the Baltimore Go Club, and sponsored by the American Go Association, Tygem, Yellow Mountain Imports and the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks.

Organized by Keith Arnold, Sam Zimmerman was TD. Top-board games broadcast on KGS by the American Go E-Journal; Chris Garlock, Todd Heidenreich and John Pinkerton, game recorders. Photos: Maryland Open winner Andy Liu (left); 2nd-place winner ZhaoNian Chen (right); organizer Keith Arnold (in cap, middle right); young player (bottom right); photos by John Pinkerton 

Reports:
Andy Liu Sweeps Maryland Open, Qualifies for Tygem Pro Tourney
Maryland Open Kicks Off Saturday
Maryland Open Field “Shaping Up Nicely”
Maryland Open Next Stop in TYGEMGO Pro Prelim Series

Game Records (winner in bold; left-click to download and view in an sgf viewer; no crosstab currently available)
Round 1 (5/26)
Board 1: Lin Lu-Jie Li
Board 2: Andy Liu-I-Han Lui
Board 3: Yuan Zhou-Eric Lui

Round 2 (5/26)
Board 1: ZhaoNian Chen-Jie Li
Board 2: Kevin Huang-Andy Liu
Board 3: Lin Lu-Eric Lui

Round 3 (5/26)
Board 1: Andy Liu-ZhaoNian Chen
Board 2: Eric Lui-Jie Li

Round 4 (5/27)
Board 1: Rui Xie-Andy Liu
Board 2: Jie Li-Kevin Huang
Board 3: Eric Lui-ZhaoNian Chen

Round 5 (5/27)
Board 1: Jie Li-Andy Liu
Board 2: ZhaoNian Chen-Rui Xie

Andy Liu 7D convincingly defeated Jie Li 7D in the last round to complete his sweep of the 39th Maryland Open and AGA Tygem Pro Prelim, winning all five games at the May 26-27 event in Baltimore, MD.  ZhaoNian Chen 7D was second and Yixian Zhou 6D was third. Liu’s win qualifies him to compete in the AGA Tygem Pro tournament this August in Black Mountain, NC. Other qualifiers thus far include Edward Kim (Seattle) and Calvin Sun and Curtis Tang (Cotsen). Two more will qualify in the AGA TygemGo Online Pro Qualifier, which starts in early June.

Round 5 top results: Andy Liu d. Jie Li; ZhaoNian Chen d. Rui Xie; Kevin Huang d. Eric Lui; Yixian Zhou d. Yuan Zhou; Lin Lu d. Daniel Chou; Phil Waldron d. Jimmy Yang; I-Han Lui d.  Rongrong Zhang; Kevin Wang d. Justin Teng; Andrew Jackson d. Zhenying Gu.

Round 4 top results: Andy Liu d. Rui Xie; Jie Li d. Kevin Huang; ZhaoNian Chen d. Eric Lui; Yuan Zhou d. Lin Lu; Yixian Zhou d. Phil Waldron; Daniel Chou d. I-Han Lui; Jimmy Yang d. Andrew Jackson; Rongrong Zhang d. Justin Teng; Zhenying Gu d. Kevin Wang.

Round 3 top results: Andy Liu d. ZhaoNian Chen; Jie Li d. Eric Lui; Kevin Huang d. Yuan Zhou; Rui Xie d. Yixian Zhou d. Daniel Chou; Phil Waldron d. Edward Zhang; Jimmy Yang d. Kevin Wang.

Round 2 top results: ZhaoNian Chen d. Jie Li; Andy Liu d. Kevin Huang; Eric Lui d. Lin Lu; Rui Xie d. I-Han Lui; Yuan Zhou d. Daniel Chou; Dae Yol Kim d. Edward Zhang; Yixian Zhou d. Kevin Wang; Phil Wadron d. Zhenying Gu.

Round 1 top results: Jie Li d. Lin Lu; Andy Liu d. I-Han Lui; Eric Lui d. Yuan Zhou; ZhaoNian Chen d. Dae Yol Kim; Rui Xie d. Jie Liang; Kevin Huang d. Yixian Zhou; Daniel Chao d. Philip Waldron.

The tournament was played in Catonsville, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, and was organized by the Baltimore Go Club, and sponsored by the American Go Association, Tygem, Yellow Mountain Imports and the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks.
photos: top left: Andy Liu (r) plays Rui Xie in Round 4; middle right: Andy Liu (r) plays ZhaoNian Chen on Board 1 in Round 3; bottom left: Zhaonian Chen (r) plays Jie Li on Board 1; photos by Chris Garlock 

Registration runs from 9-10:30a at the 39th annual Maryland Open Saturday morning, with the first round scheduled for 11a. “Pre-registered or not, all are welcome!” says organizer Keith Arnold. The tournament in Catonsville, MD (just outside Baltimore), is also an AGA-Tygem Pro Prelim event for the AGA-Tygem Pro Final in North Carolina, which will be from July 28th to August 4th. The only other prelim is the AGA-Tygem Pro Online Prelim, also open to all, but sign up by Sunday, May 27. Top contenders this year include Yuan Zhou (who recently competed in the World Amateur Go Championships in China), Eric Lui, and Lin Lu; sources tell the EJ that Andy Liu and Michael Chen will be competing as well, so look for some exciting games on the top boards. The 2-day, 5-round tournament offers prizes at all levels, and top boards will be broadcast live on KGS by the E-Journal, starting around 11a (EST) Saturday.

With pre-registrations already running ahead of last year’s – 47 as of Wednesday night – “the field is shaping up quite nicely” at the Maryland Open and AGA-Tygem Pro Prelim this weekend, reports organizer Keith Arnold. In addition the expected turnout of top amateurs, the low- and mid-dan ranks are well-represented, as are kyu players of all levels. The 39th annual Open will be held again in the Catonsville Senior Center in Catonsville, MD and this year includes the first AGA-Tygem Pro Prelim, in which the top finishing player with qualifying citizenship earns the right to compete for pro certification this summer in North Carolina. The 2-day, 5-round tournament offers prizes at all levels, and top boards will be broadcast live on KGS by the E-Journal. Click here to register, see who’s coming, and for more information.