“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.
American Go E-Journal » Other
7th Ing Cup World Collegiate Invitational streams Saturday
Thursday November 24, 2022
The 7th Ing Cup World Collegiate Invitational will be streamed live this Saturday, November 26 on the USGO Twitch channel with commentary starting around 8am EST. Stephanie Yin 1p is organizing the US team and the event and Devin Fraze will manage the AGA E-journal broadcast. Commentators will be Alex Qi 1p and the U.S. youth team from the New York Institute of Go (NYIG) (graphic). The Invitational is organized by the Ing Foundation; the format consists of 8 versus 8 matches between teams across the world. Saturday’s is the first match.
Board one will be played by Tianhao Li (黎天浩) an AGA 8.5 dan and a graduate student in Chemistry at Princeton. He learned go in Nanjing at the age of 4 and by 10 he had won a championship for children. After that he focused on academic goals and played go on the internet in his spare time. At Tsinghua University he joined the go team and played as one of the principal players going on to win first place in the amateur group of the 25th Ing Cup Go Tournament for Chinese undergraduates. Recently he attended his first tournament in the U.S. and looks forward to playing in more competitions in the future.
For more information on the other players, tune into the stream on Saturday.
Transatlantic Online Pro League Qualifier set for this weekend
Friday February 18, 2022
This weekend, two seats in the new season of the Transatlantic Online Pro League (https://eurogofed.org/pros/league.html), which begins on Feb 26, are up for grabs in an amateur qualification tournament.
Four North American players are invited: Aaron Ye, Brady Zhang, Kevin Yang, and Alexander Qi. The tournament format is a double elimination.
All games will be played online on OGS with a time setting of 30 minutes main time and 3×30 byo-yomi. To ensure fair play, all competitors are required to record a video during their games and submit the video afterwards.
The match start times are as follows:
Round 1
Feb 19 (Saturday): 10 AM Pacific Time / 1 PM Eastern Time
Aaron vs. Alexander
Brady vs. Kevin
Round 2
Feb 19 (Saturday): 1:30 PM Pacific Time / 4:30 PM Eastern Time
Winners bracket
Losers bracket
Round 3
Feb 20 (Sunday): 10 AM Pacific Time / 1 PM Eastern Time
Loser from winners bracket vs. Winner from losers bracket
43rd Australian Championship Concludes
Saturday December 11, 2021
The 43rd Australian Championship, which was also the 6th Australian Digital Tournament, came to a close on December 9. The tournament consisted of seven rounds played across seven week-long sessions.
The overall winner—and 2021 Australian Open Champion—was Daniel Li 6d of Sydney. After defeating Chahine Koleejan in the final round, Daniel won the Championship with a clean sweep of seven victories.
Laris Du Qing 6d of Sydney placed second in the open division, losing only to Daniel Li.
Steven Cheng 5d of the Gold Coast Go Club placed third in the open division, having lost only to Daniel and Laris.
The handicap division was divided into two sections, consisting of the strongest 24 players in the upper handicap division (2d to 7k), and 15 players in the lower handicap division (7k to 15k). The upper handicap division started with an extra point to their score. (In a McMahon draw, though, it is possible for an upper division player to face a skilled lower division player.)
The 2021 Australian Handicap Champion is Peter Simpson 1k of the Perth Go Club, beaten only by Brendan Hennessy 2k out of the Gore Street Irregulars in Melbourne. (“The only Australian club I know of that meets in a pub,” noted Horatio Davis. “Must be something in the beer.”)
Patrick Liang 1k of the Melbourne Go Club placed second in the upper handicap division, also taken down only by Brendan.
And the aforementioned Brendan Hennessy 2k of Melbourne placed third in the upper handicap division.
Victor Phan 9k of Australia won the lower handicap division. Sorn Nawapanich 12k of Melbourne placed second, and Christopher Riding 8k of “just write down New Zealand” placed third.
The full tournament results can be found here.
“With luck, next year’s Australian Championship will be an old-fashioned physical tournament somewhere on the east coast (I think Canberra’s turn?),” said organizer Horatio Davis, General Secretary of the Queensland Go Society. “Whether or not that works out, there will definitely be another Australian Digital, just like this one, and a New Zealand Digital.”
-based on a report by Horatio Davis, editing by Hailey Renner
NAGF announces Next-Generation exhibition match
Sunday December 5, 2021
The North American Go Federation (NAGF) is hosting exhibition games for North American players. The matches will be between promising young players and professionals. The event details are also available on the NAGF website.
When:
Saturday December 11th, at 7PM EST (4pm PST)
Where:
The games will be played online on OGS, and broadcast on the AGA twitch channel.
Players:
Alexander Qi vs Mingjiu Jiang (7p)
Kevin Yang vs Ryan Li (3p)
Val Lewis vs Cathy Li (1p)
Chih Rong (James) Sun vs Calvin Sun (1p)
Rules:
30 minutes main time with 3 periods of 40 seconds byo-yomi
Reverse Komi
Commentators:
Hajin Lee and Nick Prince
– Report by Hajin Lee, editing by Derek McGuire
2022 South Central Go Tournament Online Open for Registration
Wednesday December 1, 2021
The 2022 South Central Go Tournament Online will be held on the KGS go server the Saturday and Sunday before Presidents’ Day (February 19-20, 2022). From 2016 to 2020, the tournament was played live in Dallas. In 2021—and now again in 2022—the pandemic has made it necessary to hold the tournament online. There are no geographic restrictions for who may play, but all participants must be current AGA members (including any players from outside the United States). The best-placed Texas resident in the Open Section will become the 2022 Texas State Champion. The 2021 tournament had 16 Open Section players and 60 Handicap Section players. Players can find more details and register for the 2022 tournament at www.goclubs.org. You can also find the South Central Go Tournament on Facebook. Email Bob Gilman at bobgilman.aga@gmail.com with questions about the tournament.
-report by Bob Gilman, edited by Hailey Renner
The New York Go Honor Society League Returns
Wednesday December 1, 2021
“After a prolonged break, the New York Go Honor Society (NYGHS) is excited to announce the return of the New York Go league!” says organizer Joshua Wong. The first rounds of the league will begin on December 11th with a registration deadline of December 9th.
The league is two months long and will feature a round-robin style format, with each division having 8-10 players. For more information about the league, you can check out the rules and regulations document.
All players are welcome to register here. Like past iterations of the league, the only prerequisite is to have a rank, either certified by a Go organization, or to have a stable rank on a Go server. “We hope to see you there!” says Wong.
-report by Joshua Wong, edited by Derek McGuire
San Diego Go Club holds Go Soiree
Wednesday December 1, 2021
On Sunday November 21, the San Diego Go Club celebrated the joining of many new members by holding a Go Soiree at club president Ted Terpstra’s home. Over 25-players showed up including two professionals (Hai Li 5P and Han Han 5P) and three 7d amateurs. One player arrived on the new trolley line that opened earlier that day and now stops at the bottom of the hill.
Players were asked to be masked except while eating and drinking and for the occasional photograph. Plenty of hand sanitizer was available for participants.
Go boards were scattered over three floors of the house and also in the Japanese garden backyard as players sought competition or a teaching game. Kibitzing was the order of the day.
After 7 hours of playing Go and socializing with pizza and drinks, the last players were shooed out at 8:00 p.m. Things will not be as convivial Thanksgiving Saturday and Sunday, as many of these players will meet in the King Cup – California State Go Championships hosted by the SDGC.
-report and photo by Ted Terpstra
Photo: SDGC members Tony 7d (Left) and Kevin 7d Yang enjoying a brotherly game on a 7.5-inch kaya board.
Also in photo, their sensei, Han Han 5p, and a future Harvard student. Special note: Between the bowls of stones can be seen a 1986 American Go Journal with a young Michael Redmond on the cover. The Journal referred to him as “the strongest Westerner in the entire history of Go.” Inside that issue was an interview of Redmond by Les Lanphear: Soiree attendee, long-time SDGC member, and a current member of the AGA Board of Directors.
Students exercised mind and body at Stone Mountain Park
Saturday November 20, 2021
On November 7, 2021, Feijun (Frank) Luo 7d taught his first in-person Go class in nearly two years for Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy at Stone Mountain Park. “We met with great excitement and joy,” says Luo. Frank played go with students and watched them play for two hours, and then he led them on a hike on Stone Mountain. Despite the strenuous hiking, all students climbed to the summit of Stone Mountain by supporting each other. At the summit of Stone Mountain, not only did they enjoy the spectacular view of Atlanta and the beautiful sunset, but also played a game of group speed Go to the amusement of all. Joining Frank in this class were the students Collin Guo, Leo Huang, Ryan Huang, Gavin Situ, Eric Wang, Lucas Wang, Andrea Wang, Jiayue Wu, Kevin Yang, Jiaming Zou, and Jiayi Zou. “It’s vital to stay physically and mentally active during this pandemic,” continued Luo. “We will have more classes like this to help achieve the goal!”
-report by Feijun (Frank) Lui
SDGC Opens Regstration for Four California Go Championships
Saturday November 20, 2021
Over the Thanksgiving weekend – November 27 & 28, 2021 – The San Diego Go Club will be hosting four go tournaments. Registration for all of them is open, and will close at 11:59 P.M. PST on Thanksgiving day – November 25. Online registration will be necessary to participate in the first round; onsite registration will be accepted for rounds 2-5. All four tournaments will be held at the spacious San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park. Current AGA membership is required for all tournaments.
The 2021 King Cup California State Go Championship will be the premier event of the tournament weekend with five rounds over two days. The tournament will have both Open and Handicap sections. Over $1,100 in prizes will be awarded with at least $400 going to the King Cup winner. This will be the 4th time that the best Go player in California will be crowned. Previous winners include Calvin Sun 1P, Evan Lin 7d, and Bo Luan 6d. In 2018 and 2019 competition was fierce with 76 players and 66 players respectively. While only residents of California, including students, are eligible to win the King Cup, everyone can play. The King Cup will have 45-minutes per player plus Byo-yomi timing. The entry fee for the King Cup is $20 for adults and $10 for youth.
The other three tournaments are all for youth under the age of 16-years who choose not to play in the King Cup. Hai Li 5P will be the tournament director for all of the youth tournaments. The entry fee for each of the youth tournaments will be $5. On Saturday, both the U16 Girls’ California State Go Championship and the U16 Boys’ California State Go Championship will be contested. These will both be 4-round, 30-minute time per player plus Byo-yomi. On Sunday, an U16 California State 13×13 Champion will be crowned. The time limit will be 15-minutes per player. This tournament is open to everyone.
For safety, all adults will be required to be vaccinated for the Covid19 virus, and all players and spectators will be required to wear masks except when dining on the lunchtime pizza that will be provided both days. There are several outdoor tables if any players want to play their games outside.
-report by Ted Terpstra