American Go E-Journal » Other

Last Sunday, over 50 Go players, students, and parents of Hai Li’s go school gathered in an Irvine, CA park to celebrate in-person Go for the first time in over a year.

Hai Li 5P of China relocated to Southern California about a year after bringing several of his Go students from his school in China to attend the 33rd U.S. Go Congress in San Diego in 2017. He has since has become a well-known local teacher with students in San Diego and Orange counties. His students are regular participants in tournaments and Li himself has assisted with coordination of the California and San Diego Go Championships.

The party naturally featured Go games between the students and players, but the focus of the afternoon was the reacquaintance of friends. A lavish lunch, featuring many Chinese dishes provided by the families, capped the afternoon.

-report and photos by Ted Terpstra

The San Diego Go Club participated in the Japanese Friendship Garden’s celebration of its ancestors at the annual Toro Nagashi Festival in honor of the tradition of Bon Odori. Toro Nagashi (floating lanterns) is a ceremony in honor of those who have passed. The floating lanterns commemorate loved ones and wish them peace.

SDGC took over the exhibition hall during the festival to teach Go, recruit new members, and demonstrate how the game is played. Over 65 copies of “The Way to Go” (provided by the American Go Foundation) were handed out to those festival participants who asked for a Go lesson. All were required to wear masks in the indoor spaces. The eight-hour event, attended by thousands of people on a perfect 73-degree San Diego day, also included food vendors, dancers, singers, sales of Japanese products, and ended with the traditional floating of lanterns down the creek running through the garden.

For over ten years, the SDGC has been giving weekly Go lessons at the Japanese Friendship Garden (JFG), located in Balboa Park. Based on it volunteer work, the SDGC is invited to participate in the JFG’s special celebrations.

-report and photos provided by Ted Terpstra, President of the San Diego Go Club

The Evanston Go Club returned to in-person competition with a tournament on Saturday, July 31. “Turnout was excellent, with 36 players ranging from 30 kyu to 8 dan, including 15 first-timers and seven players from out of state,” says club president and TD Mark Rubenstein. “I wasn’t sure whether attendance would be low due to COVID concerns, or high due to people eager to get out and play in person. But I had an inkling it would be the latter, since attendance at our weekly club meetings in the last month has been much higher than normal.” Rubenstein also notes that this may be a very good time for clubs to reach out to new players. “We’re seeing lots of first-time players, and they’re coming back each week!” Winners received cash prizes, and the winner of the low dan band also received a copy of Albert Yen’s new book “Overcoming Human Igo” (available on Amazon).

Results:
High dan 1st place: Albert Yen
High dan 2nd place: Alexander Qi
Low dan (three-way tie): Wanqi Zhu, Lee Huynh, Sungsoo Kim
Low kyu 1st place: Aaron Soley
Low kyu 2nd place: Mike Neigebauer
High kyu 1st place: Robert Qi
High kyu 2nd place: Lewis Herman

-report by Mark Rubenstein

The NYGHS is proud to announce the conclusion of our first official tournament. The tournament ran smoothly despite the unconventional format. Participants spent their first competition day, June 27th, competing for a seed in the second day. On the second competition day, which took place on July 3rd, players were placed into brackets based on their seeds and competed for first, second, and third place in their respective divisions. All tournament participants were given a chance to play on the second competition day regardless of how they had initially performed. 

Totaling 32 players, participants were split into three divisions with each division featuring a $75 prize for first and a $50 prize for second. Top three players in each division will also receive a one month silver subscription to the NYIG YouTube channel. The tournament concluded with a first place finish from Tony Tang 7d in the Dan Division after his win against runner-up Eric Yoder 6d. 

Full Results:
Division A:
1st place – Tony Tang 7D
2nd place – Eric Yoder 6D
3rd place – Jate Greene 3D 

Division B:
1st place – Albert Tang 1K
2nd place – Michael Sherman 2K
3rd place – Jamie Tang 5K

Division C:
1st place – Della Tang 12K
2nd place – Benjamin Lo 9K
3rd place – Ajay Dheeraj 14k

“Thank you so much to all our engaged participants who were able to make the tournament possible,” says Patrick Zhao. “We will do our best to provide and improve upon events such as these in the future. After other summer Go events, namely the e-Go Congress, stay on the lookout for the return of the NY GO League. We hope to see you soon!”

-report by Patrick Zhao

A summer tournament was held at Umstead State Park in Raleigh, NC on July 11, 2021. Twenty four Go players participated. This was the Triangle Go Group’s first paired tournament in nearly 2 years. In keeping with tradition, all entry fees were returned to the players as prize money.

In the very competitive Open Section, there was a 3 way tie for first place honors: Jeff Kuang, Nianci Gan and Sheng (Thomas) Huo each racked up 3 wins and 1 loss. Second place was earned by Xiaoping Wu. Strengths in the top band ranged from 1d to 4d.

Players enjoyed typical North Carolina summer weather that varied from comfortably warm to occasional late day showers, perfect for playing Go. Tournament Director Jeff Kuang ran the show smoothly and pairings appeared quickly. Charles Alden provided invaluable offsite support. A pizza lunch was provided by the Triangle Go Group, along with donuts and iced water.

First place in Section B was captured by Leroy Anderson III with an impressive 3-1 record, losing only to a strong player from the Open Section. Justin Blank placed second with 2 wins and 2 losses. Section C was won by Tom Roncoli, finishing the day with a 3 and 1 tally, and second place was shared by 4 players each winning 2 games: Stephen Gilbert, Andrew Thieman, Harrison Pedigo and Bob Bacon.

The only perfect record of the day was attained by Justin Su in Section D, handily winning all 4 of his games. Second place in Section D was awarded to Russel Herman with a 3-1 performance.

-report and photos provided by Bob Bacon