American Go E-Journal » Events/Tournaments

Evanston Go Club hosts first in-person tournament since beginning of pandemic

Saturday August 14, 2021

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

Categories: Main Page,Other,U.S./North America

2021 NAGF Pro Qualification Tournament finalized

Thursday August 5, 2021

The North American Go Federation (NAGF) has finalized the format of the 2021 NAGF Pro Qualification Tournament, which will take place in person at the National Go Center in Washington DC over six days – from August 16 to 21. A total of 10 players will play a preliminary round in two round-robin groups, followed by a best-of-three semi-final round and a concluding best-of-three final. The winner of the tournament will receive the title of NAGF Professional 1 Dan, plus a $2,000 USD prize. The runner-up will receive a $1,000 USD prize.

All players will have 75 minutes main time with 60 seconds/5 times byo-yomi for each game. All games will be broadcast live on KGS by the AGA broadcast team. There will be a live Twitch streaming event on August 21, starting at 10 AM US Eastern Time, details TBA. All players and staff who are eligible and able to receive COVID vaccines are asked to come to the competition fully vaccinated, and everyone will be asked to wear a mask inside the venue. “It’s been a difficult journey preparing for this tournament during the pandemic, but we are thrilled to be certifying a new professional player in this competition,” says NAGF Executive Director Hajin Lee. “For the players who couldn’t attend this year due to various circumstances, we’d like to note that we will continue to organize annual Pro Qualification Tournaments going forward.”

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Pro Tournament,U.S./North America

Looking for a few good game recorders

Wednesday August 4, 2021

The EJ broadcast team – which will be bringing you the upcoming 2021 NAGF Pro Qualifier Tournament – still has a few game recorder slots available.

“This tournament will feature some of North America’s top players competing at an extremely high level,” says EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “It’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in top-level games and help bring them to a wider audience.”

Some experience game recording is preferred and recorders must have their own laptops. The tournament runs August 16-21 at the National Go Center in Washington, DC. The rounds are at 9:30 and 2:30 daily, so game recorders must be available during those times (be sure to specify which days/times you’re available).

Email journal@usgo.org if interested.

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Pro Tournament,U.S./North America

2021 e-Go Congress Credits

Wednesday August 4, 2021

Over 500 players took part in the AGA’s second e-Go Congress from July 17-25th across multiple online platforms. This dedicated team of volunteers worked tirelessly to put the e-Go Congress together. We wanted to take a moment to gratefully acknowledge their work. Next year’s Congress is set for July 30– August 7, 2022 in Estes Park, CO; if you’d like to consider being a part of the Congress team, email Lisa Scott or AGA E-Journal if you’re interested in the E-Journal team.

Congress Staff
Congress Director – Steve Colburn
Deputy Director & Pro Facilitator – Stephen Hu
Registrar – Emil Meng
Congress Coordinator – Lisa Scott
Logo Design – Alex Kim
Teachers – Feng Yun 9p, Michael Redmond 9p, Myungwan Kim 9p, Mingjiu Jiang 7p, Yilun Yang 7p, Ryan Li 3p, Eric Lui 2p, Calvin Sun 1p, In-seong Hwang, Julie Burrall, David Kahn, Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter, Sathya Singh, Rognarr Markssen, Gary Watson, Luis Palacios, Brian Kirby, Felipe Herman van Riemsdijk, Alex Smolenski, Charles Hammack
Tournament Directors – Steve Colburn, Dan Ritter, Milan Mladenovic, Devin Fraze, Eric Wainwright, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack, Jon Boley, Katherine Xie, Kevin Chao, Yixian Zhou, Lionel Zhang, Andrew Zhang
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest – Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner, Wanda Metcalf, Roy Laird
Silly Go Songs – Terry Benson, Barbara Calhoun, Roy Laird
Picture A Go Player – Samantha Fede
AGF Auction – Solomon Smilack, Terry Benson
Platforms – Online Go Server, KGS, Pandanet, AGA Twitch, AGA YouTube, Zoom, Baduk.Club

Broadcast Team
Executive Producer – Stephen Hu
Line Producer – Eva-Dee Beech, Jared Meadows
Stream Hosts – Keith Arnold, Julie Burrall, Michael Fodera, Devin Fraze, Stephen Hu, Lisa Scott, Sathya Singh
Stream Commentators – Myungwan Kim 9p, Michael Redmond 9p, Kim Seungjun “Blackie” 9p, Yoonyoung Kim 8p, Ryan Li 3p, Eric Lui 2p, Stephanie Yin 1p, Diana Koszegi 1p, Inseong Hwang 8d, Albert Yen 7d, Jeremy Chiu 6d, Professor Daniela Trinks
USGO Congress 2022 – Eric Wainwright, Howard Landman, and Paul Barchilon for
Twitch, Discord, and OGS Chat Moderators – @ejournal, @gobaduk, @polarbear, @sirocco, @vash3g, @xhu98, @lionGuySai, @Goshi
Overlay Design – Stephen Hu
Motion Graphics – Jared Meadows
Music – “Reverence”, Tritonal x Nick Sibicky, Tritonalmusic.com
Broadcast Content Sponsors – AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5p), New York Institute of Go (Ryan Li 3p and Stephanie Yin 1p), Yunguseng Dojang (Inseong Hwang 8d)

Special Thanks
Sirocco Hamada, American Go Association, American Go Foundation and prize sponsors; North American Professionals, AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5p), AwesomeBaduk, Go Magic

e-Go Congress Coverage
Twitch broadcast videos

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

2021 e-Go Congress tournament results

Monday August 2, 2021

After a week of online play between over 500 participants, the results are in! This year’s 2021 e-Go Congress hosted six tournaments, plus the Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest and two new events.

Pandanet AGA City League Tournament and Championship
TD: Steve Colburn
A League Champions: New York City – Ryan Li 3P, Hanchen Zhang 1P, Stephanie Yin 1p; Runner Up: Canwa Vancouver 1 – Henry Yu 2p, Bill Lin 8d, Brady Zhang 7d; 3rd Place: Greater Washington, 4th Place: Toronto, 5th Place: Chicago 1
B League: 1st Place: Boston, 2nd Place: Seattle 1, 3rd Place: Los Angeles, 4th Place: Chicago 2
C League: 1st Place: Seattle 2, 2nd Place: Canwa Vancouver 3, 3rd Place: Washington DC 2
D League: 1st Place: North Corvallis, 2nd Place: New Mexico, 3rd Place: NY City 4

Double Digit Kyu Tournament
TD: Kevin Chao; ATDs: Yixian Zhou
Group 1 (10 kyu) – 1st: gorabbit 10k, 2nd: Emily Hjulstorm 10k, 3rd: Savanni D’Gerinel 10k, 4th: xltra76 10k, 5th: dl123 10k
Group 2 (11-12 kyu) – 1st: Paul Adamski 12k, 2nd: Stefan Weissner 11k, 3rd: Harold Stockton 11k
Group 3 (13-14 kyu) – 1st: Ben Schwartz 13k, 2nd: Mic841 23k, 3rd: tamplee 13k, 4th: Elphiya Khodger 14k
Group 4 (15-18 kyu) – 1st: Junxiong Lin 15k, 2nd: Joevan 15k, 3rd: Abizer Nasir 17k, 4th: Wes Isenhart 18k
Group 5 (19-30 kyu) – 1st: Laurie Ensworth 19k, 2nd: Ji-Xin Cheng 30k, 3rd: kt112 19k, 3th: melodyliu 20k

9 X 9 Tournament
TD: Eric Wainwright; ATDs: Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack
Dan Division: 1st: JtaoOMG 2d, 2nd: Xingke Sun 5d, 3rd: Pengyu Sun 2p
Single-digit Kyu Division: 1st: Hypernova 8k, 2nd: Khang Hoang 2k, 3rd: Luis Palacios 2k
Double-digit Kyu Division: 1st: dl123.2020 10k, 2nd: William Seiyo Shehan 25k, 3rd: JBX2010 10k

Pair Go Tournament
TD: Lionel Zhang; ATD:Andrew Zhang
Table Winners: Seowoo Wang & Eric Lui, Juliaz & Brightstar, Yhe & JtaoOMG, Baileyy & sparkycat, Angelzhou & Yixian Zhou, Vpxie & Khang Hoang, Vivienne Blandy & Mark Fraser, HILT1 & Monstral1, Seagal & Asbayen, Sergey Hodger & Arina7, KoBa & AndyL2011, Mari Oshima & Junxiong Lin

Blitz Tournament
TD: Jon Boley, ATDs: Katherine Xie
Group 1 (5 dan +) – 1st: Xingke Sun 5d, Yhe 5d, 2nd: AlexQi2008 6d, Brightstar 7d, 3rd: GCCongress 5d
Group 2 (1-4 dan) – 1st: JtaoOMG 2d, 2nd: Eyz 2d, Jason 1d, Wirtuoosi 2d, SeanSong 1d
Group 3 (1-3 kyu) – 1st: Al123 1k, 2nd: Sunbunny6 1k, Piotr Millan 3k, 3rd: iGo4Now 1k, Iulian Bogaciev 2k
Group 4 (4-7 kyu) – 1st: Khang Hoang 2k, 2nd: Angelzhao 5k, Tevis Tsai 6k, 3rd: Angelzhao 7k, DashZhang 7k
Group 5 (8 kyu – 30 kyu) – 1st: Xltra76 10k, 2nd: Triberos 11k, 3rd: Aman6a 13k, Dl123 10k

e-Go Congress Open
TD: Dan Ritter, ATDs: Devin Fraze, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter
7 dan+ – 1st: Kbs8438 7d, 2nd: eponymous 7d, 3rd: Henry0202 2p
6 dan – 1st: jamessun 6d, 2nd: Jeremiah Donley 6d, 3rd: Tianyi Chen 6d, Meng Wang 6d
5 dan – 1st: bkCongress 5d, 2nd: Xingke Sun 5d, Toranosuku Ozawa 5d
4 dan – 1st: Jeff Kuang 4d, 2nd: Joel Kenny 4d, 3rd: Hkt008 4d
3 dan – 1st: juliaz 3d, 2nd: Lucman Bounoider 3d, 3rd: Francisco Rodriguez 3d
2 dan – 1st: David Weimer 2d, 2nd: Andrew Swan 2d, 3rd: eyz 2d
1 dan – 1st: Tao Li 1d, 2nd: LiuJason 1d, 3rd: pokeseansong 1d
1 kyu – 1st: ss22 1k, 2nd: Jerty 1k, 3rd: al123 1k
2 kyu – 1st: Khang Hoang 2k, 2nd: Mark Fraser 2k, 3rd: Iulian Bogaciev 2k
3 kyu – 1st: Yeming 3k, 2nd: ericmao 3k, 3rd: Stephen Tanner 3k
4 kyu – 1st: Cadspen 4k, 2nd: Zhihan1 4k, 3rd: tshelix 4k
5 kyu – 1st: Anderson Barreal 5k, 2nd: Marta Miksa 5k, 3rd: David Rohlfing 5k
6 kyu – 1st: AbigailC 6k, 2nd: Tevis Tsai 6k, 3rd: Andy321 6k
7 kyu – 1st: angelzhou 7k, 2nd: KorbloxDex 7k, 3rd: Rostislav Kuksin 7k
8 kyu – 1st: Raghavendra Murty 8k, 2nd: Poppilo5116 8k, 3rd: Anthony Li 8k
9 kyu – 1st: agcKai 9k, 2nd: Richard Newman 9k, 3rd: David Pesa 9k
10 kyu – 1st: go_rabbit 10k, 2nd: JBX2010 10k, 3rd: chenruij 10k, ct112 10k
11k-12k – 1st: Stefan Weissner 11k, 2nd: quantumjo 11k, 3rd: springleaf 12k
13k-14k – 1st: Ben Schwartz 13k, 2nd: Alicia Selfrid 13k, 3rd: TheNopenator 14k
15k-19k – 1st: Junxiong Lin 15k, 2nd: Lee Edwards 15k, 3rd: Francisco Riberio 15k, Laurie Ensworth 19k
20k-30k – 1st: Roland Bijvank 20k, 2nd: Brandon Sallot 20k, 3rd: melodyl112 20K

Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest
Organizers: Terry Benson
Judges: Terry Benson, Wanda Metcalf, Barbara Calhoun, Roy Laird
Best Song: Invasion Man by Freeman Ng

Picture A Go Player
Organizer: Samantha Fede
T-Shirt Winner: Jiayang Wei
Adult Winner: Brian Kirby
Youth Winner: Tianning Li

Leon Chen’s Tsumeogo Challenge
Organizer: Stephen Hu & Leon Chen
Winners: Rong Qi Chen, Yiduo He, Satoru Inoue, Brain Kirby, Stephanie Tan, Colin Williams (lackita), Albert Yen, Eric Yoder, Qingbo Zhang, Andy Zhou

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

Yoonyoung Kim 8P and women’s team hold 2-0 lead over the veterans at 15th Korean Gigi Auction Cup

Sunday August 1, 2021

Yoonyoung Kim 8P won her two opening games against Sujang Kim 7P and Yoo Changhyuk 9P on July 26 and 27 at the 15th Gigi Auction Cup veteran-women Go Challenge in Seoul, Korea. Each team, a women’s team and a veterans team – with players all 45 years old or above – has 12 players and sends out one competitor at a time. All games are live on BadukTV and can be found on their YouTube channel. On Monday morning, August 2nd, Kim 8P will take on Lee SungJae 9P hoping for a three-win streak, which will mean an additional prize. The winning team prize is $100,000 (120 million won). Since 2007, the women’s team has won eight times (the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th) and the veterans team has won six times.

-photos from BadukTV
-report by Capital Go Club

Categories: Korea,Main Page,Other

Final day to bid on items AGF auction

Saturday July 24, 2021

Today is the final day to bid in the auction to benefit the AGF. Participants can bid on Go lessons from online teachers, dojo membership, Go equipment, Go books, old Go periodicals, and more! Players can also donate directly to the AGF to help support the amazing projects they do every year. Funds donated to the AGF support the following programs, and more:

Send free Go equipment to hundreds of schools across the nation
Help teachers to purchase additional equipment on a matching basis
Provide matching startup funds for new Go programs for children
Publish The Way to Go, the most widely read Go book in English
Distribute free copies of Go As Communication, a book about teaching Go
Purchase specialized equipment for Go instructors in schools
Cover thousands of dollars of scholarships for kids and youth players at the Go Congress
Bring the AGF Teacher of the Year to the Go Congress
Grant annual college scholarships to players who promote go in their communities
Provide youth scholarships to attend the AGA Summer Go Camps
Maintain the KGS server as a go owned and operated community

Categories: Main Page,Other

NYGHS Summer Open concludes, Tony Tang 7D finishes as Dan Division Champion

Saturday July 24, 2021

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

Categories: Main Page,Other,U.S./North America

Still time to bid on the goban. And the lessons, the dojo, books, periodicals…

Friday July 23, 2021

The closing ceremonies of the annual US Go Congress are just hours away and the Congress won’t be complete without the auction of a goban to benefit the American Go Foundation. And this year you can bid on so much more. “Help raise much-needed funds and get yourself some prizes along the way!” says Solomon Smilack. Click here and then use the buttons to register, so that you can bid on the auction items. Click Auction to review the current offerings, select Donate to give financial support to the AGF directly, or Donate Item to add something to the auction. “There are go lessons from online teachers, dojo membership, go equipment, go books, old go periodicals, and more!” says Smilack.

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

Pete Schumer named AGF Teacher of the Year

Friday July 23, 2021

“I’m quite overwhelmed and deeply humbled to be chosen as this year’s AGF Teacher of the Year,” said Schumer. “It’s quite an honor to join all the past recipients who have done so much towards the teaching, promotion, and dissemination of go.” Ordinarily a Teacher of the Year wins a free trip to the US Go Congress. As that is online this year, Schumer will be invited to the 2022 Go Congress in Estes Park as a guest of the AGF.

Schumer has been teaching a course on go at Middlebury College in Vermont since 1987. “The course is more about introducing and promoting the history, spirit, and cultural aspects surrounding go as much as it is about improving one’s measurable ranking,” says Schumer. “Self awareness and self-improvement is a large part of the course’s intent, but developing a deeper appreciation of the game and a humble respect for its great practitioners is even more important. The course is also a writing course where students write and revise papers on the rules of go, on the theme of ‘Go as a Metaphor’, on the concept of ‘Collaboration versus Competition’. The students also research a related East Asian art or tradition and give a presentation on their findings. The ‘aha’ moment for many of them is when they discover the powerful connections and interdependencies between the spirit of go and that of the art they have been studying.”

Schumer has also created and run the Vermont Go Club, which has been active for over 30 years. “The best way to promote go is through friendships and through such rich, joyful, meaningful get togethers. In addition, I add one weekend meeting a month devoted to teaching new players about the game. Again I am more interested in simply making them aware of this wonderful game, teaching them the basics, making sure they have a fun and positive experience (say beating me on a 9×9 board with a five stone handicap), and leaving it at that. The analogy I like to give is that more people take art appreciation courses in college than become studio art majors. Museums rely on an educated public that appreciates beautiful art whether or not most people can produce beautiful art. Similarly, the American public seems to support and love football (based on the number of people who watch the Super Bowl, say), yet very few of us reach the level of even playing at the college level – or even care to. We should continue to strive to educate the public about the game and foster a deep appreciation of it. Our commitment and affection for the game can truly inspire others.”

“I want to thank the selection committee for their warm support and confidence in me. I promise to redouble my effort to ‘pay it forward’ by continuing to pass along my knowledge and enthusiasm of the game to the younger generation,” adds Schumer. -Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor. Photo: Schumer with a young opponent at the Osaka Go Camp in 2018

Categories: Go News,Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Youth

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