American Go E-Journal » Events/Tournaments

Evanston Go Club tournament hosts Open section with players from six states

Sunday November 17, 2019

The Evanston Go Club hosted its semi-annual tournament on November 9th, drawing 33 players from Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. In addition to the normal handicap section, the tournament included an Open section for dan players. “We’ve never had more than one section before,” says club president and TD Mark Rubenstein, “so I was a little nervous about it. I have my hands full running the self-paired section, so I knew I’d need someone to run the Open section. Thanks to the outstanding help of Lee Huynh, it went smooth as silk!” 

Rubenstein uses his own custom software for running the club’s tournaments, which are always self-paired. Huynh used OpenGotha to manage the Open section. The response of the dan players was unanimous; they greatly prefer to play even games, regardless of the difference in rank… even knowing they’d be up against Albert Yen 8d!
“Special thanks to our Central board members Lisa Scott and Devin Fraze (all the way from Columbus Ohio) for joining us!” says Rubenstein.

Results:
Open Section: 1st place Albert Yen 8d (4-0), 2nd place Meng Wang 6d (3-1)
Handicap A Section: Nathan Beecher 2d (4-0)
Handicap B Section: Daniel Lambert 4k (4-0)
Handicap C Section: 1st Place Alicia Seifrid 14k (5-0), 2nd Place David Bireta 15k (4-1) playing in his first tournament.

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Andy Liu 1P wins “certified organic” Gotham Go Tournament in a three way tie

Sunday November 17, 2019

Andy Liu 1P took the top prize by tie-breaks after a three way tie in the top division of the Gotham Go Tournament on November 2nd. “Thanks to everyone who participated,” says organizer Peter Armenia, “and thanks so much to our fabulous tournament director David Glekel, his assistant Jino Choung, and my beautiful wife Gretchen Hanser for keeping the coffee warm, feeding us, and making beautiful ceramic go mugs for the top prizes!”

Division winners were Yong Chen 7d, Niel Ni 1d, Alexander Yu 2k, and Micah Murphy 10k, with Amari Gonzales 20k and Zhihan Huang 29k also undefeated in Murphy’s division. Peter Armenia’s eight year old daughter, Veronica, played in her first official tournament and he reports that she took her losses in stride with grace and composure.

Complete winner’s list
Open Division (all 3 wins)
1st Andy Liu; 2nd Alan Huang; 3rd Michael Chen
A: 1st Yong Chen; 2nd Lei Sun; 3rd Jianjin Lin
B: 1st: Niel Ni (undefeated); 2nd Sophie Lin; 3rd Afa Zhou
C: 1st Alexander Yu; 2nd Alex Fan-Cui; 3rd Luke Luo
D: 1st Micah Murphy (undefeated); 2nd Amari Gonzales (undefeated); 3rd Zhihan Huang (undefeated)

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U.S. Go Congress Survey Closing Soon

Friday November 15, 2019

U.S. Go Congress organizers would love to thank everyone who has filled out the Congress Survey – nearly 200 responses already.  The feedback they’ve received has been extremely valuable, especially since over half of the responses came from people who couldn’t attend the 2019 Congress, and nearly a quarter of respondents have never been able to attend a Congress. 

Ryan Li 1p playing simul at the 2019 US Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock

Among the responses so far were two from people who haven’t attended since the late 1990s, as well as four from people who have attended 26 or more Congresses. Over half of respondents rate playing in tournaments as their favorite thing about Congress, while 28% of attendees say their favorite part is learning from pros, and 27% say their favorite part is spending time with friends (people seem to have multiple favorites).

Interestingly, 36% of respondents would like to attend the European Go Congress and 34.5 say they’d maybe like to, but only 8.5% actually have attended.

Feedback from everyone – longtime attendees, new players, and everyone in between – will help the AGA make the next U.S. Go Congress in Estes Park (August 1-9, 2020) a better event for everyone!  Click here now to complete the survey if you haven’t already.

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Pandanet AGA City League Round 1 this weekend

Thursday November 14, 2019

This Sunday November 17th starts the 8th year of the Pandanet City League in the US and Canada. This year brings four sets of leagues with 30 different teams. Check the teams listing to find your closest city to root for. Watch at least nine different pros in the top three leagues. Games can be found in the AGA City League rooms using the GoPanda2 client. Watch on any platform whether it be at your computer or on a mobile device. Games start LIVE at 3PM unless otherwise noted.

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2019 Cotsen Open wrap-up

Sunday November 10, 2019

A few follow-ups to the Cotsen Open, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with one of the biggest tournaments yet:
Games: Top-board game records are posted here.
Videos: Click here for a playlist of all the Cotsen videos, including a brand-new highlights reel and interviews with founder Eric Cotsen, first-time game recorder Timothy Yu and more.
Results: See below for the complete list of winners.

Credits: The Cotsen is sponsored by Eric Cotsen; this year’s tournament was organized by Ryan Murray and directed by Kevin Chao. The tournament Co-Organizer was Chris Saenz and the Assistant Director was ChiWu (Jack) Chao. Yilun Yang 7P was the resident pro. Leah Wilson was the MG Studio rep, Georgett Cota was the Assistant Organizer and the official tournament photographer was Charles Brewer, who also served as a volunteer. Other volunteers were Wenguang Wu and Devin Fraze. Vendors were Kogi (food truck) and TPT (tables/chairs). Paula and Cindy were the massage therapists.

The E-Journal crew was headed up by Managing Editor Chris Garlock, who also produced the videos. Jeff Fitzgerald was the videographer and video editor. Game recorders were Kevin Hwang, Vince Ma, Yen-Chin Wang, Timothy Yu and Lionel Zhang. Stephen Hu provided technical support.

Special thanks to AGA president Andy Okun.

Winner Mark Lee (r) with Eric Cotsen.
photo by Chris Garlock

2019 Cotsen Winner Report (Final)
Open Section:
 1st: Mark Lee (5-0); 2nd: Andy Liu (4-1); 3rd: Evan Lin (4-1); 4th: Xiaocheng Hu (4-1); 5th: Calvin Sun (4-1); 6th: Ying Ngai Yu (3-2).
Section A (4d-2d): 1st: Kosuke Sato (5-0); 2nd: Zhizhe Zhang (5-0); 3rd: Ashish Varma (4-1)
Section B (1d-2k): 1st: Tony Yang (5-0); 2nd: Tommy Yinhe Liu (5-0); 3rd: Andrew Luo (4-1)
Section C (3k-5k): 1st: Billy Maier (5-0); 2nd: Samuel Kennedy (5-0); 3rd: Shawn Blue (4-1)
Section D (6k-10k): 1st: David Su (4-1); 2nd: Mario Espinoza (4-1); 3rd: Viet Nguyen (4-1)
Section E (11k-30k): 1st: Jiqi Wang (5-0); 2nd: Michael Lee (5-0); 3rd: Xiao Tiao Wang (4-1)Club prize winner: Santa Monica Go Club

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Finals of Virginia State Championship set for November 16

Friday November 8, 2019

Qingbo Zhang, Josh Lee, Yaming Wang and Ran Zhao will face off in the final games of the Virginia State Champion in Annandale VA on Saturday, November 16. The Korean American Baduk Association (KABA) will host, and KABA president James Lee will be the Tournament Director.

“We would like to see more Virginia women and youth players join us at the Virginia State Championship,” said chapter representative Edward Zhang. “Please contact us so we can host Virginia Women’s Championship and Virginia Youth Championship for you!” Players may write to agatd1@gmail.com or zhiyuanz@gmail.com if they are interested. The KABA is open 11am-9pm everyday at 7202 Poplar St, Suite A, Annandale VA 22003.

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New Mexico State Championship 2019 set for November 23

Friday November 8, 2019

Perennial and personal trophies

The Santa Fe Go Club will host this year’s New Mexico State Championship to be held Saturday, November 23, at the Aldea Community Center in Santa Fe, NM. “Billy Maier is eager to defend his title!” reports organizer Robert Cordingly. The winner will hold the perennial trophy until the following championship, but will also receive a personal trophy to keep. Players may compete for the championship if they are full members of the AGA with at least 6 months residency in New Mexico in the past 12 months, but all players are welcome to play in the tournament. Players who register online at GoClubsOnline will receive a box lunch on the day.

Aldea Community Center
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Appreciation you can wear

Monday November 4, 2019

Towards the end of the 2019 US Go Congress, Greg Steltenpohl had the idea to ask volunteers, E-Journal staff, local club members, professionals, long-time attendees, and online go content creators to sign a t-shirt to give to 2019 Congress Director Dave Weimer, as a surprise at the closing ceremonies.  Since then, Greg tells the EJ, “I had the shirt professionally framed, and presented it to Dave at our local club meetup which is at the same location as the 2019 Congress. We did this in recognition of his long-standing support and service to the go community, and so that he could have a physical representation of our appreciation for all of his service.”

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Chen An 7d defends North Carolina State Champion title

Thursday October 31, 2019

The weather was warm in Raleigh, and the atmosphere on fire as 25 players engaged in their favorite board game. Tournament Director Jeff Kuang ran the show smoothly and pairings appeared quickly. A sumptuous lunch was again provided by Arlene and Adam Bridges.

For the second year running, Chen An 7d won the North Carolina State Championship with a perfect 4-0 record. He faced strong competition this year from another 7 dan player, Chengyu Fu, who placed a very respectable second in the event. The Open Section was quite competitive with two 7 dans, a strong 5 dan, two powerful 4 dans and four battling 3 dans.

Section A ended with a tie between Chen Yuan 2d and Sheng Huo 2d, each with a 3-1 record. Justin Blank 3k was the clear victor in Section B with the only other 4-0 score for the day, with Andrew Thieman 7k and John Aiken 8k tying for second place. Section C produced a 3 way tie for first, with Jeremy Marshburn 9k, Ganning Xu 11k, and Bhaskar Bharath 12k each finishing with a 3-1 result. Yet another tie emerged for top honors in Section D between Justin Su 12k and Russell Herman 12k. Complete results and more photos can be found on the club website.

-report and photos provided by Bob Bacon

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Rich Chalmers takes title of Vermont State Champion, sends everyone home with jars of honey

Wednesday October 30, 2019

A very successful Vermont Go Championship in Middlebury this past weekend attracted participants from far and wide. The 20 player field included five players from Canada and two from Grenoble, France, who happened to be visiting on holiday. Players traveled from Maine, Massachusetts, and throughout New England. Rich Chalmers 1d took first and was crowned Vermont State Champion. Dave Felcan 2d and Dan Deneen 2k claimed second and third place, respectively. In the open handicapped division, Benoit Potvin 11k took first place with the only undefeated record. Robert Lafleche 1k placed second and Andrew Richter 10k placed third.  

Prizes were generous and plentiful. In addition to trophies and framed certificates, sizable gift certificates from Kiseido, Guo Juan’s Internet Go school, and the Yunguseng Dojang were awarded. Prizes also included books donated from Slate and Shell, equipment donated from Yellow Mountain Imports, and Go related goods from local vendors. Everyone received at least one prize. Jars of local honey were given to everyone as a door prize compliments of Rich Chalmer’s farm. Special thanks to Jack Cary for making some awesome posters and tirelessly promoting the tournament.

-report and photos by Pete Schumer

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