Monday September 16, 2019
The 10th Suzhou Qionglong Mountain Bingsheng Cup, a women’s weiqi tournament, is seeking a representative from North America. The tournament will be held October 29th through Novermber 4th in Suzhou, China. Interested professional and amateur (4D+) women residing in North America are asked to please e-mail tournaments@usgo.org no later than Friday, September 20th so that we may run a preliminary tournament among the interested players.
Monday September 16, 2019
The AGA is looking for one male player and one female player to play as a pair in the 6th World Students Pair Go Championship in Tokyo, Japan from December 6 to 11. Players must be either American or Canadian citizens, under the age of 30, and currently enrolled in any higher education institution as students. Room and board are provided by the tournament as well as 50% of airfare, with players expected to bear 50% of airfare and other travel costs.
Eligible interested players should contact the AGA Pair Go Coordinator, Hajin Lee, at hajin.lee@usgo.org no later than September 24.
Wednesday September 11, 2019
Pandanet is holding the 18th World Students Go Oza Championship from February 17-21, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan, where sixteen students from around the world will gather to determine the world’s top student player.
To select the finalists, there will be an online preliminary round on Pandanet; check out the tournament page for details. University/college students under the age of 30 are eligible to participate in the preliminary round (note that students living in China, Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei cannot participate in the prelim). Application deadline is October 20.
Pandanet covers airfare, hotel and meals. For any other questions, email Chika Mochizuki and The All-Japan Students GO Association.
Sunday September 8, 2019
This month’s Washington Go Festival promises to give players a full day of competition, featuring four tournaments including the three-round Virginia Open, which this year will serve as a qualifying tournament for the first Virginia State Championship tournament. “The top four Virginia resident players will qualify to compete for a final-four state championship,” reports organizer Edward Zhang. “We also want to encourage more youth and women to join us, as there will be prizes for the youth and women’s champion as well!” Three AGA chapters – NOVA Go, Capital Go, and the Korean American Baduk Association – have joined together to host the state championship as part of the AGA’s new State Championship System. The festival will be held Saturday September 28th and also include team tournaments and a free computer-aided tournament during the lunch break. Players can register here.
Wednesday August 28, 2019
“Can’t wait for the next Go Congress?” asks Terri Schurter, founder of the Wings Go Club. “Perhaps you want slow games with people you know. Experience the fun and fellowship of a Congress all year long on KGS. Chat and play with people you know from previous years, and with people who hope to attend a Congress in the future. Make online go less hurried and impersonal by hanging out with friends. Join us in the “US Go Congress” room on KGS, under Social in the room list, and consider adding your AGAID# to your info.”
Wednesday August 28, 2019
Young Go players under the age of 20 will compete for a $1,500 prize pool at the August 31 U20 Eastern Youth Open. The event is being organized by the New York Go Association, which intends to host this competition annually and make it the largest youth Go tournament in the East. “It is time to provide an opportunity for young players to compete in a high quality face-to-face tournament,” says New York Institute of Go founder Stephanie Yin.
All players must be under 20 years old by the date of the tournament, ranked 10 kyu or higher, and current AGA or CGA members. Players whose AGA ranks are out of date but who have a KGS rank with at least 10 most recent games at the rank of 10 kyu or higher may enter. Pre-registration is required.
The U20 Eastern Youth Open will be held Saturday, August 31 from 9:30AM-4:00PM at the New York Institute of Go, 255-05 Northern Blvd, 2FL, Little Neck, NY.
Sunday August 25, 2019
Registration is now open for the 2019 Cotsen Open. The Cotsen is an annual go tournament, sponsored by go-lover Eric Cotsen, held in Los Angeles, CA. This year’s tournament will be held on October 26-27, 2019 at MG Studio in downtown Los Angeles. The Cotsen Open features thousands of dollars in prizes, an extremely competitive Open Division, live commentary on top board games, masseuses to massage players during their games, free food truck lunches to all those who pre-register on both Saturday and Sunday of the tournament. And, as always, everyone who pre-registers and plays in all 5 of their matches has their full entry fee refunded.
Wednesday August 14, 2019
“During Go Congress, I visited the Chazen Museum of Art at UW and found this Japanese print,” writes Li Ping. “It is a Samurai standing on top of a Go set.”
The woodcut is by Katsukawa Shunshô, who was known for “his widely influential nise-e (“likeness painting”) or nigao (“likenesses”), which were stylized but otherwise accurate facial likenesses of actors. These introduced a greater measure of realism and individuation into ukiyo-e actor portraits.” (Source.)
-edited by Nate Eagle
Wednesday August 7, 2019
The first annual U20 Eastern Youth Open will be held Saturday, August 31. Young Go players under the age of 20 will compete for a $1,500 prize pool. All players must be under 20 years old by the date of the tournament, ranked 10 kyu or higher, and current AGA or CGA members. Players whose AGA ranks are out of date but who have a KGS rank with at least 10 most recent games at the rank of 10 kyu or higher may enter. Pre-registration is required. Click here for tournament details.
Tuesday August 6, 2019
Show co-host Dr. Jerry Jaffe 1d was so inspired by his short visit to the 2018 US Go Congress in Williamsburg that this year he registered as a player and participated in the entire week. An episode of his podcast also resulted, of course. During the week he interviewed Congress Director Dave Weimer on the Congress, Myungwan Kim 9P on his project teaching people with autism, and Ryan Li 1P on the New York Institute of GO.
Listen to the full podcast here (also available through iTunes and Stitcher) if you want to learn the answer to Dave Weimer’s favorite go joke: How many go players does it take to change a lightbulb?