Registration is now open for the 29th Redmond Cup and 5th AGA Girls Cup, the AGA’s annual premier youth tournaments for North American youth under 18 and females under 16 respectively. Players must have an accredited rank of 1-dan or higher to participate in the Redmond Cup, and an accredited rank of 10-kyu or higher to participate in the AGA Girls Cup. The Redmond Cup features both a Junior (under 13) and a Senior (13-17) division, while the AGA Girls Cup will feature one division (under 16). Both tournaments are online preliminaries to determine two finalists in each division who will be invited to play in a best-of-three match at the 2022 US Go Congress. The American Go Foundation will cover all reasonable expenses for the finalists of both tournaments to travel to and compete at the 2022 USGC. If there is no in-person 2022 USGC, the Finals will be played at the following in-person USGC. Players who complete all rounds of either tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the next in-person USGC.
This year’s tournaments have undergone several major changes, including a format overhaul and mandatory video calls with strict camera setup guidelines during games. In light of issues regarding prohibited use of AI assistance during tournament games, these changes were made to maintain a high standard of tournament integrity in a practical manner.
Registration for the Redmond Cup will close on March 16th, with competition starting on March 21st. Registration for the AGA Girls Cup will close on March 23rd, with competition starting on March 28th. Interested competitors can read about the rules for the Redmond Cup and rules for the AGA Girls Cup for more information, and email youth@usgo.org with any inquiries.
– Story and photo by Justin Teng, AGA Youth Coordinator
