American Go E-Journal » U.S. Go Congress

The organizers of the upcoming 2018 Go Congress, which will be held in Williamsburg, Virginia at the College of William and Mary from July 21 – 28, have launched the updated Go Congress site for 2018. “There’s one very important thing everyone should do: go to the site now and make sure you’re signed up for the Go Congress newsletter,” says Nate Eagle, co-director of the 2018 Go Congress with Diego Pierrottet. “And check back often: we’re going to be updating the site frequently with new information and features.”

“When the idea of the National Go Center hosting a Congress was suggested, I was quite dubious, because I was worried about keeping focus on the newly opened National Go Center.” says Eagle. “But when Diego showed me the research he’d done into William & Mary as a venue, I changed my mind. William & Mary is a gorgeous location, with brick-lined sidewalks and luxurious shade, and it’s close to Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and a lot of other great attractions. And the excitement of preparing to host Congress has been infectious around the NGC: a ton of people have volunteered to staff important positions and help make the event outstanding.”

Williamsburg, Virginia is convenient to three major airports in Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond, and is also accessible via Amtrak’s Northeast Regional train. If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact either Diego Pierrottet or Nate Eagle.

The American Go E-Journal’s comprehensive coverage of the annual U.S. Go Congress would not have been possible without the following team of dedicated volunteers who arrived early, stayed late and worked hard every single day to bring this major U.S. go event to the world. Our coverage included broadcasting — on our YouTube and Twitch channels and KGS — top-board games from every round of the US Masters and US Open, the City League and Redmond Cup finals, the Pair Go tournament and the Bao Yun Blindfold game. Reports appeared daily on our website and in the E-Journal, as well as on our Twitter feeds and Facebook page.

Steve Colburn and Todd Heidenreich anchored the EJ Congress team as usual, helping coordinate the E-Journal’s editorial and game recording teams. Dennis Wheeler led the game recording team and was our liaison for KGS support, aided by Lee Schumacher and Akane Negishi. Tournament reporting was once again coordinated by Tournaments Bureau Chief Karoline Li, who served as a broadcast host as well. Phil Straus was our lead photographer (check out his Congress photo album here)

Michael Wanek headed up the video broadcasting team, taking the coverage to a whole new level with an impressive studio that featured a green-screen skybox overlooking the main playing area. (Sorry about the coffee crisis, Babs; steps have been taken to deal with those responsible!) Also on the core team were Alaina Wanek, Alex Weavers and Andrew Jackson, who originated this effort just a few years ago. Video broadcast hosts included Andrew Jackson, Chris Garlock, Stephen Xhu, Matt Burrall, Julie Burrall, Justin Teng, Karoline Li, Ricky Zhao and Lionel Zhang.

Game recorders included Lionel Zhang, Meng Cai, Richard Dolen, Nate Eagle (who won the 1-dan division in the U.S. Open), David Weimer and Diego Pierrottet. Many thanks to them, especially Zhang, Cai and Dolen, who recorded the morning rounds.

Special thanks as always to our professional commentators, who bring such depth and understanding to our coverage: Myungwan Kim 9p, Feng Yun 9p, Mingjiu Jiang 7p, Yilun Yang 7p, Jennie Shen 2p, Michael Chen 7d, Cathy Li 1p, Shirley Lin 1p, Eric Lui 1p, William Shi 1p, Stephanie Yin 1p.

Finally, huge thanks and appreciation to the entire 2017 U.S. Go Congress team, led by co-directors Ted Terpstra and Les Lanphear, for organizing this amazing week of go and providing such terrific content for us to cover.

– Chris Garlock
Managing Editor, American Go E-Journal

With nearly 100 game records already added to this year’s U.S. Open crosstab, we’re extending the deadline for submitting games. The new deadline is 11:59pm next Sunday, August 27. Email your sgf files to us at journal@usgo.org and be sure to complete the game information with both player’s names and the game result.  

Less than a week after the conclusion of the 33rd US Go Congress last Saturday, the US Open, US Open Masters Division, Redmond Cup, and the Die Hard tournaments have all been rated, in what Ratings Coordinator Jonathan Bresler believes to be record time. “Mmmm,” said AGA president Andrew Okun, contentedly, adding “On behalf of the Congress attendees and the entire go community, my thanks and compliments to TDs Matthew Hershberger, Andy Olsen, and Justin Teng, along with Jonathan Bresler, Treasurer Roy Schmidt, Membership Coordinator Charles Alden, the Congress directors and staff, for their diligence.” Players can see their results reflected in the AGA Games Database.
– photo by Chris Garlock

Longtime go organizer Terry Benson was awarded the Edward Lasker Award at the 2017 Go Congress closing banquet for his lifetime of service to the American Go Association and the go community. Completely surprised but obviously pleased, Benson was visibly moved by the recognition and received a standing ovation. “Terry has been organizing and helping and working tirelessly for the organization and the game since before I was born,” said AGA president Andy Okun. “It is not only a real privilege and honor to be able to give him this award, but humbling to see the very high bar he’s set for the rest of us.”

Benson served as president of the AGA from 1977-1989 and as Managing Editor of the American Go Journal from 1976-1998. He is currently the president of the American Go Foundation and during his tenure the AGF has raised over a half million dollars to promote go. From time to time he’s hosted the longtime floating Brooklyn Go Club, which moves from apartment to apartment throughout New York City. He began playing go in 1960 with a cardboard and plastic Christmas present set his parents bought at a New Jersey mall. He taught himself and a couple of high school buddies. One of them found Arthur Smith’s go book and “tried to steal a march” on him, but Terry found Lasker’s Go and Go-moku. “The games were horrible, long kyu slugfests, jidorgo, but great fun,” he remembers.  He played occasionally through high school and college. In 1975 he stumbled into Games Gallery where then-AGA President  John Stephenson and Treasurer Matthias Thim were playing across the counter. He was quickly drawn into the game and almost immediately recruited a succession of other enthusiasts who helped create the AGA of today. “I get too much credit,” he says, “but I’ll do whatever bit I can to get more people playing go.”

The Lasker Award is named after Edward Lasker, a founder of the American Go Association. Other awardees include Richard Dolen and Frank Fukuda in 2013.