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

After three rounds in the North American Masters Tournament (NAMT) – and four more still to go — just two players are undefeated: Han Han 5P and Zhaonian Chen 7D. Click here for the NAMT crosstab.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Open, two of the five rounds have been completed; click here for the U.S. Open crosstab.

On Tuesday, in addition to commenting on the top boards in the NAMT, Eric Lui 2P and host Eric Lee 3D reviewed two kyu games from the U.S. Open (check out the streams here). Open players interested in having their games included in the Twitch commentary on Thursday can email their OGS username to journal@usgo.org. Note that you must record your Round 3 games on OGS in a demo board and be sure to name the game “US Open Round 3” and include both player’s actual names.

BREAKING NEWS: On Wednesday, the top board at the Die Hard tournament will be broadcast live — for the first time ever! — on OGS and Twitch by the EJ team, starting at 9a MT. The Die Hard’s format is Arena Style: win the most points by winning the most games. Players are re-paired immediately after their games conclude. See Die Hard under Tournaments in the YAPP app for complete details.

One of the big hits of Sunday night’s opening ceremonies at the 2022 U.S. Go Congress was the slideshow of photos from past Congresses, from the first one in 1985 in Westminster, Maryland, to the last pre-pandemic gathering in 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. Click below to see a video of the show and find out more about the U.S. Go Congress history here. Photos by Phil Straus; slideshow by Eric Wainwright.

Here’s a sample of what was posted on the AGA’s Twitter account on Monday…
photos by Chris Garlock

Monday morning saw the launch of the 240-player strong U.S. Open in the main playing area of the U.S. Go Congress, while nearby in the Strong Players Room, top players met in Round 2 of the N.A. Masters Tournament. A new development this year is that while the top three NAMT boards are being broadcast by live onsite game recorders, additional top boards are being broadcast by remote game recorders viewing livestreams of the games on a private YouTube channel, enabling the game commentators to review more games.  Commenters so far have been Inseong Hwang 8D, hosted by Devin Fraze, and Stephanie Yin 1P, hosted by Michael Fodera. Update: The NAMT crosstab has now been posted! 

The E-Journal teams plans to expand coverage to include selected U.S. Open games on Tuesday: anyone interested in having their games included in the live Twitch broadcast should email journal@usgo.org; note that you must be able to record your game (in real time) on OGS.
– report/photo by Chris Garlock

Eighty four players competed in this year’s Lightning event at the U.S. Go Congress, “with an unusual number of players dominating their tables,” reports TD Keith Arnold.
Table winners were: Lambert Li 6 dan (undefeated); Kevin Huang 6 dan (undefeated); James Sedgwick 6 dan; Al Tang 2 dan (undefeated); Feng Li 2 dan; Stephanie Tan 1 dan; Benjamin Gundy 1 kyu (undefeated); Daniel Lou 2kyu; Austin Robinson 4 kyu (undefeated); Luke Belyeu 4 kyu (undefeated); Brad Rose 6 kyu; Regina Kim 10 kyu (undefeated); Lee Belyeu 13 kyu (undefeated); Hayden Fung 20 kyu (undefeated). Playoffs will be held this week.                                                           

Special thanks to Cat Mai for keeping the clocks running on time. photos by Chris Garlock

[Show slideshow]

“There’s still time to donate go equipment or services to the AGF Auction,” reports Solomon Smilack. “The event runs for one week alongside the US Go Congress, and is a great way to support an amazing cause.” The auction, which benefits the American Go Foundation, is online, so you don’t need to be present at the Go Congress to donate, or to bid.

Donors who have stepped up so far include Roy Laird, who has donated five “Instant Go Libraries,” which includes dozens of new and out-of-print books up for grabs in each set, most in excellent condition and some even signed by their authors. The team at Store.Baduk.Club have donated a new kaya floor board, as well as a refurbished set of Slate & Shell stones with premium bowls. This gear will have historic value, too, as it will be used during the final round of the 2022 North American Masters Tournament. 
The team at GoMagic.org have donated ten Gold Memberships to their online Go-Learning platform. From Inseong Hwang, five Spectator Memberships to his online school and Yunguseng Dojang. And Bill Phillips has donated “an amazing quilt made from sixteen T-shirts of past US Go Congresses!”

Bidders can register any time, but Smilack says “it is best to register in advance so that you aren’t rushing at the last minute to enter your bids.” This year’s winners will have the additional checkout options of Apple Pay or Google Pay.

The 2022 U.S. Go Congress – the first in-person event since 2019 – got underway on Saturday as hundreds of go players from across the country made the trek to The YMCA of the Rockies playing site in Estes Park, Colorado. Despite the additional challenge of having to covid test all attendees, the registration process went smoothly. While the vast majority of attendees tested negative, several did test positive, underlining the need to observe the Congress masking rules to protect everyone’s safety, organizers told the E-Journal.  

With the U.S. Open not beginning until Monday morning, many players used the extra day to take in the scenic opportunities offered by the site amid the Rocky Mountains, while others participated in the ever-popular Self-Paired Tournament, which began at 5p on Saturday. Also on Saturday was the first round in the Redmond Cup for youth players, and on Sunday afternoon the top players met in the first round of the U.S. Masters.

Once again this year, the E-Journal is providing extensive coverage of the Go Congress: follow us on Twitter and for live game coverage, check out our Twitch channel, where we’ll broadcast games from the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open (starting each morning at 9a Mountain Time), with commentary by professional go players as well as popular go streamers and strong amateurs. And of course we’ll be posting reports on our website and in the EJ. Another great option this year is to get the YAPP app, which has its own social stream, where Congress participants are posting photos and updates.

The handy Yapp app that allows Go Congress attendees to see the latest Congress events schedule, post photos and see profiles of other attendees is back. The app – first used at the 2018 Congress in Williamsburg, VA, enables users to see the latest schedule of events like pro simuls as new information is added, and Congress attendees can create their own personal schedule to ensure they get the most out of the event. The Social Feed a great place to share photos, which may be picked up by the EJ Congress team to share on the AGA’s Twitter feed as well as in EJ reports.  The attendees section is a great way to introduce yourself to other Congress participants with a pic and a bio about your interests.

The E-Journal plans to livestream top boards once again this year at the upcoming U.S. Go Congress — July 30 – August 7 in Estes Park, CO — and is looking for a few dedicated volunteers to record the games. This is a great way to provide an important service to the world go community, as well as to gain valuable experience closely watching top games. Game recorders must have their own laptops and need to be available during the U.S. Open rounds, which generally take place in the morning during the Congress. Email journal@usgo.org if interested and/or need more details.
photo: Justin Teng recording at the 2016 U.S. Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock  

The US Go Congress in Estes Park now has four East Side lodge rooms available. Onsite lodging sold out several weeks ago, but offsite registration has remained open. Organizers have filled all the rooms for people on the waiting list, and are pleased to offer a few extra. If you want a room act fast, they will likely sell out quickly again. A revised Covid plan is coming out shortly for the congress, and all attendees will receive an update by email in the next few days. For more information, and to register, visit GoCongress.org.