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

Registration for the 2022 U.S. Go Congress is now open. The 38th annual event will be held July 30th – August 7th at the YMCA camp near Estes Park, Colorado. The main playing site is Assembly Hall in the center of the Y camp, which is surrounded by many indoor and outdoor amenities, “plus the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains,” say organizers. “It’s the perfect setting for both players and non-players alike — an ideal vacation destination.  So, bring the whole family!”

The camp is just outside Estes Park, about 1.5 – 2 hours from Denver International Airport (DIA).  You can sign up for the airport shuttle during registration, or rent a car at the airport.  The Congress has a number of rooms reserved on-site, or you can choose from many off-site locations, though organizers say anyone interested should “act soon as summer fills up quickly.”  

To register, click here, then click the Start Here tab to create a login and sign up for lodging and meal plans, the banquet, and the day-off activities. 

“There are official tours to please almost everyone, from open-air trollies servicing Rocky Mountain National Park, ghost tours at the historic Stanley Hotel, cable-car rides to the top of Prospect Mountain, and horseback riding”, says Congress Co-Director Eric Wainwright. “If any of these don’t appeal to you, there’s an abundance of informal tours and other activities as well.”

After extensive meetings with the AGA Board and officials during the last two months, U.S. Go Congress directors are pleased to announce plans for an in-person event. “We believe a reasonably safe Congress can be held with the proper precautions such as those described on the continually updated AGA website Covid-19 page,” they say, noting the recent steep drop in cases and that most Americans are now well protected from COVID.  (AP News).”

Given that playing go puts players face to face, across from each other for prolonged periods of time, organizers currently plan precautions that exceed CDC recommendations, including wearing masks during indoor play. Vaccination will be required. A statement of the policy will be available on the Congress website.

The 38th annual U.S. Go Congress will be held July 30th – August 7th at the YMCA camp near Estes Park, CO. The camp is just outside Estes Park, about 1.5 – 2 hours from Denver International Airport (DIA).

“We’re very excited to be holding an in-person Congress again this year”, says Co- Director Eric Wainwright. “People are eager to greet old friends, make new friends and resume the great tradition of playing go at the week-long Congress.”

Registration is expected to open in about a week. 

Over 500 players took part in the AGA’s second e-Go Congress from July 17-25th across multiple online platforms. This dedicated team of volunteers worked tirelessly to put the e-Go Congress together. We wanted to take a moment to gratefully acknowledge their work. Next year’s Congress is set for July 30– August 7, 2022 in Estes Park, CO; if you’d like to consider being a part of the Congress team, email  Lisa Scott or AGA E-Journal if you’re interested in the E-Journal team.

Congress Staff
Congress Director – Steve Colburn
Deputy Director & Pro Facilitator – Stephen Hu
Registrar – Emil Meng
Congress Coordinator – Lisa Scott
Logo Design – Alex Kim
Teachers – Feng Yun 9p, Michael Redmond 9p, Myungwan Kim 9p, Mingjiu Jiang 7p, Yilun Yang 7p, Ryan Li 3p, Eric Lui 2p, Calvin Sun 1p, In-seong Hwang, Julie Burrall, David Kahn, Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter, Sathya Singh, Rognarr Markssen, Gary Watson, Luis Palacios, Brian Kirby, Felipe Herman van Riemsdijk, Alex Smolenski, Charles Hammack
Tournament Directors – Steve Colburn, Dan Ritter, Milan Mladenovic, Devin Fraze, Eric Wainwright, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack, Jon Boley, Katherine Xie, Kevin Chao, Yixian Zhou, Lionel Zhang, Andrew Zhang
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest – Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner, Wanda Metcalf, Roy Laird
Silly Go Songs – Terry Benson, Barbara Calhoun, Roy Laird
Picture A Go Player – Samantha Fede
AGF Auction – Solomon Smilack, Terry Benson
Platforms – Online Go Server, KGS, Pandanet, AGA Twitch, AGA YouTube, Zoom, Baduk.Club

Broadcast Team
Executive Producer – Stephen Hu
Line Producer – Eva-Dee Beech, Jared Meadows
Stream Hosts – Keith Arnold, Julie Burrall, Michael Fodera, Devin Fraze, Stephen Hu, Lisa Scott, Sathya Singh
Stream Commentators – Myungwan Kim 9p, Michael Redmond 9p, Kim Seungjun “Blackie” 9p, Yoonyoung Kim 8p, Ryan Li 3p, Eric Lui 2p, Stephanie Yin 1p, Diana Koszegi 1p, Inseong Hwang 8d, Albert Yen 7d, Jeremy Chiu 6d, Professor Daniela Trinks
USGO Congress 2022 – Eric Wainwright, Howard Landman, and Paul Barchilon for
Twitch, Discord, and OGS Chat Moderators – @ejournal, @gobaduk, @polarbear, @sirocco, @vash3g, @xhu98, @lionGuySai, @Goshi
Overlay Design – Stephen Hu
Motion Graphics – Jared Meadows
Music – “Reverence”, Tritonal x Nick Sibicky, Tritonalmusic.com
Broadcast Content Sponsors – AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5p), New York Institute of Go (Ryan Li 3p and Stephanie Yin 1p), Yunguseng Dojang (Inseong Hwang 8d)

Special Thanks
Sirocco Hamada, American Go Association, American Go Foundation and prize sponsors; North American Professionals, AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5p), AwesomeBaduk, Go Magic

e-Go Congress Coverage
Twitch broadcast videos

After a week of online play between over 500 participants, the results are in! This year’s 2021 e-Go Congress hosted six tournaments, plus the Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest and two new events.

Pandanet AGA City League Tournament and Championship
TD: Steve Colburn
A League Champions: New York City – Ryan Li 3P, Hanchen Zhang 1P, Stephanie Yin 1p; Runner Up: Canwa Vancouver 1 – Henry Yu 2p, Bill Lin 8d, Brady Zhang 7d; 3rd Place: Greater Washington, 4th Place: Toronto, 5th Place: Chicago 1
B League: 1st Place: Boston, 2nd Place: Seattle 1, 3rd Place: Los Angeles, 4th Place: Chicago 2
C League: 1st Place: Seattle 2, 2nd Place: Canwa Vancouver 3, 3rd Place: Washington DC 2
D League: 1st Place: North Corvallis, 2nd Place: New Mexico, 3rd Place: NY City 4

Double Digit Kyu Tournament
TD: Kevin Chao; ATDs: Yixian Zhou
Group 1 (10 kyu) – 1st: gorabbit 10k, 2nd: Emily Hjulstorm 10k, 3rd: Savanni D’Gerinel 10k, 4th: xltra76 10k, 5th: dl123 10k
Group 2 (11-12 kyu) – 1st: Paul Adamski 12k, 2nd: Stefan Weissner 11k, 3rd: Harold Stockton 11k
Group 3 (13-14 kyu) – 1st: Ben Schwartz 13k, 2nd: Mic841 23k, 3rd: tamplee 13k, 4th: Elphiya Khodger 14k
Group 4 (15-18 kyu) – 1st: Junxiong Lin 15k, 2nd: Joevan 15k, 3rd: Abizer Nasir 17k, 4th: Wes Isenhart 18k
Group 5 (19-30 kyu) – 1st: Laurie Ensworth 19k, 2nd: Ji-Xin Cheng 30k, 3rd: kt112 19k, 3th: melodyliu 20k

9 X 9 Tournament
TD: Eric Wainwright; ATDs: Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack
Dan Division: 1st: JtaoOMG 2d, 2nd: Xingke Sun 5d, 3rd: Pengyu Sun 2p
Single-digit Kyu Division: 1st: Hypernova 8k, 2nd: Khang Hoang 2k, 3rd: Luis Palacios 2k
Double-digit Kyu Division: 1st: dl123.2020 10k, 2nd: William Seiyo Shehan 25k, 3rd: JBX2010 10k

Pair Go Tournament
TD: Lionel Zhang; ATD:Andrew Zhang
Table Winners: Seowoo Wang & Eric Lui, Juliaz & Brightstar, Yhe & JtaoOMG, Baileyy & sparkycat, Angelzhou & Yixian Zhou, Vpxie & Khang Hoang, Vivienne Blandy & Mark Fraser, HILT1 & Monstral1, Seagal & Asbayen, Sergey Hodger & Arina7, KoBa & AndyL2011, Mari Oshima & Junxiong Lin

Blitz Tournament
TD: Jon Boley, ATDs: Katherine Xie
Group 1 (5 dan +) – 1st: Xingke Sun 5d, Yhe 5d, 2nd: AlexQi2008 6d, Brightstar 7d, 3rd: GCCongress 5d
Group 2 (1-4 dan) – 1st: JtaoOMG 2d, 2nd: Eyz 2d, Jason 1d, Wirtuoosi 2d, SeanSong 1d
Group 3 (1-3 kyu) – 1st: Al123 1k, 2nd: Sunbunny6 1k, Piotr Millan 3k, 3rd: iGo4Now 1k, Iulian Bogaciev 2k
Group 4 (4-7 kyu) – 1st: Khang Hoang 2k, 2nd: Angelzhao 5k, Tevis Tsai 6k, 3rd: Angelzhao 7k, DashZhang 7k
Group 5 (8 kyu – 30 kyu) – 1st: Xltra76 10k, 2nd: Triberos 11k, 3rd: Aman6a 13k, Dl123 10k

e-Go Congress Open
TD: Dan Ritter, ATDs: Devin Fraze, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter
7 dan+ – 1st: Kbs8438 7d, 2nd: eponymous 7d, 3rd: Henry0202 2p
6 dan – 1st: jamessun 6d, 2nd: Jeremiah Donley 6d, 3rd: Tianyi Chen 6d, Meng Wang 6d
5 dan – 1st: bkCongress 5d, 2nd: Xingke Sun 5d, Toranosuku Ozawa 5d
4 dan – 1st: Jeff Kuang 4d, 2nd: Joel Kenny 4d, 3rd: Hkt008 4d
3 dan – 1st: juliaz 3d, 2nd: Lucman Bounoider 3d, 3rd: Francisco Rodriguez 3d
2 dan – 1st: David Weimer 2d, 2nd: Andrew Swan 2d, 3rd: eyz 2d
1 dan – 1st: Tao Li 1d, 2nd: LiuJason 1d, 3rd: pokeseansong 1d
1 kyu – 1st: ss22 1k, 2nd: Jerty 1k, 3rd: al123 1k
2 kyu – 1st: Khang Hoang 2k, 2nd: Mark Fraser 2k, 3rd: Iulian Bogaciev 2k
3 kyu – 1st: Yeming 3k, 2nd: ericmao 3k, 3rd: Stephen Tanner 3k
4 kyu – 1st: Cadspen 4k, 2nd: Zhihan1 4k, 3rd: tshelix 4k
5 kyu – 1st: Anderson Barreal 5k, 2nd: Marta Miksa 5k, 3rd: David Rohlfing 5k
6 kyu – 1st: AbigailC 6k, 2nd: Tevis Tsai 6k, 3rd: Andy321 6k
7 kyu – 1st: angelzhou 7k, 2nd: KorbloxDex 7k, 3rd: Rostislav Kuksin 7k
8 kyu – 1st: Raghavendra Murty 8k, 2nd: Poppilo5116 8k, 3rd: Anthony Li 8k
9 kyu – 1st: agcKai 9k, 2nd: Richard Newman 9k, 3rd: David Pesa 9k
10 kyu – 1st: go_rabbit 10k, 2nd: JBX2010 10k, 3rd: chenruij 10k, ct112 10k
11k-12k – 1st: Stefan Weissner 11k, 2nd: quantumjo 11k, 3rd: springleaf 12k
13k-14k – 1st: Ben Schwartz 13k, 2nd: Alicia Selfrid 13k, 3rd: TheNopenator 14k
15k-19k – 1st: Junxiong Lin 15k, 2nd: Lee Edwards 15k, 3rd: Francisco Riberio 15k, Laurie Ensworth 19k
20k-30k – 1st: Roland Bijvank 20k, 2nd: Brandon Sallot 20k, 3rd: melodyl112 20K

Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest
Organizers: Terry Benson
Judges: Terry Benson, Wanda Metcalf, Barbara Calhoun, Roy Laird
Best Song: Invasion Man by Freeman Ng

Picture A Go Player
Organizer: Samantha Fede
T-Shirt Winner: Jiayang Wei
Adult Winner: Brian Kirby
Youth Winner: Tianning Li

Leon Chen’s Tsumeogo Challenge
Organizer: Stephen Hu & Leon Chen
Winners: Rong Qi Chen, Yiduo He, Satoru Inoue, Brain Kirby, Stephanie Tan, Colin Williams (lackita), Albert Yen, Eric Yoder, Qingbo Zhang, Andy Zhou

The closing ceremonies of the annual US Go Congress are just hours away and the Congress won’t be complete without the auction of a goban to benefit the American Go Foundation. And this year you can bid on so much more. “Help raise much-needed funds and get yourself some prizes along the way!” says Solomon Smilack. Click here and then use the buttons to register, so that you can bid on the auction items. Click Auction to review the current offerings, select Donate to give financial support to the AGF directly, or Donate Item to add something to the auction. “There are go lessons from online teachers, dojo membership, go equipment, go books, old go periodicals, and more!” says Smilack.