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

The AGA today announced that the 2021 US e-Go Congress will be held online July 17-24. With the pandemic continuing, the AGA has determined this is the safest for all of its players. The Congress Coordinator is working with this year’s director “to prepare and plan another excellent year of lots of Go,” organizers report.

“Last year’s e-Go Congress was a great success,” said AGA Congress Coordinator Lisa Scott, “and we’re thrilled to be able to build on that for another year.  We’re all looking forward to being back in person at a US Go Congress when it’s safe to do so, but in the meantime, it’s wonderful to be able to involve so many people, in North America and around the world, who might not be able to attend an in-person Congress.  I can’t wait to see everyone online this summer, and in-person next year!” 

Tournaments will include a weekend “Open” tournament, a weekday daytime “blitz” tournament, evening 9×9, Pair Go, Double-Digit Kyu tournaments, professional events, a daytime youth event and the City League Tournament Championships. Tournaments will be held on KGS, OGS, and Pandanet. “We hope to see many friends and repeat players from last year,” say organizers. Watch the E-Journal and the Go Congress website for more information. 

The recent 2020 e-Go Congress was covered by broadcasts on AGA Twitch but if you missed some of the live sessions, the E-Journal has begun posting Congress videos and will release one each Tuesday at 6 PM EDT on the AGA YouTube channel, in addition to our regular Friday releases of commentaries by Michael Redmond 9P (tune in on AGA Twitch at 8p EDT Sunday, August 23 for his live commentary on Game 46 in the popular AlphaGo vs AlphaGo series).

The series launched last Wednesday with the Congress Opening Ceremony (originally aired on August 1).

The live broadcasts are available on AGA Twitch for 60 days after the initial live broadcast. Note that the YouTube versions will come with more refined cuts and easy chapter navigation.

Tentative AGA YouTube Congress Video Release Schedule
*The Chess & Go collaboration (aired on August 9) has been posted on August 16 under Jonathan Schrantz’s (@vampirechicken) YouTube channel.
August 19: Opening Ceremony (including the AI Roundtable Discussion with Lucas Baker, Andreas Hauenstein, Hajin Lee and Sichen Zhong)
August 23: Closing Ceremony (including the winning entries of the Bob High Memorial Song & Poetry Contest, also available in standalone versions)
August 25: AGF Teacher of the Year Keynote – with Frank Luo
September 1: Lecture #1, Trick Moves – with Ryan Li 1p
September 8: Lecture #2, Chop & Hold – with Inseong Hwang 8d
September 20: Introduction to Go for Beginners – with David Kahn
September 15: Board 3, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Myungwan Kim 9p
September 22: “Twitch Plays Go” Beginners Special – with Eric Lui 1p
September 29: Congress Reviews Day #1 – with Guo Juan 5p
October 6: Board 2, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Inseong Hwang 8d
October 13: Congress Reviews Day #2 – with Guo Juan 5p
October 20: Pair Go Top Boards – with Yoonyoung Kim 8p
October 27: Congress Reviews Day #3 – with Guo Juan 5p
November 3: Board 1, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Michael Redmond 9p
November 10: Congress Reviews Day #4 – with Guo Juan 5p
November 17: Lecture #3, Attachments – with Ryan Li 1p
November 24: Lecture #4, Local Techniques – with Inseong Hwang 8d
December 1: Review: Board 1, Round 4 of e-Go Congress Open – with Myungwan Kim 9p

Nearly one thousand players took part in the AGA’s first e-Go Congress from August 1 – 9 across multiple online platforms. This dedicated team of volunteers worked tirelessly to put the e-Go Congress together in under three months after the US Go Congress in Estes Park, CO was cancelled due to COVID-19. We wanted to take a moment to gratefully acknowledge their work. Next year’s Congress is set for July 24 – August 1, 2021 in Cleveland, OH; if you’d like to consider being a part of the Congress team, email  lisa.scott@gocongress.org or journal@usgo.org if you’re interested in the E-Journal team.

Congress Staff
Director/Congress Coordinator – Lisa Scott
Deputy Directors – Audrey Wang, Stephen Hu
Registrar – Emil Meng
Pro Coordinator – Audrey Wang
Pro Facilitators – Cat Man, Megan Wheeldon
Logo Design – Ken Lukas
Teachers – Myungwan Kim 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 8P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Yilun Yang 7P, Guo Juan 5P, Cathy Li 1P, Francis Meyer 1P, Eric Lui 1P, Ryan Li 1P, In-seong Hwang 8d, Michael Chen 7d, Yuan Zhou 7d, Julie Burrall, David Kahn, Joseph Chaves, William Luff, Cat Mai, Howie Marshall, Milan Mladenovic
Tournament Directors – Steve Colburn, Dan Ritter, Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter, Eric Wainwright, Ke Lu, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack, Jon Boley, Orion Campbell, Katherine Xie, Bart Lipofsky, Andrew Zhang, Devin Fraze, Justin Teng, Lionel Zhang, Kevin Hwang, Audrey Wang, William Luff, Michael Chen, Eric Lui, Michael Fodera, Sichen Zong
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest organizers – Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner
Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest Judges – Brady Daniels, Mike Lash, Hajin Lee 4P, Audrey Wang
AI Round Table Hosts – Devin Fraze, Audrey Wang
AI Round Table Guest Speakers – Lukas Baker, Andreas Hauenstein, Hajin Lee 4P, Sichen Zhong
Hangouts Host – Julie Burrall

Broadcast Team
Executive Producer – Stephen Hu
Line Producers – James Funk, Jared Meadows, Shawn Ray
Twitch stream hosts – Julie Burrall, Michael Fodera, Devin Fraze, Stephen Hu, Cat Mai, Shawn Ray, Jonathan Schrantz, Lisa Scott, Audrey Wang, Brandon Zhou, Steve Zilber
Twitch stream commentators – Myungwan Kim 9P, Michael Redmond 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 9P, Guo Juan 5P, Eric Lui 1P, Inseong Hwang 8d
Twitch Chat Moderators – @anago, @cdpruitt, @clossius, @ejournal, @gobaduk, @hajinlee21, @istari2022, @nicksib, @omniraden, @perigril, @polarbearsplaygo, @s_singh99, @thelovingsun, @vash3g, @xed_over, @xhu98
Braodcast Overlay Design – Stephen Hu
Motion Graphics/Transition – Jared Meadows
Music – “Centered” by Tritonal x Nick Sibicky, Tritonalmusic.com
Content Sponsors – AI Sensei (Benjamin Teuber), Guo Juan’s Internet Go School (Guo Juan 5P), New York Institute of Go (Ryan Li 1P and Stephanie Yin 1P), Yunguseng Dojang (Inseong Hwang 8d)

Special Thanks
Will Lockhart and Cole Pruitt of The Surrounding Game Movie, Darrell Malick, and prize sponsors AI Sensei, Guo Juan’s Internet Go School, ZBaduk, Feng Yin 9P, Yoonyoung Kim 8P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Yilun Yang 7P, Eric Lui 1P, Ryan Li 1P

e-Go Congress Coverage
Twitch broadcast videos

-screenshot by Phil Straus

This year’s e-Go Congress is providing hundreds of players with opportunities for competition, fun games, and connection with friends while streaming live on Twitch, proving that even a pandemic can not stop Go players from getting together – albeit virtually – in summer for the Go Congress. Even if you haven’t registered for the event or played in one of the many tournaments that have started so far, there are still ways you can participate in this year’s e-Go Congress!

If you have been thinking about upgrading your playing equipment and want to support youth and Go education, consider bidding on the AGF auction board. This year’s board is an antique floor board and stones generously donated by Solomon Smilack, who has spend a considerable amount of time tracking down and collecting vintage Go equipment from Japan.

There have been several creative submissions to this year’s Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest, and voting is open! Vote on your favorite go-themed song and poem here.

Want to get your game reviewed or play against a professional? There are still spots open for the final three 2020 e-Go Congress Pro Small Group Sessions on Friday 8/7 and Saturday 8/8. See details and sign up here!  

A vintage Goban is being auctioned online as a fundraiser for the AGF, in lieu of the traditional auction held at the final banquet at the Go Congress. “I’ve spent the last several months of the quarantine tracking down vintage go equipment from Japan with the hope of bringing it to US players at affordable prices. To that end, I have opened an Etsy shop called DangerMonkeyGoStones where I have listed a number of pieces of Go Equipment,” writes Solomon Smilack.

The auction is live on ebay and will close on Sunday Aug. 9 at 12:30 pm. The board and stones were donated by Smilack, and 100% of the proceeds will benefit the AGF. Click here to visit the auction. -Paul Barchilon, AGF VP