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

The 2020 e-Go Congress closed registration the evening of July 29, with 941 people from 52 countries officially registered to attend. Congress organizers urge all registrants to fill out the check-in form as soon as possible, and at least by 8pm on 7/31 or risk having their registration cancelled.

Anyone who missed registration but still hopes to participate can join the waitlist here. Individual TDs may be able to let people from the waitlist join their tournament. There are still many events that will be open for public viewing for those who are not able to play in the 2020 e-Go Congress tournaments.

Whether or not you plan to participate in the events, everyone is welcome to peruse the official 2020 e-Go Congress store: https://usgo-stuff.org/.  At the store, you can find t-shirts (men’s, women’s, and children’s styles), mugs, lapel pins, canvas grocery bags, and masks, all with the 2020 e-Go Congress logo!

For more information, check out the congress website: https://www.gocongress.org/2020.  

With the e-Go Congress starting in just a few days, the organizers have published the final list of Broadcast events and small group lessons with pros and strong amateurs.

Small-group sessions with pros and strong amateurs are available to registered attendees only (at a fee of $35 per event).  These sessions include game reviews and simuls with Myungwan Kim 9p, Yoonyoung Kim 8p, Mingjiu Jiang 7p, Yilun Yang 7p, Ryo Maeda 6p, Cathy Li 1p, Ryan Li 1p, Michael Chen 7d, and Yuan Zhou 7d.  Register here if you would like to participate in the e-Go Congress and be eligible to register for the small-group pro events.

The e-Go Congress will have a full schedule of broadcasts on Twitch, including game commentaries, pro lectures, public game reviews, a film screening, and the AGF Teacher of the Year Presentation. The schedule for those events is below (and on the e-Go Congress website, gocongress.org).  Pros and strong amateurs offering these events include Michael Redmond 9p, Myungwan Kim 9p, Yoonyoung Kim 8p, Guo Juan 5p, Eric Lui 1p, Ryan Li 1p, and Inseong Hwang 7d.

While it doesn’t have a specific broadcast timeslot, this year’s e-Go Congress is also continuing the tradition of holding the Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest.  Entries to the contest are due by 11pm EDT on Monday, August 3, and can be submitted here.  A panel of 3-5 judges will each read and rate all entries, and the top scoring entries will become the finalists.  The final winner will be selected by e-Go Congress attendees and viewers of the AGA’s Twitch channel.  

Registration for the 2020 e-Go Congress has continued to be strong, breaking all US Go Congress records. As of this writing, registration is at 772 people overall. However, registration will close on Wednesday, 7/29 at 8pm EDT so register now if you want to play! A waitlist will open when registration closes, but there’s no guarantee that those on the waitlist willet the chance to play. After registration, all registered attendees are required to fill out the check-in form if they would like to play in tournaments.

A few of the tournaments reached their capacity in the past few days, including: the Double-Digit Kyu Tournament with 120 registered and a growing waitlist, the Relay Go Tournament with 100 registered and a waitlist half again that length, and the 9×9 Tournament with 240 people and a dozen on the waitlist. The e-Go Congress Open – currently with 591 players – the Blitz Tournament – currently 258 players – and the Pair Go Tournament – currently 159 players not all of whom have partners – are still accepting registrations, but not for long, so get registered!

Just days after registration opened for the 2020 e-Go Congress, more than 300 have already signed up. In addition to Americans and Canadians, players from 31 other countries have registered. “I’m floored by how this event really seems to have struck a chord with people around the world,” said Congress Coordinator Lisa Scott. “It’s wonderful to see how well this event has come together”

And for those interested in finding out more about the American Go Association and other ways to participate in the go community, a full schedule of informational, business, and training meetings have been scheduled for the following week (see schedule).

If you’re interested in volunteering to help with the e-Go Congress, want to help put on TD or Teacher Workshops – or have other ideas for online events you’d like to help the AGA put on – contact the Congress Coordinator at lisa.scott@usgo.org. “The AGA would love to run more online events over the coming months, all we need is you to volunteer!” said Scott.

You can now register here for the 2020 e-Go Congress, taking place online August 1-9, 2020.

Although work continues on the 2020 e-Go Congress website, you can find updated information about the e-Go Congress schedule here. “We are so excited about how well this is coming together!” says AGA Congress Coordinator Lisa Scott. “There has been so much interest from volunteers and players, as well as professionals interested in teaching – we can’t wait to bring this ‘mini-congress’ to Go players!”

Look for more updates – including more events with professionals – in the coming days.