Thursday December 12, 2013
After a very calm start for both players, Lee Sedol 9P starts to attack in the middle game of the Samsung Game 2 final (Korean Fans Shocked By Loss in Samsung Cup Final As Tang Weixing 3P Sweeps Lee Sedol 9P) on
December 11, sparking a very exciting fight, where I’ve concentrated most of my comments. Tang Weixing 3P ably parries Lee’s attack and after the dust settles it’s a very close game.
– Michael Redmond 9P
Wednesday November 27, 2013
Yunxuan Li 6d has won the American Go Honor Society’s (AGHS) Young Lion’s tournament, for the third year in a row. “The tournament was very competitive,” writes organizer Calvin Sun, “with many new faces appearing this year. The first board topped the Active Games list, attracting almost 100 observers on KGS.” Competing on Nov. 16th and 17th, Li topped a field of 34 players with a 4-0 record. “The tournament was really great” Li told the E-Journal, “it is amazing to see new players each year. I want to thank the AGHS for giving this opportunity to North American youth, to compete and communicate with each other. All the games I played were so difficult. This was probably the most competitive year for the Young Lion’s yet.” Li graciously agreed to provide commentary on his crucial 2nd round match with Jimmy Yang 5d, and the attached game record is a freebie for all E-J readers. “I think it is very beneficial for young people to play go, it helps enlarge our imagination, and develops a sense of logic,” says Li. “It is very cool to have go as a friend when you are young, because it really helps you mature a lot.” 11 players 3 dan and up competed in the Open Section, which Li won. In Division 1, from 2d to 3k, Jeremiah Donley 1k took top honors; Division 2, from 5k to 9k was won by Frederick Bao 5k; Matthew Qiu 16k took the prize in Division 3, from 10k to 21k. Stay tuned for AGHS’ next big tournament, the School Team Tournament, which will be held in March. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Wenguang Wu: Li, at left, plays with Fang Tian Feng 8P. The kid with the yellow shirt, who is watching the game is Ding Hao 6d, an insei from Beijing Ge Yu Hong Dojo.
Saturday July 20, 2013
In the end, Iyama Yuta 9P’s hold on the Honinbo title came down to 4.5 points.
That was Iyama’s margin of victory over Takao Shinji 9P in the final game of the 68th Honinbo title, which concluded on July 18 at 7:42p after 262 moves in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. This is the third time in three years that the Honinbo has gone the full 7-game distance, including last year when Iyama took the title from Yamashita Keigo 9P. Iyama and Takao began their grueling duel in mid-May with Iyama winning the first game. Takao quickly made up the loss by controlling the next two games. However, Iyama (right) was not intimidated and fought back in games four and five, giving himself a chance to capture the match in game six, but Takao quickly extinguished those hopes in just 194 moves to set up yet another dramatic final game for the match. In the decisive seventh game (left), Iyama, taking black, used almost half of his eight-hour time allowance during the first day alone. When Takao sealed the move (W74) at 5:07p on July 17, he had four hours and forty-eight minutes remaining while his opponent only had four hours and five minutes. At 9a the next morning, the tricky sealed move was revealed and
“[changed] the flow of the game,” according to live game commentator Rin Kanketsu 7P. Yet up until move 70, either player could have taken the title. It was white’s tenuki at move 82 that was the crucial misstep that allowed black to secure thickness and give Iyama the advantage. White attempted to complicate the game at move 92 but Iyama stayed unfazed through the endgame and claimed victory with only two minutes left on his clock. In a post-game interview, Iyama said he felt fortunate to have held on to the title after such a challenging series. Takao felt lucky he made it to the end but was disappointed in his own performance. Since his most recent Honinbo title in 2007, Takao has tried to “reclaim the crown” three times to no avail. Iyama, on the other hand, holds five of the seven major Japanese titles (Kisei, Honinbo, Tengen, Oza, and Gosei) and also won the 25th Asian TV Cup at the end of June, proving his international prowess.
– Annalia Linnan, based on a more detailed report — including more photos and game records — on Go Game Guru; photos courtesy Go Game Guru
Saturday June 29, 2013
Spain: At the II Open de Bilbao on June 16, Kiichi Matsumoto 1k bested Miguel-Angel Antolinez 2d and Alejandro Menendez 8k placed third. KGS: On June 23, French player Tanguy Le Calve 5d (Welvang on KGS) led his nine-player team to victory against German team leader Oliver Wolf 4d (sinsai on KGS) in the French-German Youth Friendship Match. There were three players per age group (U18, U15, and U11) with the each team leader on board one. In the end, France triumphed 5-4. Live commentary on select games by Hwan In-seong 8d (including the match between Wolf and Le Calve) can be found here. Slovakia: Jan Simara 6d (right) dominated the Slovak Go Festival on June 23 while Ondrej Silt 6d came in second and Dominik Boviz 3d in third.
— Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news
Tuesday April 30, 2013
Aaron Ye 5d, who has been the Jr. Division US Youth Champion for the past three years, pulled a surprise upset at the Jujo Jiang Youth Cup in Sunnyvale, CA, on March 24th. Ye, who is just 11, lost his Jr. Division title to Jeremy Chiu 5d in the US Youth Go Championships in February, and was out to settle a score. Reigning Sr. Division champion Calvin Sun 7d was also unseated by Andrew Lu 6d at the USYGC. All of these matches were held online, but Ye was determined to even the score when he got the chance to play both Chiu and Lu face to face at the Jujo Cup. Taking white against Chiu, Ye captured a large group on the lower side, and then forced Chiu to resign in just 132 moves. Ye next took on Andrew Lu, and despite falling behind in the opening, was able to regain his footing, and defeat Lu as well. As a special bonus for all E-J readers, Feng Yun’s compelling commentary on the game is being provided for free (see below). Full members of the AGA get exciting commentaries like this every week, and members can compare games like this one with last week’s commentary, where Ye lost to Chiu, and also see an exciting game between Calvin Sun and Andrew Lu from the USYGC. The game commentaries alone are worth the price of AGA membership. For youth it is an even better deal, just $10 a year! The E-J is providing this game as a freebie, full members can also see another game this week, where Guo Juan 5P reviews a game from a 1 dan player, and highlights how to find urgent points in relation to strong and weak groups on the board. To sign up for the members edition, register with the AGA here. Winner’s Report: 5-7 dan: 1st Place: Aaron Ye, 2nd place: Andrew Lu, 3rd place: Jeremy Chiu, 4th place: Tianyi Liu; 1-3dan: 1st place: Daniel Liu; 1k – 8k: 1st: Eric Liu; 17k – 29k: Mathew Cheng; 13 x 13 board: Adam Tang. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Abby Zhang: A triumphant Aaron Ye holds up his trophy.
Wednesday March 27, 2013
In an ironic showdown between the computer and ‘The Computer’, computer go program Crazy Stone defeated Ishida Yoshio 9P on March 20 at the sixth annual Computer Go UEC Cup in Japan. Ishida, 64, was nicknamed ‘The Computer’ in his prime, because of the accuracy of his counting and endgame skills. Rémi Coulum’s program took just four stones against the former Honinbo champion and won by 2.5 points. After the game, Ishida said he thought Crazy Stone was a “genius,” evincing special admiration for the program’s “calmness” and “flexibility.” Takao Shinji 9P also offered words of praise, calling one of the program’s moves “the kind of move a human would overlook.” UEC chairperson Takeshi Ito expressed his hope that the UEC Cup will continue to “function as a place where program developers can meet face-to-face and make technological changes,” adding that “we should never forget the human being using the programs to play the game.” Rather than seeing computer go advancement as another competition, Takeshi said he believes computer go program technology “should be useful for and able to enrich the hearts of human beings.” Coulom and Crazy Stone also won the 6th Computer Go UEC Cup a week earlier, defeating the defending champion, Zen. For game records and more information about the Ishida-Crazy Stone match, click here.
– Annalia S. Linnan, based on a longer report on Go Game Guru
Saturday March 23, 2013
The exhibition match between Chang Hao 9P and Andy Liu 1P was broadcast live on KGS on March 23. Stephanie Yin 1P and Gansheng Shi 1P provided live commentary; Yi Tong recorded the game and Todd Blatt transcribed the
commentary. The match was part of the ACGA Spring Go Expo, a two-day event held jointly at Harvard University and MIT, sponsored by the American Ing Foundation. The Expo also includes simultaneous matches against professional players, a preview of “The Surrounding Game,” the first feature-length documentary on go, presentations by experts in game theory, and Chinese culture, public teaching and demonstrations, a youth go tournament, and cultural performances.
Wednesday January 16, 2013
By John Pinkerton
I knew I was in trouble as a game recorder when I saw the draw for Board 2 in the final round of the Gotham Go Tournament last Saturday.
On one side of the board — or I should say, “in one corner, with a quick right,” playing white — was Lee Kyoung 7D, whose lightning-fast game had left me in the dust two rounds earlier. In that game, before I had time to enter a well-known joseki in one corner, the players finished josekis in two other corners and started a fight. At the same time, we lost our internet connection, so the live broadcast was dead and catching up became a largely moot point. Hardwired to KGS now, and with another round under our belt, I’d thought I was ready for the final round. However…
In the other corner is the champion of speed himself, Andy Liu 1P, who often uses his speed as a lethal weapon. In the World Amateur Go Championships a few years back, where each side got an hour and a half of basic time, Andy’s 
strategy was never to use more than 10 minutes, keeping his opponents under constant time pressure. On top of that, Andy loves to play ko’s. In a ko, every third move is obvious, but the recorder still has to enter it. The ko threat may be in almost any area of the board, so if you miss it, it can be hard to find. Then the response is also obvious—another chance for a quick move.
As expected, the game starts fast and doesn’t let up. At move 47, Chris Garlock, recording on Board 1, says to his audience, “Wow, stones are flying on Board Two…John’s gonna have his hands full keeping up.” An accurate assessment, but things were about to get even more interesting.
Kyoung holds up the clock and says, “You don’t need this, do you?” He starts to explain, adding “I mean, you play fast.” But without a moment’s hesitation, Andy has already shot back “Absolutely not.” In other words, game on.
As Kyoung turns off the clock, I’m mentally groaning, thinking uh-oh, someone’s going to crash and I just hope it isn’t me again. Eighty moves fly by in the blink of an eye before there’s a pause as Kyoung says “Oh my god…I made a reading mistake.” As he and Andy begin their review I breathe a silent sigh of relief as I type in the words “White resigns” and wrap up our KGS game broadcast.
NOTE: Complete Gotham Tournament standings/results have now been posted on the Gotham Go Group’s Facebook page.
Pinkerton is a regular game recorder and photographer for the American Go E-Journal. Anyone interested in volunteering as a game recorder at AGA tournaments or events can email journal@usgo.org
Tuesday January 8, 2013
The next in Tygem’s series of live world championship commentaries by Myungwan Kim 9P will be this Wednesday and Friday as Zhou Ruiyang 5P and Chen Yaoye 9P vie for the inaugural Bailing Cup, the go world’s newest 
international title. Game One of the best-of-five series will start at 5:30p Pacific Standard Time (8:30p EST) on Wednesday (9:30 a.m. in Shanghai, where the games will take place.) Game 2 will be two days later at the same time. Kim’s live commentary can be seen on Tygem’s World Server, which organizers promise “will not have any crowding problems.” Chen (right) is one of the strongest go players in the world and is currently number one in China. He plays very well in domestic tournaments but has not had success in world championship games, so this final will be a big chance for him to make his mark on the world stage. Chen showed his talent when he became pro at the age of ten and earned the rank of 9P at just 17. He is 
also in the finals of the Chunlan Cup, where he’ll play Lee Sedol for that title. Zhou (left), meanwhile, was number one in China for most of 2011 but like Chen has not yet won a world championship. Even though Chen has a slight edge over Zhou, this match will be an interesting for fans. They both are very strong and their styles are totally different. Chen’s game is conservative and defensive while Zhou’s style is aggressive and offensive, a match of sword against shield.
– reported by James Kim
Lee Sedol Off and Running as MLily Jubango Begins with Gu Li
Sunday January 26, 2014
— Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru; photo and game record courtesy of Go Game Guru
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