The 2022 Pumpkin Classic Tournament is back this year after a pandemic hiatus, reports the National Go Center’s Gurujeet Khalsa. “Winners in every division take home a beautiful pumpkin ready to carve for Halloween,” says Khalsa. Scheduled for Saturday, October 22, this is a 4-round AGA rated tournament.
Prep for winning a pumpkin the night before at Pair Go/Paella Night on Friday, October 21; sixteen players participated before the Back to School event last month and enjoyed Chris Garlock’s famous paella and other treats. “Come for one or come for both,” says Khalsa, “we look forward to seeing you there.”
Pre-registration early helps tremendously in planning for the events and getting the first tournament round started on time.
Ryan Li 3P (2-1) and Kevin Yang 1P (2-0) will duel in the N.A. prelim final for the Quzhou Lanke Cup World Go Championship this Friday, October 14 at 8pm EDT (5pm PT) via online-go.com (OGS). The prelim utilizes a double-elimination format and the finalists have previously competed with Eric Lui 2P (1-2) and Alex Qi 1P (0-2).
Round 1 (9/16 & 17) Li (OGS ID: CrazyWind) def. Qi (OGS ID: alexqi2008) Game Record
Yang (Keviny2007) def. Lui (FedExpress) Game Record
The North American Go Federation (NAGF) has assigned proctors in New York and California to ensure fair play on OGS (see also AGA’s FairPlay policy). Hajin Lee 1P is the Executive Director.
Known as the birthplace of go culture, Quzhou City is 230 miles southwest of Shanghai. As early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 – 420), there was a story about Wang Zhi, a woodcutter, playing go with an immortal in Lanke Mountain. This is the earliest written record of the origin of go in China. In addition, Quzhou has beautiful natural scenery including mountains, karst caves and bamboo sea, and the descendants of Confucius once lived here to spread Confucian culture.
The prize pool for the Lanke Cup is $583,000 and the 1st-5th round players earn $4300, $7100, $14,300, $28,600, $86,000 and $257,000 (champion).
Report by Capital Go Club; photo credit: eweiqi.com and Chinese Weiqi Association NOTE (10/13): The match time has been updated to 8p ET (5p PT).
Upcoming Event: Nov. 27, 2022 ‘Hybrid’ Open tournament and VA State Championship Final
Spots Still Open for Simul with Albert Yen on Oct 15 On October 5th, the Evanston Go Club hosted a fundraiser simul event with Albert Yen 8 dan, winner of the 2022 Midwest Open and Chicago Open. Local players contributed $25 to play a 3-person simul with Albert, who reviewed each game. The proceeds will go toward the tournament fund of the 2022 Chicago Rapid Championship, which will take place on November 12th. Details of the tournament can be found here https://chicagobaduk.com/ “The passion of the local go community is energizing,” said Yen. “Moon Ki, an old friend whom I haven’t seen for three years, drove an hour to participate in the simul and catch up. There was also Derek, who was just a beginner before the pandemic. Not only is he as strong as Mark now, he’s also a foot taller!” “The Chicago Rapid will be bigger than anything we’ve organized before in Illinois,” said Mark Rubenstein, president of the Evanston Go Club. “We are introducing new elements such as inviting professional players and collaborating with prominent Go teachers. We really appreciate all the contributors and spectators who came out to support the club.”
The Evanston Go Club will organize the final fundraiser on October 15th online on OGS. Players who are interested in playing Albert can secure their slot by contacting him at albertyen33@gmail.com. A donation of $30 to the Evanston Go Club is requested. All proceeds go towards special prizes, equipment, and professional commentary/review for tournaments hosted by the club.
Colorado Bodhi Tree Tournament 10/22 The Denver Go Tournament Group’s Bodhi Tree Go Tournament is set for October 22, from 9a to 4p in Lakewood, CO. There is a player limit of 32 people. Register with littletongoclub@gmail.com There will be 4 rounds, 30 minutes main time with a Byo-yomi of five 30 second periods. $20 entry fee; proceeds will go to the Danger Monkey Go Club and the Buddhist Association of Denver (and prizes).
Yang Portland workshop 11/6 Yilun Yang 7p will be hosting a workshop at the Portland Go club on November 6 at 1p. Players of all ranks are welcome. If there is anyone unable to pay the fee, DM erumaren93@gmail.com. Please share anything you might want Yilun Yang to cover in his workshop by emailing erumaren93@gmail.com.
By Claudio Mendoza and David Richter for the Kalamazoo Go Club
The Vicksburg Go Tournament took place at the Community Center in Vicksburg, Michigan, on Saturday October 1st, 2022. This event was organized by the Kalamazoo Go Club and the Vicksburg Cultural and Arts Center as part of the “Destination Japan” program to celebrate Japanese culture. The contribution by Daniel ML (West Michigan Go Club) of boards, stones, clocks, name lists, and recommendations was instrumental in getting our act together and is gratefully acknowledged.
Thirty players from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio registered in three categories under a self-pairing format: dan (9), single digit kyu (8), and double digit kyu (12) with seven rookies in the latter. Prizes were sponsored by the Kalamazoo Go Club, GoMagic, Al Sensei, and Yellow Mountain Imports. Results were as follows. Dan level: Meng Wang (1st); Stephanie Tan (2nd); Justin Johnson (3rd). Single digit kyu: David Fang and Jamie Tang (tied for 1st); Winston Yan (3rd). Double digit kyu: Jaden Pan (1st); Noah Braasch (2nd); Sam Blyveis (3rd). Beginners: Carolyn Esther and Renée Szostek.
For the Kalamazoo Go Club the organization of this tournament was a worthy experience inasmuch as its involvement in local collaborations, inter-club relations, fund raising, and gender equality. The positive outcome of the event is encouraging us to repeat it next year with a more enticing prize structure.
Winners of the Vicksburg Go Tournament (l-r): Renée Szostek; Jaden Pan; Noah Braasch; Sam Blyveis; Winston Yan; Meng Wang; David Fang; Jamie Tang; Carolyn Esther; Stephanie Tan; David Richter (TD and co-organizer); Claudio Mendoza (co-organizer). Photo: Natalya Critchley.
Monitoring of the players through Zoom and their games
Evan Tan 4d swept the North American Youth Open on September 4th, posting a 4-0 perfect score. The third edition of the North American Youth Open (NAYO) was hosted by the New York Go Association and sponsored by the American Go Foundation, and took place online on KGS. The tournament games were monitored through video meeting on Zoom. Sixty youth players of all different levels from across North America participated, ranging in strength from 19k to 6d. Players were split into six divisions based on their rank.
Notably, the results of the 3rd NAYO broke the record of having the most number of tied players, with three players tied for second place in Division C and two players tied for second place in Division E.
“As the situation of the pandemic is getting better, our in-person tournaments will resume very soon,” says NYIF president Stephanie Yin.
Below are the results of all six divisions:
Division A (4d – 6d) 1st Place: Evan Tan 2nd Place: Minhao Shen 3rd Place: Yuqing Zhang
Division B (1k – 2d) 1st Place: Jiayang Su 2nd Place: Daniel Luo 3rd Place: Jenny Li
Division C (4k – 2k) 1st Place: Matthew Wang 2nd Place: Juliet Zhang, Enzo Aozono-Araldi, Chenhui Zhang (tie)
Division D (7k – 5k) 1st Place: Maria Aozono-Araldi 2nd Place: Zoe Tan 3rd Place: Anna Zhou
Division E (10k – 8k) 1st Place: Yiting Liu 2nd Place: Benjamin Lo, Jeremy Wong
Division F (19k – 12k) 1st Place: Christine Guo 2nd Place: Donovan Chen 3rd Place: Jayden Lai
More than 50 players turned out for two go tournaments hosted by the San Diego Go Club on Sunday, September 25: the 2022 U16 Girls and U16 Boys California State Go Championship and the San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament.
photos: left: After devouring 18 pizzas, players start round 3; top right: Chunwei Shi (R) & Abigail Wanyu Chen receiving their trophies from Hai Li 5P (TD) and Ted Terpstra, SDGC Chapter Rep (right); bottom right: Shang Zhou (1st) and Aiyang Lu (L) playing the ultimate game in the Opensection.
Abigail Wanyu Chen was the U16 Girls California State champion, while Chunwei Shi won the U16 Boys California State Go Championship. The event was a handicap only competition with players from all over Southern California competing. As has become a San Diego Go Club tradition, a trophy was awarded to the youngest player, five year old Michelle Lin 25k. With the surge of new and renewing AGA members at the tournaments, reports club president Ted Terpstra, the San Diego Go Club now has 100 AGA members, and will most likely break the 100 AGA-member mark when registration opens on October 1 for the 2022 King Cup – California Go Championship over the Thanksgiving weekend. In 2021, 70-players took part in the King Cup go tournaments over the Thanksgiving weekend.
2022 U16 handicap tournament report: U16 Boys: 1 Chunwei Shi 1d (4-0); 2 Kevin Huang 6d; 3 Andy Shunwei Zhou 1d. U16 Girls: 1 Abigail Wanyu Chen 5k; 2 Angel Shunying Zhou 2k; 3 Zoe Tan 5k. In the Third Section: 1 Skye Haotian Chen 7k; 2 Fei-Lian Zhang 8k; 3 Jeremy Li.
The second competition of the day was the San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament. Intended to be a fun tournament, with no prizes, no trophies, and no titles, 26 players showed up, including a very strong Open section, with one 7-dan and four 6-dans.
Xingang Huang 2d and Arunas Rudvalis 6k were the only undefeated players in the handicap section. All players and spectators were treated to free pizza for lunch.
San Diego End-of-Summer Go Tournament report: Open Section: 1) Shang Zhou 7.0d; 2) Aiyang Lu 6.8d; 3) Moxuan Liu 6.0d Handicap Sections: First Division: 1. Xingang Huang 2.4d; 2. Qi Xia 2.0d; 3. Henry You 4.1d Second Division: 1. Lester C Lanphear 2.0k; 2. Paul Margetts 2.8k; 3. Aaron Demby Jones 4.3k Third Division: 1. Arunas Rudvalis 6.0k; 2. George G Spellman Jr 11.0k; 3. Edric Chan 18.0k Reporting by Ted Terpstra; photos by Enrique Garcia and Henry You.
Five Capital Go Club members at the 2022 Go Congress (l-r: Edward Zhang, Xiaodi Huang, Della Tang, head coach Michael Zhou, and Al Tang)
In October last year, nearly 50 AGA players competed online in the 10th Virginia Open via BadukClub‘s tournament platform.
Yi Li 7D (5W-1L), an undergraduate at Duke University and 2021 North Carolina champion, overcame a 3rd-round loss to take 1st place over Zhengbokang Tang 8D (5W-1L) from Colorado by a narrow SOS margin. James Chih-Rong Sun 6D from Canada won the Youth 1st-Place award, and Stephanie Tan 1D from Indiana was the women’s champion.
“Even with the expected errors and no-shows, our TDs worked overtime to maximize the number of games played and perfect the pairings,” stated Co-TD Devin Fraze. “Players seem delighted. With a total of 0 players struggling with technical details and with all games starting automatically. The BadukClub in-page chat helped a few players befriend another and was flooded at the end with many thanks.”
Qingbo Zhang was the co-TD and distributed prizes and certificates. The total prize pool was $560 with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place of the Open Elite division receiving $200, $100, and $50 respectively.
Full winners report:
Division, Prizes, 1st, 2nd, 3rd (and/or 4th)
Open Elite (6-8D) $200/100/50 :Yi Li, Zhengbokang Tang, Chen Zhang, Jimmy Creeks (Jing Guo) Open (4-5D): Qingbo Zhang, Juanshu Lan, Mani Sanford Youth 1D+ James Sun, Juanshu Lan, Al Tang Youth 1-9K Derek Zhou, Massa Jin, Kai Lan Youth 10-20K Chenchen Xiong, Kyle Tang, Lucia Moscola Women’s Stephanie Tan, Angel Zhou, Della Tang, Anna Zhou, (5th Serena Tu, 6th Lucia Moscola, 7th Melody Liu) Expert (1-3D) Al Tang, Stephanie Tan, Evan Tan Proficient (1-4K) Derek Hounong Zhou, Massa Jin, Tai-An Cha Intermediate (5-9K) Jim Sandy, Justin Collier, Della Tang Novice (10-20K) Chenchen Xiong, Kyle Tang, Steven A Zilber
The Capital Go Club also plans to host an in-person tournament in Fairfax Virginia on 11/27/2022, which may feature a hybrid tourney with the California State Championship over the same weekend.
By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
King of the New Stars starts
King of New Stars Kato Yuki
The first game in the 47th King of the New Stars best-of-three title match was played at the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in on September 22. Go Weekly is billing this game as “the plain style” v. “the chaotic style.” Otake Yu 7-dan likes to keep things straightforward, whereas his opponent in the match, Sakai Yuki 3-dan, likes to plunge the game into messy fighting. In the first game, Sakai’s style prevailed. Taking black, he forced a resignation after 207 moves. This loss put an end to a winning streak of 13 games that Otake had enjoyed. The second game will be played on September 30.
Sumire’s progress
Nakamura Sumire’s results for the year so far are 36-16 (see “Most Wins” item below). Her overall results as a pro are 117 wins to 58 losses, so she has won just over two-thirds of her games.
(Aug. 11) Sumire beat Hoda Shota 1-dan; beat Kawahara Yu 1-dan; beat Miura Taro 2-dan (these games were in the 3rd Discovery Cup—see article above).
(Aug. 18) Sumire (W) lost to Ueno Asami Women’s Hollyhock by resig. (semifinal, 41st Women’s Honinbo).
(Aug. 25) Sumire (W) beat Tsuneishi Takashi 5-dan by 6.5 points (Prelim. B, 48th Gosei). With this win, Sumire advanced to the A preliminary.
(Aug. 29) Sumire (W) beat Suzukawa Natsumi 1-dan by resig.; Sumire (W) beat Cho Chien 2-dan by resig.; Sumire (W) beat Taguchi Misei 2-dan by resig. (these games were in the preliminary, 17th Young Carp). Sumire secured a seat in the main tournament (the best 16).
On left: Mark Fraser 7K plays six-year-old Winston Yan 7K. On right: Alex Qi 1P (L) faces off against Eric Lui 2P (R) as rising star Richard Duan 2D (C) watches
Tied up with 3-1 records, Eric Lui 2P and Alex Qi 1P shared first place at the National Go Center’s Back To School Tournament this past Saturday, September 24th. With 27 participants, the tournament featured a “plethora of exciting games” and gave players an opportunity to watch professional players in action. “It was great to see two of our North American professionals competing in one of our local tournaments,” said TD Gurujeet Khalsa.
photo by Chris Garlock
Other notable appearances included rising local go star Richard Duan 2D (pictured above at right watching a game between Eric and Alex), and Mark Fraser 7K from Albuquerque who can be seen above left playing six-year-old Winston Yan 7K. “Winston is another young up-and-comer destined for the Dan ranks,” Khalsa noted.
The tournament kicked off the previous evening with the return of the popular Pair Go/Paella night. Chris Garlock made his famous paella and 16 players socialized and competed at four tables. The top board winners were James Pinkerton 5D and Larry Kaufman 2D.
Three-game winners at the Back To School Tournament on Saturday were Eric Liu (2P), Alex Qi (1P), Richard Duan (2D), Jake Vikoren (1D), Lee Hyungwook (5K), Mark Fraser (7K) and Ashley Qi (11K).
By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Yo to challenge Iyama for Oza
Yo Seiki 8-dan
The play-off to decide the challenger for the 70th Oza title was held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 29. Taking black, Yo Seiki 8-dan of the Kansai Ki-in beat Shibano Toramaru 9-dan by resig. after 191 moves. This will be his fourth challenge for a top-seven title. In the 64th Oza (2016), he lost 0-3 to Iyama; in the 55th Judan (2017), he lost 1-3 to Iyama; and in the 60th Judan (2022), he lost 0-3 to Yo Kagen. He has also come second in the 38th King of the New Stars (2013), the 23rd (2014) and 26th (2017) Ryusei tournaments, and the 68th NHK Cup (2021), so his career is a little reminiscent of that of the late Kato Masao’s. Yo will be hoping he can turn it around as dramatically as Kato did. It may not be a consolation, but he has won the Kansai Ki-in No. One Position title five years in a row.
Ueno to challenge for Women’s Honinbo
Kato Chie 2-dan
The play-off to decide the challenger for the 41st Women’s Honinbo title was held at the Nihon Ki-in on September 1. Based on results this year, you can argue that four players make up the top group in Japanese women’s go: Fujisawa Rina, Ueno Asami, Nyu Eiko, and Nakamura Sumire. However, the play-off featured a player who may be a new face for Western readers: Kato Chie 2-dan. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce her. Kato was born on September 13, 2001. Her results have been consistently good since she became a professional in April 2018 and recently she got into the top ten in the “most wins” list. Her consistent results are proof of significant talent, as she has to battle a major handicap in her daily life. As a child, she suffered from a bone disease that prevented the full development of her bones, so she has to use a wheelchair. Her bones were fragile and she had broken bones about 20 times. Fortunately, she received treatment that stopped these breaks. She took up go in kindergarten and in sixth grade, in 2013, she won the 34th (all-Japan) Boys and Girls Tournament, the first time in 14 years that a girl had won it (that was Mukai Chiaki in 1999). She started out at the Osaka branch of the Nihon Ki-in, but then switched to Nagoya. Her win-loss record to date is 116-74 (61%) and she will surely be a title-winner soon.
The play-off was won by Ueno Asami (W) by 4.5 points. Kato had the lead, but Ueno pulled off an upset in the endgame. Ueno took the 38th Women’s Honinbo title from Fujisawa in 2019, but the latter reclaimed it in 2020. If Ueno wins it back, it will be her 10th title. The match starts on October 4.
New youngest player at Nihon Ki-in
Yanagihara Saki 1-dan
At a press conference held on September 13, the Nihon Ki-in announced that Yanagihara Saki would be inducted as 1-dan by the Ki-in’s Women’s Special Induction Recommendation system. Yanagihara is in sixth grade and is 11 years old; she is a member of the A class in the Nihon Ki-in insei system. She will officially become 1-dan in April 2023, but she will begin playing professional games in January. She took second place in the section for 12 years and under in the World Youth Championship run by the Ing Chang-Ki Foundation. The four insei teachers all recommended Yanagihara and the Nihon Ki-in board of directors approved her appointment on September 13th. She will be the youngest professional. She learned go from her parents, both of whom play go, when she was three. She has studied at Hong Seisen’s dojo. Hong 4-dan is a member of the Kansai Ki-in, but he runs a go school in Tokyo. He seems to be a very good teacher, as many of his students have succeeded in becoming pros and are doing well.
Shibano wins Kisei S League
Although he still has a game to play in the 47th Kisei S League, Shibano Toramaru is in an unbeatable position with 4-0, as every other player has at least two losses. Takao Shinji secured second place when Iyama Yuta lost his last game. Results since my last report follow.
(Aug. 11) Takao Shinji 9-dan (W) beat Yo Seiki by resig.
(Sept. 1) Iyama Yuta (B) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8-dan by 1.5 points.
(Sept. 12) Takao (B) beat Murakawa by resig.
(Sept. 22) Kyo Kagen Judan (B) beat Iyama Yuta by resig.
A and B Leagues
The play-off between the winners of the B1 and B2 Leagues was held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 25. Taking black, Suzuki Shinji 7-dan beat Fujita Akihiko 7-dan by 5.5 points. Suzuki won the B League 7-0, so he now had eight wins in a row in the Kisei tournament. The A League was decided on August 25, when Yamashita Keigo beat Hane Naoki. This took Yamashita to 6-1, two points clear of the field.
Knock-out to decide the challenger
The final irregular knock-out to decide the challenger looks like this. Otake Yu 7-dan (C winner) v. Suzuki Shinji 7-dan (B winner), the winner v. Yamashita Keigo 9-dan (A winner), the winner v. Takao Shinji (2nd in S), the winner v. Shibano. The last two play a best-of-three in which Shibano is gifted a win at the outset. Takao’s only path to the challengership is winning 2-0 whereas Shibano needs just one win.
Just for the record: The current league system, topped by the S League and ending in the irregular knock-out, was introduced in the 40th term of the Kisei. So far, it has been held seven times, and each time the winner of the S League has become the challenger. During that time, Kono Rin was the challenger three times and each time he lost the first game in the best-of-three, the only S League winner to do so. In two cases, his opponent was Takao, so he knows from bitter experience how tough the challenge will be for him.
Tomorrow: King of the New Stars starts; Sumire’s progress; Most wins; Best winning streaks; Promotions
