American Go E-Journal » Go News

For the seventh year in a row, the San Diego Go Club had several tables for demonstrating and teaching go during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival this weekend at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. This year the festival stretched over three days: Friday – Sunday. The club was given a choice spot, just inside the entrance, right next to a crowd favorite: the large well-stocked koi pond. Thousands of people streamed through the garden, even coming through a light rain on Saturday (Note: plastic go stones do not float on wet vinyl go boards.)

Club members played demonstration games against go playing visitors as well as taught go to people who had heard of the game but never played. Dozens of copies of “A Way to Go,” the go pamphlet given to AGA chapters every year by the AGF, were distributed. The club added several new potential players to its email list.

– photo: Long-time AGA member (AGA #439)  Les Lanphear III (right) playing a serious game with a visitor from Minnesota; report/photos by Ted Terpstra, President, San Diego Go Club

The Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Spring Tournament at the North Highlands-Antelope library on March 3. There was a field of eight players including Valerie Wong, who was playing in her first AGA tournament. Two patrons of the library expressed interest, and were given copies of “The Way to Go” and a brief introduction the game. The Upper Division was won by Ki Choi 2d (right), with a 2-2 record and the Lower Division by Tyler Moore 4k (left), with a 3-1 record.
– Willard Haynes

Jung Hoon Lee 7D won the Colorado Spring Tournament held on March 10th in Denver, CO, topping a field of 29 players. 

Complete results:
Dan section:
1st: Jung Hoon Lee, 7D
2nd: Kent Evenson, 1D

Hongkui Zheng took top honors in the 5th Zheng Go Championship, formerly known as the Southern California Go Championship. Held March 3 and 4, the Zheng Go Championship took place at the Back Bay Conference Center in Irvine, California.  A record 84 participants came from Southern California as well as travelers from the SF Bay Area, San Diego and Arizona.   Sponsored as in recent years by Jay Zheng, it was organized by Yixian Zhou and directed by Kevin Chao.  Shirley Lin 1p was the resident professional and played simuls with participants after the last round on Saturday.

Results:
High Dan Section
1st Hongkui Zheng; 2nd Hoon-Hee Jo; 3rd Yixian Zhou; 4th Yufei Jin; 5th Chenglie Huang; 6th Xiaocheng Hu
Dan section: 1st Josiah Frias; 2nd Jiale Chen; 3rd Troy Zheng; 4th King Bi; 5th Michael Sato; 6th Yuan Yuancheng
Kyu section 1: 1st Yike Deng; 2nd Ted Terpstra; 3rd Barnett Yang; 4th Darwin Kim
Kyu section 2: 1st Zongren Huang; 2nd Lujia Chen; 3rd William Gundberg; 4th Cody Frias
Kyu section 3: 1st Kevin Yang; 2nd Ethan Wong; 3rd Tony Yang; 4th Andy Zhou

photo by Jack Chao (l-r): TD Kevin Chao, Shirley Lin 1p,  champion Hongkui Zheng, sponsor Jay Zheng, organizer Yixian Zhou.

Executive Summary of AGA Board Meeting 1/21/2018: The board approved a Code of Conduct for AGA events that will now be reviewed at the executive and then chapter levels. Andy Okun, president of the AGA, reported that he intends to hire a part-time staffer to assist with administrative tasks in order to allow AGA leadership to work more quickly and efficiently. Other business included status updates on the ranking system, state championships, and 2018 Go Congress.

Executive Summary of AGA Board Meeting 2/11/2018: The board discussed how to protect the AGA membership and stay in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation that will soon go into effect. Drafts of the Code of Conduct and bylaws revision are also under review by the board and will be sent to the membership in the next weeks. Other business included updates on Go Congress 2018/2019 organization and a proposal to create a mechanism for volunteers to attend board meetings and report. Members should keep their eyes open for announcements about the 50 States Tournament and 2018 Go Congress, coming soon through the E-Journal.
-Samantha Fede, AGA Secretary

The Penn Go Society has announced the first Pennsylvania State Go Championship, part of the American Go Association’s new system of state championships around the country (click here for details). The Pennsylvania championship will be held April 28-29 in Philadelphia, PA, with five rounds over two days, handicap and open divisions, and over $1000 in prizes.

Pre-registration is required; deadline is April 24th. The tournament will be held on the 8th floor of the Wharton Student Life Center (2401 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103). Email tournaments@penngosociety.org for more info.

The tournament director will be Jason McGibbon; games will be AGA rated and Japanese byo-yomi time setting (45 min main + 5 x 30 byo-yomi). Check-in on Saturday and Sunday will be from 9:30AM-10AM. The first round on both days will begin at 10:15AM. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided, and many restaurants are within easy walking distance of the venue. The official State Championship title is reserved for Pennsylvania residents, but non-PA residents are eligible to play and win prize money.