Yi Wang 6d upset the 7-dan defending champion in the first round and then went undefeated to win the 2018 San Diego Go
Championship on February 25 at UCSD. He was the only undefeated player in the Open Section. He prevailed over a strong field that included two 7-dans and three other 6-dans. Wang is a local San Diego player who attends Torrey Pines High School. More than 40 players competed in the seventh annual event for the $400 first prize as well as numerous other cash awards totaling $1,250. Players from 6-years-old to 70+ participated with lots of new young players competing for the first time. The president of the San Diego Chess Club, David Saponara, played in his first go tournament and went 2-1.
There was a five-way tie for second in the Open Section (all at 2-1): Chegjie Huang (2017 Champion), Xiaocheng (Steven) Hu, 
Yixian Zhou, Jun Kim, and Yifan Zhang.
In the dan/kyu section, Konrad Scheffler (3-0, 1.9d) beat Dan Alvira (2-1, 3.1d) and Christophe Humbert (2-1, 2.6d).
In the mid-kyu section, ChaoShane Chang (3-0, 8.8k) went undefeated to beat out four players that tied for second (2-1): Shawn Blue, 3.3k; Arunas Rudvalis, 6.1k; Yike Deng, 5.9k; and Warren Andrews, 6.7k.
In the high-kyu section, Xiang Cai (3-0, 14.7k) beat out Lucia Moscola (2-1, 18k).
In the beginners’ section, Tony Yang (3-0, 25k) edged a group of four who ended up with 2-1 records: Andy Zhou, 31k; Anna Zhou, 33k; Kevin Yang, 23k; and David Saponara 30k.
Justin Lee won the 9×9 championship arranged for youth after their 19×19 tournament games.
photos: (top right) 2018 Champion Yi Wang (6d – Torrey Pines High school) playing 2017 Champion Chengjie Huang (7.2d – UCSD) as UCSD Go Club president Weihan Huai watches; (left): Many girls played in the tournament; (bottom left): 6-year-old Eric Yang played a confident game.
– report/photos by Ted Terpstra
(EGCC), the Iwamoto Awards is an international contest that rewards promising go projects. Anybody who is actively promoting and spreading go can enter the competition (read the rules here) and submit their project. The top three contenders will win prizes of €1000, €500 and €500. Deadline for submission is May 31.
Chess blogger Michael Bacon posts on go
Monday March 5, 2018
Chess blogger Michael Bacon — the “Armchair Warrior” has recently published some posts on go, including “AlphaGo and the Hand of God,” “The Surrounding Game” and “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess.” In addition to being well-written, thoughtful – and sometime provocative — explorations, Bacon’s posts are well-illustrated with photos and videos.
“AlphaGo and the Hand of God’ is about the “AlphaGo,” documentary, which Bacon calls “poignant,” adding that “While watching the movie the thought crossed my mind that what I was watching was a watershed moment in the history of mankind, analogous to Neal Armstrong’s ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’”
In “The Surrounding Game,”Bacon reminds readers that not only was Edward Lasker – attributed in the film as the source of a famous quote about go – an International Master, not a Grandmaster, as identified in the film, but that there is a dispute about the quote itself, with some attributing it to former World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker, a distant relative. However, Bacon clearly likes the film, which follows the lives of several top American players, Ben Lockhart and Andy Liu, competing to become the first Western professional. “Despite their diverging paths, Ben and Andy face the same question: is a lifetime dedicated to Go truly worth living?”
And in “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess”, Bacon contrasts chess and go in politics, popularity and player personalities. Noting that “Chess appeals to people who like to attack and who savor the win over the process,” Bacon says that go “is a game of patience and position. It appeals to very bright people who don’t expect to win quickly but who are willing to earn success one small step at a time. GO players enjoy the process as much as the win.” He also argues that “AlphaGo has done for the game of Go in America what Bobby Fischer did for the game of Chess when he defeated the World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky, in 1972… In a very short period of time the game of Go will be unrivaled, leaving all other board games in its wake.” Further, he suggests that “It could be that the people of the planet are moving away from the brutal, war like, mindset of a war like game such as Chess and toward a more cerebral game such as Go.”