Saturday May 13, 2017
The 2017 Cotsen Open dates have been confirmed for October 21-22 at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Registration will open soon,
says Tournament Organizer Christopher Saenz. As usual registration fees will be refunded for all players who show up both days, free lunch is provided by tournament sponsor Eric Cotsen (right), and of course free shoulder massages.
Thursday May 11, 2017
After a series of festival screenings in California, Texas, and Iowa, the go documentary “The Surrounding Game” will screen on June 10-11 at
SFDocFest in San Francisco and on June 10 at the Canadian Sport Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. Each screening will be followed by a Q/A with one of the directors/producers, as well as special guest Gansheng Shi 1p in Toronto. “We’ve gotten great audience response at all the festivals we’ve attended. In a few weeks we’ll be rolling out our distribution and screening plans, which includes go clubs worldwide”, reports co-director/producer Cole D. Pruitt.
You can watch the trailer here.
Tickets are now available for the San Francisco and Toronto screenings.
photo: The Roxie SFDocFest venue
Thursday May 11, 2017
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Mi wins Japan-China Ryusei, DeepZenGo beats Fujisawa: The 3rd Japan-China Ryusei play-off was held in the Belle Salle hall in front of Iidabashi Station in Tokyo on April 29. Mi Yuting 9P, the winner of the 3rd Chinese Ryusei title, took white against Ichiriki Ryo 7P, winner of the 25th Japanese Ryusei title, and forced a 
resignation after 175 moves. The game started at 4 p.m. and was telecast live on the Igo Shogi Channel (left). The play-off was preceded by an exhibition game between Fujisawa Rina, Women’s Honinbo, and the program DeepZenGo (right). Fujisawa had 30 minutes followed by 30 seconds per move plus 15 minutes to be used in one-minute units. The program had just 45 minutes. The game started at 1 p.m. Taking black, DeepZenGo won by resig. after 159 moves.
Kisei S League starts: The top league in the 42nd Kisei tournament, the S League, has finally got off to a start, some weeks behind the lower A, B, and C Leagues. The members, in order of ranking are: Kono Rin 9P, Yamashita Keigo 9P, Murakawa Daisuke 8P, Ichiriki Ryo 7P, Cho U 9P, and So Yokoku 9P. The first two games were played on April 27. Yamashita (W) beat So by resig., and Ichiriki (B) beat Cho by resig.
Iyama leads Meijin League: The first two games in the sixth round of the 42nd Meijin League were played recently, and the result is that the gap at the top has widened. On 4-0, Iyama Yuta was the only undefeated player in the league, and his nearest rival was Yamashita Keigo on 4-1. However, Yamashita suffered a loss to Hane Naoki on May 4, and is now two points behind Iyama, though the latter has played two fewer games. This was Hane’s first win in the league.
(April 24) Yo Seiki 7P (W) beat Hane Naoki 7P by resig.
(April 27) Murakawa Daisuke 8P (B) beat Sakai Hideyuki 8P by resig.
(May 4) Hane Naoki 9P (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig.; Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Yo Seiki 7P by resig.
Wednesday May 10, 2017
A very unusual online world championship is now accepting registrations. Pandanet — in cooperation with the Kansai Kiin — is holding the 
Internet 13×13 Amateur World Go Championship. The winner in the Main class will earn the right to play a game with Hirofumi Ohashi 6-dan (13×13 Net game). Registration is free, deadline is May 22, 2017.
Wednesday May 10, 2017
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Cao wins World Go Legends: The Japan-China-Korea World Go Legends Tournament is a special tournament (a one-off?) held in Zhejiang Province to commemorate the start of the City A League, which seems to be the most popular tournament in China. The sponsors invited a number of players who starred in international go in the late 20th century to participate. The results are given below. Long-term go fans will recognize the names, though there are some notable absentees (presumably not available). In the final, held on April 27, Cao Dayuan 9P of China (W) beat Kobayashi Koichi 9P of Japan by half a point (both these players were at their peak in the 90s). Results listed on the Nihon Ki-in homepage are given below, but are incomplete.
Round 1 (April 25). Cao Dayuan 9P (China) beat Kim Soojang 9P (Korea); Takemiya Masaki 9P (Japan) beat Liu Xiaoguang 9P (China); Ma Xiaochun 9P (China) beat Pak Seongho 9P (Korea); Yoda Norimoto 9P beat Yang Jaeho 9P (Korea); Nie Weiping (China) beat Suh Bongsoo 9P (Korea); Kobayashi Koichi 9P (Japan) (W) beat Hua Yigang 9P (China); Yu Bin 9P (China) beat Yamashiro Hiroshi 9P (Japan); Ko
bayashi Satoru 9P (Japan) beat Suh Neunguk 9P (Korea).
Quarterfinals (April 25). Yoda (B) beat Ma; Yu Bin beat (B) Kobayashi Satoru; Kobayashi Koichi (B) beat Nie; Cao (B) beat Takemiya.
Semifinals (April 26) Cao (W) beat Yoda; Kobayashi Koichi (W) beat Yu Bin.
Cho Chikun first to 1500 wins: On April 27, a win by Cho Chikun (right) against Kataoka Satoshi 9P in the second round of the 7th Masters Cup was his 1500th official win. He is the first player in Japan to reach this mark. His record is 1500 wins, 821 losses, 3 jigos, and 4 no-results, for a winning percentage of 64.6. Rin Kaiho is in second place with 1409 wins. Cho was surprised when a large of reporters came into the room, as he had had no idea he was approaching a landmark. As usual, this record generated a lot of trivia, so here goes. Cho’s age is 60 years ten months, and it took him 49 years to rack up 1500 wins. He has played games against 307 different opponents. His most frequent opponent is Kobayashi Koichi: they have played 129 games, of which Cho has won 66. He has scored most wins against the late Kato Masao, his record being 71-42-1 no result. Against Iyama Yuta, his record is a quite respectable 5-7. His top year just for wins was 2001, when he won 47 games. He has never had a minus record, the closest he came being 21-21 in 2009.
Wednesday May 10, 2017
“Li Qincheng is a Chinese player who won the Asian TV Cup in 2016 at the age of 18, and was promoted to 9P after that,” says Michael Redmond 9p in this video commentary, hosted by Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal, of the thirty-first game of Master (AlphaGo). “In this game Master plays a powerful fighting game, taking control early and chasing White’s weak group around the board.”
Monday May 8, 2017
The Houston Go Club is hosting a pro teaching workshop with Janice Kim June 3-4 in Houston Texas. The weekend event 
will go from 9:00 to 5:00 both days, with lunch included. Ms. Kim (professional 3 Dan) will lead the workshop. The event will be held at the Houston City Club, One City Club Drive, Houston, Texas 77046. This event is offered with the financial help of the AGA, for just $20 per participant. There is limited seating, so you must pre-register. Preregistration can be done on the Houston Go club Facebook page under Events. Fees will be collected thru Eventbrite. Contact Paul Howard of the Houston Go club for more details. paulrhowardtx@gmail.com
Monday May 8, 2017
A new club in Dothan, Alabama, founded in March, has seen a high level of participation in its opening weeks, with a total of 
18 players at their first meeting. The club meets at the Fanatix game shop (2970 Ross Clark Cir #2, Dothan, AL 36301), Sundays at 3p. The club features more experienced players teaching beginners, so anyone is welcome. “I have been playing go on and off for a few years and could never find someone in my area to play against,” club founder Matt Clark told the E-Journal. “So I started this club to try and increase the interest in the game and help to better everyone involved.” Clark adds that “We are all so excited to be part of the go world and we look forward to many good times together.” Reach him at mclark@bondysford.com.
Sunday May 7, 2017
AGA Master Review Series, Game 22: Master 9p [W] vs. Chen Yaoye 9p [B]
Saturday May 13, 2017
“Chen became the youngest player to promote to 9P at 17 when he was awarded with the rank for being a finalist in two world tournaments in 2006,” says Michael Redmond 9p in this video commentary, hosted by Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal, of the twenty-second game of Master (AlphaGo). “He is still in the top handful of players, and is known for his energetic and innovative play.”
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