Monday December 28, 2015
The AGA will provide live game commentary this week on the upcoming MLily Cup finals between Lee Sedol 9P and Ke Jie 9P. The first game is tomorrow (
Tuesday), December 29; Myungwan Kim 9Ps commentary will begin at 9pm PST (midnight EST) on the AGA’s YouTube channel. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled for 12/30 and 1/1; if the best-of-five contest goes longer, games are scheduled for January 3 and 4, if necessary.
Monday December 28, 2015
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
New Meijin League gets under way; Kansai Ki-in moves: The first games in the 41st Meijin League were played on December 3. In a match-up between heavyweights, Takao Shinji 9P (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig. Ko Iso 8P (B) beat league newcomer Hirata Tomoya 7P by resig. On December 10, Cho U (W) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig. On December 17, Murakawa Daisuke (B) beat Uchida Shuhei 7P by resignation, completing the first round. Incidentally, this was one of the last games played at the headquarters of the Kansai Ki-in in the Nihon Bunka Kaikan (Japan Culture Hall). After 47 years at this venue, the Kansai Ki-in is moving to a new address: 4th & 5th Floors, Heiwa Building, Kitahama Itchome, Chuo-ku, Osaka 541-0041.
Hane defends Crown title: The final of the 56th Crown title, which is open to Nagoya professionals, was held on December 4. Taking white, Hane (right) rebuffed the challenge of Ogata Masaki 9P, forcing a 
resignation after 150 moves. This is Hane’s fifth Crown title in a row; overall, he has won it 12 times. That takes his tally of titles to 25, which is ninth in the all-time records.
Yoshihara to challenge for Women’s Kisei: The play-off to decide the challenger to Xie Yimin for the 19th DoKoMo Cup Women’s Kisei title was held in the Ryusei Studio in the basement of the Nihon Ki-in at Ichigaya on December 7. Yoshihara Yukari 6P (W) defeated Kato Keiko 6P by resig. Yoshihara (left) won this title three times from 2007 to 2009, then lost the next two matches to Xie. At present, Xie has held the title for three years in a row.
Tomorrow: Motoki retains lead in Honinbo League; Korea wins team tournament; Iyama’s winning streak ends on 24; Aoki wins Women’s Meijin League
Sunday December 27, 2015
Oregon go player alert: the Portland Go Club is looking for volunteers to help host a table at Mochitsuki at PSU on January 31st and Corvallis 
will host a workshop with Janice Kim 3P February 13-14.
The Portland Go Club will host a table at Mochitsuki at PSU on January 31st, the 20th anniversary of the Japanese American New Year celebration. “Last year was a great success 
and four of us introduced many, many adults and children to go,” reports Peter Freedman. “This is a well-attended event!” Volunteers get free access; email pleefreedman1@comcast.net.
Corvallis will host their third visit from Janice Kim 3P with a workshop scheduled for February 13 and 14. “The workshop is being aimed at the 9 kyu to 3 dan strength range of the Corvallis Go Club ‘regulars,’ many of whom you will be familiar with from the annual Lewis & Clark tournaments, as well as participation on Braindog,” reports Bob O’Malley. For details and to register, email omalleyr@science.oregonstate.edu.
Saturday December 26, 2015
Yuan Zhou 7d instructed, enlightened and entertained members of the Triangle Go Group over a warm, sunny North Carolina weekend December 
13-14 in Raleigh. In addition to extremely helpful reviews of participants’ games, Zhou (right) also 
introduced attendees to a new style of play called Team Play. Team Play (left) is competition between groups, rather than individuals, played on a single board maintained by the TD, with each team located in a separate room.
In his lectures, Zhou illustrated guidelines for play with examples from the style of Go Seigen, Kabayashi Koichi, Cho Chikun, Lee Changho and others. This year, marking his ninth annual visit to North Carolina, Yuan Zhou treated the attendees to an inspiring deep analysis of the recent Chunlan Cup final game in June between Gu Li and Zhou Rui Yang.
Zhou also reminded workshop participants of the philosophical elements of go, and mentioned some of the underlying principles and basic elements. Introducing a review of a 9-stone handicap game, Zhou encouraged our strong players to welcome high handicap games and to teach those who want to become stronger.
– report/photos by Bob Bacon
Saturday December 26, 2015
With the New Year fast approaching, online go classes are starting new sessions:
Guo Juan’s Internet Go School’s online group class starts on January 9th. “Meet friends, have fun and learn much from pro teachers,” says Go 
Juan 5P. Pro teachers include Guo, YoungSun Yoon 8P, Jennie Shen 2P and Mingjiu Jiang 7P. Cost is 135 euros for 8 x 1,5h classes and seven weeks full access to the school’s pro lecture site and the training system.
Inseong Hwang’s new season — the 14th — of his online go academy ‘Yunguseng Dojang’ starts on January 4. The American Yunguseng dojang has been going to two years. It started with three leagues and 20 people and has now increased to seven leagues and 50 participants, with members from AGA 7dan to 12 kyu. “I attended this year’s US Go Congress,” says Hwang. Check out the Yunguseng Doajng Youtube channel.
Friday December 25, 2015
Two baduk teachers visited Seattle in December, courtesy of the Korean Amateur Baduk Association (KABA). Yoonyoung Kim 4P, a Korean tournament winner, and Hyunwoo Kim, who is completing the Baduk Studies program at Myongji University, taught a weekend workshop, played simultaneous games, and attended the Pair Go Gala. The weekend workshop on Dec. 12-13 was attended mostly by single digit kyu players, and was taught in English. The well prepared teachers led the students through tesuji problem sets, and gave lectures on invasions and reductions. They also reviewed student games and questions, and presented one of Yoonyoung Kim’s professional games. Sonny (Sung-Chul) Cho 6d said he “was very much impressed by their sharp analysis of Go games and theory”.
Not much has been written about Yoonyoung Kim in English, but she is a tournament player to watch for. She became a pro in 2007, and is now 26 years old. Just days before she came to Seattle, she beat Ahn Jo Young 9P in the GX Caltex Qualified. He is the known as the “Half Point Magician” since he defeated many top players including Lee Sedol and Gu Li by the smallest margin. In 2014, Yoonyoung Kim made the top 32 in the Samsung Masters World Championship. She defeated Fan Yunuo, a young Chinese prospect, but lost to Murakawa Daisuke only by two and a half points and did not move to the best of 16 round. In 2010 she was on the Korean female team for the Asian Games, and won a gold medal as part of that team. She also won the Women’s Kisung tournament in 2010, and was first runner up in the 2011 Women’s Kook-Soo Tournament.
Hyunwoo Kim, a former Korean insei, is finishing coursework at Myongji University, and actually needed a written excuse for missing one of his classes. His excellent excuse was written by Lee Anne Bowie, who is President of the Seattle Go Center, and a former high school teacher. Hyunwoo has taught go in many places, including ten months in New Zealand. Yoonyoung and Hyunwoo were warm and friendly teachers, able to help students at many levels. Photo: Yoonyoung Kim reviewing simul game. Photo and Report by Brian Allen.
Friday December 25, 2015
Shin Jinseo 3p defeated Kim Myounghun 2p, posting a 2-1 record to win the 2015 Let’s Run Park Cup final on December 22, becoming a new 
teen champion in Korea. The final featured a battle between two teenagers, the first time such young players had competed since 2003, in the Chunwon (Korean Tengen) final between Choi Cheolhan 9p and Won Seongjin 9p.
– excerpted from Younggil An’s report on Go Game Guru, which includes game records of all three games plus more photos.
Friday December 25, 2015
The Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Winter Tournament at the Rancho Cordova Library in Sacramento on December 12. The event drew 16 
players from San Jose to Grass Valley. There was a tie between Yufei Hu 4d (right) and Matthew Cheng 1d (left), for Division I. Tai-an Cha 4k (center), won Division II.
– Willard Haynes
Thursday December 24, 2015
The annual North American Kyu Championship (NAKC) is returning for the third time this coming January. Any kyu players under the age of 18, from Canada, the United States, or Mexico are welcome to play and fight to become 2016’s North American Kyu Champion. Junior (under 13) and Senior (under 18) players will compete with each other, but crystal trophies will be awarded to both the best Junior player and the best Senior player in each bracket – all the way down to double digit kyu. The winner of the top bracket will also be allowed to join the Redmond Cup, a youth tournament traditionally only open to dan players. Thanks to the AGF, any participant who competes in every round, win or lose, will be eligible for the choice of a $400 scholarship to the summer AGA Go Camp or a $200 scholarship to the 2016 Go Congress.
All four rounds will be held on KGS on January 30. For more details, visit the NAKC’s official Rules and Format page. To register, click here. -Julian Erville, E-J Youth Correspondent.
Wednesday December 23, 2015
Jeremy Chiu 7d won the annual Young Lions Tournament, held November 14-15 on KGS. “A record-setting 54 participants from the US, Canada and Mexico joined the 4-round event,” reports American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Promotion Head Stephen Hu. “It feels great knowing that I was able to come out on top of the tournament,” said the 13-year-old Chiu, who is pictured at right. “The tournament was larger than I expected, and there were many strong players in the open division. I felt the challenge and thrill of a strong playing field, and there were many good games played throughout. I watched parts of the stream after the tournament, and it was quite entertaining. To be honest, I felt that I was lucky to win the entire tournament, and that it could have gone any direction”
Winners of each of the five divisions received trophies and 2nd/3rd places earned medals. “Most notably,” adds Hu, “a total of 6 strong youth players formed an open division with no handicap, producing games of very high quality. In the end Chiu triumphed, and clinched victory with a 4-0 record.”
The tournament was made possible by the young officers of the AGHS, with support from the AGA, and the AGF. Yunxuan Li, AGHS president, coordinated the entire event; Brandon Ho, Katherine Zhang, Joseph Resch and Amy Su helped out as tournament directors; Yixin Song worked on ordering and delivering prizes to their recipients; Stephen Hu (xhu98), the promotion head, helped advertise the tournament on various go servers and communities. Hu also streamed the top board games on Twitch together with secretary April Ye; recordings can be found on Youtube. -Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor
Winners Report: Open Division: 1st – Jeremy Chiu 7d (4-0), 2nd – Daniel Liu 5d (3-1), 3rd – Alan Huang 6d (2-2); Division A: 1st – Daniel Puzan 2d (4-0), 2nd (tied) – Eden Chen 2d, Gilbert Feng 2d (3-1); Division B: 1st – Terry Luo 3k (4-0), 2nd – Lazaro Lopez 6k (3-1), 3rd – Andrew Zhang 6k (3-1); Division C: 1st – Steve Zhang 13k (4-0), 2nd – Alex Kuang 10k (3-1), 3rd – Sarah Crites 11k (3-1); Division D: 1st – Matthew Ho 20k (3-1), 2nd – Gillian Chu 20k (3-1), 3rd – Alana Noehrenberg 22k (3-1)