American Go E-Journal » Go News

Quaid Tseng 6d Tops Stony Brook Sakura Matsuri Go Tourney

Thursday May 10, 2012

Quaid Tseng 6d was the top winner at the second annual Sakura Matsuri Go Tournament, hosted by the Stony Brook Go Club May 5 at the Long Island Cherry Blossom Festival in the Wang Center of Stony Brook University in New York State. The Festival celebrates Japanese culture with martial art demonstrations, taiko drum performances, kimono fashion shows and other events. The Stony Brook Go Club offered $200 worth of prizes, including books written by professional go players, teacups, and a traditional Filipino squash sculpture made by Alex Wong and Christian Ang. Open to the public with no entry fee, entrants participated in four rounds and attracted 36 participants. The top seeds consisted of five-dan ranked players ranging from 3-dan to 6-dan. Other undefeated winners were Barbara Huang 7k, Mirza Basim Baig 20k, and Diana Huang 20k.
– report by Christian Ang

Categories: U.S./North America

BadukMovies Launches Weekly Webcast

Thursday May 10, 2012

Dutch go players Peter Brouwer 6d (‘danoontje’ on KGS) and Kim Ouweleen 4d (‘Murugandi’) have launched a weekly webcast on their BadukMovies website. The short videos — 10 min. max — clearly explain and cover a wide variety of go topics, ranging from “A trick play without drawbacks” to “A Chinese tesuji against moyo” as well as detailed explanations about securing or destroying bases. Every Monday a new screencast is uploaded, with eight posted since the launch on March 20. The free videos are in English and Brouwer and Ouweleen say “Comments, feedback or new ideas for videos are more than welcome. Let us know what you think!” You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Categories: Europe,Tools: books, software & hardware

“My Father’s Last Game” Translated into Chinese; Cool Players; “Liking” Iwamoto’s Go Centers; Cotsen Correx

Wednesday May 9, 2012

“My Father’s Last Game” Translated into Chinese: Betsy Small’s Traveling Board column in the March 29 E-Journal, “My Father’s Last Game” has been published in China, on the sina blog and major go websites, as well as in the publication Sports Fan, which has a circulation of about 150,000. “Some readers told me they were in tears after reading the story,” Simon Guo, who translated the article, tells the E-Journal. “Me too.”

Cool Players: “I could be mistaken, but the men in that photograph (Go Photo: Cool Game 4/22 EJ) look like Igor Grishin (left) and Maksim Tikhomirov (right) from the Russian Go Federation,” writes Nikolas. “ Alexandre Dinerchtein sent me more photos of them” on the All About Go blog.

“Liking” Iwamoto’s Go Centers: Noting that “The Seattle Go Center is in serious jeopardy because the Nihon Ki-in has decided to sell the building that has housed it since its inception” and that “the unilateral manner in which the decision was made raises questions regarding the future of all of the Iwamoto Go Centers,” NY Go Center Board member Roy Laird is urging go players to “like” any or all of the three Iwamoto Go Centers that have Facebook pages: The Seattle Go Center, The New York Go Center and The European Go Cultural Centre. “This public groundswell of support could open the door to a more effective partnership between the Nihon Ki-in and Western Go,” suggests Laird.

Cotsen Correx: Myung-wan Kim is 9P (not 3P as mistakenly reported in our 5/2 post In Appreciation: The 2012 Cotsen Open Team), Chris Sira was the Tournament Director. Our apologies for the error and oversight.

Categories: Cotsen Open,Traveling Go Board,U.S./North America

EuroGoTV Updates: May 4-7

Tuesday May 8, 2012

Britain Seeks New Leader: (5/7) After racking up 25 British Championship titles, Matthew Macfadyen has decided, for now, to retire from the UK Championship. The race is now on to see who will replace him…Apeldoorn 2012: The Apeldoorn 2012, a class C tournament, played May 6 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, was won by Rudi Verhagen 5d (left)…Danish Championship 2012: The Danish Championship 2012, a class A tournament, played May 5-6 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was won by Per Marquardsen 2d…Korean Ambassador Cup 2012: The Korean Ambassador Cup, a class A tournament, played May 5-6 in Praha, Czech Republic, was won by Pal Balogh 6d (right)…449th Velika Gorica weekend-go-tournament 2012: The 449th Velika Gorica weekend-go-tournament, a class C tournament, played on May 5 in Velika Gorica, Croatia, was won by Zvonko Bednjanec 3k…Gosente Mini Handicap Tournament 2012: The Gosente Mini Handicap Tournament, a class C tournament, played on May 4 in Riga, Latvia, was won by Karina Stanislavska 10k…
– excerpted from EuroGoTV, which includes complete winner reports, crosstabs and photos.

Categories: Europe

Edward Kim 7d wins Seattle Pro Prelim

Monday May 7, 2012

Edward Kim (r) won all five of his games to win the first AGA-Tygem Seattle Pro Prelim, held May 5-6 at the Seattle Go Center. Ten players competed for the opportunity to go to the AGA-Tygem Pro Final in North Carolina, which will be from July 28th to August 4th. Second place was earned by Yixian Zhou 6d, who had a 4-1 record. Third went to David (Dong) Ma 6d, fourth (on a tie breaker) to young Vincent Zhuang 6d and fifth to Nicholas Jhirad 6d. The second band, which was not competing for the pro position, had six dan level players. Kum Kang Lee 4d placed first, Job Betcher 2nd and Louie Liu 3rd. The tournament also generated points for the 2012 World Mind Sports selection process.

The Seattle Go Center expressed “special thanks” to Tournament Director John Hogan, “who did a great job starting a new tournament tradition.” Bill Chiles was Asst. TD, while Dennis Wheeler, Oren Laskin, Bill Camp, and Bill Thompson recorded games from the top two boards. The games are available here.
– photo by Brian Allen

Categories: U.S. Pro Tournament,U.S./North America

New Go Films: Tokyo Newcomer & Weiqi Wonders

Monday May 7, 2012

Go features prominently in a couple of new films, one a drama, the other a documentary. In Tokyo Newcomer, Chinese go genius Yoshiryu (Qin Hao) comes to Japan to hone his skills in the game, but finds he’s too busy earning a living to study go at all. One day, he meets an old woman hawking vegetables, who turns out to be a descendant of a prestigious go family. The latest film by Jiang Qinmin – who also directed The Last Sunflower and Sky Lovers — Tokyo Newcomer is “a touching drama about true communication, transcending national borders and generation gaps, through go.” In Weiqi Wonders: Conversations About the Game of Go in China, anthropologist Marc L. Moskowitz (at right, below) interviews people in China in settings ranging from children’s schools to China’s elite Beijing University to a park where retired working class men gather to play, from child educators to those reminiscing about their own youth during the Cultural Revolution. What emerges is a fascinating cultural study as people discuss children’s education, retirement, China forty years ago and today. “As Chinese politics have changed over the last two millennia, so too has the imagery of the game,” Moskowitz notes, “from a tool to seek religious enlightenment to military metaphors, one of the noble four arts, one of the condemned “four olds”, nationalism, transnationalism, historical elitism, and futuristic hyper rationality.” The film is “witness to people’s lives, ranging from university students to working class senior citizens, professional players, people who gave up professional careers to become students, and a range of others who all share a love for this extraordinary game.” Please let us know if you hear about screenings of either of these films, so we can let EJ readers know.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware,World

Zavala Wins Mexican Youth Go Championship

Monday May 7, 2012

Lilian Zavala 9k, age 12, defeated Ogam Shakti Rojas 15k, age 11, at the finals for the Mexican Youth Go Championship (MYGC), in Cuautla Morelos, near Mexico City on March 18th. “A full weekend trip was planned to this beautiful place,” reports organizer Siddhartha Avila, “where kids, parents, teachers and friends could enjoy the natural surroundings and have fun with different activities outdoors. There was intense go activity on Saturday morning, with matches and teaching games, later some of the kids played the first two rounds of the AGHS School Team Tournament online, while on Sunday the MYGC final game was won by Zavala.” More photos are available here
– Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Siddhartha Avila: Lilian Zavala 9k (l) vs. Ogam Shakti Rojas 15k (r).

Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth

Go Book Donation Raises Funds for AGA, Expands Empty Sky Collection

Sunday May 6, 2012

Call it the Joseph Yao tesuji. The ripple effects of his recent donation of his collection of 300 go books to the AGA make Yao’s move a tremendously skillful move, maximizing the use of his books on both a local and global level. A Boeing Jet Propulsion Laboratory retiree who lives in Los Angeles, Yao was a lifelong devotee of go, buying hundreds of books. “Since it was hard to get go books in the US, he sent $100 or more a month to Japan to buy the newest go books,” Andy Okun tells the E-Journal. “He studied the books assiduously, even after having a stroke, but further declines in his health means he can no longer use them, according to his wife, Hong-Dan Zheng, so they made this arrangement with the AGA to get the books into the hands of people who could use them.” The Rochester (NY) -based Empty Sky Go Club (l) was the high bidder in an online auction of the books in April, and the club promptly donated the entire collection to the Greg Lefler Wing of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Library, where over 100 go books are already available via the WorldCat inter-library system. “We hope this extensive collection will be utilized by go players not only around the country, but around the world,” said the Empty Sky’s Steve Colburn. The $2,200 raised by the auction will fund a small go-and-mathematics college scholarship, Okun reports

Categories: U.S./North America

EuroGo Updates: April 1-15

Sunday May 6, 2012

Croatia: Robert Jovicic 2k won the 448th Velika Gorica Weekend Go Tournament, played on 4/21 Velika Gorica; second was Mladen Smud 1k and in third Nikola Primetica 4k. Result table.

France: The Ile-de-France League organized the Youth Championship on March 24. This competition is the qualifier for the French Youth Championship held on May 5-6 in Cachan, a suburb of Paris. The League decided to call this event the “Zaza Cup” in honor of the memory of Michel “Zaza” Zaltzman; this edition of the Zaza Cup was accommodated by the Antony Club which was a big supporter of the organisation. Every player won a diploma and lessons for participating and the winner in each category won a private lesson with one of the official teachers of the French Go Federation, Fan Hui or Motoki Noguchi. Cups were also awarded to the first three players in each category. The “Under 12” category was won by Guillaume Ougier 5k, second came Jin-De Takashi Jen 14k, third was Alexandre Pauvers 15k. The two first players qualified for the National competition. Result table.

Germany: The China Cup Berlin, played from 4/14-15 in Berlin, Germany, was won by Jin Zou 6d (l); second was Johannes Obenaus 5d and third was Michael Palant 5d. Result table.

Italy: Alessandro Pace 2d won the 2012 Campionato Italiano Rapid, played 4/14-15 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. In second was Julian van Den Busken 1k and third was Andriy Zakharzhevskyy 2d. Result table .

Poland: Stanislaw Frejlak 3d won the Young Masters League – Qualification, played on 4/14 in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. In second was Marcin Majka 2d and third was Stanislaw Zambrzycki 4k. Result table. The Side Tournament, also played on 4/14 in Bielsko-Biala, was won by Pawel Stepnowski 2k, second was Bogdan Kruk 4k and third was Lukasz Oles 5k. Result table.

Russia: The three winners of the 17th European Youth Championship 2012, held April 12-16 in St. Petersburg Russia, are Lukas Podpera 5d, Czech Republic (Under 20); Valerii Krushelnytskyi 2k, Ukraine (Under 12): Yurii Mykhalyuk 3d, Ukraine(Under 16).

Slovakia: The Spring Tournament, played 4/14-15 in Porac, Slovakia, was won by Pavol Lisy 5d (r); in second was Bronislav 12686597 Snidal 2d and third was Jakub Berka 10k. Result table.

Spain: The second Nam-Ban Cup 2012, played from 4/13-14 in Madrid, Spain, was won by Andres Dominguez 1k, second came Fernando Holgado 4k and third was Antonio Egea 3d. Result table .

Slovenia: Ondrej Silt 6d won the Slovenian Open 2012, played from 4/13-15 in Maribor, Slovenia; second came Guochen Xie 6d and third was Lothar Spiegel 4d. Result table.

– excerpted from reports on EuroGoTV.com

Categories: Europe

World Amateur Championship Set for May 11-17

Sunday May 6, 2012

Top amateur go players will compete in the 33rd World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) May 11-17 in Guangzhou, China, the first time that this event will take place in South China (click here for last year’s reports from Japan). The American Go E-Journal and Ranka online are teaming up again this year to provide daily coverage.

The field of 58 players will range in age from 13 to 67 and in official rank from 8 kyu to 8 dan. Nearly half will be newcomers to the WAGC, and eleven will still be in their teens. One teenager to watch will be 16-year-old Qiao Zhijian who has been cutting a wide swath through the Chinese tournament scene, winning the Evening News Cup to earn the right to represent China at the WAGC and then defeating the legendary Nie Weiping in the annual Evening News pro-amateur match. Three others will be Hong Kong’s 14-year-old Chan Chi-Hin, who took 15th place in the WAGC last year and then worked up to a 9-dan rating on the Kiseido Go Server, Chinese Taipei’s 7-dan Chen Cheng-Hsun, the youngest in the field, and the Czechia’s Lukas Podpera, who won the U20 division of the recent European Youth Go Championship. These four will be battling for top spots with formidable opponents from Japan, the two Koreas, Southeast Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, India, and Oceania. Well-known go teacher Yuan Zhou 7d is this year’s U.S. representative.

Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital city of Guangdong Province. It is enjoying great economic prosperity, flourishing development, cultural diversity and dynamic modernization. With a history of more than 2800 years, Guangzhou is forging its way ahead between its cultural heritage and fashionable skyscrapers. It offers tourists and visitors a feast of sights with unique charm, including the Flowery Pagoda, the Pearl River, the Baiyun Mountain, and the Temple of Six Banyan Trees. In 2010, when Guangzhou hosted the 16th Asian Games, the whole city improved itself comprehensively and impressed guests from all over the world with its ebullience and hospitality.

Guangzhou Chess Institute (left) has been chosen as the venue of the 33rd WAGC. Located in scenic surroundings near the Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou Chess Institute was rated “the most culturally attractive venue of the Asian Games”. Listening to the ripple of the stream, looking around at the traditional Lingnan houses, you may think you are in a famous garden. The simple and natural design of the playing hall speaks of calmness and harmony to the players and audience.
– excerpted from Ranka Online’s report

Categories: World,World Amateur Go Championships

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