“The team competition was fierce” at the April 22 Carolina Spring Go
Tournament, reports organizer Owen Chen. The team competition for youth players was one of the unique features of the annual tournament in Raleigh, NC, organized by the Cary Go Club and the Chinese-American Friendship Association of North Carolina. The event drew 34 go players ranging from 6 to 70 years old.
Four teams representing the Raleigh Academy of Chinese Language (RACL), Cary Chinese School (CCS) and the Chinese School at Chapel Hill (CSCH) competed in the team tournament. “Young players kept reporting and checking the team scores posted on the wall after each round,” Chen tells the E-Journal. In the end, two teams from CCS – CCS Team 1, consisting of Alvin Chen, John Zhu and their teacher Jeff Kuang, and CCS Team 2, consisting of Byron Qi, Larry Zhang and David Hao, tied for the first place in the team competition with each 
team scoring 8 wins.
In the individual competition, Chen himself, a 5-dan, won the open section. Jeff Kuang 5d and Guojun Zhu 4d tied for the second place of the open section, each with three wins.
Brian Wu 1d won Section A (6k-1d) with a score of 3-1. Ralph Abbey 10k, Alvin Chen 12k and Jeff Martyn 10k all won 3 games and tied for the first place in Section B (15k-10k). In the beginner section of Section C (27k-19k), Byron Qi 20k, Anna Wiggins 19k and Larry Zhang 20k tied for the first place, each with 3 wins.
Photos: top right: CCS teams 1 & 2; above left: Owen Chen (at left in photo) plays Jeff Kuang. Photos courtesy Owen Chen
Twenty-six kids and adults gathered in Palo Alto, CA, on April 14 for this month’s ratings tournament run by Bay Area Go Players Association. Players ranged in strength from 7 dan to 18 kyu, and four players won three games apiece: Yue Fang 1d, Tai-An Cha 5k, Bryan Tan 12k, and Sybil Fu 15k. As is usual at the Bay Area Go tournaments, go books were handed out as prizes to everyone playing in their first tournament and those who won all of their games.
But everyone was a winner at this tournament, because during the lunch break between the first and second rounds, local amateur 8 dan Joey Hung gave a lecture. He reviewed game openings, discussed some common joseki, and covered what he calls ‘the first rule of the opening’. “In the front row there was a 7 dan player, and sitting near him an 18 kyu player. It is very challenging to teach such a wide range of players at once,” explained Joey later. “But I think everyone learned something.” Indeed, a lot was learned that day.
