American Go E-Journal » Go News

Fifteen year old Vincent Zhuang 6D won the 2012 Jin Chen Memorial Tournament on Jan. 8.  The annual tournament attracted 42 players, and was the largest AGA-rated event at the Seattle Go Center in several years.

Zhuang is a 10th grader living in Portland, Oregon.  He won the 19×19 Iwamoto Youth Tournament at the Seattle Go Center two and a half years ago, when he was rated as a 1 kyu.  This time he bested several 7 dans in the open section.

The total prize money was $1,000, thanks to a matching donation from the Ourjin Foundation.  Winners in the Open Section were:  Vincent Zhuang – 1st, Dong Baek Kim – 2nd,  Edward Kim – 3rd, Jon Boley – 4th, Dong Ho Kim – 5th.  “A”  Handicap section: Chris Kirschner – 1st, Daniel Top – 2nd, Takehito Furuyama – 3rd. “B” Handicap section: Peter Christensen – 1st, Larry Eclipse – 2nd, Frank Brown – 3rd. “C” Handicap section: Bill Thompson – 1st, Gaurav Oberoi – 2nd, Yuriko Miyake – 3rd.
– report/photo by Brian Allen

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Andy Zalesak 1d (right, in photo, playing Paul Celmer) took top honors in the top band of the Triangle Go Group’s Friendship/Ratings tournament, held on Sunday, January 15, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Zalesak won three of his four games, with four others in this highly competitive band – two 6-dans, a 3-dan, 5-dan, and two 1-dans — tied for second place with 2-2 results. In the second band, Thomas McCarthy was undefeated, going 4-0 for the day.  Stephen Allen came in 2nd, with a 3-1 record.  In the third band, another Zalesak, Matthew, won all 4 of his games.  John Aiken won the three games that he played, but declined prize money, which was awarded to young Alvin Chen. As usual, all entry fees were returned as cash prizes.
– report/photo by Bob Bacon, TD

THIS JUST IN: Registration is now open for the 2012 Chunlan Cup Selection Tournament, which will be held on KGS on Saturday Feb. 4 and Sunday Feb. 5. Professionals and amateurs 6-dan or stronger who are citizens of North Americaare eligible. The winner must be able to attend the Chunlan Cup, the first round of which will take place March 26-31 in China. To register, email tournaments@usgo.org with your name and KGS name. The Chunlan Cup Selection Tournament is a knockout tournament that will determine the North American representative; there are 12 reserved slots for US players, three for Canada and one forMexico. Should more than 12 players express interest, placing will be chosen by AGA rating. Citizenship is required to participate; besides this stipulation, eligibility to play will be based on the AGA guidelines for international representatives. Registration for the tournament will close on Thursday, February 2.

Cole Pruitt 2k took first place in the 2012 Massachusetts Go Association Winter Quarterly Tournament, held January 15th at the Boylston Chess Club Tournament Hall in Somerville, MA. Thirty-three players battled for three place prizes in this handicap tournament directed by Eva Casey 4k. Despite very cold temperatures (-15C) and changes to the nearby subway schedule players between the ages of 11 to 75 participated with people coming from all over New England and a couple of Mid-Atlantic states. MGA President David Kahn declared the tournament a great success. After four rounds, three people rose to the top. Taking 3^rd 3 points was Chia Chan 7k; 2^nd was won by Ralph St. Louis 9k and taking the top spot was Cole Pruitt 4k, with 4 out of 4 points.
-Reported by Richard “Doc” Kinne 20k, AGA and MGA member.

Jung Hoon Lee 7d topped a field of 40 players competing in the Rocky Mountain Winter Go Tournament, January 14 in Boulder, Colorado. The players ranged in strength from 7 dan to 38 kyu, reports organizer David Weiss.

Winner’s Report: Open Section: The winner of the open section was Jung Hoon Lee, 7d. Dan section: 1^st: Luke Zhang 1d; 2^nd: Huck Bennett 3d. SDK: 1^st: Kent Evenson; 2^nd: Robin Luo. DDK: 1^st: Andrew Jung 16k; 2^nd: Hannah Jung 15k. “In his first tournament, 5-year, 2-month-old Andrew Huang 38k won both of his games by a significant margin against 7- and 11-year-old players,” reports Weiss. “We expect him to become very strong very quickly.”
photo: Huck Bennett (l) 3d vs. Oscar Vazquez Nunez 1d.  Photo by Paul Barchilon.