American Go E-Journal » Go News

Go makes an appearance in a January 4 Forbes post by Haydn Shaughnessy. The post is about social media influencers and go is employed as a graphic illustration of influence, with Shaughnessy noting that “Social media influencers seem to have alighted on good strategies to build and sustain influence.” Thanks to Peter Kron for passing this along.

Park Dae-woong 6d topped the first league competition at the recently-opened New Han Kook Go Club in Garden Grove, CA.  The two-week, 32-player competition ended Dec. 30th with Park Dae-woong 6d in first place, Han Sang-kook 1d in second and Chung Tae-wha 2d in 3rd, reported club owner Song Kim.    Club members enjoyed a buffet dinner and a visit with simultaneous games from Kim Myung-wan 9P.  Several league competitions a year are planned, Kim said. The new, well-appointed, non-smoking facility is the first 7-day-a-week club to open in Southern California for some time, according to local organizer Andy Okun.  “It is a very pleasant place to play,” Okun told the E-Journal.  The club’s hours are 11a to 9:30p; it’s located at 9738 Garden Grove Blvd., #6, Garden Grove, CA 92844.  Telephone 714-530-5121.

U.S. players have been invited to participate in the new Canadian Go Association on-line KGS leagues, reports AGA Tournament Coordinator Karoline Burrall. The leagues started in early January but if you miss the first round of 2012 the next league starts in mid February. AGA members have been invited to join the CGA and to participate in the leagues at no cost. “The games are serious,” says CGA’s Chuck Elliott, who promises “You will get stronger.” . Prize money last year was $450 and Elliott hopes it will grow to $2,000 in 2012. Click here for details and to sign up.

The Santa Barbara (CA) Go Club welcomed the New Year with players on five boards at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (3052 De La Vina Street) on Wednesday, January 4.
– photo by Ed Lee
Got local go news? Email it to us at journal@usgo.org! 

The E-Journal caught up with Jujo Jiang 9P and his wife Rui Naiwei 9P when the two top players made a special appearance at the Jujo Cup in San Francisco this past weekend (look for a tournament report soon). Jujo is the younger brother of Mingjiu Jiang 7P; he and Rui Naiwei — who holds most of the major women’s titles in Korea — taught in the Bay Area during the 90s and early 2000s before going to Korea for a number of years. Both Jiang and his wife recently returned to Shanghai, China to open a go school for children. They plan to spread the game of go there at all levels, from introducing go to the local elementary schools, to teaching the go instructors at those schools to improve their playing strengths, and also opening go classes for students who are more interested.  Their school, which opened in late 2011, already has 100 students, and is sure to be filled with the sound of stones hitting boards in the near future. Jiang fondly reminisced about his time in the US, saying that “It was nice to find so many go players who played because they truly loved the game.” However, for those young players who want to become strong players, he says “It’s important to study with a professional teacher,” noting that  there are more professionals in the US than when he was here, and it is also now easy to do so online as well. For the more daring youth who dream to become professional, he encourages them to stay a few years in Asia and become an insei, which he calls “an unforgettable experience.”
– report/photo by Lawrence Ku

While commending Boris Bernadsky “for his past and his current contribution to the go community in New York City (Go Renaissance in the Big Apple 12/26/2011 EJ),” Peter Armenia – Co-Director of both the 2006 and 2012 U.S. Go Congresses in Black Mountain, North Carolina — writes to mention another thriving new AGA chapter in New York City,  the Gotham Go Group, which meets Tuesdays from 7 -11p at the Hungarian Pastry Shop (1030 Amsterdam Ave between 110th and 111th). Armenia founded the Gotham club in October “and we have been getting 10-15 players a week. That is where I had the pleasure to meet Boris and we talked about doing tournaments. He was the one who put on the tourney at the Fat Cat, a great venue which deserves a write up all it’s own. Scott, another guy who came to our club, has started getting people to meet in Midtown Manhattan on Thursdays with my encouragement as well. As I am sure Boris would agree, you missed a mention of the real spark that has helped to revive go in NYC.”