“What words do you think of when you hear ‘school’?” asks Promotion Head Jenny Li, “Homework, tests, Zoom? Nah. This year, AGHS will revamp your word cloud by hosting the annual School Team Tournament on April 25th and May 2nd on OGS via BadukClub. There will be a total of four rounds, starting at 10 PM and 1 PM PST on each of the two days. In order to be eligible, players must be under 19 or currently enrolled in K-12. Each team must consist of at least three players who go to the same school or institution.”
The big story this month was the Hon’inbo Tournament. As you may recall, Ishida Yoshio 7d finished last month 2-1, trailing Fujisawa Hōsai 9d, who was 4-0. Ishida played three games in the league this month, winning all of them. The first one, played on March 3 and 4, was the most important – a half point win against league leader Fujisawa Hōsai made a large lead seem as small as the game’s margin. Two weeks later he defeated Chino Tadahiko 7d, and on the last day of March he defeated Kanō Yoshinori 9d (author of Graded Go Problems for Beginners) to finish the month tied with Hōsai at 5-1 with one game remaining. (Game records: Ishida-Hōsai, Chino-Ishida, Kanō-Ishida.)
On March 14, the first round of the Asahi Amateur Best Ten Tournament took place in Tōkyō. Two Westerners took part, Richard Bozulich – founder of Ishi Press – and James Davies, taking time out from compiling information about the 1971 Hon’inbo Tournament. The study must have put him in good stead, as Davies (pictured) won his first game, although he lost in the second round.
Miyashita (right) and Fujisawa Hōsai
Japan completed two television tournaments this month, with the victors vanquishing the movers and shakers of the Hon’inbo League. On March 21, Miyashita Shūyō 9d (on the right in picture) defeated Fujisawa Hōsai in the final of the 3rd Hayago Championship. Ōtake Hideo defeated Ishida Yoshio on March 24, in the final of the NHK Tournament. (Game records: Miyashita-Hōsai, Ishida-Ōtake.)
Two events occurred in the greater New York area this month. On the March 6 and 7, the 12th New Jersey Open Championship took place. Takao Matsuda 6d defended his title with a victory in the final round over his rival Takahiko Ishikawa 5d of Philadelphia. In the New Jersey Championship, Robert Ryder 5d won over Harry Gonshor 4d. The kyu champion was David Ault. The report in Go Review thanked Jeff Rohlfs for his hospitality during the event – Jeff is still an active tournament go player today.
The following weekend, Matsuda showed he could win giving handicaps as well by winning the New York Okigo Championship with a perfect record.
“Registration for the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Weekly Go Problems – Spring Season 2021 is now open, and all players are welcomed,” says Promotion Head Jenny Li, “Each Sunday, we will provide Go problems with five different levels from the most beginner to the most advanced level. Practicing problems is a great opportunity to enhance your skills and will benefit you tremendously in your games. The season lasts ten weeks, with prizes being awarded at the end.”
For the tenth year in a row, the San Diego Go Club has taught Go to interested people attending the annual Japanese Friendship Garden’s Cherry Blossom Festival in Balboa Park in San Diego. Thousands streamed through the blossoming Japanese cherry trees, blooming azaleas, and wisteria from Friday morning until Sunday at dusk. Everyone was required to be masked and socially distanced.
All who sat down for a go lesson were given a free copy of “The Way To Go” by Karl Baker. This 50-page booklet, which is provided for free to AGA chapters by the AGF, has everything a person new to Go needs to enjoy the game: Go history, rules of the game, examples, references to online Go sites, a glossary of Go terms, and the path to finding Go clubs in the USA.
The annual Cherry Blossom Festival is one of several community outreach programs the San Diego Go Club participates in. The effort results in new club members and new AGA memberships. Hopefully, by Thanksgiving, the Fourth Annual California Go Championship, sponsored by SDGC, will be held face-to-face.
-photos provided by Ted Terpstra
Ted Terpstra (right) giving a Go lesson to a neurology grad student at JFG
Color Go Server, a brand new Go server geared towards beginners, promises to inject a little fun and a lot of learning into beginner play. The programming includes basic Go server features, allowing players to play, watch and review games, and chat. On top of the basics and allowing players to customize their colors and themes, CGS allows players to visualize areas of influence and includes optional aids such as viewing liberty counts, highlighting Ko and Atari, and viewing potential results in real time. “Even if the rules of Go are easy to understand, the final goal, to control a bigger territory than the opponent, remains hard for beginners to visualize. CGS will help new players to learn the game rules in a more intuitive way,” says Max Moussalli, creator of CGS.
The server launched in January and is available in 19 languages. CGS allows players to play real-time or correspondence games in a web browser without requiring downloads. Learn more about CGS by visiting the Color Go Server website.
“I’m writing to ask if there will be any go tournaments in the near future?” writes David. “I recently got back into the game after watching the AlphaGo documentary, and I’d like to participate in a legit tournament before deciding whether to join AGA as a member.” There haven’t been many in the last year, due to the pandemic, but San Diego is hosting an online tournament starting March 13 and the New York Go League starts up March 15. Keep an eye on our tournament page for updates on future events. Hope this is helpful; click here for details on how to join the AGA.
The AGA Board of Directors is meeting this Sunday, March 14th at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT, later the same day of the daylight savings time change. The agenda for the meeting can be found here, and agenda and minutes for past meetings can be found here – board meeting minutes are generally approved as the first item of business at the next meeting, so updates to this page will often be a few months behind. If you are interested in attending the meeting this weekend, please contact AGA Board Chair Lisa Scott at lisa.scott@usgo.org.
Interested in learning what the board has been up to lately? Summaries can be found at the beginning of the minutes for each meeting. Following are a few recent updates:
November 2020 AGA Board Meeting The AGA Board of Directors approved a multiyear strategic plan, and were joined by AGA officers to review and assess interest in each element. The strategic plan falls into four main categories: organizational improvement, promoting Go in the US, improving the Go community, and maintaining progress on existent projects. The board also discussed the ongoing problem of playing Go in the pandemic and the recent appointment of the new AGA Treasurer, Lucas Baker.
September 2020 AGA Board Meeting At the September meeting of the AGA board of directors, the board gave the AGA president authorization to rate online tournaments advertised as “AGA-ratable,” pending development of an online rating system. The board also discussed filling the vacant treasurer post, development of formal policy documentation, and long-term priorities. The board received an update on operational concerns related to the AGAGD implementation.
Diego Albuja of Ecuador, Paola Sarmiento of Colombia, and Sid Avila of México invite players of all the countries of the Americas and the Caribbean to take part in the Liga Panamericana de Go por Equipos Sub 18 “SIRIO” (U18 Pan-American Go Team League Sirio), a Go team league from March to July of 2021 with rounds to be played the last Sunday of each month. Teams of three players under 18 years of age can enter in the following three divisions: Division 19×19 for teams with players from 13 kyu and above; Division 13×13 for teams with players from 19 kyu to 14 kyu; and Division 9×9 for teams with players from 30 kyu to 20 kyu.
The organizers have set up a dedicated group on OGS where games will take place. Registration is open until March 20th. An adult responsible for the players should register the team here.
Schedule Round 1: March 28, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT Round 2: April 25, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT Round 3: May 30, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT Round 4: June 27, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT Round 5: July 25, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EDT
The first game on the day of the matches will be played from official pairings. After finishing the paired game, players may play up to two more self-paired games with appropriate handicaps among other players in their division. They can send challenges freely and victories in these games will count as points for their teams.
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Takemiya wins 1200 games On Jan. 14, Takemiya Masaki 9P (W) beat Hara Sachiko 4P by resig. in a game in the First Tournament (= preliminary) of the 46th Kisei tournament. This made him the 10th member of the Nihon Ki-in to reach the mark of 1,200 wins. He has 764 losses and two jigo, for a winning percentage of 61%, which is 10th best. It took him 55 years nine months, which is ninth quickest. He is also the ninth oldest (he turned 70 on NY’s day).
Sumire’s progress As of January 1, Nakamura Sumire 1P switched to the Tokyo branch of the Nihon Ki-in. She has made a superb start there with seven wins to just one loss (as of Feb. 18), as detailed below. She actually started off her go year by being featured in the special go program presented by NHK to celebrate the new year (telecast on the 3rd). Taking black with no komi, she played a game with Shibano Toramaru Oza. Before the game, the program delved into the background of the players, showing photographs of them when younger. That was followed by an entertaining “talk show” between Sumire and Hirata Tomoya 7P. The latter shared commentating duties on the game with Kobayashi Satoru and Ueno Asami. In an aggressive game featuring tenukis in the opening and trades in the middle game, Sumire held her own, but Shibano ratcheted up the pressure by complicating the game and forced a resignation after move 168. In the end, she may have been outplayed by Shibano, but the commentators praised her fighting spirit. (Jan. 7) Sumire played two games in the 32nd Woman’s Meijin Prelim. A. In the morning, taking white, she beat Tsukuda Akiko 5P by resig. to score her fourth win in a row in this tournament. One more win would give her a place in the league. In the afternoon, Ueno Asami, Senko Cup-holder, (B) beat Sumire by 9.5 points. (Jan. 18). Sumire (B) beat Sakakibara Fumiko 6P by resig. (8th Women’s Hollyhock prelim.) (Jan. 21) Sumire (W) beat Minematsu Masaki 6P by resig. (Prelim. C, 60th Judan). (Jan. 25) Sumire (W) beat Iwata Saeka 1P by 1.5 points (prelim., 40th Women’s Honinbo prelim.). (Feb. 4) Sumire (W) beat Ha Yon-il 6P by 13.5. (First Tournament, 46th Kisei). (Feb. 11) Sumire (W) beat Tatsumi Akane 3P by 5.5 (Women’s Hollyhock prelim.). (Feb. 18) Sumire (W) beat Takao Mari 1P by half a point (Women’s Honinbo). Sumire now has a winning streak of six. Go Weeklytracks players with winning streaks; when hers reached five, her name was included. With six, she is equal third among the twelve players enjoying winning streaks.
Yoshida Mika first woman player to win 700 games On February 10, in the final game of the 40th Women’s Honinbo preliminary tournament, Yoshida Mika 8P of the Kansai Ki-in (B) beat Mizuno Hiromi 5P, also of the Kansai Ki-in, by resignation. This was her 700th win in official games. She is the first female Japanese pro to reach this mark. Her record is 700 wins to 550 losses and one jigo (tied game). Yoshida turned 50 on Feb. 12.
Promotions To 9-dan: Ichiriki Ryo (for winning his second top-seven title, the 46th Tengen title) To 6-dan: Ms. Tsukuda Akiko (90 wins; as of Jan. 22); Ms. Mukai Chiaki (90 wins; as of Feb. 20) To 5-dan: Hoshikawa Takumi (70 wins; as of Jan. 28; Hoshikawa is a member of the Kansai Ki-in, together with an older brother and a younger brother); Ms. Izawa Akino (70 wins; as of Feb. 2) To 4-dan: Inaba Takahiro (50 wins; as of Feb. 19) To 3-dan: Takagi Junpei (40 wins; as of Feb. 16) To 2-dan: Takei Taishin (30 wins; as of Feb. 19)
On February 21, the Eastern Youth Open (EYO) tournament, hosted by New York Go Association, took place online on KGS due to the pandemic. Eighty youth players of all different levels from across North America participated. After 4 rounds of competition, Zixuan Gao 5d took first place, her second recent championship following her performance in the Young Lions Tournament in November of 2020. Below are the results of all seven divisions.
Division A 1st Place: Zixuan Gao 2nd Place: Brady Zhang 3rd Place: Alexander Qi
Division B 1st Place: Jenny Li 2nd Place: Ethan Whitman, Juanshu Lan (tie)
Division C 1st Place: Albert Tang 2nd Place: Evan Tan 3rd Place: Stephanie Tan
Division D 1st Place: Sebastian Liang 2nd Place: Jason Liu 3rd Place: Alex Fan-Cui
Division E 1st Place: Ernest Lam 2nd Place: Juliet Zhang 3rd Place: Hector Lampert-Bates
Division F 1st Place: Naomi Hsieh 2nd Place: Yiting Liu 3rd Place: Duan Gao
