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Moon sweeps stage 1 in Jeongganjang Cup. Moon Dowon 2P (r in photo) swept the first stage, seven-game series in the 9th Jeongganjang Cup. In the last game on January 14, she defeated Japan’s Suzuki Ayumi 5P (l) by 3.5 points, leaving Team Japan with only one player (Yoshida Mika 8P) left going into the second stage. Moon’s seven straight wins leaves Team Korea intact with all five players, while Team China remains with only two players (Rui Naiwei 9P and Tang Yi 2P). Moon will play China’s Tang in the first round of stage two on March 22nd. Regardless of how the second stage unfolds, the remarkable rise of Moon Dowon throughout this tournament is one of those career markers that will be remembered for some time. Earlier results: round 6, round 5, round 4, and last week’s round-up. Iyama Yuta wins game 1 in Kisei. Day two in the first round of the 35th Kisei final gave Iyama Yuta 9P the win by resignation over defending Kisei champion Cho U 9P. Iyama thus takes a 1-0 lead in this seven-game series. Cho won the title last year for the first time in his career, which also marked his first time contending for the title. Likewise, this is Iyama’s first Kisei title match. The second round will begin on January 26th. Kuksu final tied at 1-1. On January 14, Choi Cheolhan 9P defeated Lee Changho 9P by resignation in the second round. The five-game series is now tied at 1-1. The third round will be played on February 14th. In the first round, Lee defeated Choi by resignation after only 136 moves on January 12. This was a significant win for Lee given the difficulties with his game over the past several months and the need to defend his title. KBS final shaping up. In the final round of the 29th KBS Cup winner’s bracket on January 10, Park Junghwan 9P defeated Baek Hongsuk 7P by resignation, thus advancing Park to the KBS title match while pushing Baek into the loser’s bracket. Because the KBS tournament is divided into two brackets, Baek’s loss to Park in the winner’s final does not mean that Baek is out of KBS title contention. He will have a second chance to advance to the title match in the loser’s final on January 31st when he faces Lee Sedol 9P who defeated Choi Cheolhan 9P by resignation in semifinal play. The winner of that match will then face Park Junghwan for the KBS title.
– JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Antti Tormanen 6d (l) of Finland bested favorite Wang Wei 6d in the London Open at the end of December. Wang, who had just moved from Cork to London, but is originally from China, was favored for the Open – held December 28-31 — after being the previous year’s runner up, and indeed, after four rounds only he and Tormanen were unbeaten at the top. But when the two players faced off in round 5, the Fin won after an epic battle, and then won his last two games to complete his sweep and take first place. Wei Wang also won the rest of his games to end on six wins and take second place. CLICK HERE for the full results.

Man triumphed decisively in the Man-Machine Challenge, sponsored by the British Go Association and held in parallel with the London Open. John Tromp 2d won 4-0 and went away $1000 richer courtesy of Darren Cook, who was using Many Faces of Go on his laptop. Tromp, who felt the result didn’t reflect the closeness of the games, said that he wasn’t going to repeat his bet, as he expected to lose in a couple of years if the computer continues improving at the current rate.

The 2010 London Open was again sponsored by Pandanet and Winton Capital Management, but attendance was down slightly, no doubt due to the extremely cold weather and snow-related travel difficulties that immediately preceded Christmas. Luckily this had disappeared by the time the London Open started and 99 players turned up to play in this by now traditional 4-day event, which finishes up on New Year’s Eve.

Tormanen, who hails from Oulu in Finland, also won at least one blitz game against Guo Juan 5P at the New Year’s Eve party, during a series of games that was a serious treat to watch and listen to for those attending. Guo, from Amsterdam, was again resident professional, providing game commentaries and lectures throughout the tournament. Although she didn’t play in the Open, she played in the Pair Go Tournament and won, partnered by Ian Davis from Belfast. She also kindly provided a €100 sponsorship for this year’s London Open on her audio site; certificates are given to five young deserving players, each worth 20 audio lectures.

The Lightning was won by Jukka Jylanki 9k from Finland, who beat Andrew Kay 4d from the UK) in the final. The final event was a casual Rengo event after the tournament proper had been closed, and before the New Year’s party, which was won by Frenchmen Arnaud Knippel and Michael White, who attributed their success to brand new hats worn throughout. Geoff Kaniuk and Jenny Radcliffe were the tournament’s main organizers, supported by chief referee Nick Wedd, Tony Atkins and many others. This was Kaniuk’s last year as London Open Tournament Director, after many years of extraordinarily dedicated service and hard work.
– excerpted from Jon Diamond’s report on the British Go Association’s website, which includes all top-board game records and photo galleries of both the main and Pair Go tournaments

By setting up tables in the corridor at Hebrew University’s mid-December “Japan Day” in Jerusalem, go organizers Shavit Fragman and Barak Gluska “trapped many of them in ‘geta’ and made them stop, look, ask and learn about go,” reports Fragman. A Hebrew University graduate, Fragman said the school’s spacious Maiersdorf building – where the Japan Day activities were held – was “an ideal place to promote go.” Some students were new to game, while others had played it years ago, and Fragman says that “Some were very enthusiastic about opening a club at the campus.” Nearby, a group of students sang some Japanese songs, a tea ceremony workshop attracted interest, and an artist named Noda gave a lecture about Japanese wood printings. Officials from the Japanese embassy’s culture department visited the Japan Day events, and Professor Ben Ami Shiloni lectured about the relations and differences between Japanese and Jewish traditions, featuring many anecdotes and insights. “Special thanks go to Hadas Kushelevich, a Masters student at the East Asia studies, who organized the event and supported our success,” adds Fragman, “As Hadas proposed, we will organize a go evening at the student’s Bar-Aton club.” Click here www.go-mind.com/gallery.php for a gallery of event photos.