Open to U.S. players of all levels and featuring a prize purse of nearly $3,000, the new Young Kwon National Online 
Tournament (YKNOT) is being billed as one of the largest western online go tournaments yet. “Even if you just joined the AGA or renewed your membership, you’re eligible to play as long as you’ve resided in the U.S. for six months in the past year and you can play online (KGS)” Tournament Director Yixian Zhou told the E-Journal. Click here for free registration. A former U.S. Open Champion, Mr. Kwon (r) is a 7-dan from Pearl River, NY. A retired data processing executive, he’s enjoying his golden years playing tennis, traveling and playing go. Though he was exposed to the game as a youngster watching his father play, he didn’t formally learn go until his freshman year at Seoul National University. While he thinks his go strength has gradually weakened in recent years, he tries to “maintain the fire” in him by continuing to play. “My goal is to promote go in the United States through increasing the AGA’s membership,” Young Kwon told the EJ. “I am committed to supporting this tournament as an annual event.” He adds that “Go has helped me in shaping my thought process, life style and career. Go forces you to apply strategic thinking and problem resolution at the same time. The combination of the two elements changes throughout the game, and that is why we love the game so much. It is simply an application of the economic principle– the most gains with the smallest resources.” Mr Kwon also has a broader vision of go activities in North America, noting that “Matches between two countries are very healthy for spreading go, so I hope that we can set up ‘country to country’ matches in the future. European and South American countries are strong potential candidates.”
– Edward Zhang
