American Go E-Journal » Go News

Clossius launches Western Dan Challenge, prizes up to $1200

Saturday January 16, 2021

To encourage players to play on western Go servers and support the western Go community, Shawn Ray (Clossius) has launched the Western Dan Challenge. Sponsored by Ray, and as a result of various donations, the prize pool has steadily increased to $1200, with prizes being added for more divisions of the event. One sponsor, Aneok, has added prizes for players who choose to play exclusively on OGS. Three divisions overall include a dan division, a single digit kyu division, and a double digit kyu division, with a prize available for most ranked games played in February. Click here for Ray’s Youtube video on the event.

Rules:

  • Only games played in February will count
  • Must be a ranked game.
  • Must be on a western server like OGS or KGS
  • Must be on the same account. (Makes it easier to track)
  • Must not use AI. I will be having people check.
  • Minimum time settings of 1min 10sec x 5
  • Must use an overtime clock equivalent to the minimum time settings.
  • No Sudden Death
  • Only 19×19 games
  • Do not find flaws with the rules that defeat the spirit of the challenge.
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EJ seeks Assistant Game Editor

Friday January 15, 2021

The E-Journal is looking for a volunteer Assistant Game Editor to work with Bill Cobb, who’s assuming the duties of EJ Game Editor Myron Souris, who’s moving on to other projects. The weekly game commentaries by Guo Juan, Yuan Zhou, Kaz Furuyama, Gansheng Shi and Albert Yen – as well as life and death puzzles by Yilun Yang – have long been a favorite EJ feature. Anyone interested can email journal@usgo.org

“I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to outgoing EJ Game Editor Myron Souris,” said EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “Myron is an absolute joy to work with, and his eye for detail, superlative systems management and unending patience have been a constant inspiration.” Souris also worked closely with Garlock and Michael Redmond on Alpha to Zero and Garlock said that “Myron was the key to resolving many of the sticky technical and workflow challenges that came up on that project.”

Bill Cobb brings a tremendous amount of experience to the Game Editor position, thanks to his role as Slate and Shell publisher, and he’s also been part of the EJ team in various capacities over the years. “With such capable shoes to fill, we’re very fortunate to welcome Bill back to an active role on the team,” said Garlock.

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Registration open for the 2021 Eastern Youth Open

Wednesday January 13, 2021

“The Eastern Youth Open (EYO) is a 4-round open youth tournament hosted by the New York Go Association (NYGA) for players of all levels under the age of 18. Having started in 2019, the EYO provides an opportunity for young players to play in a high-standard formal tournament. Due to the pandemic, this year’s tournament will be held virtually on the KGS Go Server,” says Stephanie Yin, President of the New York Go Association.

The top three players in each division will receive certificates and trophies. This year’s tournament will take place on Sunday, February 21st with registration closing on February 14th. For more information and to register, please visit the NYGA event page. In addition, the NYGA is hosting a 5-day Spring Intense Training Camp from Feb 15-19. Come have fun with excited Go peers and prepare for the tournament!

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Registration Open for First AGHS Pair Go Tournament

Tuesday January 5, 2021

“Registration for the first AGHS Pair Go Tournament is now open,” says Promotion Head Jenny Li, “We welcome players from across the globe and of all ages. This two-round event will be hosted in the AGHS Tournament Room on KGS on February 6th, 2021, with the first and second round starting respectively at 4pm EST and 7pm EST. Each pair must consist of at least one youth player. To be eligible for a prize, each pair must also consist of one female and one male player, however, this is not a requirement to participate in the event.”

If you are looking for a partner, please enter your information in this document. The registration deadline for this year’s AGHS Pair Go Tournament is January 30, 2021, 11:59 pm PT. If you would like to play and still do not have a partner by the registration deadline, please indicate so on the registration form, and the AGHS tournament directors will assign you a partner. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the tournament. If you have any questions, please contact aghsregister@gmail.com. For more information, please read the rules and regulations.

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Santa Monica Go Club meetings resume Thursday online

Tuesday January 5, 2021

After over 23 years of meetings at the Un-Urban Coffee shop were interrupted by the pandemic, the Santa Monica Go Club is set to resume weekly meetings on KGS in the new Santa Monica Go Club room this Thursday. “Without even really announcing it yet, multiple players have joined the SMGC Room and played some games!” says room creator Patrick Ferl. “Our first thought was to reunite as many of the in person club members as possible, but anyone is welcome to join the room and participate to make new friends in the Go community. We hope to help foster the health of the online Go, and also are looking at the possibility of some inter-club online friendly matches.” Meetings will be held every Thursday evening from 6pm to midnight Pacific Time. The SMGC’s long-running annual tournament, the Coffee Cup, will be held online in the spring. 

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Pandanet AGA City League Round 2 this weekend

Monday January 4, 2021

The Pandanet AGA City League is getting into swing with the second round coming up this weekend. Sunday January 10th most games will be held in the AGA City League and AGA City League Manual Rooms. Watch LIVE Sunday at 3PM for most games to start. The full schedules for games can be found on each of the League pages.

A LeagueB LeagueC LeagueD League

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Mok Jin-seok to launch ‘The Best Moves in Go History’ series on NYIG YouTube channel

Saturday December 26, 2020

January 1, 2021 will bring more than New Year’s Day as Korean 9-Dan professional Mok Jin-seok joins the NY Institute of Go YouTube channel , co-host a new series — ‘The Best Moves in Go History’ — for the channel with Ryan Li 1P that launches on New Year’s Day. Mok Jin-seok, who turned pro in 1994 and is currently the head coach of the Korean national team, brings his expertise in the game of go to NYIG_Go, joining an already talented group of instructors that includes Stephanie Yin 1P, Ryan Li 1P and Michael Chen 7D.

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English translation of How to Play Go the AI Way published by BOARD N’STONES

Thursday December 24, 2020

BOARD N’STONES, the English-language branch of primarily German-language Go books publisher Brett und Stein Verlag, has published a translation of Yamada Shinji 6p’s book on AI techniques, which became available in Japan in December 2019 only. “How to Play Go the AI Way!” is intended for amateur players who would like to learn and employ the modern AI style. The style may seem confusing because there are so many tactics that differ from traditional thinking, but the study of the new techniques introduced by AI has already lead to their rapid spread and adoption. Today they are applied by pros almost as a matter of course. This book summarizes the findings from the study of AI techniques and explains them using illustrative diagrams. The new book is available through most online book shops. Credits for translation go to Peter Gebert.

-report by Gunnar Dickfield

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Virginia showdown lights up Christmas weekend

Thursday December 24, 2020

The 2020 Virginia State Championship final is set in knock-out format on OGS on Saturday Dec. 26. After the Dec. 5 prelim – click here for results – four strong players have been invited to the final-four. Semi-finals start at 9am ET, and the final at 2:30 pm ET.

Players are welcome to watch and join in the chat on Baduk Club. Prior to the championship tournament, organizers reached out to all Virginia clubs and several language schools of major VA cities, to scout for more Go players who may have liked to compete. Joshua Lee is the defending VA champion from 2019, and though not in the competition this year, 2019 runner-up Qingbo Zhang has made it to the final four for a shot at the 2020 title.

report by Capital Go Club

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Tianyi Li and Zixuan Gao win 2020 Young Lions Tournament

Saturday December 19, 2020

Tianyi Li

“On November 22nd and 29th, over 140 youth players from across North America participated in the largest ever Young Lions Tournament, AGHS’ longest-running tournament,” says Promotion Head Jenny Li, “After four competitive rounds, two 4 dan players Tianyi Li and Zixuan Gao tied for first place and emerged as the champions for this year’s Young Lions Tournament.”

Zixuan Gao


Winners report: Open Division 1st place: Tianyi Li, Zixuan Gao; Division A 1st place: Sophie Lin, 2nd place: Chase Lin, Juanshu Lan; Division B 1st place: Albert Tang, 2nd place: David Wu, 3rd place: Steve Zhang; Division C 1st place: Andy Zhou, 2nd place: Stephanie Tan, 3rd place: Jason Liu; Division D 1st place: Mathew Wang, 2nd place: Anna Zhou, 3rd place: Alexander Lo; Divison E 1st place: Joshua Wong, 2nd place: Lucia Moscola, 3rd place: Isaac Zhang; Divison F 1st place: Tianning Li, 2nd place: Tony Li, 3rd place: Amari González; Divison G 1st place: Irene Zhang, 2nd place: Yiting Liu, 3rd place: Ava Gao; Divison H 1st place: Eric Wang, 2nd place: Noah Carrafa, 3rd place: William Xiang; Division I 1st place: Woody Yin, 2nd place: Enzo Moscola, 3rd place: Austin Reyes; Division J 1st place: Kyle Tang, 2nd place: Michelle Wong, 3rd place: Andy Li

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