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Two-time US Open Champion Myungwan Kim 9P (CA) extended his winning streak to 16 games after defeating Canadian champion Yongfei Ge 7D (ON) and former China Hebei Province champion Yue Zhang 7D (OH) last weekend in the Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1). Three other top amateurs made the Final Four, including Zhaonian “Michael” Chen 7D, Jianing Gan 6D and Eric Lui 7D. Chen (NJ), defeated Changlong Wu 7D (NC) and Xinyu Tu 7D (NJ), while Gan 6D (ON) prevailed over Hugh Zhang 6D (CA) and Sarah Yu 6D (ON), and Lui 7D (MD) outplayed Yinli Wang 6D (IN) and Calvin Sun 7D (CA). Jie Li 7D and Jennie Shen 2P gave live commentaries on the two games separately on KGS. Shen’s audio lecture attracted a large audience of almost 400, while Li managed his commentary despite a busy weekend before finals week in law school. The semi-final match-up schedule on KGS next weekend: MyungWan Kim 9P vs Zhaonian Chen 7D: Saturday, May 8, 1p; Eric Lui 7D vs. Jianing Gan 6D: Saturday, May 8, 1p.
SPOT1 Notes: “I think he is a pretty good player,” said Kim of Ge. “There were some very smart moves, like R2 and S15.” Chen was the 2006 North America Ing Masters Champion and the 2009 US Open runner-up, where he only lost to Kim (click here for game record ). “I was lucky to have come out ahead in the last battle,” Chen admitted. “It is very tough to play Kim 9P,” yet Chen’s plan for the next game is “play well, have patience.” Four other Sweet 16 matches: Yue Zhang 7D (OH) defeated Yuan Zhou 7D (MD); Xinyu Tu 7D (NJ) defeated Curtis Tang 7D (CA); Calvin Sun 7D (CA) defeated Jie Liang 7D (NH);
Sarah Yu 6D (ON) defeated Jung Lee 7D (CO).
– Reported by Tournament Director Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang
Photo: Four-time US Open champion Jie Li 7D gave commentaries to over 600 fans on KGS during the Sweet 16 game between Kim and Ge.

Four American Go Association (AGA) Board of Director seats are up for election this year, reports Arnold Eudell, who’s coordinating this year’s election process. The terms of four seats – one in each region and the at-large position – expire this September. Nominations are now being accepted and close on June 15; nominations must be made in writing by full members of the AGA. Send to elections@usgo.org Click here for complete election information and qualifications.

Jim Levenick 3d topped the Corvallis Go Club’s April 24 Spring Tournament, held at the Willamette University Campus in conjunction with Willamette University Go Club. There were 23 participants ranging from 6-dan to 20-kyu. Winner’s Report: Dan division: 1^st: Jim Levenick 3d; 2^nd: Ray King 1d. Single digit kyu: 1^st: Glenn Peters, 2^nd: Zack Garrett, 3^rd: Dylan Wiggins. Double digit kyu: 1^st: Michael Isaac, 2^nd: Wendy Gleason, 3^rd: Jason Cowsill.
– report by Cynthia Gaty, TD; photo: Glen Peters (l) gets a game review; photo by Dylan Wiggins

Four-time US Open Champion Jie Li 7D will provide live commentary on the key game between top seeds Myungwan Kim 9P and Yongfei Ge 7D — both two-time US Open winners themselves — in the Sweet 16 round of the Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1) at 1p this Saturday, May 1 on KGS. Ge lost to Kim at the 2009 US Go Congress and tells the E-Journal “I will try my best.  To me, Kim is best at endgame, and I will try to make it complicated in mid-game.” Ge, who works as a software architect, spent some time studying go every day to prepare for his 2007 U.S. Open win after his first Open win in 2001. Over 500 watched Kim’s game on KGS last Saturday, and our sources say that he’s studying hard as well. Five of top eight seeds are in SPOT1’s upper half, while two are in the lower half due to first round upsets. Click here for the complete Sweet 16 matchups. An innovation of SPOT1 is the use of web cameras, enabling the players to see each other on Skype, which “was proposed by the sponsor of SPOT1, AGA President Allan Abramson,” reports TD Zhiyuan “Edward” Zhang. Players describe the web camera play as both “close to face-to-face playing” and “more formal than regular online games.” While it makes some “feel nervous but excited” the players also says it’s an “interesting experience” that “feels real.”

Sign-up for the 2010 US Go Congress in Colorado Springs is nearing the 100 mark, “over 20% of the way to our goal of 400+ attendees,” reports Congress Director Karen Jordan. Click here for details and here to register: “Plans are underway for the July 31-August 1 event and many of them depend on how many paid registrations we have,” says Jordan. Click here to see who’s coming.