Wednesday April 28, 2010
Thirteen-year-old Taiwanese professional Jian Lichen 2P (r) won the 17th Zhonghuan Cup when he defeated Zhou Junxun 9P
by just 1.5 points in the final match on Monday, April 26. His win earned Jian Lichen promotion to 5-dan, continuing a meteoric rise that began when he became a professional in 2008 at 12 and was then promoted to 2-dan at the end of 2009 for obtaining 20 wins as a 1-dan.
– Based on a report on JustPlayGo
Wednesday April 28, 2010
Ali Jabarin 5d is still in the lead in the A group of the Korean-style Insei League on KGS with a 10-0 record. Fredrik Blomback 5d is in second place. Hungarian Maroncsan still tops the B-league with a single win, while three Russians are leading the C-league: Lodurr and azorot won one each and AYOCZI is third.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, reporting on EuroGoTV.
Wednesday April 28, 2010
Favorite Zou Jin 6d was twice surprised in the Messeturnier in Hannover, Germany on April 24-25, losing to the winner, Zhang Yi 5d, who went undefeated, as well as to Marlon Welter 3d, who took silver with only one loss. Dieter Rasche, who created the yearly Messeturnier, took part in the 50th edition of the event. 95 players participated in the tournament which also saw the Nihon Ki-in award diplomas to the three group winners. In addition to Yi, Tijmen van Wettum 1d and Stefan Junger 4k (each with 4-1 records) won the diplomas. Yoon Young-sun 5P was also present to comment on the games.
– based on Peter Dijkema’s report on EuroGoTV
Tuesday April 27, 2010
Lee Sedol 9P swept the second annual BC Card Cup 3-0, defeating Chang Hao 9P by resignation in the third round on 
Tuesday.
– JustPlayGo for game records
Tuesday April 27, 2010
Kong Jie 9P collected his first Ricoh Cup title Tuesday, when he defeated Xie He 7P by resignation in the final match of the 
10th edition of the Ricoh, which is sponsored by the Japan-based digital office solution company.
– JustPlayGo for game records
Tuesday April 27, 2010
Photographer and former AGA President Phil Straus has posted a brief photo montage of fellow Philadelphia go player 
Matt Bengtson’s wedding to Seohee You last December, scored to a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations played by Bengtson, a pianist. “I was inspired by the minister’s talk,” Straus says. “He had been at the rehearsal dinner the night before, and the conversation went to go. No surprise to those of us who play the game. He learned that go is a game that has few rules, but takes a lifetime to learn. At the altar, he talked to the couple about how that’s true about marriage, too. I got to thinking about how it’s true for piano, as well. Only 88 keys, but…”
Tuesday April 27, 2010
European Pair Champions Natalia Kovaleva 5d and Dmitry Surin 6d kept their title with a 6-1 record in St. 
Petersburg April 23-25. Challengers Elvina Karlsberg 5d and Alex Dinerchtein 3p lost the mutual encounter Sunday morning and finished with silver. Unexpectedly, Russia also collected bronze when Kamysheva/Mezhov (2k), who only lost to Laura Avram and Lucian Corlan (2d) of Romania, took third. The Romanians were the best foreign team at fourth place. Only four other teams from Europe could reach St.Petersburg in time, due to the volcano-related flight restrictions over most of Europe. Romania and Turkey flew in, while next-door neighbours Poland, Belorussia and Finland made their way there by car and ferry. Organizers filled out the field with local pairs.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, reporting on EuroGoTV
Monday April 26, 2010
The Seattle Go Center participated in the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival April 16-18, doing outreach to festival 
attendees all three days. “In the mornings we had time for a few 13×13 games among our volunteers, but on Saturday and Sunday afternoon it got very busy” reports Center Manager Brian Allen. The AGA-rated 
Cherry Blossom Tournament on Saturday April 17 “was a little bit larger than last year,” Allen reports, with 18 players. Ben Hakala won the Dan Section, Abe Taylor the First Kyu Section, Frank Brown the Second Kyu Section, and Job Betcher the Third Kyu Section. Job went on to win the Children’s 13×13 Handicapped the next day. Owen Gow placed 2nd, and Jordon Betcher placed 3rd in the youth tournament.
– photos by Brian Allen; volunteers Bill Thompson (l) and Sam Wilhide at the Cherry Blossom Festival; Yuriko Miyake at the Cherry Blossom Tournament
Monday April 26, 2010
Nathan Harwit 3d and Luke Zhang 1d topped their divisions at the Boulder, CO, United States Youth Go Championship
(USYGC) this past Saturday, April 24. Harwit, age 12, beat his twin brother Matthew to take the regional title. The boys have alternated as champion for the past four years, and this is their first year in the Senior Division. Nine-year-old Luke Zhang 1d took top honors in the Junior Division. Six-year-old Robin Luo 7k, also made a strong showing, winning a special trophy in the under 12 division. Winners Report: 1st: Nathan Harwit 3d; 2nd: Luke Zhang 1d; 3rd: Matthew Harwit 4d; 4th: Erwen Yu 13k; Special Under 12: Robin Luo 7k; Newcomers Award: Lenny Den 18k.
– Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor; photo: Prize winners relax after their matches at the Boulder USYGC. From left to right: Erwen Yu, Luke Zhang, Robin Luo, Lenny Den; photo by Dave Weiss
Monday April 26, 2010
Sign-up for the European Go Congress — July 24 – August 8 in Tampere, Finland — has passed 300, including two Americans (Boris Bernadsky from Manhattan and Paul Bensen of Coral Gables FL). Also signed up are Naoyuki Kai 6d, with his with wife Mihoko 2k and son Keima 5k of Yokohama, the Marz family of Marburg — Manu 4d, Micha 3d, and their young son Ferdinand — and many more from Europe, Japan, and elsewhere.
Two upcoming tournaments of note in Amsterdam are the free blitz tournament on April 29, May 1-2 and the 39th annual Amsterdam International Go Tournament, a major event in the Pandanet Go European Cup series, and will be held May 13-16.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European Correspondent, reporting on EuroGoTV