The last tournament of NGC’s 2019 calendar — the Winter Warmer Tournament on December 14 — was won by Haskell (Hal) Small 1K, whose 3-1 score topped the field of 19 players. Everyone with at least two wins was able to choose a Go book as a prize, and all were encouraged to study hard and be ready for even fiercer competition at the Lunar New Year tourney in February. Peter Schumer (pictured) came down from Vermont just for the tournament and his first visit to the NGC. “A fun surprise for all who know Peter!” said NGC Executive Director Gurujeet Khalsa.
Other winners: Qingbo Zhang 5D, Edward (Zhiyuan) Zhang 5D, Patrick Sun 4K, Barreal Anderson 6K, Derek Zhou 7K, Ed Caldeira 8K, Marion Edey 9K, Garrett Smith 10K, Tonya Perez-Lopez 17K, and Laurie Ensworth 19K.
The regional state championship for Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia will take place during the Midwest Open January 18th and 19th 2020 just north of Columbus Ohio. “I hope to turn this tournament into a regional staple,” says organizer Devin Fraze. Inspired by the experience of attending the 2019 Cotsen Open, Fraze is aiming to create a truly unique experience for players. The tournament will feature live musical performances, opened by Hal Walker, a local Go player who plays a unique set of instruments. The tournament will also feature pro reviews, and an innovative pairing system to maximize games played. Registration fees will be $30 per day or both days for $10 off at a total of $50.
There will be an overall regional Tournament Champion, with four more champions specific to each state (OH, TN, KY, WV) awarded to the top performing players from their respective states. Find more information about the championship rules here. The website will also be updated to feature some exciting names from the Go community including 8 dan Korean professional Yoonyoung Kim. For more information and registration visit gohio.org.
Joshua Lee 6d defeated Qingbo Zhang 5d in the final of the 1st Virginia State Go Championship, held at Korean American Baduk Association in Annandale VA on November 16, 2019. The game was full of battles, but Lee kept a solid lead throughout the game. The Virginia chapters will host the next qualifier for VA Championship in summer of 2020. “We hope for more female and youth players in the next VA State Championship to win the prepared perpetual trophies,” says organizer Edward Zhang. “With AGA’s 50-State Championship program running for multiple years now we’ve been able to follow the progress of players all over the country.” Updated information for the Virginia Go Championships can be found here.
Joshua Lee 6d
Organizers and Volunteers Acknowledgement: CAFA Inc, Liang Yu, Justin Teng, Gary Smith, James Lee, Gurujeet Khalsa, Weiping Chen, Xinyu Zhang, Anna Liu, Qingbo Zhang, Grace Shan, Yuchen Zhu, Mark Keam, Ge Li, Dinny Li, Xinran Zuo, Huiming Zeng, Jing Zhang, Sihao Li, Jingfei Chen, Yufei Jiang, Shuo Wang, Jingyi Zhang, Kevin Wu, Xi Chen, Zhenying Gu, Kejun Kang.
8thVirginia Open Winners Report on 9/28. Open Division 1st-4th places: Eric Lui 3-0, Justin Teng 2-1, Qingbo Zhang 2-1, Joshua Lee 2-1. Women’s 1st-2nd places: Sarah Crites, Ivy Zhang Expert Division 1st-3rd places: Xuhui Zhang 3-0, Jialong Qing 2-1, Jiayang Su 2-1. Intermediate Division 1st-3rd places: Derek Zhou 3-0, John Christensen 2-1, Bob Crites 2-1. Novice Division 1st-2nd places: Adam King 2-1, Evan Moore 2-1.
In this episode, Michael Redmond reviews his game with the legendary Ishida Yoshio 9P. This game started Redmond’s winning streak earlier this year; up to this game Redmond had never won against Ishida. A student at the legendary Kitani Minoru go school, Ishida’s fellow students included Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Kato Masao, and Takemiya Masaki. He joined the dojo at a young age like his fellow students and became a professional in 1963 when he was 15. His dan rank grew quickly because of the Oteai. He would go up the ranks faster than rules allowed after winning the first 14 Oteai games when he was being promoted from 6 to 7 dan. He reached 9 dan in 11 years, faster than most other players. Ishida was given the nickname “The Computer” because his yose play and counting skills were far more accurate than other pros.
Click here to see the video, produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy and Andrew Jackson.
Dec 17, 9:30-11:30 AM SG [Dec 16, 8:30-10:30 PM ET] Masters R3 (with Yang Shuang 2p)
Dec 19, 9:30-11:30 AM SG [Dec 18, 8:30-10:30 PM ET] Masters R4 (TBA) Dec 19, 2:30-4:30 PM SG [Dec 19, 1:30-3:30 AM ET] Special Event: Southeast Asia vs. AI (with Michael Redmond 9p)
Dec 20, 9:30-11:30 AM SG [Dec 19, 8:30-10:30 PM ET] Masters R5 (TBA) Dec 20, 2:30-4:30 PM SG [Dec 20, 1:30-3:30 AM ET] Special Event: Gals vs. Guys (with Cho Hye-yeon 9p)
Dec 21, 9:30-11:30 AM SG [Dec 20, 8:30-10:30 PM ET] Masters R6 (TBA) Dec 21, 1-3 PM SG [Dec 21, 12-2 AM ET] Redmond’s SEA Congress Reviews (with Michael Redmond 9p) Dec 21, 3-5 PM SG [Dec 21, 2-4 AM ET] Special Event: Singaporean 7-dan Title Match, Game 1 (TBA)
Dec 22, 1-5 PM SG [Dec 22, 12-4 AM ET] Special Event: Singaporean 7-dan Title Match, Game 2 & 3 (TBA)
The 15th China-ASEAN Weiqi International Invitation Tournament 2019 was held in Nanning, Guangxi from December 8th to 11th 2019. Thirteen teams from ten countries were invited to attend the event including two American teams representing Los Angeles and Las Vegas. After six rounds in the men’s team competition, Kevin Huang 6d and Blake Kang 5d representing Los Angeles won third place with teams from Thailand and Taipei taking first and second respectively. Shirley Lin 1P from Los Angeles played in the women’s individual competition and won the championship. Yangu Yunqi from China and Shu Jingwen from Taiwan took second and third place. Kevin Huang 6d from Los Angeles and Ti Ma 6d from Las Vegas took fifth and sixth places in the men’s individual competition.
The fifth South Central Go Tournament will be held Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16 in Dallas, Texas, at the Center for Asian Studies, a venue generously donated by the University of Texas and located on their campus in Richardson. There will be three rounds per day for a total of six; all AGA members are welcome at the tournament in either the Open Section or the Handicap Section and players may register for either. The Texas resident who places highest in the Open Section will become the 2020 Texas State Champion and will receive an engraved trophy.
Prior tournaments have drawn around 40 players altogether. All will receive a certificate of participation for competing; first, second, and third place finishers in the Open Section will get certificates acknowledging this achievement, and in the Handicap Section, first, second, and third place finishers in each band will also be awarded certificates. Further prizes are under consideration.
Columbus discovers Go: “Devin Fraze can teach you how to play Go in about two minutes.” That’s the lead in the “It’s always Go time for enthusiast of ancient game” report last month in ThisWeek Community News, about the Columbus Go Club in Ohio. “To try and teach yourself the game can be confusing and frustrating, but to sit down across the board from an experienced player is a great way to learn,” Fraze said.
Don’t mourn, organize: “I am saddened by Bill Cobb’s article,” writes Jean de Maiffe. “I find internet play soulless and am grateful to live where I have been able to start two different Go clubs in my town, at different times in my life. My heart goes out to Bill for his isolation. I started my first Sunnyvale CA club about a year after my husband and I moved here. When I turned that first club over to someone else, I learned that while I didn’t need to drive for an hour to attend, I did have to drive a narrow, twisty, dirt road in the Coastal Range to get there. During the rainy season, when the sun retires early, I found it terrifying to drive to and from there. Hence my starting a second club in our nearby Senior Center, which is within walking distance and which is open during the day only, a blessing for me in my 70s. Best wishes to Bill on finding a new GO home in the Arkansas mountains or nearby.”
Gameboy Go?: “I’m very interested in Go and used to own a portable chess game similar to the Gameboy,” writes a usgo.org visitor. “Do you know of any electronic go handheld games available today? I have tried for hours to find something that’s not on the app store.” Email journal@usgo.org with suggestions.
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock will do their second livestream game commentary this week on the AGA’s Twitch channel on Wednesday December 11 at 7P EST. Monday night they streamed an exciting game between Redmond and Otake Hideo 9P, with in-depth commentary and interaction with viewers.
The EJ also plans to livestream from the First Southeast Asia GO Congress, which runs December 15-22 in Singapore. Be sure to follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock will livestream game commentaries on the AGA’s Twitch channel on Monday, December 9 and Wednesday, December 11, both at 7P EDT. “The live streaming brings these commentaries to a broader audience and enables fans to interact with us in real time,” said Garlock. The popular Redmond Reviews returned to the AGA’s YouTube channel last Friday with a commentary on AlphaGo vs AlphaGo Game 32, after a 6-month hiatus. ” The wait for this is so freaking long, as if I was waiting for an Avenger movie!!!” commented Nguyen tuan anh. Added Sami Helen, “Yesterday I was just about to go on your previous video in this series and ask if you’re still alive. Guess the telepathic communication works after all.” Be sure to follow the channel and get notified of live streams.
Redmond’s Reviews, Episode 15: Michael Redmond 9P vs Ishida Yoshio 9P
Saturday December 21, 2019
In this episode, Michael Redmond reviews his game with the legendary Ishida Yoshio 9P. This game started Redmond’s winning streak earlier this year; up to this game Redmond had never won against Ishida.
A student at the legendary Kitani Minoru go school, Ishida’s fellow students included Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Kato Masao, and Takemiya Masaki. He joined the dojo at a young age like his fellow students and became a professional in 1963 when he was 15. His dan rank grew quickly because of the Oteai. He would go up the ranks faster than rules allowed after winning the first 14 Oteai games when he was being promoted from 6 to 7 dan. He reached 9 dan in 11 years, faster than most other players. Ishida was given the nickname “The Computer” because his yose play and counting skills were far more accurate than other pros.
Click here to see the video, produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy and Andrew Jackson.
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