Sunday February 10, 2019
Willis Huang 6D will play Brandon Zhou 6D Monday at 7p EDT on KGS (AGA Tournament Room) to determine the North American representative to the 2019 Globis Cup in Japan.
Huang defeated Sophia Wang in Round 3 on Sunday, and then Zhou defeated Huang in Round 4, giving them each a single loss in the double-elimination qualifier and setting up a final head-to-head on Monday.
Jeff Shaevel, Tournament Director
Sunday February 10, 2019
Feb 3 ( Feb 4 in China) is one day away from the Lunar New Year’s eve. On that date, about 40 people, including three players from Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, participated in the “Welcome Spring” Cup, a brand new tournament in Chicago. The event was hosted by Consulate General of China in Chicago, and organized by the Go and Math Academy, Evanston Go Club, Confucius Institute in Chicago, and the 
US-China Cultural Association.
Acting Consul General Liu Jun welcomed all players with a Lunar New Year greeting. The first “Welcome Spring” Cup brings together go lovers from diverse communities and backgrounds. But beyond competition, it is also a great opportunity for players to make friends and promote understanding through the game. “This year marks as the 40th anniversary of China-U.S. diplomatic relations. I hope this event will not only help build stronger friendship among people, but also strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries,” said Mr. Liu who also participated in the tournament as a 1D player.
This event is a handicap tournament with four divisions, including a youth division. About two-thirds of the participants were casual local players who had never played in tournament in the Chicago area. “It’s really encouraging to see so many new go players from the Great Chicago area come out of hiding to attend this event.” said Tournament Director Xinming Simon Guo, the founder of Go and Math Academy.
Final result:
A Division #1 Yang, Hong 1D 3-1
A Division #2 Amesbury, Jing 5D 3-1
A Division #3 Yang, Yang 4D 2-2
B Division #1 He, Joseph 1D 3-1
B Division #2 Sun, Yingjie 1D 3-1
B Division #3 Collins, Nick 3K 3-1
C Division #1 Kaiser, Mike 8K 4-0
C Division #2 Graper, David 9K 4-0
C Division #3 Tan, Stephanie 5K 3-1
Youth Division #1 Zhang, Sean 4-0
Youth Division #2 Pan, Jaden 2-2
photos: (top right) Acting Consul General Liu Jun 1D (second from the left) with division winners Hong Yang 1D, Mike Kaiser 8K and Joseph He 1D; (bottom right): Jane Lu (Director of Confucius Institute in Chicago) and youth division winner Sean Zhang
report/photos by Xinming (Simon) Guo
Saturday February 9, 2019
The first two rounds in the Globis Cup Qualifier were held online on Saturday, February 9 (see below for results).
Round 3 will be held Sunday 2/10 at 11A EDT: Willis Huang (KGS: whuang) vs. Sophia Wang (sophia)
Round 1 result:
Game 1: Willis Huang (whuang), B vs. Sophia Wang (sophia), W (Willis wins by resignation)
Game 2: Nate Morse (PassPeer), B vs. Brandon Zhou (atlbrandon), W (Brandon wins by resignation)
Round 2 results:
Game 3: Willis Huang (KGS: whuang), W vs. Brandon Zhou (atlbrandon), B (Brandon wins by resignation)
Game 4: Sophia Wang (sophia), B vs. Nate Morse (PassPeer), W (Sophia wins by resignation)
Jeff Shaevel, TD
Thursday February 7, 2019
The schedule for the Globis Cup Qualifier is now set for this weekend, February 9-10, with an additional game on Monday evening, if necessary. The format will be a double-elimination between the four top entrants: Willis Huang, 6D (16); Brandon Zhou, 6D (15); Nate Morse, 4D (19); Sophia Wang, 3D (14).
All games will be played on KGS in the AGA Tournaments Room. AGA rules will be used, 7.5 komi, 1 hour basic time with 5 periods of 30 seconds byo-yomi.
The games will begin at 11 AM and 3PM EDT.
Round 1 (Saturday 2/9, 11A EDT):
Game 1: Willis Huang (KGS: whuang) vs. Sophia Wang (sophia)
Game 2: Brandon Zhou (atlbrandon) vs. Nate Morse (PassPeer)
Round 2 (Saturday 2/9, 3P EDT):
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Round 3 (Sunday 2/10, 11A EDT)
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Round 4 (Sunday 2/10, 3P EDT)
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
In the event that after Game 6 both players have a 1-1 record, a final game will be played Monday, 6P EDT to determine the championship and the North American representative to the 2019 Globis Cup in Japan.
– Jeff Shaevel, AGA National Tournament Coordinator
Monday February 4, 2019
The European Go Federation (EGF) and the American Go Association (AGA) will co-host the 2019 Transatlantic Professional Go Team Championship this Spring, with a prize of €10,000 for the winning team. “While top European and American go players have faced off before, at the SportAccord Games and IEMG for instance,” said AGA president Andy Okun, “this establishes a more formal setting for a healthy rivalry between the growing fields of EGF and AGA certified pros.”
Each team will consist of five EGF- and AGA-certified professional players. The Championship will use a win-and-continue format: each player continues to play until defeated. The first round is scheduled for April 7 at 20:00 Central European Time (14:00 US EST). Later rounds will follow weekly at the same time (with some rescheduling possible for tournament conflicts. There will be no game on Apr. 28) All games will be broadcast live by the AGA broadcasting team on both YouTube and Twitch.
Sunday February 3, 2019
In their latest in the popular video commentary series, Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock, 
review the first half of the 28th game of the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo selfplay games. The 50-game series was published by Deepmind after AlphaGo’s victory over world champion Ke Jie 9p in May 2017.
“There’s a lot packed into this game,” says Redmond. “We start with a slightly confusing fight on the lower side, things slow down for a bit, then there are all these weak groups and it gets a bit confusing to tell who’s attacking and who’s in trouble, so it’s a pretty interesting middle game.” “Buckle your seatbelts!” adds Garlock. Part 2 will be published next Friday, February 8.
These videos are made possible by the support of the American Go Association; please consider joining today!
Video produced by Michael Wanek & Andrew Jackson.
Saturday February 2, 2019
The fifth edition of the Orion Latin American u18 Team Tournament held December 8/9 on OGS was a great success with 11 
school and academy teams from Mexico to the southern tip of Chile and the Pacific coast (Ecuador) to the Atlantic (Argentina).
First place in the 6-round event was Team Villa High de México (Sebastián Bañuelos, Bruno Michaca and Paola Ortega), 2nd: British School of Chile (Gustavo Gibbons, Fernando Gallardo and Fernando Cárdenas). 3rd: Dojo de Go de México (Diego Luciano, Omar Zavala and Ruben Hernandez).
The decisive match was Round 5 between Villa High and the British School. Boards 1 and 3 had finished and split one each. It all came down to move 259 when the Chilean, Gallardo, had a winning placement to catch a group of 
Machaca’s – but was off by one intersection.
Thanks to the sponsorship of the American Go Foundation, the players of the Villa High team of Mexico will represent Latin America at the next US GO Congress next summer in Madison, Wisconsin.
Special thanks go to the board of the Ibero-American Go Federation, to the team coaches: Ernesto Cepeda, Haroldo Brown, Diego Albuja, Siddharta Ávila and Sebastián Montiel, and especially to the 33 youth players who brought tremendous enthusiasm and commitment to the contest.
Cross grid and event photos here.
– Terry Benson from a report by Sebastian Montiel of Chile.
Tuesday January 29, 2019
“I recently started a new AGA chapter and I’m trying to generate some awareness of our newly established monthly game,” writes Matthew. “I’ve convinced the library at which I’m hosting it that if we get enough attendance for a few months in a row, they’ll let me start an actual teaching program for kids!”
The club meets the first Saturday of February:
Montclair Go Club
Montclair, NJ
Montclair Public Library
50 South Fullerton Ave
Montclair, NJ 07042
10am – 1pm
1st Saturday of every month
Got go club/chapter news? Let us know! journal@usgo.org
Sunday January 27, 2019
Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock, continue their popular series with a review of the 27th game of the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo selfplay games. The 50-game series was published by Deepmind after AlphaGo’s victory over world champion Ke Jie 9p in May 2017.
This game features two of the AG 3-3 invasions, a symmetrical shape and then “group after group appear on the upper side, right next to each other, and we’re going to have fun counting the number of groups,” says Redmond. “So it’s going to be that kind of a game.”
“Simply astounding game,” writes GerSHAK. “One of my favourites so far. Incredible detective work from Michael. Thank you so much.” Adds Rory Mitchell: “Wow! Just…wow!”
These videos are made possible by the support of the American Go Association; please consider joining today!
Video produced by Michael Wanek & Andrew Jackson.
AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo; Game 28 (Part 2): So many possibilities
Saturday February 9, 2019
Michael Redmond 9p and the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock return with the exciting second half of the 28th game of the
AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo selfplay games.
These videos are made possible by the support of the American Go Association; please consider joining today!
Video produced by Michael Wanek & Andrew Jackson.
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