Tuesday August 2, 2022
One of the big hits of Sunday night’s opening ceremonies at the 2022 U.S. Go Congress was the slideshow of photos from past Congresses, from the first one in 1985 in Westminster, Maryland, to the last pre-pandemic gathering in 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin. Click below to see a video of the show and find out more about the U.S. Go Congress history here. Photos by Phil Straus; slideshow by Eric Wainwright.
Tuesday August 2, 2022
One of the big attractions of the U.S. Go Congress – now underway in Estes Park, CO – is the opportunity for total immersion in the game. For most attendees, the day begins with a round of the U.S. Open, the “main event” of the Congress, with 240 players this year competing in a 5-round Swiss-McMahon tournament, with 90 minutes of basic time for each player. For regular tournament players, this is a chance to test their skills against the largest field of the year, while for others this may be their only chance to compete at an in-person event.
After lunch, where you’ll usually hear players talking about how their morning games went, there’s a wide menu of options available. Pro simuls provide an opportunity to test your skills against top players, who take on multiple opponents and then offer pointers after the games. Lectures this year cover a wide range of go-related subjects like “How to play against a strange move” by Yilun Yang, Ryan Li on Lessons from the Past, Learning from Go Seigen, or Four Trendy Ideas by In-Seong Hwang.
In addition to being the site of the pro simuls, the main playing area is where you’ll find Congress attendees playing go, sometimes just casual pick-up games but often Self-Paired Tournament games, offering a chance not only for more “serious” competition, but also to score some rating points. Here is also where you’ll find knots of players reviewing games, sometimes with a pro or stronger player who happened to drop by, sometimes just among themselves.
This is also where the go vendors set up shop in the evenings, setting out wares that include go books (and software too, these days), equipment and more, including, this year, go-related art.
In addition to the hub of activity at the main playing area, there are lectures and study sessions scattered about the playing site. Tuesday afternoon a go player wandering among the YMCA cabins could dip into both kyu and dan game analysis sessions, lectures by Stephanie Yin, In-Seong Hwang and the Teacher of the Year. Simultaneously, young players faced off in the Redmond Cup.
There are also non-go options in the afternoons, from hikes in the mountains to this year’s newly-popular sport, pickleball.
After dinner, attendees can of course find self-paired and casual games, there are more lectures available, and there’s always a special activity in the main playing area, Sunday night it was the Lightning Tournament, Monday it was 13×13 and Tuesday it’s Crazy Go. Gradually, players drift away, perhaps to lectures, perhaps to bed, and the main playing area slowly empties out until just a few solitary pairs remain bent over the board. “Just one more game,” they say.
Report/photos by Chris Garlock
Tuesday August 2, 2022
Western Mass Go Club in-person play picking up
“I am happy that in-person go playing is picking up again,” reports Eric Osman. “The Western Mass Go club had five enthusiastic members playing last night, July 21, 2022 at the Homewood Suites Hotel in Holyoke Massachusetts.”
Pictured here are Micah Feldman, Seungly Oh, and Chris Morse. Also present were Bill Saltman and Eric Osman.
Jeremy Chiu tops San Francisco Go Club Ocean Day Tournament
Jeremy Chiu 6D prevailed in a heated Division 1 battle at the July 23 San Francisco Go Club tournament. The three-round tournament drew 30+ players who competed for cash prizes and Pro subscription codes to BadukPop, while enjoying a complementary lunch of Chinese food. Arthur Yeh 4D and Qilu Chen 2D came in second and third in Division 1. Division 2 was won by Wilson Lu 3-kyu with Aaron Lin 4-kyu in second place and Casey Dahlin 5-kyu in third place. Then from Division 3, Youchen Zhao 8-kyu came in first with Jiaying Wei 8-kyu in second and Simon Choi 6-kyu in third. “The SF Go Club thanks all those who attended and contributed to the success of the tournament,” says club president Matthew Barcus. The SF Go Club plans to host its next tournament on Saturday 20 August 2022 with details and sign up information to be provided soon.
Monday August 1, 2022
Here’s a sample of what was posted on the AGA’s Twitter account on Monday…
photos by Chris Garlock
Monday August 1, 2022
Monday morning saw the launch of the 240-player strong U.S. Open in the main playing area of the U.S. Go Congress, while nearby in the Strong Players Room, top players met in Round 2 of the N.A. Masters Tournament. A new development this year is that while the top three NAMT boards are being broadcast by live onsite game recorders, additional top boards are being broadcast by remote game recorders viewing livestreams of the games on a private YouTube channel, enabling the game commentators to review more games. Commenters so far have been Inseong Hwang 8D, hosted by Devin Fraze, and Stephanie Yin 1P, hosted by Michael Fodera. Update: The NAMT crosstab has now been posted!
The E-Journal teams plans to expand coverage to include selected U.S. Open games on Tuesday: anyone interested in having their games included in the live Twitch broadcast should email journal@usgo.org; note that you must be able to record your game (in real time) on OGS.
– report/photo by Chris Garlock
Monday August 1, 2022
Eighty four players competed in this year’s Lightning event at the U.S. Go Congress, “with an unusual number of players dominating their tables,” reports TD Keith Arnold.
Table winners were: Lambert Li 6 dan (undefeated); Kevin Huang 6 dan (undefeated); James Sedgwick 6 dan; Al Tang 2 dan (undefeated); Feng Li 2 dan; Stephanie Tan 1 dan; Benjamin Gundy 1 kyu (undefeated); Daniel Lou 2kyu; Austin Robinson 4 kyu (undefeated); Luke Belyeu 4 kyu (undefeated); Brad Rose 6 kyu; Regina Kim 10 kyu (undefeated); Lee Belyeu 13 kyu (undefeated); Hayden Fung 20 kyu (undefeated). Playoffs will be held this week.
Special thanks to Cat Mai for keeping the clocks running on time. photos by Chris Garlock
Monday August 1, 2022
“There’s still time to donate go equipment or services to the AGF Auction,” reports Solomon Smilack. “The event runs for one week alongside the US Go Congress, and is a great way to support an amazing cause.” The auction, which benefits the American Go Foundation, is online, so you don’t need to be present at the Go Congress to donate, or to bid.
Donors who have stepped up so far include Roy Laird, who has donated five “Instant Go Libraries,” which includes dozens of new and out-of-print books up for grabs in each set, most in excellent condition and some even signed by their authors. The team at Store.Baduk.Club have donated a new kaya floor board, as well as a refurbished set of Slate & Shell stones with premium bowls. This gear will have historic value, too, as it will be used during the final round of the 2022 North American Masters Tournament.
The team at GoMagic.org have donated ten Gold Memberships to their online Go-Learning platform. From Inseong Hwang, five Spectator Memberships to his online school and Yunguseng Dojang. And Bill Phillips has donated “an amazing quilt made from sixteen T-shirts of past US Go Congresses!”
Bidders can register any time, but Smilack says “it is best to register in advance so that you aren’t rushing at the last minute to enter your bids.” This year’s winners will have the additional checkout options of Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Sunday July 31, 2022
The 2022 U.S. Go Congress – the first in-person event since 2019 – got underway on Saturday as hundreds of go players from across the country made the trek to The YMCA of the Rockies playing site in Estes Park, Colorado. Despite the additional challenge of having to covid test all attendees, the registration process went smoothly. While the vast majority of attendees tested negative, several did test positive, underlining the need to observe the Congress masking rules to protect everyone’s safety, organizers told the E-Journal.
With the U.S. Open not beginning until Monday morning, many players used the extra day to take in the scenic opportunities offered by the site amid the Rocky Mountains, while others participated in the ever-popular Self-Paired Tournament, which began at 5p on Saturday. Also on Saturday was the first round in the Redmond Cup for youth players, and on Sunday afternoon the top players met in the first round of the U.S. Masters.
Once again this year, the E-Journal is providing extensive coverage of the Go Congress: follow us on Twitter and for live game coverage, check out our Twitch channel, where we’ll broadcast games from the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open (starting each morning at 9a Mountain Time), with commentary by professional go players as well as popular go streamers and strong amateurs. And of course we’ll be posting reports on our website and in the EJ. Another great option this year is to get the YAPP app, which has its own social stream, where Congress participants are posting photos and updates.
Saturday July 23, 2022
The National Go Center had a surprise visit recently from Lucas Neirynck, the current champion of France and Belgium, honeymooning with his bride Sophie. Two other new visitors were Anh Nguyen and Charles Tintera who stopped by on a ‘Go Tour’ fresh from visiting the Nashville, Triangle, and NOVA Go Clubs. Their final stop will be the US Go Congress in Colorado.
“A great evening of go all around with the newlyweds sent on their way with the coveted NGC t-shirt,” says NGC Executive Director Gurujeet Khalsa.
Charles and Anh made it on to their next destination visiting Devin Fraze and Baduk House in Columbus, Ohio, shown here playing in a simul against Eric Yoder.
photo (top right): Left to right: Charles Tintera, Richard Duan, Anh Nguyen playing Lucas Neirynck, James Pinkerton, and Gurujeet Khalsa. photos by Sophie Neirynck & Devin Fraze
Saturday July 23, 2022
Separated by the Milky Way, the stars Orihime and Hikoboshi align once every year on the seventh day of the seventh month; originating from Chinese folklore, Tanabata is a holiday that celebrates the meeting of the two stars.
As part of Tanabata festivities this year, the San Diego Go Club was invited to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park on July 7, where chapter members taught go to hundreds of children. “The way to Go” booklets were handed out and kids played on a big go board made on the plaza surface. Some children were so interested in go that they went to the following SDGC chapter’s weekly gathering for lessons.
“Several other children’s activities that day at the Japanese Friendship Garden filled the plaza, reports SDGC president Ted Terpstra. Demonstrations every hour included the San Diego Japanese Hulu Club, the San Diego Kimona Club, Masazumikai (Japanese Brush Painting), and the San Diego Kendo Bu (Japanese martial arts).
photo by Ted Terpstra
