Twenty-nine players from New England and New York gathered in East Windsor, CT on May 21 to compete for several titles at the inaugural Connecticut State Go Championship.
Results: Boyang Kang went 4-0 to win the Connecticut Open. Matt Pruner won the Connecticut State Champion title. (This title was open to Connecticut residents). Samantha Soo won the self-paired 9×9 tournament, and Micah Feldman won the 13×13 title.
The event was a “full house” held at the Battle Standard Tabletop Gaming venue in East Windsor CT, and was a huge success thanks in no small part to the unwavering dedication and hard work by the Central Connecticut Go Club volunteers. Mike Scudder, club president, was instrumental in making the event a success. Mike Spaner was the tournament director (with the helpful mentoring of Trevor Morris).
photos: Boyang Kang, CT Open Champ; Matt Pruner, 2022 Connecticut Champion; Samantha Soo, 9×9 Champion; Micah Feldman, 13×13 Champion; Central Connecticut Go Club members playing
In honor of AAPI (Asian and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month, celebrated in May, over 200 participants from Michigan came to the 2022 Asian Culture Festival in Madison Heights, MI.
Albert Tang (2d) and Della Tang (6k) introduced the go games to the audience, including Michigan State Rep. Padma Kuppa, who came to learn how to play go and is very interested in promoting it in K-12 schools. Players of various ranks played games at the event and children showed interest in AGA and AGHS go programs. Read more here. – Al Tang
The eighth NYGO League is set to start on June 25th with a registration deadline of June 22nd. As always, all players are welcome to register; the only prerequisite is to have a rank certified by a go organization, or to have a stable rank on a go server.
The league is two months long and will feature a round-robin style with each division having 8-10 players. Thanks to the generosity of those at AI Sensei, winners of each division will receive a free dan subscription for one month. For more information about the league, check out the rules and regulations here. To register, fill out this form. “We hope to see you there!” says Patrick Zhao, NYGHS Co-President.
After a pandemic hiatus, the Congress Tune-Up tournament returned to the National Go Center on Saturday, June 4. A relative newcomer to the greater DC area, Hsi-Wen Chen (4D) went 4-0 to sweep the top section in his first AGA tournament. Second place went to rising youth star Richard Duan (2D) with a 3-1 record. “It is exciting to see new strong players emerging”, says TD Gurujeet Khalsa. “We expect these players will continue with great results.”
All players with 4-0 or 3-1 records won prizes. These were:
Additional candidates have come forward for the upcoming AGA board election. Incumbent Justin Teng will be running to keep his At-Large seat. Incumbent Stephanie Yin will be opposed by Paul Celmer in the East. Newcomer Bradley Rose is running in the Central region and previous board member Ted Terpstra is running in the West. Nominations close June 15.
Individuals and chapters should check their expiration dates and membership lists if they wish to vote. Nominations, questions and position statements should be sent to elections@usgo.org.
2019 WYGC US Team with team coach Mingjiu Jiang 7p (second from right)
Registration is open for the US qualifier of the 2022 World Youth Goe Championship, which will be held on June 18 and 19. Two representatives will be selected – one in the Senior Group (ages 12-15) and one in the Junior Group (ages under 12). Participants must be US citizens and have resided in the US for at least 6 of the last 12 months. The top four registrants in each group will be eligible to play in the qualifier, which will be held online on KGS with required Skype video calls during the games. The winner of each group will become the US representative in the 2022 World Youth Go Championship, which will be held online between August 1st through August 9th, 2022. Interested players can send any inquiries and register by emailing Mingjiu Jiang at mingjiu7p@hotmail.com by June 12 with your name, date of birth, rank, KGS ID, Skype ID, phone number, and address.
–Story by Justin Teng, AGA Youth Coordinator; Photo by Mingjiu Jiang
Thirty players from across the country competed for $500 in prizes at the May 21 SF Go Club – ING Foundation Tournament. The 3-round event, organized in recognition of the club’s longstanding support from the ING Foundation, was held at the San Francisco Go Club’s dojo in San Francisco’s Japantown. Eric Lee (6D) came out victorious in Division 1 of the tournament, with Chao Xie (6D) and Christopher Kim (5D) in second and third place, respectively. In Division 2 the winner was Hyun Yong Jin (5 kyu) with Qilu Chen (1D) taking second and David Baran (6 kyu) taking third. And, from Division 3 Casey Dahlin (9 kyu) placed first with Adam Anaya (13 kyu) coming in second and Shuoyuan He (18 kyu) in third. All tournament attendees received a limited edition San Francisco Go Club mousepad.
The San Francisco Go Club will be hosting its next tournament on Saturday June 18th: register here.
Report/photos by Matthew Barcus, SFGO Vice President.
We have received news that two longtime go players have passed, John Greiner (1947-2022) and Stephen Fawthrop (1953-2022). Fawthrop, a mathematics professor, was on the AGA rating committee which, in about 1990, set up the current rating system; read more about his go career here. A celebration of Greiner’s life will be held Sunday, May 29, from 2 until 5 p.m. at The Rural Retreat Depot, 105 W. Railroad Avenue, Rural Retreat, VA. In lieu of flowers or cards for Steve Fawthrop, send a donation in his name to the local Floyd County (Virginia) Humane Society, to the Best Friends animal charity, or your own local animal charity.
May 21st was a day of firsts for the West Michigan Go Club. It was our first time hosting a tournament. It was my first time as tournament director. It was the first time an AGA Michigan State Champion had ever been declared. Sixteen players gathered at Out Of The Box, a gaming store in the greater Grand Rapids area, to test their skills and have fun playing their best. Five of those players were there to determine who would be the first-ever Michigan State Champion.
Go brings people together and we were excited to see a diverse group of players from all backgrounds, age groups and skill levels. For the handicap segment of our tournament, cash prizes were rewarded three deep, at $60, $40 and $20 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.
Twenty kyu Johnson He wasn’t sure if he had played more than 100 games in his life, but he managed to take third place in the DDK division. Kalamazoo Go Club’s Claudio Mendoza (12k) took second and undefeated five-year-old Winston Yan (10k) took first place with a game record of 5-0.
Grand Rapids city bus driver Chad Gessner (3k) took third place in the SDK division. Kalamazoo Go Club’s Zachariah Boumediene (5k) took second place and nine-year-old David Fang (5k) took first place with a game record of 3-1. David is very excited to attend the upcoming US Go Congress. Not only is he looking forward to meeting other go players, but he is excited about riding in an airplane and seeing the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The Michigan State Championship was a single-elimination tournament using a seeded bracket based on player strength. West Michigan Go Club had good representation with three of five of the competitors being current or former members of our club. Former W MI Go Club member and Kim Yoonyoung’s student Justin Johnson (3 Dan) took bronze and a cash prize of $60. Current W MI Go Club member Andrew Esther (2 Dan) took silver and a cash prize of $80. His daughter Carolyn Esther (18k) also competed in our DDK division. Lansing resident Mani Sanford (3 Dan) remained undefeated and took home the title of AGA MI State Champion for 2022. He also received a trophy and $120 for his excellent performance. Since Mani met fellow championship competitor and Lansing resident Michael Sullivan at this tournament, he is beginning to plan future go meetups in the Lansing area and to possibly create a new Go Club to build our community!
We are so proud to have brought this day of firsts to our region and are anticipating many great events in the months and years to come. Let’s continue to grow this positive and diverse community of people who have fallen in love with the game of go!
Chicago Open winner Albert Yen 8d (center) with TD Mark Rubenstein (right) and Co-TD Devin Fraze (left)
The Evanston Go Club’s 2022 Chicago Open tournament on May 14 saw a record-breaking 84 players. “This turnout was double our highest-ever, and nearly three times our usual size.” said TD Mark Rubenstein. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of Albert Yen, who brought this tournament to a whole new level. With 16 players ranked 5 dan and above, including a professional player, this was by far the most competitive tournament we’ve ever run.”
“The energy in the room was special. We had players ranging from elementary schoolers to retirees, beginners to professionals, and travelers from 11 states. The best part is, I know the next time will be even better! Stay tuned for what Chicago has to offer!” said Albert Yen. Simon Guo taught first-time youngsters to play in the free Youth section. “Watch out for these kids next year!” said Rubenstein, adding “Special thanks go to Devin Fraze for running the Open section and bringing his awesome tournament software, 30 Go sets and three players from Ohio!”
“This tournament really put the program through its paces, and we have a lot of ideas for making the next iteration even better! It will eventually be made available to clubs through the baduk.club website.” said Co-Director Fraze.
Tournament photos can be found here. The top board was streamed live on Twitch, and the recordings can be seen here: Rounds 1 & 2; Rounds 3-5.
Winners:
Open: 1 – Albert Yen 8d (5-0); 2 – Xingke Sun 5d (4-1); 3 – Zirui Song 1p (3-2) Dan: 1 – Stephanie Tan 1d (3-3); 2 – Xiaodong Tan 1d (3-1); 3 – Daniel Puzan 2d (3-1) High Kyu: 1 – Sean Gibbons 2k (5-2); 2 – Samuel Kennedy 2k (4-1); 3 – Huanzhou Yang 4k (4-2) Mid Kyu: 1 – Winston Yan 9k (5-2); 2 – David Rohde 5k (4-4); 3 – Robert Qi 5k (4-1) Low Kyu: 1 – Jeffrey Jiao 15k (6-1); 2 – Grant Song 18k (6-0); 3 – Alicia Seifrid 12k (5-1) Youth 9×9: 1 – Belle Chao; 2 – Katherine Chen; 3 – Valerie Huang; 4 – Evan Pan
