American Go E-Journal » U.S./North America

The only player to go 3-0 in a strong 10-player Open section, King Bi 5d won the 2022 San Diego Go Championship last weekend. In a four-way tie for second place were Yifan Qu 4d, Aiyang Lu 7d, Yingxu Zhu 6d, and Yixian Zhou 6d, all with 2-1 records. Yifan Qu and Aiyang Lu were declared second and third respectively in the Open based on tiebreakers and took home trophies and cash awards.

Prize money for all sections totaled more than $800.

There was a three-way tie at 3-1 for the leaders of the Handicap Section. By tie-breakers, the results were:
1st: Roxin Cao 1d; 2nd: Isaiah Bird 1d; 3rd: Pasco Kwok 2d.

The single-digit kyu section had 27-single-digit kyu players, so it was divided into two divisions. The top three finishers in both divisions were awarded cash prizes.

1st Division: 1st: Les Lanphear 2k, AGA Board member (it was his first trophy in more than 50-years of playing go!); 2nd: Angel Zhou 2k, and Pete Schumer 2k, who was recognized for coming the furthest: from Vermont.

2nd division: 1st: David Baran 6k, the only player to go 4-0 & just moved to SD; 2nd: Lucia Moscola 9k;  and 3rd: Jackson Hranek 7k.

Double-Digit Section:

1st: David Saponara 16k, president of the host San Diego Chess Club; 2nd: Donovan Chen 20k; and Rain Zhang 25k.

Nine-year-old Roxin took home a second trophy for becoming the U16 2022 Boys San Diego Go Champion. Angel – also 9 – won her second trophy of the day for being the U16 2022 Girls San Diego Go Champion.

Prizes for the youngsters included those from Yellow Mountain Imports (magnetic go boards, traveling boards, go stones, wooden bowls…). Rubio’s Coastal Grill also provided a meal voucher for it’s famous fish tacos for every youth in attendance.

Five-year-old Ken Lin collected a prize for being the youngest player in the tournament, a SDGC tradition. And “Yes, he did win a game,” reports TD Ted Terpstra.

Covid precautions were followed, with all players and spectators asked to wear masks (except when posing for an E-Journal picture) and be vaccinated. Most go tables had only one game on them and players could take the boards and stones outside to play on picnic tables on a perfect 72-degree San Diego May day.

“SDGC thanks its sponsors, Yellow Mountain Imports, Rubio’s Coast Grill, and State Farm Insurance,” Terpstra says.

SDGC will be hosting the fifth annual California Go Championship on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, again at the San Diego Chess Club.

When Bob Bacon received notice recently about being selected as the “Winner for the 2022 Best of Manhattan Awards,” he got that tingly feeling you get when you sense a trick play coming on the go board. Although the stated purpose of the award was “to support and offer public recognition of the contributions of businesses and organizations in and around Manhattan,” Bacon was suspicious, since he’s a local organizer with the Triangle Go Group in North Carolina, some 500 miles from Manhattan. “Looks like a scam to tempt go players into buying a trophy,” says Bacon, who shared a link to You Won!!! How Small Businesses are Scammed into Purchasing Awards. “The point of the scam is to get businesses to buy an award, which is ultimately worthless,” the site warns, adding that “If you didn’t apply for an award, or the group cannot tell you how you were nominated, chances are the award is not legitimate.” Number three on the list of warning signs is that most legitimate awards do not come with costs for the recipient; the Manhattan Awards email says “We just ask each Award recipient to pay the cost of their awards.” Forewarned is forearmed; don’t put yourself in atari!

If you’re in, near or passing by Rosendale, NY, the Rosendale Library has started a go club on Saturdays to service the go community in Ulster and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley of New York.  An introduction and demonstration to the game will be given by Nathan Borggren AGA 2d from 12 pm to 1:30 pm this Saturday, May 21. Games can be started and played all afternoon for experienced players. CLICK HERE for more details. Go boards and chess boards are also available at the Rosendale Library during library hours for patron’s enjoyment. “Come and play!” Borggren urges.

Forget the midterms, all U.S. go eyes are on the upcoming AGA Board elections. Ted Terpstra has been nominated for the Western board seat, while Paul Celmer will be challenging incumbent Stephanie Yin in the East. No nominations yet for the Central and At-Large positions. If you know of someone who you believe would offer guidance and service to the AGA, consider making a nomination. Nominations, including self-nominations, may be made by full members for the regional seat in which the member resides. At-Large nominations may be made from any region. All nominations must be received by June 15, 2022. Nominations and questions must be emailed to elections@usgo.org. Click here for complete election information and qualifications.

The AGA Board has recently posted the agendas and approved minutes for their recent Board Meetings (held on January 9, February 27, and May 1).  The schedule of meetings for the 2021-2022 term can be found at the end of each posted agenda and minutes.

Summary of May 1, 2022 Board Meeting
During the May meeting, the board received the annual report of the VP of International Affairs.  The Board spent much of the remainder of the meeting discussing developments with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the US Go Congress, scheduled to be held in-person in Estes Park, CO, July 31 – August 7, 2022.  The Directors of the 2022 US Go Congress presented on the high number of registrations and their enthusiastic plans for the Congress.  The Board also received an update from the Presidential Search Committee on the progress of the search.  The Board will meet again on May 29 at 8pm EDT for the purposes of electing the next AGA President before the June 1 by-laws deadline.

Summary of February 27, 2022 Board Meeting
During the February meeting, the board discussed whether or not to hold an in-person US Go Congress in 2022. After reviewing the results of the member survey, input from the local organizing team, and advice from the VP of Events, the board gave authorization to proceed with planning and registration for an in-person congress. Consequently, Lisa Scott resigned as VP of Events. Other topics discussed included routine reappointments and notification of vacancies, as well as status updates on ongoing projects.

Summary of January 9, 2022 Board Meeting
The January meeting of the AGA Board had as its main topic of discussion developments of the COVID pandemic and their effects on go, particularly the US Go Congress.  The Board authorized proceeding with the development of an in-person US Go Congress, and authorized a deficit of up to $35,000.

The Presidential Search Committee has received applications from three dedicated and highly capable candidates with long records of service to the AGA: Lisa Scott, Devin Fraze, and Gurujeet Khalsa. Among their many contributions to the go community, they all have experience on the AGA Board. Lisa is the current chair of the board and a Central Region representative; Devin is a Central Region representative, and Gurujeet was formerly chair and an Eastern Region representative.

The application process was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the Search Committee collected statements of candidacy and CVs from all the applicants. In the second stage, applicants were asked to respond to a set of written questions. And in the third stage, the Search Committee held an interview with each applicant. Each of these stages is now complete.

The AGA bylaws specify that the Board needs to appoint the incoming president with an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the full board, which is five of seven members. However, the bylaws do not address how to specifically handle situations where board members are candidates for the presidency, which is the case with two of the candidates. With this in mind, the Board established the Search Committee to navigate the process and both current board members who are candidates for the presidency have been asked to recuse themselves from the process as well as the vote, which they have agreed to.

The committee invites anyone who wishes to discuss or offer comments on the candidates with the search committee at president-search-committee@usgo.org, or to reach out to their Board representative.

The bylaws stipulate that the Board announces the new president by June 1, 2022. The Board will meet in special session on May 29, 2022, to determine the new president, and will announce its decision by June 1, 2022.