Nine-year-old Andrew Zhang, of Corvallis, OR, took 1st place with a record of 7-1, at the Hikaru no Go Tournament in Portland, on March 16th. 14 youth competed in the event, the youngest was six and the eldest in high school, reports organizer Peter Freedman. “We developed a unique format, designed specifically for new players, who had to play four 9×9 games, three 13×13 games, two 19×19 games, or three total games of any of the previous combinations,” said Freedman. Beverly Cleary’s John Meo, age 13, took second place with a 6-1 record. Third place went to Hikaru Sato, age 11, with a record of 5-2. Four children made the trek up the valley to Portland to play in the tournament. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor
Forty four kids and adults came to Berkeley, CA on February 22nd to play in the Winter Go Tournament organized by Bay Area Go Players Association. Eleven year old Jeremy Chiu 6d (right in photo at right), winner of the 2013 US Youth Go Championship junior division, led the open section with a 4-0 record. He faced a strong field, however, including 2012 European Women’s Go Championship winner Vanessa Wong 7d, three-time Redmond Cup champion Aaron Ye 6d, and 2012 Korea Prime Minister Cup contestant Matthew Burrall 7d.
Bay Area Go promoted the tournament as appropriate for players of all levels, and in fact a wide range of players participated. Three handicap sections in addition to the open section ensured that all players had a good shot at winning prizes. “It is nice that the really strong players had stiff competition in the open section,” says organizer Roger Schrag, “But I am especially glad that the kyu players, double-digit kyus, and even 20+ kyu players all had people at their level to play.”
