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

Last Sunday, over 50 Go players, students, and parents of Hai Li’s go school gathered in an Irvine, CA park to celebrate in-person Go for the first time in over a year.

Hai Li 5P of China relocated to Southern California about a year after bringing several of his Go students from his school in China to attend the 33rd U.S. Go Congress in San Diego in 2017. He has since has become a well-known local teacher with students in San Diego and Orange counties. His students are regular participants in tournaments and Li himself has assisted with coordination of the California and San Diego Go Championships.

The party naturally featured Go games between the students and players, but the focus of the afternoon was the reacquaintance of friends. A lavish lunch, featuring many Chinese dishes provided by the families, capped the afternoon.

-report and photos by Ted Terpstra

The San Diego Go Club participated in the Japanese Friendship Garden’s celebration of its ancestors at the annual Toro Nagashi Festival in honor of the tradition of Bon Odori. Toro Nagashi (floating lanterns) is a ceremony in honor of those who have passed. The floating lanterns commemorate loved ones and wish them peace.

SDGC took over the exhibition hall during the festival to teach Go, recruit new members, and demonstrate how the game is played. Over 65 copies of “The Way to Go” (provided by the American Go Foundation) were handed out to those festival participants who asked for a Go lesson. All were required to wear masks in the indoor spaces. The eight-hour event, attended by thousands of people on a perfect 73-degree San Diego day, also included food vendors, dancers, singers, sales of Japanese products, and ended with the traditional floating of lanterns down the creek running through the garden.

For over ten years, the SDGC has been giving weekly Go lessons at the Japanese Friendship Garden (JFG), located in Balboa Park. Based on it volunteer work, the SDGC is invited to participate in the JFG’s special celebrations.

-report and photos provided by Ted Terpstra, President of the San Diego Go Club

The Evanston Go Club returned to in-person competition with a tournament on Saturday, July 31. “Turnout was excellent, with 36 players ranging from 30 kyu to 8 dan, including 15 first-timers and seven players from out of state,” says club president and TD Mark Rubenstein. “I wasn’t sure whether attendance would be low due to COVID concerns, or high due to people eager to get out and play in person. But I had an inkling it would be the latter, since attendance at our weekly club meetings in the last month has been much higher than normal.” Rubenstein also notes that this may be a very good time for clubs to reach out to new players. “We’re seeing lots of first-time players, and they’re coming back each week!” Winners received cash prizes, and the winner of the low dan band also received a copy of Albert Yen’s new book “Overcoming Human Igo” (available on Amazon).

Results:
High dan 1st place: Albert Yen
High dan 2nd place: Alexander Qi
Low dan (three-way tie): Wanqi Zhu, Lee Huynh, Sungsoo Kim
Low kyu 1st place: Aaron Soley
Low kyu 2nd place: Mike Neigebauer
High kyu 1st place: Robert Qi
High kyu 2nd place: Lewis Herman

-report by Mark Rubenstein