Registration is open for the second season of The South Central On-Line Leagues, a system of six-player leagues in a round robin competition played on KGS and OGS. There will be one game every two weeks, with six players in each league. In the first season, 90 players enrolled in 15 leagues. Recruitment is underway for Season 2, scheduled to begin early August. Organizers are looking to fill 42 open slots, with 43 players returning from Season 1. The basic rules can be found here, and the application form to participate is can be found here.
After a 7-month hiatus, Michael Redmond 9P returns with a new live AlphaGo game commentary this Sunday, June 27 at 7p ET on the AGA’s Twitch channel. E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will host as Redmond reviews Game 50 in the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series. “The pandemic gave us both an opportunity to generate a lot of commentaries earlier in 2020,” says Garlock, “but later on we both got busy with other projects, Michael with his Go TV channel and me with the Labor Radio Podcast Network I’ve been building.” Adding that the plan is to resume a regular schedule of broadcasts – “though probably not weekly” – Garlock said that both Redmond and he are excited to complete the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series and that Redmond also has some other interesting game reviews planned. “Tune in Sunday to find out more!” Garlock promised.
“Face-to-face Go is returning to the Washington DC area,” reports NGC Executive Director Gurujeet Khalsa. “Our NOVA Go satellite met Monday night in Arlington, VA and Wednesday night play resumed at the NGC in DC.” Play at both sites will continue weekly with details available at the NGC website.
“It was great to see smiling faces and friends old and new playing their favorite game,” says Khalsa. “We were very happy to welcome back Eli Ferster (below on the left, Larry Kaufman on the right) who recently returned to DC after 2 ½ years in Japan teaching English.”
Gary Smith reported from NOVA Go that despite a first night glitch getting the church unlocked where they play, an intrepid crew stayed and played outside (below). “We expect to be smoothly running inside the next week” says Smith. With continued good progress against Covid in the area an expanded schedule of activities will be announced in the coming weeks. Watch for the return of Pair Go/Paella night with Chris Garlock’s famous paella. Both sites are requiring vaccinations for adults for the time being and will be following local guidance on relaxing restrictions. Masks are required at NOVA Go inside the church there.
“We had another piece of great news recently,” reports Khalsa. “Our grant from the Iwamoto North America Foundation (INAF) was renewed for another 5 years. We are very grateful to INAF for their continued confidence in us and are excited about getting back out in the community and teaching Go as things open back up.”
Members should check their information from time to time. If you are not receiving the EJ make sure your email is up to date. Chapters can always update their current chapter through the AGA Membership Manager if they have changed.
Congratulations to Dan Ritter, Devin Fraze, and Chris Kirschner who are this years candidates in the East, Central and Western regions respectively and all running unopposed.
After being closed for almost 15 months because of COVID-19 precautions, the Seattle Go Center has reopened on Tuesdays and Saturdays for in-person play. Only vaccinated players are invited, and masks are required at all times when people are indoors, except when sipping drinks. Food may only be eaten on the front roof deck, where masks are not required. All players are required to update their membership forms, and to acknowledge the new COVID precautions.
All the windows are kept open, which gives the large playing room good cross ventilation. “This works well in June, when we have mild weather, but we hope that the vaccination campaigns are successful, and the COVID risk is greatly reduced, so that we can close the windows by November”, Operations Manager Brian Allen notes.
The reopening was quietly publicized through the Seattle Go Center email list. Tuesdays have 16-20 players, and Saturdays 10-12. The current schedule can be found on the Go Center home page. Families are not coming yet, because young players cannot get vaccinated. For some adult players who do not play online, this was their first opportunity to play a game in more than a year. Another group recently learned the game online, and needed instruction on how to hold a stone, and to score a game when finished. “It was surprisingly hard to match faces known from Zoom sessions with the people with masks who showed up at the Go Center,” says Allen. “In general, there was less chatter than in the old days, because the masks make it harder to be understood, and the open windows let in street noise. Still, it was great to see old friends, and to make new ones.”
The New York Go Honor Society has recently launched the NYGHS Summer Open are pleased to invite all to participate. The Open is an online tournament which will take place on June 27th and July 3rd, with cash prizes of up to $100.
The format of the tournament is unique as it is a Swiss and bracket style tournament hybrid. On June 27th, participants will be split into divisions of around 16 people and will play 4 rounds of a Swiss style tournament. On the second day, July 3rd, the top eight players in each division will be put into their own single elimination bracket tournament and compete to be the winner of their division. Players who get eliminated from the main bracket, as well as those who did not qualify, will have the chance to participate in a consolation bracket which will play for third place.
The NYGHS team is excited to organize this bracket style hybrid tournament and bring this rare experience to participants at all levels of play. If you have any questions about the tournament or how it will be run, please feel welcome to reach out to us at co-president.nyghs@ny-go.org. The registration deadline is midnight on June 22nd; entry is $15. If you would like to register or read more about the event you can find the tournament details here.
“Registration for the AGHS Charity event has been extended,” says Promotion Head Jenny Li, “All are invited to join us for three rounds, held at KGS’s AGHS Tournament Room on June 12 at 1 PM, 3 PM, and 5 PM EDT. Each table will be played in a round-robin format between 3 adult players and 3 youth players. Anti-Asian violence and hate crimes have been on the rise, so we wanted to take this time to raise awareness and appreciation for Asian culture. 100% of the profits will be donated to Gold House Foundation Inc, an organization that honors the AAPI community’s achievements and voices through promoting unity, representation, and success. Please register by June 10, 2021, 11:59 PM EST.”
2020 AGF Teacher of the Year Frank Luo and his daughter Alice promoting go at a local school.
Nominations for the American Go Foundation’s Teacher of the Year award are due by June 30th. The award is usually presented each year at the U.S. Go Congress. Although congress will again be online due to Covid-19, the AGF will still honor a teacher this year and they will win a trip to next year’s congress in Estes Park as well. To be eligible a teacher must be a member of the AGA and have been teaching go to children for at least one hour a week for two years, either online or in person. Click here for more information. If you would like to nominate someone for this award, including yourself, email mail@agfgo.org. Nominations are due by June 30th and should include a description of the teacher’s activities, how long they have been teaching, and how many students attend their program. – Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo:
Bad news: No candidates have come forward. Better news: You don’t have to wear a mask to be a board member. Best News: You don’t have to wear pants to be a board member. Three American Go Association (AGA) Board of Director seats are in play for the Eastern, Western, and Central regions. The current terms of office expire this September. 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 and must be received by June 15, 2021. Nominations and questions must be emailed to elections@usgo.org. Click here for complete election information and qualifications.
