Cash prizes will be available for all sections of the NYGA new monthly tournament series, beginning Saturday October 12. Each tournament will be four rounds played in a single day, with light snacks provided and a several hundred dollar total prize pool based on registration. All tournaments will be located at the New York Institute of Go founded by Stephanie Yin 1P, who is excited about the start of a regular tournament series. “It’s a great opportunity to practice and learn Go on a regular basis, network with other go players and have fun!” Click here for all the details and to register. Confirmed tournament dates for the remainder of the year are October 12, November 9, December 14.
A strong field is shaping up to compete for the Virginia State Championship at this year’s Washington Go Festival Saturday 9/28. On top of strong returning players, “we have over a dozen new players registered!” reports organizer Edward Zhang. Volunteer spots are still open for the event, including a liaison with Fairfax County TV, who will be shooting at the festival. Other positions include a TD for the AI-assisted tournament, assistant TD for the Virginia Open, an emcee for the awards ceremony, and volunteers to help take down at the end of the day. Send an email to agatd1@gmail.com if you’re interested in helping out. All players are encouraged to come and compete, and Virginia residents have the chance to compete for the Virginia State, Women’s, and Youth championship!
The E-Journal is looking for game recorders to cover top-board games at next month’s Cotsen Open. “This is a great opportunity to learn from some our top players and to be part of the team broadcasting the Open,” said Managing Editor Chris Garlock. The Cotsen will be held October 26-27 in Los Angeles. Applicants must have their own laptops; some recording experience is helpful but not necessary. Preference will be given those available for one or both days, but those available for just one round will be considered as well. Game recorders receive official credit in the game record and online recognition, as well as an EJ cap and $25 per game. Please email journal@usgo.org. photo: game recorder Dave Weimer in action at the 2019 US Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock
Applications for the 2019-2020 American Go Honor Society (AGHS) officer team are now open! The American Go Honor Society is an organization driven primarily by high school students to promote go among young players throughout America, hosting tournaments, leagues, and other go events throughout the school year. To apply, please fill out the form here; the application is due 10-5 at 11:59pm PDT.
Registration is still open for the 8th Virginia Open/1st Virginia State Championship Qualifier on September 28th. Residency in Virginia is required to qualify to be Virginia State Champion, but all are welcome to participate in the Virginia Open (AGA membership required). The field for the open division is shaping up to be strong with numerous 5 dan-7 dan players, including Maryland-based AGA pro Eric Lui 1p. Registration for the other side events happening concurrently as part of the Washington Go Festival are still open as well. Fairfax County Cable TV will also be providing media coverage of the event as part of a TV program on Chinese culture. “We are excited to crown our first Virginia State Go Champion, Virginia Youth Go Champion, and Virginia Women’s Go Champion and encourage all Go enthusiasts to join us! All registered AGA members will receive a free Go book courtesy of Hinoki Press,” reports event organizer Edward Zhang.
The San Diego Go Club kicked off its fall program of professional go lectures and tournaments with a presentation by Chinese pro Hai Li 5P in Balboa Park. It was the first in a monthly series of eight go lectures by Yilun Yang 7P and Hai Li 5P. Each pro will give four lectures – one per lecturer per month. The lectures are free to all and sponsored by the American Go Foundation and the San Diego Go Club.
The SDGC will also sponsor two free tournaments the morning of Sunday, September 29: a 13×13 youth tournament and a 19×19 tournament for everyone else. AGA membership is required to play in both. At 2:00 p.m. the same day Yilun Yang will give his first lecture of the fall. Free pizza will be served at 1:15 p.m., between the tournaments and the lecture.
All of the above events will be located at the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park. More information and registration can be found at https://www.goclubs.org.
Fresh from his win at the top section of the US Open in Madison WI, Frederick Bao 5d (on the right) went 4-0 to win the 5d-6d section in an overall field of 34. Second place went to Justin Teng 6d (on the left) with a 3-1 record.
Other three and four game winners were: Fengqi (David) Wen 1k 4-0, Sarah Crites 4k 3-1, Kurt Guynn 6k 3-1, John Gipson 6k 3-1, Ian LeBlanc 7k 4-0, and Tonya Perez-Lopez 17k 3-1. All winners received NGC t-shirts. Upcoming events at the NGC include a return of Pair Go/Paella night on 9/27, and the popular Pumpkin Classic Tournament on 10/26.
On August 31st, the Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Fall Quarterly. There were 14 players, “Which was the largest field in some time,” reports Willard Haynes. Four of the players were playing in their first AGA event. The winner of Division 1 was Jeff Newmiller 2k with a 3-1 record. David Baran 7k won Division 2 with a perfect 4-0 result. – Nate Eagle
Registration for Season 9 (2019-2020) of the Collegiate Go League is now open. Colleges and universities across North America with at least three interested student players can form a team to compete online against other schools. Matches are 3 vs 3 and will take place every two weeks in the Collegiate Go League room on the KGS Go Server. There will be 5 rounds in the Fall and 5 rounds in the Spring, which culminate in a championship playoffs for the top schools in April to crown the CGL champion. See if your school has what it takes to defeat perennial powerhouse UCLA, last season’s defending champion.
Registration will close on October 6th for schools who wish to be paired in the first round, which will be on October 12th. However, if you miss the registration deadline and still wish to participate, you can still register at any time and be paired starting in the following round. For more details about the CGL, please read the Rules.
31 young players came out to the New York Institute of Go in Little Neck, NY to compete in the 1st U20 Eastern Youth Go Open on August 31st. The tournament was sponsored by the NYIG and organized by NYIG President Stephanie Yin 1p as part of an initiative to create more opportunities for youth to have face-to-face tournament play. In order to be eligible to play in this tournament, players had to be at least 10 kyu or stronger, which Yin hopes will encourage newer players to improve their playing level. Players came from as far as Chicago and Maryland to play in the tournament, which featured over $1,500 of prizes. In the open section, Willis Huang 6d from New Jersey went undefeated to be crowned the undisputed champion. In a rare turn of events, the other four players in that section defeated each other in a circle, creating an unbreakable tie for second. In the other divisions, Shuhui Lin 2d, Chase Lin 1k, and Xinyu Chen 6k demonstrated their prowess with undefeated 4-0 records.
The NYIG plans for this tournament to be an annual event, and looks forward to more young players competing in the future. Additional tournaments and events for both youth and adult players are also in the works, so stay tuned for future announcements.
Top tables at the 1st U20 Eastern Youth Open
Winner’s list:
Division A (Open) 1st: Willis Huang 6d 2nd (4-way tie): Alex Qi 4d, Sophia Wang 4d, Frederick Bao 5d, Minzhi Wang 5d
Division B 1st: Shuhui Lin 2d 2nd: Jiayang Su 1d 3rd: Niel Ni 1d
Division C 1st: Chase Lin 1k 2nd: Samantha Soo 4k 3rd (tie): Marcos Yang 1k and Jerry Ju 3k
Division D 1st: Xinyu Chen 6k 2nd: Jonathan Chen 9k 3rd: Crystal Yihan Pang 8k
