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

Gabby Su won on time in Round 2 of the Wu Qingyuan Cup Qualifier, tying things up 1-1 in the best-of-three match against Yinli Wang. The deciding game will be Thursday, 3/14, at 6 PM EDT in the AGA Tournament Room on KGS.
– Jeff Shaevel, Tournament Coordinator

“I was invited to the opening ceremony of a new exhibition at the Chinese American Museum of Chicago,” writes Xinming (Simon) Guo. The exhibition, “The Chinese Helped Build the Railroad – The Railroad Helped Build America,” features the history of the 12,000 plus Chinese workers who contributed in the building of the world’s first Transcontinental Railway in United States in mid-19th century.

“I was so astonished when I found a Weiqi game in the exhibition,” says Guo. The introduction says that these Chinese railroad builders worked in inhospitable environment of the American West and gathered to play fan-tan (a gambling game) or Weiqi after more than 10 hours of back-breaking work each day.

This exhibition will last for one year “and it is a perfect opportunity to promote Weiqi (Chinese for Go). I have been working with the museum for many years. We have organized Weiqi workshops, Weiqi courses, and Weiqi culture stations in the museum several times. With the help from local go community, we will work together to start a new add-on service — providing on-site hands-on Weiqi workshop for students visiting the museum on school field trips.”

Mark Lee 7D, once again showcasing his flawless opening technique and middle game fighting strength, defeated all six opponents to win the 2019 Zheng Cup (formally known as Southern California Go Championship) held on Feb. 16-17. Lee defeated all his opponents by resignation and now holds an impressive record of 21 consecutive wins without any losses in this tournament. Tyler Oyakawa was second and Yixian Zhou third.

Other section winners included Kosuke Sato [2 dan to 4 dan Section]; Zhengwen Bi [1 dan to 3K Section]; Kevin Yang [4K to 12K Section]; Ethan Wong [13K to 30K Section].

photo: Mark Lee with sponsor Mr. J Zheng

As anyone who’s either a renewing or new AGA member knows, our online enrollment system has had a technical problem in recent months. Folks renewing their memberships or joining the AGA have encountered off-putting messages during the online process. Rest assured that everyone’s memberships are being carefully taken care of, albeit by a time-consuming manual input by our redoubtable membership team, which adds “you may disregard any error messages you receive in the process.” Our technical staff is developing a new, automated system via PayPal that they hope will be operational in the near future. “We have a new system, working software, and a plan,” our teams say. Our apologies for the glitches, our thanks for your patience, and stay tuned for updates!

In Game 1 of the best-of-three Wu Qingyuan Cup Qualifier between Gabby Su (w) and Yinli Wang (b) on Tuesday night, Yinli won by resignation. The second game will be Wednesday, March 13, at 6 PM EDT in the AGA Tournament Room on KGS, with the third game, if necessary to be played Thursday. The two are competing for the final slot on the North American delegation that includes Feng Yun, Stephanie Yin, and Cathy Li. The second Wu Qingyuan Cup will be played April 26-30 in Fuzhou, China.
– Jeff Shaevel, Tournament Director

This post has been updated with the correct spelling of the Wu Qingyuan Cup. 

“Our first Pair Go and Paella night was a big hit with 30 attendees,” reports Gurujeet Khalsa at the National Go Center. “We are doing it again on Friday March 22 at 6:30 PM (earlier start time so we can finish before last Metro).” RSVP and pre-register here.  “You can register just yourself or a partner’s name as well if you already have a Pair Go partner. We’ll pair you when you come if you don’t have a partner. Mixed pairs as well as traditional M-F pairs are welcome.”

“Chris Garlock will again be making his delicious paella,” Khalsa adds. There is a $5 donation at the door to cover the food costs. “Don’t miss this fun social night!”

Registration is also open for the NGC’s first ever 2-day tournament, the Cherry Blossom on March 30-31.

photo: at last month’s first Pair Go/Paella Night; photo by Chris Garlock

Zhau (Troy) Zhixun 7d was named 2019 Texas State Champion after his victory in the South Central Go Tournament in Dallas on February 15th and 16th.

Among other prizes for winning the tournament, Troy received the 2019 Texas State Championship trophy and his name will be engraved on a perpetual plaque that will include the names of Texas State Champions for each year.

Troy lives in Austin, where he’s helped develop interest in the game of go, including the founding of the Austin Go Center for teaching go to area children.