World « American Go E-Journal

Go Spotting: Hikaru no Go in Symmetry Plus

Tuesday June 16, 2015

Symmetry Plus, a magazine for young mathematicians in the UK, published an article about Hikaru no Go and math in its latest issue. Calin Galeriu, a professor at Becker College, writes that go is a “board game with an incredible amount of mathematical content.” Young people reading Hikaru learn about area, the coordinate plane, deductive and inductive reasoning, and more. The problem solving techniques Hikaru and his friends use for go problems are similar to those used when solving mathematical problems.

But the manga does even more than introduce mathematical concepts, Galeriu argues. Hikaru no Go promotes a “message of hard work and dedication” that applies to more than learning go. It teaches kids about the values of staying calm, of using intuition, of perseverance, and of working together. Hikaru no Go is an introduction to go and mathematics, but it also “offers our youngsters an authentic learning philosophy” that lasts for life. Galeriu’s article can be read in full here.
– report by Julian Erville. Image from Hikaru no Go © 1998 by Hotta Yumi, Takeshi Obata/Shueisha Inc.

Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth

Go Events Hopping Down Under

Friday June 12, 2015

December is a long way off but anyone considering the Southern climes for the winter will want to mark their calendars for this year’s Australian National Go Championships in St Lucia, Brisbane, on December 5-6. And the second Australian Go Congress is being planned for Sydney, January 15-18, 2016 and may include Pair Go; if you’re a pair go player, contact committee@australiango.asn.au.
– Horatio Davis, EJ Correspondent for Australia

Categories: World

Gold for Korea, Silver for China and Bronze for Chinese Taipei

Wednesday June 10, 2015

Changhun Kim 6d (right) of Korea has won the 36th World Amateur Go Championship, held this year for the first time in Thailand. In second was Aohua Hu 6d of China, and third place was taken by 12-year-old Jyun-Fu Lai 7d from Chinese Taipei. The remainder of the top-ten finishers: [4] Chi-hin Chan (Hong Kong), [5] Satoshi Hiraoka (Japan), [6] Cornel Burzo (Romania), [7] Artem Kachanovskyi (Ukraine), [8] Juyong Koh (Canada), [9] Pal Balogh (Hungary) and [10] Daniel Ko (United States). Click here for the full tournament results and the final-round report. Other reports include Round 6: Hungary vs Belgium; Korea Storms Ahead on Third Day of WAGC & Round 4: China vs Korea.
– Ranka Online

Categories: World,World Amateur Go Championships

World Amateur Go Championship: Korea & Chinese Taipei Undefeated After 4 Rounds; US & Canada Both 3-1

Monday June 8, 2015

Twelve-year-old Jyun-Fu Lai 7d of Chinese Taipei (right) and Korea’s Changhun Kim 6d were the only two undefeated players at the end of the second day of the 2015 World Amateur Go Championships (WAGC) in Bangkok, Thailand on June 8. Indonesia’s 12-year-old Rafif Fitrah 4d had notched a surprise victory over Ondrej Silt 6d (Czech Republic) in the only major upset of the first day of the WAGC on June 7, as both Rounds 1 and 2 concluded with few surprises. Danny Ko (US) is 3-1, defeating Germany, Israel and Indonesia and losing to Chinese Taipei in the second round. Canada’s Juyong Koh is also 3-1, beating Poland, Russia and and Colombia and losing to Korea in the 3rd round. Click here for latest results. The festivities kicked off on Saturday morning with a friendship event and the Annual General Meeting of the International Go Federation (IGF) was held that afternoon (click here for full report). Highlights of the reports included the uncertain future of the Sport Accord World Mind Games (SAWMG), which may move from an annual event to biennial, possibly restarting in 2016 in China. China is likely to again host the World Mind Sport Games, probably in Macau in 2016. China will also host next year’s WAGC, although the exact location is yet to be decided. Also reported was the release of the IGF Facebook page and YouTube channel. In other reports, Poland’s Koichiro Habu 4d missed a critical move that could have allowed him to snatch victory from Canadian Juyong Koh 7d, both playing for their first time at this event.
– Ranka Online

Categories: World,World Amateur Go Championships

36th World Amateur Go Championship Launches June 7

Saturday June 6, 2015

Players from six continents and assorted islands will gather at the Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok for this year’s World Amateur Go Championship June 7-10. The Asian contingent will be young, including 12-year-old contestants from Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, and Malaysia and teenagers from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Macau, Singapore, and host country Thailand. Japan will field a two-time former world champion, and Europe will field several players who have placed high in past years. Danny Ko represents the US and Juyong Koh is playing for Canada. Click here for video self-introductions by sixteen of the fifty-eight players. Click here for the list of players and the event schedule. The events main sponsors are CP All, The Siam Commercial Bank, and Red Bull. Seven games each round will be broadcast on Pandanet. Ranka Online will carry reports of the entire event.
– Ranka Online

Categories: World,World Amateur Go Championships

Pandanet to Host First Internet 13×13 Go World Championship

Sunday April 12, 2015

Pandanet will host the first internet 13×13 go world championship. Registration is free. Click here for details. Two different classes will be set up, for players above and below 2 kyu in strength respectively, each offering generous prizes. The games will be played without handicap stones, but with a komi system that compensates for the rank differences. For example, a half rank difference equals a komi of 3.5 points; 2 rank difference equals a reverse komi of –5.5 points; 4 rank difference equals a reverse komi of -17.5 points, etc. Registration ends May 16, 2015

Categories: World

Mok Jinseok Wins GS Caltex Cup to Take First Title in 15 Years

Sunday April 5, 2015

Mok Jinseok 9p (left) won the 20th Caltex Cup on April 2 in Seoul, Korea, defeating Choi Cheolhan 9p with a 3-1 score. This was Mok Jinseok’s second career title, and his first in 15 years: he won the KBS Cup in 2000, defeating Lee Changho 9p. Choi Cheolhan won game 1 of the Caltex, but Mok won the next three games to take the best-of-five match. Mok’s nickname is “Boy Wonder” because he defeated Nie Weiping in the 1995 China Korea Lotte Cup when he was just 15 years old, and many Korean baduk fans thought that he would take the torch from Lee Changho. But after winning the KBS Cup when he was 20, Mok never took another title, until now. When the last game was over, Mok burst into tears as his emotions got the better of him, and it took him some time to calm down and give a post-game interview. Choi Cheolhan has now taken second place in the GS Caltex Cup two years running: he was defeated 3-0 by Kim Jiseok last year and lost to Mok this year.
– adapted from a report on Go Game Guru, which includes more details on Mok’s long road back to winning a title, as well as the Caltex game records.

Categories: Korea,World

Collegiate Go Tournament Deadline Extended

Sunday April 5, 2015

The deadline to apply for the 2015 Collegiate Go Tournament being held in Taiwan this summer has been extended to May 1st. This event is opento any current, future, or recently graduated college(both undergraduate and graduate) student, who will or has attended school in the year 2015. All costs related to room, board, tours, and travel during the event will be covered by the Ing foundation. Organizer Mike Fodera says that the event is meant for students of any playing strength to participate, and will have four divisions so that everyone will be able to play someone around their rank. Find out more information about the tournament — and the forms to register — on the ACGA’s website.

Categories: World,Youth

Su Guangyue Captures 13th Students Oza Championship

Monday March 30, 2015

Su Guangyue, a fourth-year law student who had been runner-up in 2013, won the 13th World Students Go Oza Championship, held February 24-25 at the Ginza Internet Forum in Tokyo. The contestants were sixteen university students: ten from the Far East, three from Europe, two from the Americas, and one from Oceania. For the eighth time, the winner was Chinese. The event was organized by the All-Japan Students Go Association, Nikkei Inc., and Pandanet, with the cooperation of the Nihon Kiin and the International Go Federation.
– based on James Davies report in Ranka; photo courtesy of the Nihon-Kin

Categories: World,Youth

Chess Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Achieves Shodan

Sunday March 29, 2015

Chess Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp has become a dan go player on KGS, according to a recent post on Hillarp’s blog, Chess at the Bag of Cats. “It might seem like a rather small step for mankind, but it felt quite big to me and merited a rather bouncy and ungraceful dance around the livingroom,” wrote Hillarp, who also includes two game commentaries. We were alerted to this news by a post by Michael Bacon on his Armchair Warrior blog, which includes GM Peter Heine Nielsen’s comment about “The tradition of the best Japanese board game players to be interested in a game other than their ‘main’ one.” Bacon has been learning go and writes that “Having playing chess most of my adult life, Go is like entering a portal into a completely new and different universe.”

Categories: World

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