World « American Go E-Journal

Secret Weapon Shi Yue Leads China to Victory at 15th Nongshim Cup

Monday March 3, 2014

China and Korea were the final contenders in the 15th Nongshim Cup after Japan was knocked out at the end of round 2. In round 3, Korea’s Park Junghwan 9p defeated China’s Tan Xiao 7p and Zhou Ruiyang 9p and Korean fans relaxed, thinking Park had secured the cup like last year. However, China’s secret weapon Shi Yue 9p defeated Park in 133 moves. This seems to be a familiar pattern, as Park has only bested Shi once in their five game history.

The Nongshim Cup is a team tournament between China, Japan, and Korea. Since its inception, Korea has won 11 times. This year’s victory puts China at three wins while Japan has only won once.

For more information including photos and game records, please visit Go Game Guru.
— Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru; photo courtesy of Go Game Guru

Categories: Events/Tournaments,Go News,World

World Youth Goe Qualifier March 15 & 16

Wednesday February 26, 2014

The Ing Foundation has announced US qualifiers for their World Youth Goe Championships (WYGC), reports Mingjiu Jiang 7P. The qualifiers will be held online, March 15 and 16. The two highest placing youth in each age bracket will then be invited to compete live in Menlo Park CA, March 29 and 30. The winners will receive an all expense paid trip to the WYGC in Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia. A third seat has been added as well, which is intended to help promote Goe in the US, and will be open to players 5k or stronger, and under the age of 13. Application information and registration is attached to this story. Click on the links here: Requirements, Application, to load a new webpage, and then click on the titles to download each document to your computer. All inquiries should be addressed to IngsYouthTournament@gmail.com. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo: The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which were the tallest buildings in the world until recently.

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

Lee Sedol Races Ahead 2-0 in Jubango Against Gu Li

Sunday February 23, 2014

In what can only be described as a very disappointing game for Gu Li 9P, Lee Sedol 9P (left) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the late endgame to win the second game of the MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango by 1.5 points. Lee now has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-10 series, increasing the pressure on Gu in Game 3, which will be played in Chengdu on March 30. Game 2 was played on the outskirts of Shanghai on February 23.

Gu Li, playing black, started the game with nice opening and he took the lead up to black 45, but Lee reversed the game up to 78. The lead exchanged hands several times in the middle game but Gu regained the lead in the endgame and was still leading up to 189. Several subsequent mistakes by Gu, however, enabled Lee to turn a probable half-point loss into a 1.5 point win.
– based on the report by David Ormerod and An Younggil 8P on GoGameGuru. Check their Lee Sedol – Gu Li jubango page for more news and commentary.

Categories: World

Lee Sedol-Gu Li Jubango Commentary US Broadcast Date Saturday, Feb 22 (not 2/24)

Tuesday February 18, 2014

The date for the live commentary on the second game of the Lee Sedol-Gu Li jubango is this Saturday, February 22, not the 24^th, as originally reported (Lee Sedol-Gu Li Jubango Game 2 Broadcast Set for Feb 24 (US time) 2/17 EJ). Also, the correct name for the location of Myungwan Kim 9P’s game commentary broadcast is GoPanda2.

Categories: World

Lee Sedol-Gu Li Jubango Game 2 Broadcast Set for Feb 22 (US time)

Monday February 17, 2014

The second game in the historic Lee Sedol-Gu Li jubango will be broadcast live on GoPanda2 on February 23, starting at 9AM local time in Shanghai (2/22 5p PST, 8p EST). Myungwan Kim 9P will provide live commentary (written, not audio) beginning two hours later (2/22 7p PST, 10p EST). “I hope Gu Li can show a good fighting spirit and even up the match,” Kim says. Click here to download the latest version of GoPanda2 to watch the live commentary.
Correction: the US date for the commentary on GoPanda2 is Saturday, February 22, not 2/24; the time remain the same.

Categories: World

Tuo Jiaxi Achieves First International Title at 18th LG Cup

Monday February 17, 2014

Although Zhou Ruiyang 9p is ranked the number five Chinese player and defeated Tuo Jiaxi 3p in the Luoyang Longmen Qisheng last year, Tuo got his revenge in the 18th LG Cup Final on February 13 at Seoul National University. After game 2, the title could have gone either way but Tuo’s strong endgame secured game 3 after 254 moves. This victory is not only Tuo’s first international title but his ticket to 9p, or 9 dan professional.

Developed in 1996, the LG Cup is a major international go tournament sponsored by LG Electronics. For more information about this year’s tournament including photos and game records, please visit Go Game Guru. — Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru; photo courtesy of Go Game Guru

Categories: Events/Tournaments,Go News,World

Go Game Guru Announces First Book Will Be on Gu-Lee Jubango

Saturday February 15, 2014

Go Game Guru has announced that their first go book will feature the ongoing 10-game match between Gu Li and Lee Sedol. “Over the last few years, many readers have emailed us and suggested that we should publish a go book of my game commentaries,” says GGG’s An Younggil 8P. “We’ve been too busy to do so up until now, but this match is special, so we’ve decided that our first go book will be about Lee Sedol and Gu Li’s jubango,” says An.

In an unusual move, An has already published his commentary of the first game of the match online, as a draft, and welcomes reader comments and questions. “You can play a part in shaping this book, by asking questions about each game and discussing the games together,” he says. The final book will include extended commentary, based on readers’ questions, and detailed discussion about modern opening strategy with reference to each game.

More details can be found on the official page for the as yet untitled ‘Lee Sedol vs Gu Li Go Book‘. In related news, Benjamin Hong 3-kyu – working with his teacher (“frozensoul” on KGS) — has just published a move-by-move review of the Gu-Lee game on his blog designed to “allow kyu players to easily follow the game and understand some of the most significant moments of the game.”

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware,World

Argentine Go Association to hold first Teachers Training Workshop this Weekend

Tuesday February 11, 2014

The Argentine Go Association is holding its first Teachers Training Workshop this weekend in Buenos Aires. “Its goals are to develop a teaching system of the game of go to be used in classes and courses and to train the teachers that will give the courses,” Argentine Go Association president Santiago Laplagne told the E-Journal. “Recently, the AAGo signed agreements with the Amateur University Sports Association of Argentina and the Government of the City of Buenos Aires to give classes and courses of go in schools and universities. The workshop is expected to provide the base for these courses.” Fernando Aguilar (right) is coordinating the workshop on February 15-16; click here for details (in Spanish). “We are planning to organize more workshops in 2014,” Laplagne, “so some players might be interested in attending the future workshops.”

Categories: Go News,World

Kiseido Launches Go World Online with Detailed Gu-Lee Game Commentary

Monday February 10, 2014

A commentary by Rob van Zeijst on the historic first jubango match between Gu Li and Lee Sedol highlights Kiseido’s launch of Go World Online this month. van Zeijst, three-time European champion and former Japan Go Association insei compiled the commentary on this showdown between the top two go players in the world from various commentaries of top Chinese, Korean and Japanese professionals. Go World Online “will present in-depth commentaries of important tournament games soon after they are played,” says Kiseido’s Richard Bozulich. The in-depth analysis in the commentary’s 24 game figures and 85 variation diagrams will give you a sense of Gu’s and Lee’s supreme reading powers and their flawless intuition that enables them to spot all the tesujis that are hidden under the moves played in the game,” says Bozulich. van Zeijst also explores the interesting question of “Why a Ten-Game Match?” Another game featured this month will be between Zhou Ruiyang 9-dan and Shi Yue 9-dan, two young (22) Chinese players who have both been ranked 3rd (2660) in the most recent Chinese ratings. And in preparation for release this month are the first and second games of the 38th Kisei Title Match between Iyama Yuta and Yamashita Keigo, the top two players in Japan.

Categories: Go World,World

Research Offers a New Look at Go Players’ Brains

Thursday February 6, 2014

A research collaboration in Seoul has revealed new information about the cognitive requirements of playing go and the effects

that it may have on the brain. A team compared a group of expert go players with a group of beginners and published the results in the journal “Frontiers in Human Neuroscience”. The work revealed several differences between the brains of the beginner and the expert. The experts had increased volume in certain areas of the brain, decreased volume in others, greater interconnectivity between certain regions and differences in the overall brain structure. A correlation between the magnitude of the effect and the number of years of go training suggests that these differences are not simply the result of a predisposition of these people to continue playing go. Rather, the difference in brain structure can be explained by the the fact that the brain rewires itself to meet new skill requirements. This phenomenon, known as neuroplasticity, has been observed before in chess players. The areas of the brain in which the experts outmatched the novices are associated with visuospatial processing and emotional regulation in decision making, among others. This suggests that these skills are important in go. Thus, it appears that long-term go training can enhance these and other skills and can indeed be used as a tool for brain development. The complete article is available here. The literature search section links to many other fascinating studies as well. There are several related articles. Click here for one that discusses similar specific physical changes in the brain and reaches similar conclusions. The EJ covered this article at length in 2010 here.
– Ben Gale, Korean Correspondent for the E-Journal

Categories: World

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