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2019 World Youth Goe Championship: Day 1 report

Tuesday July 30, 2019

Crystalline waters, comforting warmth and miles of golf courses… everything you’d expect at the Phileas Beach Resort in Selangor, Malaysia. But behind these peaceful scenes, a vicious battle rages on. Not a physical struggle, of course, but one of mentality, and awareness. The 36th World Youth Go Championship has started, and the players are ready to prove themselves, including the three U.S. representatives, Alexander Qi 4d and Noah Flaherty 15k for the Junior Division, and Ary Chen 5d for the Senior Division.

The tournament begins with Alex Qi facing Artemii Pishchaniklov (Russia), Noah Flaherty facing Shuntaro Saga (Japan), and Ary Chen facing Shih-Chun Chung (Chinese Taipei). After two and a half hours of intense fighting and quick calculating, the U.S. team pulls two victories. They’ve got some time before the next round, and there’s plenty to do as they relax and unwind, exploring the stunning resort, the pool and so much more.

However, as they flood back into the playing room, the tension is still palpable as the players, refreshed, prepare for the second round. The second round pairings are Ary Chen against Li HoaTong (1P, China) Alex Qi against Hsu Ni-Ni (Chinese Taipei, 7d) and Noah Flaherty against Oleskandr Shchepaniuk (Ukraine, 4k), and this time the U.S. team falls to their stronger opponents. Still, under the encouragement and guidance of team leader MingJiu Jiang, they look forward to the next rounds. Now that this day’s grueling “war” has come to a close, the U.S. players can finally relax, and let all their tensions flood away. After all, tomorrow brings a new day – and there are players to beat, and battles to win.
-report/photos by Ashley Qi

Categories: Main Page,World,Youth

Registration still open for 24th Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament

Monday July 8, 2019

Registrations are now being accepted for the 24th Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament. The deadline is July 17. Registration is free; click here. Prizes are awarded for all divisions.

There are five divisions: Main Class (6-dan and up); A Class (5-dan~2-dan); B Class (1-dan~3-kyu); C Class (4-kyu~7-kyu); D Class (8-kyu~).

Categories: World

Shikshin clinches first Transatlantic Championship for EGF

Sunday July 7, 2019

In round eight of the Transatlantic Professional Go Team Championship, played on July 7, Ilya Shikshin 3P of the EGF defeated the AGA’s last standing player, Ryan Li 1P. With this critical victory, the EGF team claimed the first Transatlantic Championship and the €10,000 Euro prize.
Black (Shikshin) opened by building a strong moyo on the right side, while white secured territory at the top and lower left. White (Li) split a left-side black group into two parts, and a fight ensued. White’s attack seemed severe, but black managed to live without incurring too much damage to his right-side territory. After the black group secured its life, the two players were neck-and-neck. White stumbled with move 152, a sente push played under time pressure, which forced white spend another move on O5 instead of responding to black on the left side. An intense endgame followed. Black wrapped up the game, winning by 3.5 points in the end.
The Transatlantic Professional Go Team Championship was the first team match between professional players of the European Go Federation and American Go Association. Each team was represented by five players in a win-and-continue format. All games were broadcast live on the American Go Association’s Twitch channel, including commentary by strong players from both North America and Europe. This last round, featuring players Ilya Shikshin and Ryan Li, attracted more than 4,400 simultaneous viewers, a record for the Transatlantic Championship.
– report by Hajin Lee

Categories: Europe,Main Page,U.S./North America,World

Registration opens for 24th Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament

Monday June 24, 2019

Registrations are now being accepted for the 24th Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament. The deadline is July 17. Registration is free; click here.

There are five divisions: Main Class (6-dan and up); A Class (5-dan~2-dan); B Class (1-dan~3-kyu); C Class (4-kyu~7-kyu); D Class (8-kyu~).

Categories: Main Page,World

China’s half-point victory clinches win in 2019 World Amateur Go Championships; U.S. places 4th, Canada 6th

Friday June 7, 2019

Wang Chen, China’s representative to the 2019 World Amateur Go Championship edged out his Korean rival Lee Jaesong in a tense half-point game to take top honors, while the US player, Albert Yen, and Canadian Wu Qi You scored outstanding results at 4th and 6th place respectively. Along with Hungarian Pal Balogh in 5th and Ukrainian Dmytro Bogatskyi in
7th, half of the top eight finishers were from outside Asia. Third place went to Chan Nai San of Hong Kong and 8th to Kawaguchi Tsubasa of Japan.

Full results are here. Wang went undefeated in the eight-round, four-day event in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan, securing the win at the end of the day three when he beat Lee. It was Lee’s only defeat.

Both players started the game very steadily, taking few risks, and in fact there was very little fighting at any point in the game. When white played the shoulder hit of 60, black opted to link his stones on the upper side with 61, but then white’s capture of 62–68 gave white a locally favorable result. Following that, white kept the game in his grip, and even with the successful invasion of black 121, etc., white was favored for the win. The decisive fight broke out with black 145. White’s defense was solid and, up to 175, he still held the lead. However, white 180 let black complicate the situation, when a jump at around f10 would have been good enough. White 186 is probably the losing move: black 187 captured six stones in the center, and although white could then return to capture four black stones with 194, black had profited slightly from the whole exchange. The rest of the endgame was played precisely by both sides, and it does not look like there was a way for white to avoid a half-point loss.

Among the players who won six of their eight games, the Hong Kong player benefited from having played the top four starters and defeating two of them, while Albert Yen lost only to China and Korea.

The Asada Shizuo Fighting Spirit special prize, awarded to the player who best shows good manners and sportsmanlike conduct, was given to Singaporean Kwa Jie Hui, who placed ninth. While Kwa’s award may have been given for his generous response to a clock mishap in his game with Japan, discussion at the playing site also noted his patient demeanor in the face of fearsome pairings. Kwa played against all of the top six starters, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, a French 7-dan, and a German 6-dan, and still came in 5–3. He also represented Singapore in 2018 and played against China, Korea, Taiwan, and strong players from Russia,
Canada, and Finland, similarly scoring 5–3.
– reported by Andy Okun; commentary by Antti Törmänen

2019.06.10_wang-lee-game.sgf_Download

Categories: Main Page,World,World Amateur Go Championships

Help Wanted: KGS Go Server

Wednesday May 29, 2019

-by Paul Barchilon, AGF Vice President, KGS Liaison

As many of our readers are aware, the American Go Foundation (AGF) agreed to take on ownership of the KGS Go Server in 2017. Our goal was to stabilize and grow the server, and also provide a financial buffer for the service after its creator, Bill Shubert, no longer wanted to run it. We think KGS is the best place for reviewing games online, with unparalleled game review tools, and terrific chat features that allow people to build real community. Although there are many other go servers out there, including Asian ones with beautiful graphic design and strong players, we think KGS is still a unique and valuable server. A common complaint has been that many high level dan players have moved to other servers. The AGF’s mission focuses on education and learning, and we think KGS is the perfect place for beginners and more advanced kyu players to learn and grow. Dan players are important too, but we think the server can grow more of them, and that more strong players will come back to the server if we can revitalize it.

We had hoped that by providing financial security for the server, it would be able to survive and grow on its own. However, as time has passed, it has become clear that we need more support from the community to make that a reality. Our team of programmers (all volunteers) have busy day jobs, and although they do their best, there is too much work to be done. Our admin team has also become smaller, and is greatly in need of an infusion of volunteers.

The go community should have lots of programmers out there who can help. We should also have lots of people who are willing to be admins. If you are interested in volunteering to help make KGS the best possible server it can be, please email me at kgs@agfgo.org.

On the programming level, we need people who can code in Java and Javascript. The code for ShinKGS is actually open source. Skilled coders could help us bring more features to the web compatible version of KGS and – most urgently – to create a registration module that can run from any web-browser and doesn’t require Java. If you are willing to help us with our task list, email kgs@agfgo.org.

On the Admin side, we need team players who have a helpful, forthcoming attitude, can stay calm under pressure, and are able to properly judge if, when, and how to intervene in public chats, deal with complaints and enforce KGS policies on escaping. A community only thrives with the support of those in it. The more people maintaining the spirit of KGS, the easier for all.

Admins need enough spare time to be on several times a week and should be able to keep an idle window open on the server. They should be quick to step in when needed. We also need admins in many languages and time zones, and would like to have at least one admin on at any given time.

While the AGF owns KGS and, with the help of many donors, provides the basic financial support, KGS really belongs to all of us. If the server is to move forward, we need help from the community.

Categories: Europe,Go Classified,Latin America,Main Page,South America,U.S./North America,World,Youth

IMSA World Masters Championship report

Sunday May 19, 2019

The 2019 IMSA World Masters Championship was held in Hengshui, China, from May 13 to 18. The Championship included five sports, Go, Chess, Bridge, Draughts, and Xiangqi, which in total offered 99 medals in 17 disciplines, with 170 players from 47 countries participating.
In Go, Men’s team (round-robin), Women’s team (round-robin), and Pair Go (bracket-tournament) competitions took place. Players were invited from six regions – China, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Europe, and North America. North America was represented by Ryan Li 1P, William Shi 1P, and Eric Lui 1P in Men’s, Shirley Lin 1P and Gabriella Su 6D in Women’s, and Eric Lui 1P and Shirley Lin 1P in Pair Go.
The competition results are as follows:
Men’s Team
1st: China; 2nd: Korea; 3rd: Japan; 4th: Chinese Taipei; 5th: Europe; 6th: North America
Women’s Team: 1st: Korea; 2nd: China; 3rd: Japan; 4th: Chinese Taipei; 5th: North America; 6th: Europe
Pair Go (6 pairs from each region plus 2 wildcard pairs selected by drawing): 1st: Korea (Choi Jeong & Shin Jinseo); 2nd: Chinese Taipei – wildcard (Pai Hsin Hui & Lin Li Hsiang); 3rd: Chinese Taipei (Jiajia Missingham Joanne & Wang Yuan Jyun); 4th: Europe (Natalia Kovaleva & Ilya Shikshin); 5th: China (Yu Zhiying & Mi Yuting)6th: Europe – wildcard (Ariane Ougier & Pavol Lisy); 7th: Japan (Eiko Nyu & Daisuke Murakawa); 8th: North America (Shirley Lin & Eric Lui).
– Hajin Lee

Categories: Europe,Japan,Korea,Main Page,U.S./North America,World

Kuksu and X’ian International youth go tournaments

Monday March 25, 2019

“We have been invited to send teams to two youth tournaments in Asia,” reports AGA President Andy Okun. “With all expenses paid for kids once they arrive, this is an an incredible go-related cultural experience for the price of round trip air fare.” The Kuksu Mountain tournament will be held August 2-7, in scenic Jeollanamdo Province, South Korea. Youth teams will be attending from all over the world, and participants will compete in multiple tournaments, with prizes in various rank brackets. Go related side events and local tourism are part of the program as well. Organized by the Korean Baduk Association, the popular event will be held for the sixth time this summer. Any AGA youth 18 and under are eligible to attend, and a team leader is also sought. Accompanying adults are welcome as well, but are asked to pay a $270 fee to help cover costs (as is the team leader). If you are interested in the event, or would like more information, fill out the application form here.

The X’ian Education Bureau is organizing an international tournament as well, for youth aged 13-18. A four person team will be selected for this event. The date is not set yet, but it is expected to be in mid-late August. X’ian was the former capital of China and is rich in history and culture, and the famed terracotta army is nearby as well. The event will include three days of competition and two of sightseeing and cultural exchange. 12-14 teams are expected to participate. As with the Kuksu participants must pay their own airfare. There is a $200 charge per person as well, and then all other expenses are covered. The application form is here. -Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor. Photos: Top: 2018 Kuksu tournament; Bottom: A few members of the life-size Terracotta Army, of which there are 8,000. Photo by Paul Barchilon.

Categories: China,Korea,Main Page,U.S./North America,World,Youth

Park Junghwan tops World Go Championship; videos posted

Wednesday March 20, 2019

Park Junghwan has topped the World Go Championships for the third year; videos have been posted online and include commentaries by Michael Redmond 9P. The 3-day tournament March 18-20 featured Iyama Yuta 9p and Cho U 9p from Japan, Park Jeong Hwan 9p, Shin Jinseo 9p from Korea, Ke Jie 9p of China and qualifiers Jiang Weijie 9p (China), Liao Yuanhe (China) and Yoo Changhyuk 9p (Korea). The event was sponsored by the Hankyu Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Ltd., NTT DOCOMO, Inc. and IGO&SHOGI CHANNEL INC.

Categories: Main Page,World

Registration open for World Youth Goe Tourney

Monday March 4, 2019

The Ing Foundations annual World Youth Goe Championship will be held in Xian, China, July 22-27, and registration for the preliminaries is now open, reports Mingjiu Jiang 7P. “The tournament is open to US citizens, resident in the US for at least 6 of the past 12 months; Senior Group (Age 12—15) Junior Group (Age under 12). Players cannot attend in the same group more than twice in 3 years, for instance, if you obtain the seat this year, you cannot join the US team again for 3 years,” says Jiang.

The qualifier games will be played on KGS, with Ing rules, 1 hour 3/30 each. Skype video call will be required for all games. “We will pick the top four players of each group,” said Jiang. The final winner of each group will be invited to play this year’s Ing’s World Youth Cup in China. The qualifier will be Mar. 23 and 24. At 9:00am PST and 1:00pm PST. To register email mingjiu7p@hotmail.com or call (650-796-1602) by Mar.17, 2019. Please include your name, date of birth, rank, KGS ID, phone number and address. – Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor. Photo: Last year’s team, Elwin Li, Mingjiu Jiang, and Melissa Cao. Photo by Mingjiu Jiang.

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

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