American Go E-Journal » Youth

Jeremy Chiu 7d won the annual Young Lions Tournament, held November 14-15 on KGS.  “A record-setting 54 participants from the US, Canada and Mexico joined the 4-round event,” reports American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Promotion Head Stephen Hu. “It feels great knowing that I was able to come out on top of the tournament,” said the 13-year-old Chiu, who is pictured at right.  “The tournament was larger than I expected, and there were many strong players in the open division. I felt the challenge and thrill of a strong playing field, and there were many good games played throughout.  I watched parts of the stream after the tournament, and it was quite entertaining. To be honest, I felt that I was lucky to win the entire tournament, and that it could have gone any direction”

Winners of each of the five divisions received trophies and 2nd/3rd places earned medals. “Most notably,” adds Hu,  “a total of 6 strong youth players formed an open division with no handicap, producing games of very high quality. In the end Chiu triumphed, and clinched victory with a 4-0 record.”

The tournament was made possible by the young officers of the AGHS, with support from the AGA, and the AGF.  Yunxuan Li, AGHS president, coordinated the entire event; Brandon Ho, Katherine Zhang, Joseph Resch and Amy Su helped out as tournament directors; Yixin Song worked on ordering and delivering prizes to their recipients; Stephen Hu (xhu98), the promotion head, helped advertise the tournament on various go servers and communities. Hu also streamed the top board games on Twitch together with secretary April Ye; recordings can be found on Youtube. -Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor

Winners Report: Open Division: 1st – Jeremy Chiu 7d (4-0), 2nd – Daniel Liu 5d (3-1), 3rd – Alan Huang 6d (2-2); Division A: 1st – Daniel Puzan 2d (4-0), 2nd (tied) – Eden Chen 2d, Gilbert Feng 2d (3-1); Division B: 1st – Terry Luo 3k (4-0), 2nd – Lazaro Lopez 6k (3-1), 3rd – Andrew Zhang 6k (3-1); Division C: 1st – Steve Zhang 13k (4-0), 2nd – Alex Kuang 10k (3-1), 3rd – Sarah Crites 11k (3-1); Division D: 1st – Matthew Ho 20k (3-1), 2nd – Gillian Chu 20k (3-1), 3rd – Alana Noehrenberg 22k (3-1)

The 2015 AGHS Young Lions Tournament, the premier competition for North American youth players, will take place this weekend (November 14-15) on KGS. This year, an unprecedented 54 players have signed up, including 2 from Canada and 8 from Mexico. There will be 5 divisions, including an Open Division for strong dan players with even games; top games will be streamed live by AGHS promotional head Stephen Hu and secretary April Ye on Twitch.

The registration deadline for the Young Lions Tournament is this Saturday, Nov. 7th.  “All youth under age 18 are encouraged to play,” says AGHS President Yunxuan Li,  “Young Lions is one of the longest running youth tournaments in the US, and draws many strong players each year.”  There will be 4 rounds in the tournament. The first round starts at 1pm EST, and the second at 4pm EST on November 14th. The third and fourth rounds will follow the same schedule on November 15. “Great cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the top finishers of each division. This year, we will also be live broadcasting some of the Young Lions game on Twitch and YouTube. The deadline to sign up is right around the corner, so stop waiting and sign up now,’ adds Li.  To register,  click here.

The American Go Honor Society (AGHS) will be hosting the 2015 Young Lions Tournament in November. “This is the premier competition for North American youth under 18, and has been one of our longest running tournaments,” says AGHS Promotion Head Stephen Hu.  “There will be 4 rounds in the tournament. The first round starts at 1pm EST, and the second at 4pm EST on November 14th. The third and fourth rounds  rounds will follow the same schedule on November 15. There will be great prizes, as well as trophies and medals for the top three places in each rank division,” adds Hu. The  tournament will be held on KGS, with games broadcast on Twitch.   The registration form is here, the deadline will be Saturday, November 7, so sign up today.  -Paul Barchilon, E- J Youth Editor

Last month, a new Chess and Go in the Schools program was launched in Portland, Oregon. Over 100 children signed up in 3 different elementary schools, and 10 more children were placed on a waiting list. All children will learn both chess (from Fritz Balwit) and Go (from Peter Freedman), and then play either, or both games. The program’s first tournament for the year is scheduled for October 24th.

“The program’s continued success has sparked an effort by the AGF, with assistance from the SF Ing Foundation, as well as funds from a private donor, in hopes of spreading interest in chess and go to other schools,” says Freedman. “Start up funds will help organizers get off the ground, but the program is self-supporting, generating revenue to pay teachers, buy club T shirts, run tournaments with trophies, provide snacks, and purchase equipment. Projects in two cities are currently underway, with a possible third in the works.” For more information contact: Peter Freedman at: pleefreedman1@comcast.net. -Story by Amy Su, Picture by Peter Freedman: Kids learning both games in Portland.