Youth « American Go E-Journal

VA Elementary School Go Club Grows in its Second Year

Monday September 28, 2015

Thirty-six eager third through fifth graders came to school an hour early last Tuesday to begin their second year of go instruction at Neabsco Elementary School in Woodbridge, VA, reports club organizer Carolyn Dyer. “We plan to hold the Go Club every Tuesday morning as the children are much more alert first thing.”

The club got started when Kelsey Dyer 1d posted on her Facebook page that her mother wanted to start a school go club. “I had only known Carolyn as Kelsey’s Mom as she had brought Kelsey to NOVA Go Club tournaments for years”, says go club “expert” Gary Smith 9k. “When I found out that her school was only 10 minutes from my house, I knew I had to help out!”

Last year, the club started off with a four week introductory class after school. This was well received, and the club continued as a weekly after-school activity. Last year’s roster of 12 students has grown to 36 today. “The resources provided by the AGF have been a big help,” Smith writes, referring to the American Go Foundation’s club starter kit and a Hikaru No Go set. “There are many ways to spread Go into our communities; we just have to be open to the opportunities.” – Julian Erville, photo by Carolyn Dyer.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Student Pair Go Qualifier This Weekend

Thursday September 24, 2015

The 2nd World Students Pair Go Championship is coming up in December, and the United States is searching for a male and female representative through a pair go qualifying tournament.

The online pair go qualifying tournament will be held this weekend with a possible extension to Monday if needed. The winners of the qualifiers will get 50 percent of the round-trip airfare cost, and the meals will be covered from Friday evening to Tuesday morning. The championship will be held in Tokyo, Japan from December 4th to the 8th, and this will be a 4-round Swiss system with a 45 minute sudden death time limit.

To be eligible for the tournament and the championship, you must have been an AGA member for at least one year, an amateur player, an undergraduate or graduate student of a University/College, under the age of 30, a US citizen, and you must have lived in the US for at least six years in the last twelve years

Interested players should email cherry.shen@usgo.org with their names and best method of contact as soon as possible as we need to select a representative by October 1st. Please email even if you don’t have an immediate partner. – Austin Freeman. Photo from World Amatelur Pair Go Website.

Categories: U.S./North America,World,World Amateur Go Championships,Youth

Myungwan Kim 9p Visits Mexico City Go Class

Wednesday September 16, 2015

Myungwan Kim 9p fields questions on September 2 from students at Pippiolo in Mexico City, where instructor Siddhartha Avila (to his left) teaches as part of a very successful curriculum for preschool and elementary school children. One asked Kim who his strongest three opponents have been, and when he answered Lee Changho, Lee Sedol and Cho Hoon Hyun, the kid immediately said “Have you played Gu Li?!”
– report/photo by Steven Burrall

Categories: Latin America,Youth

Last Week for AGHS Applications

Saturday September 12, 2015

Officer applications for the American Go Honor Society are due by September 19. The organization runs multiple events every year including the School Team Tournament and the Young Lions, and is run entirely by high school students. The open positions include Vice President, Promotion Head, Webmaster, Tournament Organizer, Secretary, and Treasurer. To apply, download the application form on the AGHS’s website and send it in to AGHSpresident@gmail.com by September 19.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Li Named AGHS President; Seeks Officers

Tuesday September 1, 2015

The American Go Honor Society’s outgoing leadership has selected Yunxuan Li 7d as this year’s President. The organization runs multiple events every year: the School Team Tournament and the Young Lions are some of the most popular, and draw students nationwide. Li is excited to lead this year’s cohort of high school student organizers: “I am very glad to take the responsibility of AGHS this year. I hope through the effort we all put in together, we can spread go to a wider audience in North America.” He can’t do it alone, though – Li is calling on interested high school students to apply to be officers this year. The open positions include Vice President, Promotion Head, Webmaster, Tournament Organizer, Secretary, and Treasurer. To apply, download the application form on the AGHS’s website and send it in to AGHSpresident@gmail.com by September 19. -Julian Erville, E-J Youth Correspondent

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Chang Qi Cup Registration Breaks 100

Tuesday August 25, 2015

The inaugural American Chang Qi Cup, scheduled for September 26-28 at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, is shaping up to be an exciting event, and over 100 players have already registered.

The 2015 Chang Qi Cup is the first time that the semi-finals of an international professional tournament will be held in North America. Four top pros from China will compete for a berth in the Chang Qi Cup finals. This event will also include the inaugural American Chang Qi Tournament, an AGA-rated tournament with significant cash prizes. The American tournament features a top prize of $4,000 for the open section, and generous prizes for all division winners.

Hosted by the American Collegiate Go Association (ACGA) and the Shanghai Ing Foundation, special activities are planned, including the Tsumego Challenge, in which competitors solve rapid-fire go problems for small prizes. And for participating college students only, there will be an extra event: free bowling on Saturday night. Similar to the AGA E-Journal’s expanded video coverage at this year’s US Go Congress, local organizers are planning complete coverage of the event through video streaming. Professional commentary on the Chang Qi Cup games, commentary on the top boards of the American tournament, and even special interviews will all be broadcast.

Hotels for the weekend are filling up quickly, so the ACGA urges registrants to book soon. Visit the website for details and registration.

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

Go Instructor for Kids Needed, Funds Available

Friday August 21, 2015

The American Go Foundation is looking for someone who wants to make part of their living teaching go to children. Start up funds are available for a demonstration project that would include building a program around chess and go in the schools, based on the work of Peter Freedman and Fritz Balwit in Portland, OR. The goal is to create similar programs in any US cities that can find teachers willing to run a program. Click here for: go in the schools job description, a project overview is here: go in the schools, and a sample budget is here: go in the schools budget. Please send a letter of interest describing your background and qualifications to mail@agfgo.org.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Melissa Zhang wins first AGA U16 Girls’ Championship

Friday August 7, 2015

Melissa Zhang 3d won the inaugural 2015 AGA U16 Girls’ Championship on Thursday, defeating Kelly Liu 1d. The tournament was held during the US Go Congress in St Paul, Minnesota. Although Ms. Liu won a tense ko fight to save a large group in the middle of the board, Ms. Zhang emerged with insurmountable advantage to win the game and the $100 first prize. In the consolation game, Melissa Cao 1d took third place by defeating Amy Wang 5d.
– Ted Terpstra: photo (l-r): Melissa Cao, 3rd; Amy Wang, 4th; Kelly Liu, 2nd; Melissa Zhang, 1st. photo at right: Zhang and Liu playing final. photos by Ted Terpstra (left) and Chris Garlock (right).

Categories: U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Youth

Yen and Cheng Sweep Redmond Finals

Thursday August 6, 2015

Albert Yen 7d and Ary Cheng 3d swept their divisions in the Redmond Cup finals at the US Go Congress. The preliminary rounds were held online (see E-J 7/8/15) and saw both boys emerge on top, 15-year-old Yen with a perfect record, and 9-year-old Cheng winning 5 out of 6 games. The Senior Division (under 18) pitted Yunxuan Li 6d, age 17, with 5 wins, against Yen in a best 2 out of 3 final. In the Junior (under 13), Raymond Feng 3d, age 11, was the other finalist. Cheng and Feng both were AGA rated at 1 dan during the qualifiers, but defeated higher ranked opponents throughout the event. Both boys are playing at 3 dan in the US Open, and doing quite well, proving once again that it is very hard to pin serious kids down to a given rank as they often improve at lightning speed. The Senior division games were also popular on the AGA’s Youtube Channel, which featured live commentaries by Calvin Sun 1P, with Justing Teng 7d and Lionel Zhang 7d streaming video, and both divisions were broadcast live on KGS as well. All of the streamed videos remain available on the AGA channel here. All four Redmond finalists won a free trip to congress to compete, and will receive $300 for first place, and $200 for second, courtesy of the American Go Foundation, as well as Redmond Cup trophies. – Story and photos by E-J Youth Editor Paul Barchilon. Top: Yunxuan Li 6d (l) vs. Albert Yen 7d (r); Bottom: Raymond Feng 3d (l) vs. Ary Cheng 3d (r).

Categories: U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Youth

Jiang and Zheng Top Youth Adult Pair Go

Tuesday August 4, 2015

Xinyiang Jiang 7d and Xiangnan Zheng 7d took first place at the top table at Youth-Adult Pair Go at the Go Congress on Aug. 4th. Often a warm up for the official Pair Go Tournament on Thursday night, the more casual event gives many teams their first chance to play pair go in a tournament setting. 18 pairs competed for prizes and fun, with pros Hajin Lee 3P and Calvin Sun 1P both getting in on the action as well. Rengo pair Yunxuan Li 6d and Ashish Varma 4d took first place at table two, while Andrew Zhang 7k and Nqua Xiong 3k won at table three, Steve Zhang 17k and Collette Bezio 11k won at table four. Bezio, the author of Aji’s Quest is attending her first Go Congress, and described her 7 year old partner as “amazing”. Other youth events this week included Lighting Go, 9×9, and 13×13 mini tourneys. Team 13×13 Rengo, with three players on each team alternating moves, and the 19×19 Youth Team Tourney are set for Thursday and Friday. -Story and Photo by Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Upper Left: Xinyiang Jiang 7d and Xiangnan Zheng 7d (l) play Albert Yen 7d and Chang Yun Hsin 6d; Hajin Lee 3p and Kiren Polora 8k (r) play Ethan Frank 6k and Sherrie Echols 9k (l).

Categories: U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America,Youth

American Go E-Journal » Youth