American Go E-Journal » Youth

BadukTV Hires Shawn Ray

Monday July 21, 2014

BadukTV has hired Shawn Ray 4d, better known as Clossius to his YouTube and KGS fans, to do a series of lessons in English for the network. “Thanks to the success of my YouTube channeI, I was offered a job at BadukTV – on the condition that I relocate to Korea,” Ray told the E-Journal. “I took this opportunity to move to Seoul and study baduk  (go in Korean) seriously. I am planning to stay until I become 9D and then I want to come back to America to become a Pro player in the AGA.” Ray’s first video for BadukTV, which includes a fun animated opening, is available here.

“I chose Blackie’s International Baduk Academy (BIBA), as it was the only baduk school that I knew of that spoke English,” said Ray. “Since arriving, I have learned how to truly study baduk, and how many hours you really have to put into this game to become strong. I am sure many are interested in my training schedule so I will break it down.  We wake up and get to BIBA around 11 or noon, and stay until 9 pm. Once we arrive it is self-study until about 2pm, then we play league games with players stronger and weaker than ourselves. In between games we do more self-study, until about 5 or 6 pm and then go eat dinner. We get back around 7 pm and Blackie (9p) reviews our games, or goes over pro games with us and helps us understand them. It is nice when a 9P helps you review pro games, because then you can see that they are human too and also make mistakes. Just mistakes you would never notice being an amateur!  Once 9 pm hits, we all go home together. Once we get home, some of us do more studying, or we can relax until we go to sleep.”

“Our self-study consists of reviewing at least 4 pro games a day, doing at least 1 hour, or more, of life and death problems. Problems at your level can take anywhere from 1-5 min. Usually we go through nearly 100 problems per week. We also study Baduk books and analyze positions and new openings or joseki. It is a very intensive schedule to maintain and can mentally exhaust you very quickly. It took me a whole week before I was fully able to deal with the training regimen,” said Ray.

“My dream is to become a Pro player and start a go school in the U.S. and find a way to make a living teaching go. It is my hope that I can help raise the level in the U.S. so that one day we can compete internationally with the top Asian players. I have to thank all my friends and followers for their support, otherwise I would have never made it this far. In addition I would like to thank Jennie Shen 2P, who has been my teacher ever since I started playing go. Lastly, the inspiration to think I can still become pro is due to Andy Liu 1P, who is around the same age as me, yet is one of the top players in our country. It is my hope to rise to his level, and he showed me it was possible even at my age,” said Ray. Interested readers can join Clossius’s Go Group on Facebook, where he will be posting about his adventures, and even offering discounts on go books. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Image courtesy of BadukTV.

 

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Mexican Youth Tourneys Cap School Year

Wednesday July 9, 2014

School kids in Mexico City capped off their year with tourneys in two locations, reports organizer Siddhartha Avila. “We gave the North american Kyu Championship prizes sent by the American Go Association to Valeria Gonzalez and Samuel Suástegui,” said Avila. “All the kids received a kanji, made by artist Yuko Kosaka, that conveyed a good wish or thought for their lives. We are thankful to have such wonderful people around us, congrats to all the young go players! Pictures of the event can be seen here. Our final tourney was July 5th, it was organized for the students at Gimnasio de Go and hosted by Templo Budista Eko, the tournament was divided in two brackets, 16-20 kyu and 10-15 kyu. We also held a tourney at a Chinese School,Instituto de Idioma y Cultura China, on June 21st.  Players ranging from the ages of 5 to 11 competed on 13×13 boards, 1st place went to Nicholas Moran,” Avila reports. Pictures of the event can be seen here. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photos: top: Siddhartha Avila (standing) observing a game at the Chinese school match; bottom: students compete at the Templo Budista.

Winners report, Gimnasio de Go: 10-15k Bracket: 1. Omar Zavala; 2. Lilian Zavala; 3. Valeria Gonzalez; 4. Paula Herrera; 5. Diego Armando Luciano. 16-20k Bracket: 1. Marcos Gonzalez; 2. Rodrigo Villegas; 3. Dante Zavala; 4. Sebastián Bañuelos; 5. Diego Alí. 

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Aji’s Quest Concludes

Monday July 7, 2014

Aji’s Quest, the popular online comic about a quoll who plays go, has published its last panel, author Colette Bezio announced on July 5th.  Her comic strip was launched two years ago and has grown to 180 pages, and attracted an international audience of kids and adults. Fans followed the witty adventures of a quoll named Aji, on his long quest to become a go master.  On the way he encounters a huge variety of go playing animals and creatures, all of whom illustrate different aspects of the game, and provide some kind of lesson to help Aji along the way. “A sequel is possible… I even have a couple of ideas,” said Bezio, “but I have to get back to some other projects before I even think about it seriously.”  The strip can be read on Bezio’s website here, and was also featured on Tigersmouth. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Drawing by Colette Bezio: Aji confronts his worst nightmare, the evil white stones monster.

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Zhang Wins Happy Cup Youth Tourney

Thursday July 3, 2014

The annual Sunflower Happy Cup Youth Go Tournament, in Cupertino, drew 44 kids this year, reports organizer Wenguang Wang.  8th grader Wilson Zhang was the winner in group A with 4 wins.  “It was a super hot afternoon, which made the ice cream party at the end of the tournament very refreshing,” Wang told the Journal. The event was held June 8th, at the Sunflower Chinese School. More photos can be seen here.  -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo by Wenguang Wang.
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Sun Named AGHS President; Call for Officers

Monday June 30, 2014

Calvin Sun 1P has been selected as the new American Go Honor Society (AGHS) President. “I’m really glad to be the President for AGHS this year,” Sun told the Journal. “This has always been a goal for me because I feel like go has lost much of its popularity in the past couple of years in the United States, especially among kids. I wish to bring back the enthusiasm that children had for go when I first started the game. I am very excited for another year of hard work and fun.” The AGHS runs the popular School Teams Tourney, the Young Lions, and other youth events as well.  Outgoing Co-President Andrew Huang 6d issued a call to ” all young go players and enthusiasts who are interested in becoming  leaders in promoting and teaching go across the country. I encourage you to apply for an officer position. We will be led by Calvin Sun next year, but we still have openings for vice president, tournament organizer, treasurer, secretary, promotion head, and webmaster. We recommend that you only apply if you will be in high school next year. The application form can be found here. This is a great opportunity for you to serve the go community, and we look forward to reading your application.” -Story and photo by Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo: Calvin Sun 1P looks into the future.

 

 

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Chilean Tourney Draws 40 Kids

Friday June 27, 2014

“Forty children between the ages of five and sixteen competed at the first inter-school go tournament, in Punta Arenas, Chile, on Saturday June 6th,” reports organizer Sebastian Montiel.  “Three categories were played depending on the experience of the participants: 13×13, 9×9 and Atari-Go.” The tourney was held at Colegio Luterano, with five schools competing, and was organized by the Aonken Go Club.  First place winner in the 13×13, Matias Salinas, age 13, writes “I would like Punta Arenas to become world famous in the world of go, and for people from other countries to travel to this city just to play go.” Aonken Go Club, which joined the Chilean Go Federation as an official club in 2013, has been promoting Go in Punta Arenas vigorously.  Aonken, another name for the  indigenous language of Tehuelche, means south. “This name represents our geographical location in the world and pays tribute to the original people of our land,” according to the Aonken Go Club Website, which can be seen here, or translated into English, here.

Winner’s Report: 13×13 Category: First place: Matías Salinas, Colegio Luterano; Second place: Elian Velasquez, Colegio Luterano; Third place: Benjamin Mimiza, Colegio Luterano; Fighting Spirit: Manuel Acuña, Colegio Luterano. 9×9 Category: First place: Anastasia Sanhueza, Escuela J. Williams; Second place: Maria Trinidad Villanueva, Colegio Luterano; Third place: Joaquín Oyarzo, Contardi; Fighting Spirit: Bastían Zuñiga, Colegio Luterano.  Atari-Go Category: First place: Francisco Jerez, Colegio Luterano; Second place: Benjamin Leiva, Escuela Juan Williams; Third place: Belen, Escuela Juan Williams; Fighting Spirit: Tiare Santana, Colegio Luterano. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Jose Fernandez.

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Categories: Go News,World,Youth
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Melchior Chui Wins UK Go Challenge for Schools

Sunday June 22, 2014

The 2014 UK Go Challenge for Schools was won by Melchior Chui 9k of Cambridge with second and third places going to siblings Roella 12k and Edmund Smith 13k respectively, also both of Cambridge. The finals were held at Milton C of E Primary School in Milton, near Cambridge, England on Saturday June 21st, and were the culmination of heats played in schools throughout the year, each of which comprised five rounds of 13×13 go.Twenty-five youngsters took part in the finals, which are not restricted to those who have taken part in the heats. Click here for full list of winners.

The top three winners and the challenger all won cash prizes and they and all age group winners got a framed certificate showing their achievement. Click here for full format details of the competition, which started in 2004 and is organized by the British Go Association and modeled on the earlier successful UK Chess Challenge.

The traditional caption contest to put words into the mouth of the logo go stones (above) in promotional material for the year was won by Benedict Steele of Milton with the caption, “Jump ahead of the competition!”

Report by Tony Collman, British correspondent for the E-Journal. Logo courtesy of UK Go Challenge website.
Correction: The Challenge started in 2004, not 20 years ago, as originally reported. 

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Freedman Named AGF Teacher of the Year

Saturday June 14, 2014

Peter Freedman, of Portland, OR, has been named the AGF Teacher of the Year, winning a free trip to the US Go Congress in NYC.  Freedman, who has been active in the Portland area for decades, has focused his primary activities on youth go in recent years. Freedman and Fritz Balwit (2011 AGF Teacher of the Year) had tried to establish go clubs in schools for many years, but they were short-lived and drew minimal numbers  “Meanwhile, our chess and go program at Irvington Elementary had run for many years, with upwards of 30 students every term,” Freedman told the Journal.  “It became clear to me that chess and go clubs have a much better chance to introduce children and teens to go than free-standing go clubs. I approached several school chess coaches about the idea of morphing their programs into chess and go clubs, and now there are over 100 children in these clubs, spread over five  schools, I teach go and Fritz teaches chess in most schools. The students can play only chess; play only go; or, switch between chess and go each month.  New students must play a month of go before they decide on their option. There is a segment of our culture that knows, appreciates and respects chess, while only a few know of go. Yet, many of us were chess players before we were go players.  It seems like a nice path.  We need a new motto: chess is our friend, not our enemy.”

AGA President Andy Okun had this to say about Freedman: “While many people know him as a club organizer, AGA volunteer and co-director of the really successful 2008 Portland Congress, Peter has also been teaching go for many years, and very intensively since retiring eight years ago.  For the last three years, he’s run the Irvington Elementary School Go Team, which has played matches against teams in Portland, Detroit and Mexico City.  He led the effort to make the Portland Go Club a 501c3 so it could raise money for a go in the schools program, and has raised thousands of dollars for that effort.” Recent activities included bringing Mingjiu Jiang 7P to Portland, for a workshop attended by 19 players from across Oregon, ranging in age from 7 to 72, and strength from beginner to 3 dan. “Nine of the players were kids or teens,” said Freedman, “one of whom taught himself to play three months ago, another was a 7 year old kgs 3 kyu.  Andrew Nguy, who recently started the robust David Douglas H.S. Go Club, was also in attendance. Mingjiu was up to the challenge of teaching such a diverse group, moving from simple problems to more complex ones that the  advanced people could chew on.”

“The AGF board faced a very tough decision again this year,” reports President Terry Benson, “with five extremely strong candidates, each of whom fully deserved the award. Fortunately, we choose a new teacher every year, and the other candidates will all have a chance again next year.” Freedman and Balwitz have put together curriculum guides and outlines for their method, which can be downloaded on the AGA Teaching Page.  Free equipment, Hikaru no Go, and other resources are available on the AGF website.  -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photos: Top: The Irvington Elementary Go Team plays a match against Mexico City, Freedman is 2nd from right; Bottom: students at the Mingjiu Jiang workshop last April. 

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Go Camp – Prizes and Fun

Wednesday June 4, 2014

“The AGA Go Camp would like to extend a hearty thanks to both Slate and Shell and Kiseido for their donation of books to the 2014 camp,” says Camp Director Amanda Miller. “Every evening we run small tournaments or other fun Go-related activities, including 13 x 13, pair Go, and team tournaments, and we plan to use these books as prizes in those events. We’ve received some especially generous donations this year, and we have more than enough to go around, so we can promise that every camper will get at least one prize.” Donations include popular titles, such as books from Yuan Zhou’s Master Play series, Yilun Yang’s Workshop Lectures series, the Elementary Go Series, and many more!

This year’s camp will take place the week before the Go Congress from August 3 to August 9 and will be held at YMCA Camp Kresge in White Haven, PA, about 2 hours outside of New York City.  Yilun Yang 7P is back as this summer’s professional teacher, after a successful run last year.  Anyone who participated in the NAKC or the Redmond Cup is eligible for a $400 scholarship, and need-based scholarships are also available from the AGF. “Our registered campers are between the ages of 9 and 17, and within a strength range of 20-kyu to 3-kyu, so camp should be a lot of fun, regardless of age or rank,’ adds Miller. For more information,  visit the camp website (www.gocampeast.org) or e-mail Amanda Miller at agagocampeast@gmail.com. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Amanda Miller: Pair Go Tourney at last year’s camp.

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Registration Opens for 2014 World Youth Mind-Sports Fair

Wednesday May 28, 2014

Young go players are invited to participate in the 2014 World Youth Mind-Sports Fair, scheduled for July 25-28 at Gangneng Yeong-dong College in Gangwon-do, Gangneng-si, Rep. of Korea. Participants must be born after 1991; there’s an entry fee of $50 USD and the $150 accommodation fee includes meals. Sponsors include the Korea Amateur Baduk Association. Register online; payments must be made by June 30. For more info/details, email kchesskorea@daum.net, call 82-2-3448-6611 or fax 82-2-6280-9329.

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Categories: World,Youth
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