Redmond Cup and AGA Girls Cup finalists compete at the 2019 US Go Congress in Madison, Wisconsin
Registration is now open for the 29th Redmond Cup and 5th AGA Girls Cup, the AGA’s annual premier youth tournaments for North American youth under 18 and females under 16 respectively. Players must have an accredited rank of 1-dan or higher to participate in the Redmond Cup, and an accredited rank of 10-kyu or higher to participate in the AGA Girls Cup. The Redmond Cup features both a Junior (under 13) and a Senior (13-17) division, while the AGA Girls Cup will feature one division (under 16). Both tournaments are online preliminaries to determine two finalists in each division who will be invited to play in a best-of-three match at the 2022 US Go Congress. The American Go Foundation will cover all reasonable expenses for the finalists of both tournaments to travel to and compete at the 2022 USGC. If there is no in-person 2022 USGC, the Finals will be played at the following in-person USGC. Players who complete all rounds of either tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the next in-person USGC.
This year’s tournaments have undergone several major changes, including a format overhaul and mandatory video calls with strict camera setup guidelines during games. In light of issues regarding prohibited use of AI assistance during tournament games, these changes were made to maintain a high standard of tournament integrity in a practical manner.
“Reminder to register for the 2022 AGHS School Team Tournament! Registration closes on February 4th.” says AGHS Co-President Sophia Wang, “Students from the same school or educational institution can form teams of 3 to compete for their school and for prizes including t-shirts and plaques. There will be four rounds held over two Sundays, February 6th and 13th, at 10am and 1pm PST. See more details regarding eligibility and rules on the rules document and register here.”
The 9th North American Kyu Championships (NAKC) is now open for registration to start off the annual suite of AGA-run youth tournaments. The tournament will be held online on the KGS Go Server and consist of four rounds over the course of one day. Players must be under the age of 18, reside in North America, and be members of their country’s national Go organization to compete. The top junior (under 13 years old) and senior (13-17 years old) players in each division will win personalized crystal trophies, and the junior and senior champions of the top division will receive an invitation to play in the Redmond Cup, which is traditionally only eligible to dan-level players. Players who complete all rounds of the tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the next in-person US Go Congress, courtesy of the American Go Foundation. Last year’s tournament featured nearly 150 players, and the AGA hopes that this year’s tournament will be just as exciting!
Stay tuned for information about this year’s Redmond Cup and AGA Girls Cup; both will feature a new tournament format and registration will be opening soon.
–Story by Justin Teng, AGA Youth Coordinator, Photo by Paul Barchilon.
“Registration for the 2022 AGHS School Team Tournament is now open through February 4th,” says AGHS Co-President Sophia Wang, “Inspired by the popular series Hikaru No Go, students from the same school or educational institution should form teams of 3 to compete for their school and for prizes. A total of four rounds will be held over two Sundays, February 6th and 13th, at 10am and 1pm PST. In order to be eligible, players must attend school in North America and be under 19/currently enrolled in grades K-12. Maximum of 5 teams per institution.”
“Are you looking for an opportunity to sharpen your Go skills? Why not give the AGHS weekly go problems a try!” says AGHS Secretary Henry Chen, “We will be posting a short Google form every week with life and death problems of varying difficulty starting January 3rd, 2022. You may earn points by submitting your answers to each week’s questions through our Google form. We will keep track of everyone’s points on a leaderboard and prizes will be distributed based on final standings.”
If you have any questions, feel free to email aghsregister@gmail.com.
If a battlefield seems like an appropriate place to play go, the students from the Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy and Ruby Bridge Chinese Academy were certainly in the right place on December 19, when teacher Feijun (Frank) Luo 7d gathered them at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
Despite what Luo described as “a ruthless cold wind,” the intrepid students played go in the park’s Visitor Center’s pavilion and seemed energized rather than intimidated by the chilly weather, as they focused on midgame battles fueled by “a great variety of foods.”
After their games, the students went on to hike Kennesaw Mountain. According to the National Park Service, “the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was some of the heaviest fighting throughout the entire Atlanta Campaign…The strategy and tactics used there…led to the final outcome of the Civil War.” The go students supported each other during their hike to the summit, where Luo congratulated them as “fearless” students for turning out to play go and to hike the mountain in the chilly weather and encouraged them to stay physically and mentally active during the pandemic.
The students are Leo Huang, Ryan Huang, Melody Lian, Tegan Lian, Patrick Lv, Gavin Situ, Austin Situ, Amy Tierolf, Andrea Wang, Israel Wang, Lucas Wang, Orianna Wang, Jiayue Wu, Aaron Xie, Jiaming Zou, and Jiayi Zou.
Kevin Yang (7d, SDGC) went 5-0 to sweep the top boards at the 2021 King Cup California State Go Championship, held at the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park over Thanksgiving weekend. Shuaiheng Tao (7d, Dublin CA) and Kevin Meiqing Huang (5d, Yorba Linda) took second and third place with 3-2 records. AGA members are invited to challenge the new California State Champion: throughout the pandemic, Yang has been accepting challenges to play on Tuesday nights on KGS in the San Diego Go Club room at 7 pm PST. Games are 30-minute/player (even or handicap), and are reviewed immediately afterwards by the participants.
2021 King Cup – U16 13×13 California State Go Champions
Competition in the King Cup Handicap section
2021 King Cup – California State Go Champion: (l-r): Ted Terpstra, former SDGC president; Kevin Yang, CA Champion; Henry You, VP-SDGC; King Bi, tournament sponsor
2021 – King Cup – California State Go tournament winners
photos by Hai Li and Jaiying Wei
In the King Cup Open, six of the ten players tied for second place with 3-2 records. Trophy winners were determined by Go Clubs Online tiebreakers. Besides Tao and Huang, the others tying for second place in the King Cup Open were Shang Zhou (7d, SDGC), Yixian Zhou (6d, Corona), 2020 California State Go Champion Bo Luan (6d, Santa Barbara), and King Bi (4d, SDGC).
Over the course of the weekend, more than 70 go players from all over California participated in one of the four King Cup – California Go Championship tournaments, which included the State Championship (with both Open and Handicap sections), the U16 Girls Championship, the U16 Boys Championship, and the U16 13×13 Championship. This was the fourth State Go Championship weekend hosted by the San Diego Go Club.
Complete round-by-round results for all tournaments are available on Go Clubs Online on the ‘Results’ page found under the ‘Tournaments’ menu.
In the King Cup Handicap Sections, first place winners were: Division I: Jaewoo Go Park (1k, San Jose) Division 2: Arunas Rudvalis (6k, SDGC) Division 3: Jiaying Wei (9k, SDGC)
King Cup – 2021 California State U16 Girls Go Championship winner: Angelina Zhao (4k, Irvine) King Cup – 2021 California State U16 Boys Go Championship winner: Zhenxuan Liu (1d, SDGC) King Cup – 2021 California State U16 13×13 Go Championship winner: Anna Zhou (9k, SDGC)
Special recognition trophies were given to Hai Li 5P, for being the tournament director in the three U16 tournaments, and Donovan Chen for being the youngest player in the U16 tournaments (6-years-old). He beat out another 6-year-old, Zoe Tan, by a few days.
All four tournaments were sponsored by a generous gift to the San Diego Go Club by King Bi. Rubio’s Coastal Grill provided gift certificates to its restaurants for all the youth players and their parents
Here are all the trophy winners from the four King Cup – California Go Championship go tournaments, November 27 & 28, 2021:
King Cup – 2021 California State Open Go Championship 1st Place – Kevin Yang (7.3d, San Diego) 2nd Place – Shuaiheng Tao (7.1d, Dublin CA) 3rd Place – Kevin Meiqing Huang (5.9d, Yorba Linda)
King Cup – 2021 California State Handicap Go Championship Handicap: Division I: 1st Place – Jaewoo Go Park (1.0k, San Jose) Handicap: Division I: 2nd Place – Patrick Lu (1.1d, Cerritos) Handicap: Division I: 3rd Place – Andy Shunwei Zhou (1.3d, Corona) Handicap: Division II: 1st Place – Arunas Rudvalis (6.2k, Oceanside) Handicap: Division II: 2nd Place – Enrique Garcia (3.1k, San Diego) Handicap: Division II: 3rd Place – David Baran (6.4k, Beverly Hills) Handicap: Division III : 1st Place – Jiaying Wei (9.3k, San Diego) Handicap: Division III: 2nd Place – Nick Liddington (10.3k, Escondido) Handicap: Division III: 3rd Place – Lucia Moscola (10.1k, San Diego)
King Cup – 2021 California State U16 13×13 Go Championship Handicap: 1st Place – Anna Zhou (9.5k, Corona) Handicap: 2nd Place – Angel Shunying Zhou (4.9k, Corona) Handicap: 3rd Place – Xiaomei Sunny Sun (6.7k, 欧文)
King Cup – 2021 California State U16 Girls Go Championship Handicap: 1st Place – Angelina Zhao (4.4k, Irvine) Handicap: 2nd Place – Xiaomei Sunny Sun (6.7k, 欧文) Handicap: 3rd Place – Abigail Wanyu Chen (5.8 k, Yorba Linda)
King Cup – 2021 California State U16 Boys Go Championship Handicap: 1st Place – Zhenxuan Liu (1.7d, Irvine ) Handicap: 2nd Place – Jason He (3.5d, Cupertino) Handicap: 3rd Place – Tom Liu (5.5k, Irvine)
photos by Hai Li and Jaiying Wei; report by Ted Terpstra, former SDGC president; editing by Kyle Fenimore.
“Registration for the Young Lions Tournament is now open!” says AGHS Promotion Head Dylan Jian, “The Young Lions Tournament is the premier Go tournament for players under 18 in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Organized by the AGHS, the Young Lions Tournament will be held online on November 21st and 28th for players of all strengths. Division winners will have prizes awarded to them.”
The registration deadline is November 15, 2021 at 11:59 pm PST. If you have any questions, feel free to email aghsregister@gmail.com.
Applications are now being accepted for the American Go Foundation(AGF) college scholarship. The program recognizes high school students who have served as important youth organizers and promoters for the go community. To apply, download and complete the application form here. Applicants should describe their accomplishments and volunteer work in a short essay. Letters of recommendation may also be included. Applicants whose enthusiasm and ambition have helped spread go in under-served areas will be given special consideration. Strong players who spend much of their time voluntarily teaching will also be considered, although the award focuses on promoters and organizers who have made substantial contributions during their go career. Applications are due Nov. 5th this year. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.
“Registration for the annual American Go Honor Society Youth League is now open,” says AGHS Vice President Katherine Xie, “We welcome all players who are citizens of the US, Canada, or Mexico and under the age of 18 to participate. Every month will consist of four to five rounds and players will be paired with opponents of similar strength using a ladder system. All games will be played in the AGHS Tournament room on KGS. Top players of each division will receive awards at the end of each monthly league.”
The registration and dropout deadline is November 1st, 2021, at 11:59 pm PT. The first round will start on November 6th. If you have any questions, feel free to email aghsregister@gmail.com.
