American Go E-Journal » Youth

Your Move/Reader’s Write: Duplicating Li’s Success?

Tuesday November 19, 2013

“I read the article on Yunxuan Li pulling in 100 teens to his Go club (Yunxuan Li On How His LA School Club Pulled in 100 Teens 11/5 EJ),” writes Sid Kobashigawa of the Honolulu Go Club.  “Can you get a copy of the attractive poster, good flyers and handouts he used to draw these teens.  He mentioned these were key to drawing so many students to his club.  The story was great but if we want to duplicate what Yunxuan is doing let’s share the actual items that he used so that go will spread.” – Editor’s response:  While Li’s club is off to a great start, his materials are fairly specific to his club and won’t be that useful for other locations.  Li’s poster is attached to this story as a pdf here: Li Poster.  It should be noted that part of why his club is so big is because Li himself is 6 dan, very enthusiastic, and very personable.  It doesn’t hurt that he lives in a town with a large percentage of Chinese Americans, who already know about go.

If your club isn’t lucky enough to have a 6 dan to teach,  the AGF and the AGA both have other resources to help.  Thanks to the work of new AGA web team volunteer Greg Smith, this information is easier than ever to find on the AGA site.  Just click on the tab that says “Teach Others” on our left menu bar.  You will find information for classes, handouts, posters, syllabi for teaching, and much more.  The best selection of posters is actually on the AGF’s Tigersmouth Website. The Downloads Section has six different posters, including one in Spanish.  Lastly, the extremely popular 11×17 Saicho Poster, that comes in AGF Starter Sets, can be purchased for just 25 cents a copy (plus shipping) directly from the AGF.   All US based programs that are teaching youth are also eligible for free equipment from the AGF as well. – Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

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Lee, Meyer, Jung Win Colorado Tourney

Wednesday November 6, 2013

Jung Hoon Lee 7d, Robert Meyer 5k, and Andrew Jung 11k, all won their divisions at the Rocky Mountain Fall Go Tournament, held Nov. 2nd in Aurora, CO.  25 players competed, including 13 youth, who kept the affair lively.  The tournament was run by Alex Yavich, 3d.  Lee was back in prime form this time around (after an uncharacteristic loss at last April’s tournament), with a perfect record.  Solomon Smilack 3d also scored a perfect record, but lost to Lee on a tiebreaker.  Meyer, up from the Colorado Springs Go Club, won his first three rounds, but lost the fourth.  He also won on a tiebreaker though, narrowly edging out pint sized terror Robin Luo 1k, who is only nine years old. In the double digit kyu bracket Andrew Jung 11k fought neck and neck with Stas Irisov 12k.  Both won three games, but Jung defeated Irisov to win his section.  –Story and photo by Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo: Stas Irisov (l) looks on in horror as Hannah Jung (r) demonstrates her fighting prowess.

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Yunxuan Li On How His LA School Club Pulled in 100 Teens

Tuesday November 5, 2013

“I started a go club in my school this year, and more than 100 people signed up in the first week,” reports Yunxuan Li 6d, a sophomore at Diamond Bar High, a suburb in the LA metro area. Li, who has won the Young Lions Tournament for the past two years in a row, is well known on the AGA circuit, having also been a Redmond Cup finalist, and representing the US at the 2013 Samsung World Baduk Masters Championship. “In the game of go, there are no formulas or equations,” says Li, “it is all about creating your own tactics and solutions to everything. In a way, it is very similar to life. I was very happy to see my club be successful because it showed that people appreciate and are interested in this wonderful game. We have had five meetings so far, with 30-50 people showing up and participating actively. I have taught everyone the basic steps slowly and they all seem to understand the process very well.” Li has a few tips for youth who want to start a club at their school. “First, I think it is necessary to make an attractive poster, it will give people a reason to join your club.* Second, I think it is necessary to make good flyers and handouts that introduce the game. These make people think your club is organized and give them detailed ideas about what will happen. Third, don’t take out the go boards and play on the first meeting. The first meeting is better if it is a lot of fun and gives people a reason to stay in your club. Fourth, it is a good idea to use a large demonstration board when teaching; it makes people understand the concepts so much easier than going around with a small board. If you don’t have a demonstration board, you can use KGS with a projector. Fifth, hold some tournaments, so members develop a competitive mindset” *Editor’s note: Posters, playing sets, and everything you need to launch a school club, are all included in the AGF Classroom Starter Set, which is free for any US school that wants to launch a go program. Details on the AGF website here.
-Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photos by Yunxuan Li: Upper left: Yunxuan Li 6d talks about tengen; Lower right: More students than chairs, at a recent meeting.  

 

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Young Lions Deadline Nov. 10

Friday November 1, 2013

There’s still time to sign up for the American Go Honor Society’s Young Lions Tournament,” reports Tournament Organizer Calvin Sun 7d. “Anyone 18 or younger is welcome to come play on Nov. 16 and 17, on KGS. Tell your friends and go club members to sign up. Young Lions has been a big success in previous years, don’t miss this great opportunity to have fun and show that you are worthy to lead the pack! Click here to sign up by Nov. 10th.  A confirmation email will be sent one week before the tournament date,” says Sun.  For more information, e-mail  aghsregister@gmail.com or visit the AGHS website at aghs.cc. –Photo from Wild Encounters.

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Still Time to Register for World Student’s Go Oza

Wednesday October 23, 2013

Go-playing university/college students under the age of 30 can still register for the qualifying prelim for the 12th World Students Go Oza Championship, which will be held February 24-28, 2014 in Tokyo. Sixteen students from around the world will gather in Japan to decide the world’s number one student player. There will be an online preliminary round on Pandanet to select the 16 student players. Click here for details. University/college students under the age of 30 are eligible to participate.

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Go Author Raising Funds for Graphic Novel Project

Wednesday October 23, 2013

Go author Jonathan Hop is working on a new project about Chinese culture and language. “I am trying to get funds to do a graphic novel,” Hop tells the E-Journal. In “Journey to the Middle Kingdom,” three modern-day kids travel back to ancient Chinese fairy tales. “The main character’s grandfather plays go and owns an antique shop,” Hop, a 4-dan from Ann Arbor MI and author of the “So You Want to Play Go” series says. “Go will make an appearance in the first book and I’m definitely going to have it in several others because the book series is a celebration of Chinese culture. I also may even teach the readers a little bit about go (because that’s what I do) if the series gets underway, but I gotta get the first book going.” With just 14 days to go, Hop’s Kickstarter campaign has raised nearly $1,200 toward the $10,000 goal.

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Portland School Programs a Hit

Monday October 21, 2013

“In the past few weeks we have started our chess/go clubs at Beverly Clearly, Irvington, and Grant High,” writes Portland, OR, go teacher Peter Freedman. “Fritz [Balwit] and I are teaching at Irvington and we have 33 children.  8 have never played go before, the rest have been in the club in past years.  They range from 2nd to 6th grades. I am also teaching go at Beverly Cleary, where the chess club coach has agreed to change his club to a chess and go club.  We had 13 children at our first meeting and expect more to attend in the future. One child has had some exposure to go previously. The initial response by these chess-playing children is very positive,” adds Freedman. The chess and go program at Grant High, taught with Balwit, is also off to a good start.  “So far there are about 10-12 students coming, some of whom have played go before.  We expect the club to grow, one of the Japanese language teachers has 180 students, and has invited me to present to her classes.”  The busy Portland organizers also have programs or demos scheduled for three other local schools as well, and plan to create go teams and school matches once all the schools get rolling. “We’ve bought t-shirts for all 33 kids in the Irvington program, at a cost of less than $10 per shirt.  Since parents pay $150 a year for the weekly, one hour club, we have raised enough money to support this,” adds Freedman. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo by Peter Freedman: Ansel Wallace (l), a member of the Irvington Chess and Go club, in his new club t-shirt. 

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AGF College Scholarships due Nov. 20th

Monday October 21, 2013

The deadline for the American Go Foundation’s College Scholarship is just one month away. The program  recognizes high school students who have served as important organizers and promoters for the go community.  Read about last year’s winner here, and former winners here.  For more information, and the application form, visit the AGF Website– Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. 

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Capture Go: Gateway or Standalone?

Sunday October 20, 2013

Is Capture Go merely a stepping stone to traditional go, or can it stand on its own as a viable game? In Memphis, two go players and teachers are working hard to answer that question.

The simplified rule set that master teacher Yasuda Yasutoshi 8P describes in his book Go As Communication has been used in hundreds of schools, after-school programs and libraries. Go players who teach Capture Go often hope to quickly move their pupils along to traditional go but Jay Jayaraman 9K and Graham Smart 9K wondered what would happen if a whole program focused just on Capture Go. They’re working with the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis (CIUM) where they’re teaching Capture Go to Chinese language instructors from CIUM-affiliated after-school programs in the Memphis area, who in turn will introduce hundreds of primary school students to the game this year. The program is currently active in 12 Shelby County elementary schools and will be adding more schools throughout the year, reaching an estimated 40-50 students per program. Jayaraman and Smart also plan to start Capture Go programs in middle and high schools in the area.

“We are not trying to teach go,” Jayaraman, the director of CIUM’s after-school programs told the EJ. “We are presenting 9×9 Capture Go strictly on its own merits, not as a ‘gateway game.’ We call the game we teach go, not Capture Go, so that children who become interested in the long-form game don’t have issues with transition. We hope that even students who don’t enjoy traditional go will have a little fun with Capture Go.” All students, not just winners, can earn Pokémon-style badges (created by Smart) to reward merit, encourage competition and create a sports-like atmosphere. Players will get badges for reaching certain goals, such as completing a certain number of games or playing at least one game with every other player.

The curriculum involves ten two-hour classes, presented as part of CIUM’s Chinese language and history program in partner schools. The American Go Foundation has provided 80 full size sets of stones and more than 200 9×9 boards so far, and Viz Media has granted permission to use Hikaru no Go anime and manga freely as part of their curriculum. Smart is also creating a series of introductory videos for use in the curriculum. The rule set is designed to be completely simple and solvable on the board. However, since the instructors are also new to the game, the organizers will serve as “experts on call” when the classes are taking place. Any instructor can send them a question, along with a picture of the board position if needed, and receive an immediate answer.

Jayaraman discovered the potential of Capture Go as a standalone game last summer when he served as the lead go instructor for CIUM’s K-12 Chinese Summer Immersion Camp. With 20 students ranging from five to eleven years old, he worried about losing them if the game seemed too complex, so he focused on Capture Go after discovering Let’s Play Go, Yasuda’s elegant yet simplified introduction to the game. Jayaraman and local player Wade Humbert “described Yasuda’s ‘Capture Go’ method and hoped for the best,” says Jayaraman. “To see a room full of children playing within thirty minutes of first hearing about the game was quite a treat.  We set up daily classes, drawing upon the Freedman-Balwit curriculum available through the ‘Methods and Materials’ page on the AGA’s Teacher Resources site. To our surprise, only a handful of children showed any interest in advancing to traditional go, but they were all incredibly enthusiastic about Capture Go. Campers were actually excited about their homework! We held a tournament on the last day and combined homework scores with results to find the top finishers. Prizes included copies of Hikaru No Go and full size playing sets. It was a joy to watch their enthusiasm and progress.” Positive feedback from parents encouraged CIUM and the Memphis schools to expand the program into the school year. The Memphis program has four goals: reach the largest possible audience; re-envision go and Capture Go as team sports; engage parents, teachers and other stakeholders; strengthen ties with Confucius Institutes nationwide.

Jayaraman thinks one reason go more popular  is that the go community has followed the top-down, expert-oriented teaching approach that has worked so well for chess. Unlike chess, however, go experts are few and far between. In addition, programs such as the middle school chess team seen in the recent documentary Brooklyn Castle have high infrastructure costs and are difficult to maintain. Chess-In-the-Schools spends millions of dollars teaching chess in New York City alone.

“There’s another pitfall in expert-based teaching methods,” Jayaraman believes. “Skilled go players often flood beginners with complexity, leaving them feeling hopelessly lost. But Capture Go is easy for anyone to learn. In our model, non-playing teachers and after-school staff receive basic instruction and then learn along with their students. Yasuda sensei never meant for Capture Go to be an introductory tool to regular go. The original program was designed to foster interaction using Capture Go as a great equalizer. Like him, we want to use Capture Go as a standalone vehicle for promoting the ‘four C’s’ — critical thinking, cooperation, competition and communication.”
– Roy Laird 

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Young Lions Tournament November 16-17

Monday October 14, 2013

“Join us for another year of exciting competition for glory and pride,” says American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Promotion Head Yunxuan Li 6d. The 2013 Young Lions tournament will be held November 16th and 17th on KGS. “The Young Lions is one of the biggest youth go competitions in America, and is usually a good indicator of how top players will perform in major tournaments for the rest of the year,” said Li. 2010 winner Vincent Zhuang 6d went on to win the US Youth Championships after his Young Lions win. Yunxuan Li himself won in both 2011 and 2012, and then won the 2012 Rocky Mountain NAIM qualifier, and also represented America at the 2013 Samsung World Baduk Masters Championship. “Who will be the leader of the pack this year? Who will be the victor of the 2013 battle? The answer shall soon be determined!” says Li. Players under the age of 19 can sign up now, through the AGHS website. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

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