American Go E-Journal » Youth

Are you enrolled in a go club at school? If so, this is your chance to challenge other go clubs from all over North America.  Registration is now open for the American Go Honor Society’s (AGHS) 13th annual School Team Tournament.  On March 17th and 24th, go clubs from the United States, Canada, and Mexico will compete for $3,000 in prizes, with some for every club.  Which club will take home the glory of being North America’s strongest go club? Register from now to March 1st to take your shot at being the best. Gather your team mates and play in various divisions ranging from Novice to Varsity level. Teams must be composed of three people who are in high school or below and are all younger than 20. Each member of each team must be enrolled in the same school or learning institution, and each school/learning institution can enter a maximum of 3 teams for the tournament.  For more information and registration, go to www.aghs.cc or contact us at aghsregister@gmail.com. -Viral Kotecha, AGHS Tournament Coordinator

As previously reported, the future of American youth go camps is very much in question (U.S. Youth Go Camp Future in Doubt 12/17/2011 EJ). With no volunteers as yet stepping up to organize this year’s camps, “It may be time to recognize that the Congress itself has become the go camp, and that the AGA should not guarantee funding for a separate camp anymore,” says American Go Association President Allan Abramson. Anyone interested in finding out more about running a camp in 2012 should contact Abramson at president@usgo.org by January 31.
Photo: Kids take a break from studying to bury one of their counselors in pillows, photo by Amanda Miller (who is at the bottom of the pillow pile) from the 2010 camp.

Yi Weng, of the Rockville Go Club in Maryland, has made a minicomic that helps teach people about Go.  Weng made the comic as an assignment in one of his classes, but decided to make it educational as well.  The nine-page story makes a great introduction for kids, or anyone, and directions on how to play first capture are on the last page.  The comic can be downloaded here: firstcapture. –Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  

Just one week left to register for the US Youth Go Championships.  Registrations have been coming in steadily, and several brackets are looking interesting.  23 Dan level kids are in the top two brackets so far, competition will also be tough in the 1-5  kyu bracket, with 11 kids at the moment.  6-10 kyu players will have their own bracket too, and more double digit kyu players are encouraged to register.  To see who is signed up so far, go here.  To register, e-mail youth@usgo.org with your name, AGA #, date of birth, AGA rating, KGS ID, and citizenship.  You may enter at a rank higher than your official AGA rank, but may not enter at a lower one.  The registration deadline is Sunday, January 15th.  For more info, see the USYGC page. -Paul Barchilon E-J Youth Editor.

Qualifiers for the United States Youth Go Championships will be held Saturday, January 21st, on KGS.   The tourney will determine National Dan, Single Digit Kyu (SDK), and Double Digit Kyu (DDK) Champions. The winners will receive trophies, and prizes will be awarded in the following brackets: 5-7 dan 1-4 dan, 1-4 kyu, 5-9 kyu, 10-15 kyu, 16-20 kyu, 21-25 kyu, 26 and up kyu.  The qualifiers will use several formats for pairing, and all dan level youth will compete in an open section.  The top four youth will then move on to a double elimination final held on January 22nd, and continuing the following weekend. The winners of the dan sections will go on to represent the US at the World Youth Goe Championships, in August.  All expenses will be paid for the representatives to attend the tournament, in whichever country it is to be held (The Czech Republic was likely, but not confirmed, as of press time). Contestants will also be entered into a pool to receive partial scholarships to either the AGA Summer Youth Go Camp, or the US Go Congress, courtesy of the AGF, 16 Scholarships will be awarded. The Junior Division is for youth under 12, the Senior Division is for youth under 16 as of August 1, 2012.  Only US Citizens under 16 may enter the finals, youth who are under 18 may compete in the qualifiers and kyu brackets, and so may residents who are not citizens.  To register, e-mail youth@usgo.org with your name, AGA #, date of birth, AGA rating, KGS ID, and citizenship.  You may enter at a rank higher than your official AGA rank, but may not enter at a lower one.  The registration deadline is Sunday, January 15th.  For more info, see the USYGC page. -Paul Barchilon E-J Youth Editor.  Photo: USYGC Jr. Division Champion Aaron Ye 4d, competing against Russia at the 2011 World Youth Go Championships, in Bucharest, Romania.  Photo by Paul Barchilon.

Mingjiu Jiang 7P, and the Ing Foundation, are again sponsoring the Jujo Jiang Tournament in San Francisco, CA.  Last year’s event drew 66 competitors, and similar numbers are expected this year.  All levels are welcome, there will be prizes in four divisions: Open, Dan, Kyu, and Novice, this will be an AGA rated tournament..  Jiang Jujo 9P and Rui NaiWei 9P will be in attendance again this year.  To register, and for more information, go to Gomasters.com, or e-mail Indagoe49@yahoo.com.  – Paul Barchilon. Photo: Jujo Jiang (l) plays his brother, Mingjiu Jiang (r) at the 2011 Jujo Tourney.

The future of North American go was on full display this past Sunday at the 4th US-Canada Youth Friendship Match, held on KGS and viewed by over 250 go fans.  With many exciting matches featuring intense middle games, the Canadians managed to pull away for the third year in a row, posting a 4-1 victory over the U.S.  In a rematch of last year’s top board, Ryan Li, the runner up to the 2010 and 2011 Canadian Opens, once again managed to best Calvin Sun in a close match featuring a territory versus influence battle.  Intense fighting was the theme of the next few boards, with Gansheng Shi, Jianing Gan, and Andrew Huang of Canada posting victories for Canada, and the lone American win from USYGC Champion Vincent Zhuang.  With such a strong showing overall, the North American team has a chance to reclaim victory against the European youth in the Transatlantic Match that will be played next spring. Full results can be seen here.  -Special report by Lawrence Ku

Yunxuan Li 4d topped a field of 51 players in the Young Lions Tournament on KGS last month. The tournament, organized by the American Go Honor Society, featured young players from all over the US, and a few from Canada and Mexico as well. As in previous years, the tourney brought some of North America’s strongest youth together, including current Redmond and USYGC champion Aaron Ye 5d, and Oliver Wolf 4d, former Redmond Champ. “All the games i played were very tough,” Li told the Journal, “Aaron [Ye] has awesome attacking skills and Oliver [Wolf] has a very aggressive and flexible style.” Last year’s winner in this event, Vincent Zhuang 6d, went on to represent the US in the World Youth Go Championships, Li will get a chance to make his mark in the upcoming USYGC in January. Also coming up will be the School Team Tournament, the most popular event hosted by the AGHS, with registration opening around mid-January or February. The Young Lions was directed by AGHS President Jasmine Yan, Vice-Presidents Eric Chen and Justin Teng, Viral Kotecha, Van Tran, Rebecca Cheng, and Keiju Takehara.  -Justin Teng, with Paul Barchilon.  Photo: Yunxuan Li, at right, in a casual game at Go Congress.  AGHS VP Justin Teng is watching the game.  Photo by Wenguang Wu.

Winner’s report: Division A: 1st: Yunxuan Li 4d, 2nd: Oliver Wolf 4d, 3rd: Andrei Razvan 2k; Division B: 1st: Larry Qu 2k, 2nd: Raymond Liu 6k, 3rd: Anurag Varma 2k; Division C: 1st: Zachary Peach 8k, 2nd: Benson Jay Merrill 9k, 3rd: Jerry Qiu 10k; Division D: 1st: Joshua Song 16k, 2nd: Vicente A. Cortez-Tinoco 15k, 3rd: Noah Hill 13k; Division E: 1st: Alissa 18k, 2nd: Neal Fatheringham 18k, 3rd: Monsoon Shrestha 24k.