American Go E-Journal » Youth

Elementary school go programs are on the upswing, with organizers across the country launching programs for young kids. Xinming Simon Guo used the Chinese New Year last February to introduce 64 second-graders at Hawthorne Elementary, in Chicago, IL, to the game. “We celebrated a special Chinese Spring Festival. Besides having delicious food for the celebration of the Chinese New Year, the students were treated with ‘delicious’ Chinese culture in the game of weiqi (go).”  Guo reports that some of the kids will soon join his weekly program at the local Chinese school.

In Camp Hill, PA, Mark Lichtenstein started a program at Eisenhower Elementary.  “I received go equipment from the AGF last school year,” reports Lichtenstein, “it got some use at the high school where I was teaching part time but the school closed over the summer, which I had anticipated.  I  brought the equipment with me to my new location, and I am glad I did, because it gave me the opportunity to lead a small go club at Eisenhower.  I had 6 to 8 children in the club plus an assistant from the high school for each meeting.  We met in February and March every other week for about an hour.  Everyone learned some basics.  Due to time constraints and attention spans, we started on 9×9 and moved to 13×13 but never went to 19×19.  A few parents approached me at other school events and told me that their children were having a great time.  The highschooler downloaded a go app for her smart phone.  The parent running the chess club a few tables over was intrigued but I’ve not got him playing yet.”

Programs like these are directly supported by donations to the American Go Foundation (AGF).  The AGF offers free equipment to any go program for kids in the US and Canada (through the CGA).  They also offer free sets of Hikaru no Go to school and public libraries.  For more information, or to make a donation, visit the AGF website. – Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo – at Hawthorne Elementary in Chicago, Guo is at far left, in the rear, wearing an orange shirt.  Photo by Xinming Simon Guo.

The AGA East Coast Go Camp has finalized details for this year’s camp, which will be held at the Madison Suites Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey, July 23-30. Mingjiu Jiang 7p and Yuan Zhou 7d will be the primary teachers.  Jiang, one of the driving forces behind the incredibly successful Bay Area (CA) scene, and organizer of the Zhujo Jiang youth tourney every year, has a proven track record with kids.  He counts some of the strongest youth in the country among his students.  Zhou, one of the most popular teachers on the East Coast, is also well known for his many books on go.  His deep insight into what kyu players are failing to see make his lessons all the more valuable.  “Students aged 8 – 18 are invited to spend a week playing go and making friends,” says camp director John Mangual.  “Double-digit kyus, upper-level dans, and anyone in-between can all participate. At previous camps, beginning players rapidly improved between 5 – 10 kyu levels in just one week, while advanced players improved their fundamentals and learned more about life and death, joseki and midgame fighting.   Our professional staff will make camp worthwhile for even the strongest amateurs.  The camp is an exciting chance to play go face to face, instead of just online,” adds Mangual. For more information, visit the camp page here, or e-mail Mangual at agagocampeast@usgo.org. – 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 last year’s camp. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

Mandarin Language and Culture School from California took top honors in the 10th annual North American School Team Tournament. Organized by the American Go Honor Society (AGHS), the tournament was held on KGS over the weekends of March 5 and March 12.  More than 50 teams and about 190 players from America, Mexico, and Canada signed up for the largest national youth team tournament, with over $3,000 in prizes provided by the AGF and AGA. Justin Teng, one of the nine officials and a tournament participant, said, “People were pretty excited and pumped up. They were in quite a competitive spirit, encouraging and rallying their teammates while battling against other schools.” More AGHS tournaments, including the Doubles Tournament for Pair Go, are in the works.  AGHS Presidents Jack Ye and Jasmine Yan directed the tournament – many thanks to Meredith Leu, Joshua Wu, Ryan Ngoy, Viral Kotecha, Rebecca Cheng, Eric Chen, Tommy Liu, Justin Teng, and Tim McCaffrey for their invaluable assistance!

Winner’s Report: Varsity: 1st: Mandarin Language and Culture School, 2nd: Richard Montgomery High School, 3rd: SV Chinese School; Junior Varsity: 1st: Richard Montgomery High School, 2nd: Bellaire High School, 3rd: Mission San Jose High; Intermediate: 1st: Klein Oak High School, 2nd: Betcher Home School, 3rd: Escuela de Arte ‘Pipiolo; Novice: 1st: Jasper High School, 2nd: Manlius Pebble Hill School, 3rd: Richard Montgomery High School.  -Special to the E-J by Jasmine Yan, AGHS Co-President. Photos: Mandarin Language Team, with advisor, top; Richard Montgomery Team, with advisor, bottom.

The United States Youth Go Championships (USYGC) drew 58 kids and teens on March 26. Contestants vied for the top slot in five different sections.  Dan level youth also competed for entry into a qualifier for the World Youth Go Championships, which will be held next week.  Calvin Sun 7d again topped the Senior Dan Division, with a perfect record.  Sun, who has represented the US four times in a row as USYGC champ, is required to take a year off from the WYGC, and will not be competing in the qualifier.  The Ing Foundation, which sponsors the event, just changed the age limit to under 16 for the Senior Division.  While this unfortunately disqualified several U.S. youth, the tourney allowed all of them to participate in the USYGC Qualifier anyway.  Eligible finalists who will be advancing on for the right to represent the U.S. at the World Youth are Hugh Zhang 7d, Andrew Lu 6d, Vincent Zhuang 5d, and Yunxuan Li 2d (who pulled a surprise upset by defeating several four dans).  In the Junior League (under 12) Aaron Ye 3d, Sammy Zhang 2d, Luke Zhang 1d, and Jeremy Chiu 1d will all compete in the finals next week.  Both Senior and Junior division games will start at 9 am PT, Saturday the 2nd, in the AGA Tournaments room on KGS.  Calvin Sun 7d is the National High Dan Champion, and Yunxuan Li now holds the title for National Low Dan Champion, Senior Division.

The kyu level tourney was equally exciting, with kids ranked from 1k to 19k duking it out in multiple bands.  April Ye 3k is the new Single Digit Kyu (SDK) Champion in the 1-4k bracket, Senior Division, while Larry Qu 4k is the new Junior Division Champ.  In the 6-10 kyu bracket, top honors went to Joey Phoon 6k in the Senior, and  Raymond Liu 10k in the Junior.  Bennett Ji 11k won the Senior in the 11-19k bracket, and Julian Erville 11k won in the Junior.  Winners will be receiving trophy plaques with their names and titles, $400 scholarships to the US Go Camp, and gift certificates for audio go lessons from Guo Juan’s Internet Go School.  The USYGC was run by tournament directors Paul Barchilon and Jeff Shaevel.
– Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor