Wednesday June 9, 2010
Valerij Krushelnyckyj 7k went 6-0 to top the field of 19 at the Rivne (Ukraine) Open Championship for those under 12. Vladyslav Verteleckyj 8k was second at 5-1 and Andrij Pylypchuk 11k was third at 4-2. The tournament was held June 5-6.
– EuroGoTV
Monday June 7, 2010
The AGF’s youth go website Tiger’s Mouth have put together a 20-member dream team to challenge Alexandre Dinerchtein 3P and his Insei League, who have been taking on all comers on KGS recently. The Insei League allows KGS players anywhere in the world to take part in a professional go school taught by Dinerchtein and other Korean Professionals. The Inseis crushed the British Go League team 7-3 on May 22nd, followed by a 10-3 rout of the Russian National Female Team (in which 2 of the 3 winners were also members of the Insei League as well as Russian nationals) on May 30th.
Poland fought back in style on June 5 though, finally stopping the Inseis 13-7. “Your team will be the next one we beat,” said Dinerchtein, known as Breakfast on KGS, when he challenged the U.S. recently. “Not so fast Breakfast,” responded the AGF’s youth go website Tiger’s Mouth, who put together a 20-member dream team to challenge the Inseis. Team Tigersmouth has star youth players Curtis Tang 8d and Gansheng Shi 8d, plus Calvin Sun 7d, ten more dan level kids, and 7 kyu level players. The stage is set for Sunday June 13th in the AGA Tournaments room on KGS, at 10 am west coast time, observers are welcome. Pairings will be available shortly before the match here, Tigersmouth team info is available here.
– Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor
Monday June 7, 2010
Canadian youth have all but shut the U.S. out of the Redmond Cup this year, with Jianing Gan 6d and Gansheng Shi 8d winning the Senior Division, and Oliver Wolf 2d and Henry Zhang 1d winning the Junior. Zhang is the only one of the three from the U.S., he is also the younger brother of former Redmond champ Hugh Zhang. All four youth have won a free trip to the US Go Congress, where they will play a best two-out-of-three match with their opponent, and split a $1,000 prize pool courtesy of the AGF. The Senior Division, for youth 12-17 years old, had 27 youth competing and featured U.S. stars Curtis Tang 8d, Calvin Sun 7d, and Zhongxia Zhao 7d among the top players. 
Leading the pack was two-time Redmond Champion and current title holder Gansheng Shi 8d. Shi has a simple but effective strategy: he just wins, all the time. Tang or Sun were both favored in this event, but it was fellow Canadian Jianing Gan who pulled out all the stops to place first. He was the only player to beat Shi, each losing only one out of their seven games. Gan, just 13 years old, will be familiar to E-J readers as the challenger to Myungwan Kim in the SPOT1 finals recently. In the Junior Division, nine kids, all under the age of 12, duked it out for top honors. Ten-year-old Oliver Wolf had the top record, with four wins in five games. Four players had three wins, but Henry Zhang had the best SOS (Sum of Opponents Scores) record, and also was the only player to beat Wolf. The Redmond Cup, now in its 17th year, was directed by Michael Bull.
– Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor. Photo: Yunxuan Li (l) vs. Jerry Shen (r) in 2009 Redmond finals, Jr. Division.
Tuesday June 1, 2010
The deadline for the AGF College Scholarship essay has been extended to June 15th. “The $1,000 award honors students whose enthusiasm and dedication have contributed to the go community,” reports AGF Board Member Matthew Mallory. “All youth organizers and promoters that are in their junior or senior year of high school should apply as soon as possible,” Mallory urges. CLICK HERE for more information and the application.
Tuesday June 1, 2010
The U. S. Youth Go Championships (USYGC) finals are set for June 5 and 6 on KGS. Although Calvin Sun 7d, and Kevin Fang 1d, have already been chosen as the representatives to the World Youth Championships, the USYGC will give kids of all ranks a chance to play for a national title. Best double-digit kyu and single-digit kyu players will vie for the top slots, and dan level kids will also be competing in two separate brackets. CLICK HERE for full standings, which will be updated after each round.
– Paul Barchilon, Youth Editor
Tuesday May 25, 2010
Thomas Debarre 5d (r) won the French Youth Championship, held May 8-9 in 
Cachan, France. Debarre — who will represent France in this week’s World Amateur Go Championships in Hangzhou, China — edged out three other players with only one loss in the under-18 group. Debarre lost to Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 4d, who lost to Paul Bivas 3d, who lost to Debarre. David Horowitz 1d came in second, while Dréan-Guénaïzia and Bivas came in third and fourth. In the under-15 group, Tanguy Le Calvé 1d took first for the second year in a row, Florian Melcer 2d was second, and Osmin Lacombe 1k finished third. For the youngest, under-12, group, Hector de Framond 14k took his first title after coming in second last year, Guillaume Ougier 20k, and Anais Khenniche 17k were second and third.
– EuroGoTV
Sunday May 23, 2010
Mission San Jose won the Bay Area High School Go Tournament, held April 25th in Cupertino, CA, which attracted five schools and 24 players. Organized as a team tourney, Saratoga High was favored to sweep the A division with a 3-dan and two 1-dans competing. However, Mission San Jose narrowly claimed victory when their 1st and 2nd boards slipped by with single digit margins of victory, in a heated Round 3 match against their Saratoga rivals. The tourney debuted this year as a collaborative effort of the AGF, the Bay Area Go Players Association (BAGPA), and several high school organizers. The tourney was organized by David Su, and directed by Steve Burrall. Winners Report: A Division: Mission San Jose; B Division: Monta Vista; C Division: Saratoga High. Photo: Mission San Jose (left) defeats Saratoga (right) in the deciding match.
– Paul Barchilon; photo by David Su
Friday May 21, 2010
Omer Kazanc 1k defeated his main rival Selman Kilic 1d in the final fifth round of the Turkish Youth Championship, held in Istanbul May 15-16. Kazanc swept the tourney. Kilic took silver, while Muhammet Emin Kucuk 16k won bronze. 20 players took part in the tournament.
– Peter Dijkema, EJ European correspondent
Monday May 17, 2010
The American Go Foundation (AGF) will be using the Gregory Lefler Memorial Fund to help college students attending U.S. Go Congress this year, reports AGF board member Keith Arnold. “Any student attending college full time this fall can apply for a $50 discount on their registration fees; we have limited funds, so graduating seniors or graduate students will only be considered if funds remain,” Arnold said. To request the discount, send an e-mail with your name, AGA number, name of school, and your fall status (freshman, sophmore etc.) to agf@usgo.org. “We expect available funds to be exhausted so please send your information now, first come, first served,” added Arnold.
Monday May 17, 2010
Barring an upset win by Jianing Gan 6d, Saturday’s 1p (EST) game could be the final round in the Strong Players Online Tournament (SPOT1), as Myungwan Kim 9P looks to sweep the tournament finals 2-0. Kim is on an 18-game winning streak in AGA tournaments. The game will be broadcast live on KGS. Earlier Saturday, Eric Lui 7d will play Michael Chen 7d at 10a (EST) — also on KGS — in the battle for third place. Lui leads 1-0. Kim 9P has defeated Hugh Zhang 6d, Daniel Gourdeau 6d, Yongfei Ge 7d, Yue Zhang 7d and Michael Chen 7d. Thiteen-year-old Gan 6D has defeated Patrick Lung 6D, Mengmeng Chen 5D, Yongfei Ge 7D, Hugh Zhang 6D, Sarah Yu 6D, and Eric Lui 7D.
– Edward (Zhiyuan) Zhang, TD