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Xinyu Tu took first place at the 2022 New England Open over the Labor Day weekend, winning all five rounds. See below for the complete winner’s list.

“We had players from each of the six New England states, except for New Hampshire,” reports organizer Trevor Morris  “Next year, we’ll be recruiting heavily from New Hampshire!”  In order to incentivize New England players, “next year we’ll have a special prize for the top finisher from each of the six New England states,” said Morris.

With over $3,000 in cash and prizes, the 2022 New England Open tripled the advertised $1,000 prize pool. Prize sponsors, in order of the value of their donations, included ZBaduk, OGS, BenKyo Baduk, GoMagic, Battle Standard (physical location, hosting the Central CT Go Club), New York Go Institute, BadukPop, AYD, Yilun Yang, SmartGo, Shawn’s Go Group, baduk.club, AwesomeBaduk, Chris Sagner, and Guo Juan’s Internet Go School. Click here for links to all of the sponsors and a detailed description of their donations. 

“A special thanks to Sunstein LLP, an intellectual property law first, for sponsoring breakfast, which included, importantly, bottomless coffee, on the second day,” said Morris. “The breakfast was very popular, and would not have been possible without their generous support.”

Morris also thanked Chris Sanger, “not only for donating lessons to the prize pool but also for offering to be the odd player out.  Thanks to him, no one had to take a forced bye.  In the rounds that he did not play (most of them!), he was super-helpful pitching in on logistics.” The E-Journal’s Eva Dee Beech made streaming of the final round possible, training Morris on how to set up cell phones to stream live, and then providing the off-site live transcription to KGS for the top two boards.  She also arranged for TelegraphGo to provide live commentary on Twitch.

Winner’s Report

Open section winners: Xinyu Tu (1st place, 5-0); Yuxiao Wang(2nd place, 4-1); Hao Li (3rd place, 4-1).

Four-game winners, all of whom earned a new rank, per their new official AGA ratings:

Hughes de Saxce (1 kyu) [now 1 dan]; Andrew Hall (1 dan) [now 2 dan]; David Fang (3 kyu entry rank; official rank: 5 kyu) [now 2 kyu]; Laura Wu (7 kyu) [now 6 kyu].

“An unexpected shout-out to the Feng Yun Go School,” adds Morris. Three of her young students were a real pleasure to have at the tournament, and they each gained more than 2 points in their official AGA ratings: Zhihan William Huang: 19kyu -> 8kyu; Zhiyong Huang: 10kyu -> 4kyu; David Fang: 5kyu -> 2kyu.

“Finally, we’d like to recognize the nine players who competed for the first time in an AGA tournament,” says Morris. “That’s a full 18% of the entire pool.  We look forward to seeing you all at the next one!” Hao Li, Yuxiao Wang, Jiayi Chen, Wei Chen, Patrick Blackstone, Philippe Lessard, Sophia Mears, Zeyi Tong, Martha Marteney.

The full tournament cross-grid and photos are available on the website.

Prize Coordinator: Michael Scudder (+ wife Lyda); Tournament Director: Trevor Morris (+ partner Martha Marteney). Photos by Chi-Hse Teng.

The National Go Center’s 2022 Back-to-School Tournament – 9/24/2022 is next Saturday and  Pair Go/Paella Night – 9/23/2022 is on the previous Friday evening. “If you are planning to come to either of these events, please preregister asap so we can know how many are coming,” says NGC Executive Director Gurujeet Khalsa. “Looking forward to seeing many of you at either or both!”

Another upcoming big event coming up is the Toronto Go Spectacular to be held December 28-30 in Toronto, Canada. Pre-registration is open now with an early-bird discount until the end of September.

The Santa Monica Go Club’s annual “(de-caf) Coffee Cup” tournament is back after a two year hiatus. The in-person tournament will be held this coming Saturday, September, 24th, at the UnUrban coffee shop in Santa Monica (3301 Pico Blvd , S M. 90405). Registration is available at goclubs.org. Any additional questions, email Brent Russell at the SMGC Google Group (all info is provided on the goclubs.org site). “We look forward to seeing you there!”                             

The premium events at the Toronto Go Spectacular December 28-30 are the invitational events, say organizers. “But for many of us, ‘we just want to play some go!’ Don’t worry, we’ve got this taken care of!” says CGA president James Sedgwick. Thursday December 29th & Friday December 30th will see a 6-round Swiss-McMahon tournament, for players Beginner-7D.  In fact, even professionals ineligible for the North American Championship are welcome to participate.

Adult players 10K-25K can consider their preferred choice between the novice tournament and open tournament.  “A potential downside to the open tournament is you may wind up with some large handicap games,” says Sedgwick. “The novice tournament will give you the opportunity to compete against many players near your level, and also is less of a time commitment.  However you should anticipate playing many/most of your games against 6-12 year old children if you choose to compete in the novice event.” 

Organizers are expecting a large field of 150 players, with prizes commensurate for a major event like this. “First prize should be 1000-1500 CAD, comparable to the largest prizes at past Canadian open championships,” Sedgwick tells the EJ. “Large, but still a big step down from what the professionals have the chance to earn!” Trophies and so on will be available to players at all levels.

Discounted early bird registration is available until September 30th. For those who insist on waiting until the last moment late registrations will be accepted until Christmas. Refunds are available without question until December (minus the Eventbrite processing fees); after December, refunds are at the discretion of the organizers.

Accommodation options are now finalized; organizers have arranged a discount, but rates are not fixed, and they can be expected to rise through the fall. Check out all the details and order your tickets on the event page.  Email torontogospectacular@gmail.com for more info, or ask questions on the Facebook event.

Registration is now open for the first-ever Toronto Go Spectacular, scheduled for December 28-30 in Toronto, Canada.

The event, organized by the North American Go Federation, will include the first North American Professional championships, new North American youth championships, and two open tournaments. All the action will take place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center in Toronto, and players from around the world are welcome to participate in the open tournaments.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to host this exciting go event,” said Canadian Go Association president James Sedgwick. “It’s a great opportunity for go players to gather in a world-class city.” Incoming American Go Association president Gurujeet Khalsa added that he’s “looking forward to seeing a large contingent of U.S. players attend.”

The youth championships will include one for players under 12, and one for players under 16; 8 players and 2 alternates will be accepted for each competition. Apply by October 31st to guarantee your application will be considered. Citizenship in Canada or the USA is not required to compete in these events, only permanent resident status, but applicants must be members of either the CGA or AGA. Applicants for the U12 must be at least 5K and born on or after January 1st, 2011, and for the U16 must be at least 1K and born on or after January 1st, 2007. Those accepted will receive a $250 travel/accommodation subsidy.

Stay tuned for more announcements in the days and weeks ahead or sneak a peek on your own on the event website. 

AGA Vice President for Development Stephanie Yin met with U.S. Congresswoman  Grace Meng (D, NY 6^th CD in Queens) on August 18 to discuss potential future collaborations. They discussed AI and go, social media platforms, local and national politics, education, and the Congresswoman’s new National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. The Congresswoman was especially impressed by the performance of students at Yin’s New York Institute of Go (NYIG), with 14 of the 20 students competing at the recent 2022 U.S. Go Congress winning awards. Congresswoman Meng says she hopes to be able to attend future AGA events in the New York City area.

The Seattle Go Center is looking to hire a part time Operations Manager who can work 50-75 hours a month.  The Operations Manager position includes paying bills, doing payroll, filling out tax forms, doing light maintenance, supervising maintenance contracts, and meeting and coordinating with the Board.  The Operations Manager should be familiar with the game of go, and passionate about sharing it, but they do not have to be a strong player.

If you would like to help our unique institution in this important role, please contact Bill Chiles, Board President, at billchiles-gocenter@hotmail.com for more information.

Report/photos by Ashley Qi

Quebec City. A beautiful and scenic vacation destination with countless locations to explore. But instead of solely vacationing, many have chosen to dedicate time to exploring their minds at the Canadian Open, held August 26-29. Among these players were skilled American contenders: Alexander [Alex] Qi (1P), Alan Huang (7D), Jeremy Chiu (7D), Justin Teng (6D), and Joel Kenny (4D). With so many strong competitors, there were bound to be riveting games and results. And so it began.

The first round concluded with Alexander Qi winning by a narrow half point against Hongyi Li 6D and victories for Alan, Huang, Jeremy Chiu, and Joel Kenny as well. 

In the second round, tensions rose when Alan Huang played Yongfei Ge 7D. Due to a clock malfunction, Ge was not able to properly stop his time counting down. However, since he had hit the clock and played his turn, Huang spent some time calculating his next move. When the clock started counting down the final seconds of the byo-yomi period, Huang played his move and hit the clock… only for it not to register because the clock was still on Ge’s time. In a panic, Huang continued hitting the clock with enough vigor to send it flying onto the board (I mean, with a game as intense as his, who would want to lose by time?). The clock issue was eventually sorted out, and thankfully someone had a picture of the board just moments before the disaster – so all was right in the world. And one has to admit: it does elicit a chuckle, looking back on it. Huang ended up being 2.5 points short of winning after such a harrowing game. Meanwhile, Alex Qi and Justin Teng both won their second round games.

As the sun set and the first day drew to a close, the standings were as such: Alex Qi undefeated at 2-0, with Alan Huang, Jeremy Chiu, Justin Teng and Joel Kenny all at 1-1. 

Refreshed and ready to go on day two, the American players were prepared for a busy day. Two games, a simul, and a banquet were on the to-do list, and the morning started off with quite the kicker. Chiu and Teng were playing against each other, setting the tone for the friendly competition with a 2-2 opening and even some mirror go. This ultimately concluded with a win for Chiu. Qi, Huang, and Kenny also emerged victorious in their third round games. 

The fourth round games brought all-around positivity for the American players with each of them winning their respective games. This left the records at 4-0 for Qi, 3-1 for Huang, Chiu, and Kenny, and 2-2 for Teng. On this positive note, the players prepared for the banquet. Qi had considerably less time to do so, as he was invited to play a simul as a newly minted NAGF professional. The banquet later that night was quite enjoyable, as well as a good time – props to the organizers!

The final day was the one to decide it all – two more rounds and the awards ceremony loomed ahead. Qi was defeated by Guanyu Song 6D, leaving Qi’s standing at 4-1 alongside both Huang and Chiu. That meant a tie going into the final round, where Qi was paired with Chiu. Qi emerged victorious while Huang and Teng notched up wins as well. After the dust settled, the standings were as such: 5-1 for Qi and Huang, 4-2 for Chiu and Kenny, and 3-3 for Teng. At the awards ceremony, Qi came in second place to champion Guanyu Song with a tiebreaker difference of just one SOS point. Huang, despite defeating Song in the fourth round, officially came in third place with the lowest SOS of the three 5-1 finishers. While the cash prize was originally only for the top two finishers, the tournament director decided to award Huang the same cash prize that Qi received. An incredible ending to an incredible tournament – all the American players made their country proud, indeed.
CLICK HERE for lots more photos and final standings, on the Canadian Open Facebook event page.