On July 13th, the Evanston Go Club hosted a fundraiser simul event with Albert Yen 8 dan, winner of the 2022 Midwest Open and Chicago Open. Players ranging from 8K to 3d contributed $25 to play a 3-person simul with Yen (at right, in red shirt), who reviewed each game. The proceeds went toward buying more equipment for the upcoming November tournament.
“After organizing the record-shattering Chicago Open, which drew 84 people, we knew it was time to expand,“ said Mark Rubenstein, president of the Evanston Go Club, in Evanston, Illinois. “There has been a huge influx of kyu and dan players in the past year,” said Yen. “I want our club members to have an opportunity to interact with strong players.”
During the regular club meeting, Yen played two 90-minute sessions. “We were thrilled that all six slots were taken very quickly, and we even had to turn people away,” said Rubenstein. “If you wanted to sign up but couldn’t, don’t worry… we plan on having another one in the fall!“
The handy Yapp app that allows Go Congress attendees to see the latest Congress events schedule, post photos and see profiles of other attendees is back. The app – first used at the 2018 Congress in Williamsburg, VA, enables users to see the latest schedule of events like pro simuls as new information is added, and Congress attendees can create their own personal schedule to ensure they get the most out of the event. The Social Feed a great place to share photos, which may be picked up by the EJ Congress team to share on the AGA’s Twitter feed as well as in EJ reports. The attendees section is a great way to introduce yourself to other Congress participants with a pic and a bio about your interests.
New equipment, new openings; go vendors Kiseido Publishing and SmartGo continue their support of the game this summer with fresh products, sales and new upgrades to their services.
For those looking to upgrade their go equipment, Kiseido is offering deals on high-quality kaya table boards, shell and slate stones and some rare mulberry bowls. Kaya table boards are available at a 25% discount on already reduced prices, free shipping included. Sets of shell and slate stones are 10% off, again with free shipping, and a wide range of thicknesses—from 7.5mm to 11.3mm—is available. A special offer is two pairs of rare mulberry bowls made from Mikura Island mulberry trees by master Tagami Sukeshiro. Click here for complete details.
Kiseido is also offering two new books from Shibano Toramaru 9d, which it says “are perhaps the most important books on the opening since Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru introduced their ‘New Fuseki’ theory in the 1930s.” “Fuseki Revolution: How AI Has Changed Go” and “Joseki Revolution: Overthrowing Conventional Wisdom” both offer detailed insights into how go has evolved since the emergence of AlphaGo in 2016, examining AI’s influence on fuseki and joseki.
SmartGo’s SmartGo One app has added a handy new feature called Tournament Mode. When selected during tournament play for recording a game, Tournament Mode disables all AI functions and joseki matching. The mode is clearly indicated to both your opponent and tournament officials through onscreen icons, allowing easy game recording without the risk of computer-aided interference. “Looking forward to using it myself at the US Go Congress,” says SmartGo’s Anders Kierulf (read more here). SmartGo pro tip: When you replay a game on the iPhone, you can zoom in to make the board bigger. As play moves to different areas of the board, SmartGo automatically keeps the current move visible. – Hailey Renner
The E-Journal plans to livestream top boards once again this year at the upcoming U.S. Go Congress — July 30 – August 7 in Estes Park, CO — and is looking for a few dedicated volunteers to record the games. This is a great way to provide an important service to the world go community, as well as to gain valuable experience closely watching top games. Game recorders must have their own laptops and need to be available during the U.S. Open rounds, which generally take place in the morning during the Congress. Email journal@usgo.org if interested and/or need more details. photo: Justin Teng recording at the 2016 U.S. Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock
After a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Japan Go Association and World Pair Go Association have announced The 32nd International Amateur Pair Go Championship (IAPGC). Players from around the world will be invited to participate in a 2-day tournament in Tokyo, Japan from December 10-11, 2022.
Similar to previous years, the two U.S. representatives will be determined at the Pair Go Championship at this year’s in-person Go Congress. To be an eligible pair, both players must have U.S. citizenship and have one year of continuous AGA membership. The highest-ranked four pairs will play in a 2-round tournament to represent the U.S. at the IAPGC. An online sign-up form will be available at the Congress.
A pair of precocious 14-year-olds are North America’s newest professional go players.
Kevin Yang and Alexander Qi topped a competitive field at the North American Go Federation’s (NAGF) 2022 Pro Qualification tournament this week. Click here for final standings, game records and links to video commentaries.
Held at the National Go Center in Washington D.C., the pro qualifier featured eleven top North American amateurs facing off in two rounds a day over five grueling days starting last Monday. Yang swept Group A, defeating Eric Yoder, Qiyou Wu, Eric Lee, Yuan Zhou and Val Lewis. Qi was also undefeated in Group B, beating Remi Campagnie, Edward Zhang, Nate Morse and Tyler Oyakawa.
Yang and Qi then faced off in a best-of-three match, splitting the first two games, with Yang winning the third game on Thursday morning to clinch the first pro spot. Qi then took on Eric Yoder for the second pro slot, going 2-0.
American Go Association president Andy Okun congratulated all the players for their “extremely high level of play,” and said that it was a “special pleasure” to award Yang and Qi the 2022 NAGF professional certificates after their impressive performances this week. Okun thanked the NAGF for organizing the qualification tournament, I-Han Lui for directing, and the National Go Center for hosting. The qualification tournament was partly sponsored by the Iwamoto North American Foundation for Go (INAF).
Yang, who hails from California, started playing go when he was nine years old and in addition to his mother, who got him started, credits professional instruction for improving his game. His favorite part of the game, he told the EJ, “is probably the fighting in the middle game. It really gets your adrenaline flowing, you know?” His advice to amateurs who want to improve is “study life and death and don’t get too caught up in AI game analysis” because the AI moves are so high level they can be confusing “until you get up around 6-dan.”
Qi, who’s from New Jersey, started playing go when he was eight years old, learning from his father. He credits studying life and death with helping improve his game, along with reviewing pro games. Although he says he doesn’t have a lot of time for other hobbies, he does enjoy playing table tennis.
Special thanks to all the game recorders at the NGC this week, and to the amazing team at Baduk Club – led by Devin Fraze – who provided the online game commentary for the NAGF Pro Qualification tournament. – report by Chris Garlock NOTE: (7/6) Post updated to reflect INAF’s sponsorship.
Clockwise from top left: Postgame analysis of the final Qi-Yoder game; Rene Campagnie ponders Yoder’s broken ladder magic; postgame analysis of the final Yang-Qi game; Yang (standing in yellow) and Qi at the 2018 Cotsen Open; Yang-Qi final round game; AGA president Andy Okun, TD I-Han Lui, Yang and Qi with their pro certificates and winner’s checks. photos by Chris Garlock except the 2018 Yang-Qi photo by Robert Qi.
The next NAGF professional will be decided at Thursday morning’s final between Kevin Yang and Alex Qi, who split games on Wednesday. Yang — the top player in Group A — prevailed in their head-to-head match Wednesday morning, but Qi — the top player in Group B — bounced back to take Game Two on Wednesday afternoon, setting up the exciting finale on Thursday.
Eric Yoder and Remi Campagnie, who had both placed second in their groups and lost their semifinal placement games, mirrored the top-board battle, with Yoder taking the Wednesday morning game and Campagnie returning the favor that afternoon. The winner of their next match on Thursday morning will play the loser in Group A, and the winner of that final best of three showdown will become the second North American professional.
Campagnie (left) vs Yoder; photo by I-Han Lui
Complete standings here, and follow the NAGF Pro Qualifier’s live streaming coverage at 9:30am ET and 2:30pm ET, click here for live pairings and game files. Click here for photos, follow on Twitter, tournament details and player profiles here.
With a 4-0 record, Kevin Yang leads Group A in the NAGF Pro Qualifier taking place at the National Go Center in Washington, DC, while Alexander Qi is 3-0 in Group B. Complete standings here, and follow the NAGF Pro Qualifier’s live streaming coverage daily at 9:30am ET and 2:30pm ET, click here for live pairings and game files. Click here for photos, follow on Twitter, tournament details and player profiles here.
The 2022 North American Go Federation pro qualifiers kicked off today. Players are split into two groups, and from each group two will make it to a playoff round. Eleven players are competing, after one late withdrawal. After two preliminary rounds, Kevin Yang and Eric Lee are 2-0 in Group A, while Edward Zhang, Remi Coulon and Alexander Qi are 1-0 in Group B. Click here for informal standings (stay tuned for a formal version with SGF links) and here for photos. Tournament details and player profiles here.
by Daniela Trinks, Korea correspondent for the E-Journal
After seven months of intense competition between nine teams, the 2021-2022 season of the major Korean Go League came to an end in May. Below are some key features and highlights of the season. The KB Baduk League was named after its title sponsor Kookmin Bank (KB). It is the biggest professional Go tournament in Korea in terms of the number of games played and prize money. The 2021-22 season featured nine teams, and each was named after its sponsor (see table).
The qualifiers were held in October 2021. The regular season began in November 2021 and ended in April 2022 which was then followed by the play-in tournament and postseason. Only the top five teams plus the sponsor’s pick advanced to the play-in tournament and postseason. Different from most other professional go competitions held in Korea, all players received a participation fee for each game played during the regular season. The winner got 3 million KRW ($2,300) and the loser 600,000 KRW ($500). A new team called Youwho participated and was coached by Han Haewon 3p, who is the first female coach in the history of the KB League. Furthermore, the thinking time of one hour per player, and a byoyomi of 30 seconds 3 times was unified for all five games, in contrast to previous seasons which had two different thinking limits. Lastly, all games per round were played concurrently. The regular season was a double league which consisted of 18 rounds, 72 team matches, and 360 games. It ended with Suryeohan Hapcheon in the first place, followed by Posco Chemical. Both teams scored 10 wins out of 16 matches and shared the same number of board points (BP), however, Suryeohan Hapcheon had a better head-to-head score (2:0).
Table: KB Baduk League Season 2021-22: Final standings of the regular season.
Ace player Shin Jinseo’s team, Celltrion, placed only 6th in the regular season. However, they managed to rise like a phoenix by winning the play-in tournament against fifth-placed team Baduk Mecca Uijeongbu and then defeated three more higher-ranked teams in the postseason to reach the finals. In the finals, Celltrion fell short against the eventual league winner, team Suryeohan Hapcheon.
Figure: Play-in Tournament andPostseason of the KB Baduk League 2021-2022
Remarkably, Shin Jinseo succeeded in winning all his games in the regular season, the play-in tournament, and the postseason, resulting in a perfect score of 27:0 which is a new record in the history of the Korean Go League. During the prize-giving ceremony, the top five teams were honored, and individual awards were given to Shin Jinseo (MVP, Most Wins) and Ko Keuntae (Best Coach) as listed below. KB Baduk League Champion: Team Suryeohan Hapcheong (200M KRW = $155,000) Runner-up: Team Celltrion (100M KRW = $78,000) 3rd Place: Team Posco Medical (50M KRW = $39,000) 4th Place: Team Com2usTygem (25M KRW = $19,000) 5th Place: Team Kixx (15M KRW = $12,000) MVP Award: Shin Jinseo (Celltrion) (10M KRW = $7,800) Most-Win Award: Shin Jinseo (Celltrion) (5M KRW = $3,900) Best Coach Award: Ko Keuntae (Suryeohan Hapcheong) (25M KRW=$19,000)
Photo: Suryeohan Hapcheon won the KB Baduk League 2021-22. Photo courtesy of KBA.
KB Future’s Baduk League Season 2021-22 The KB Future’s League is the minor league among the two KB leagues. Both leagues share the title sponsor, teams, and the coaches; however, the team members are different. Rising stars in the KB Future’s League get the opportunity to play as reserve players in the KB Baduk League. The minor league has only three games per round, and the games are much faster: 10 minutes basic time plus 40 seconds byoyomi 5 times. Also, the game fees (win 450,000 KRW = $350, loss 200,000 KRW=$155), prize money, and notoriety that comes with winning the league are lower.
Photo: KB Future’s Baduk League Champion 2021-22 team Suryeohan Hapcheon. Photo courtesy of Han Changkyu (Hangame).
This year, team Suryeohan Hapcheon achieved the double champion title by winning both KB Leagues. Surprisingly, team Celltrion also came in second – just like in the KB Baduk League. The final standings, players, and coaches are shown in the table. The award for most wins was given to three players who won 12 out of 16 games (75%). Below is the list of the winners and the prize money.
KB Future’s Baduk League Champion: Team Suryeohan Hapcheon (30M KRW = $23,300) Runner-up: Team Celltrion (12M KRW = $9,300) 3rd Place: Team Posco Chemical (6M KRW = $4,650) Most-Win Award: Lee Hyunho 6p, Lee Wondo 8p, Wi Taewoong 5p (3M KRW = $2,300 split equally)
Table: Final standings of the KB Future’s Baduk League 2021-22.
