Registration is open for the second season of The South Central On-Line Leagues, a system of six-player leagues in a round robin competition played on KGS and OGS. There will be one game every two weeks, with six players in each league. In the first season, 90 players enrolled in 15 leagues. Recruitment is underway for Season 2, scheduled to begin early August. Organizers are looking to fill 42 open slots, with 43 players returning from Season 1. The basic rules can be found here, and the application form to participate is can be found here.
As the number of registered attendees passes 300 players, congress staff is working hard to make this year’s tournaments great for the players. The event isn’t just about the tournaments, though! The annual Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry contest opens this weekend. This annual event looks for the best go-related songs and poems from around the country, with winning entries featured online and in the closing ceremony. A new contest, Picture A Go Player, has also launched, focused on the Go Congress logo. Check out the entry pages and design your own version of this year’s logo! The winner of the contest will see their logo become a t-shirt available for purchase by all players from the Merch Store.
Speaking of Merch Store … 2021 e-Go Congress shirts, hoodies, and mugs are now available from the online store! Play your games in style like you’re at the in-person congress. Order soon to have your swag available for the start of the events! Most items offer free shipping from the store. The new merch store will offer more items with the AGA logo on it soon.
Remember to fully register for tournaments through the site. Only those registered for tournaments through the go congress site will be able to play. If you cannot make any rounds, please email the TD to let them know. We’re looking forward to all the games to be played in a few weeks!
After an 8-month break to work on other projects, Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock, returned to the AGA’s Twitch channel last Sunday to review the 50th game of the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo selfplay games. Michael and Chris caught up on the latest on COVID in Japan and what Michael’s been up to during the break, and producer Stephen Hu dropped by for a preview of the upcoming U.S. e-Go Congress. Michael then did a very deep dive into the opening and variations for Game 50. Part 1 of the commentary will be released at 6p tonight; Part 2 will be released next week. The 50 game series was published by Deepmind after AlphaGo’s victory over world champion Ke Jie 9p in May 2017. The video was produced by Eva-Dee Beech, Chris Garlock and Stephen Hu.
The Bob High Song and Poetry Competition opens soon! This unique tournament is more than 30 years old and has produced many interesting songs and poems over the years. Join the many who have riffed off of popular songs and created original poems based on their go experiences. These erudite comperitors give it their all to come up with the most interesting and exciting entries. Head on over to the Go Congress Tournament page to learn more and enter your entry for this year!
This year, the e-Go Congress has enhanced the registration process to streamline the process for everyone! In addition to a bunch of features you can’t see (but trust us, you and the Tournament Directors will appreciate them!), the site developers have updated the process to make a one-stop shop for you. To register:
Upon creating your account, you will receive a confirmation email (this lets us know you’re not a bot). Follow the directions to validate yourself as a human.
After you confirm you’re human, you can log into your account.
To add players, click “add attendee” inside your account.
You can now automatically connect your account to your AGA ID by using the nifty search feature on the first registration screen.
The e-Go Congress is free! This means that your registration is not so much about choosing what options you want to pay for (like, do you want to share a bunk bed with a stranger, or have a luxurious hotel room to yourself?), but rather about signing up for the events in which you want to participate.
Use the congress registration form to register for all of the tournaments in which you plan to play. This is the only way to register (but you can definitely come back and change your choices). You should also put in your OGS/KGS/Pandanet ID so that TDs can use your ID to facilitate pairings.
Pair Go: Pair Go registration is a little special, since obviously we need to know who your partner is too. All you have to do is click on the Pair Go Registration form (and know your partner’s information, if you already have one), and you’re good!
If you’ve already registered, you can sign in to your account at any time to check or change what you selected. Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to our registrar, Emil Meng, at registrar@gocongress.org, or Congress Director Steve Colburn at director@gocongress.org.
There’s a new way to participate in the US e-Go Congress. Announcing “Picture a Go Player”, an art activity everyone can participate in. Help celebrate our unique perspectives by taking the 2021 US e-Go Congress Logo and making it your own.
Check out the Picture A Go Player page on the Go Congress Website for more details and to download a blank logo. To share your art, submit your artwork to Samantha Fede. We will display entries in the web gallery as they come in. A youth and overall winner, selected among entries submitted by July 23rd, will be announced at the e-Go congress closing ceremony. Limited edition merchandise with the winning design will be available for purchase.
Not artistic? No problem! Coloring is a great way to unwind, and an activity you can share with your children, even if you haven’t taught them go (yet!).
After a 7-month hiatus, Michael Redmond 9P returns with a new live AlphaGo game commentary this Sunday, June 27 at 7p ET on the AGA’s Twitch channel. E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will host as Redmond reviews Game 50 in the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series. “The pandemic gave us both an opportunity to generate a lot of commentaries earlier in 2020,” says Garlock, “but later on we both got busy with other projects, Michael with his Go TV channel and me with the Labor Radio Podcast Network I’ve been building.” Adding that the plan is to resume a regular schedule of broadcasts – “though probably not weekly” – Garlock said that both Redmond and he are excited to complete the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series and that Redmond also has some other interesting game reviews planned. “Tune in Sunday to find out more!” Garlock promised.
This was Ishida Yoshio’s month, by the end the 22-year-old would hold three titles, youthful success in newspaper tournaments unprecedented before that time.
On June 10-11, in Game 5, he scored an upset victory over Rin Kaihō Hon’inbo to take a 3-2 lead in the title match. Then on June 21-22, in Game 6, he navigated a complicated ōnadare joseki — to become very much in vogue — to lead to the famous exchange: Rin – “Half a point?” “Half a point to the good” replied Ishida and he was Hon’inbo. The counting, under the watchful eye of Sakata Eio, is pictured here. (Game records: Hon’inbo Game 5, Game 6.)
Ishida added the Pro Best 10 to his Hon’inbo and Nihon Ki’in Championship, but it was not without difficulties. Carrying a 2-0 lead in the five game match into the month he stumbled, perhaps under the pressure of the concurrent Hon’inbo match. On June 6, Ishida, known as “The Computer” for his calculating skills, had an AlphaGo Game 4 moment when he retook a ko without a threat – the first time this had happened in a tournament final – and lost by forfeit. He then was defeated by Kajiwara Takeo in Game 4, setting up a decisive Game 5. On June 29, with the Hon’inbo title secured, he returned to form and secured the title. Watching the smiling Ishida is a constellation of pros, including white haired taisha expert Yamabe Toshirō, Awaji Shuzō, Takemiya Masaki and Ishida Akira. Standing on the left is a gentleman who I think might be a pro who regularly attends the European Go Congress – his name escapes me, perhaps a reader can help. (Game records: Pro Best Ten Game 3, Game 4, Game 5.)
On June 21, Murakami Bunshō won the Amateur Best 10 for the fourth time in the event’s 11 year history.
Ishida wins the Hon’inbo by a half pointIshida wins the Pro Top TenMurakami Bunshō wins the Amateur Best Ten Tournament
Join the 131 currently players and sign up for the 2021 US e-Go Congress. Taking Place from July 17-25, the e-Go Congress will take place on OGS, KGS, and Pandanet go servers. Play against players from at least seven countries during the biggest go event of the year! “We have been working hard to update the website with the most up-to-date information on this years congress,” reports congress director Steve Colburn. “We’ve partnered with Baduk.Club to use their tournament management system to help our players throughout the rounds. This will help the players to find their opponents and start their games through out the week as easy as possible. We’ll have a video posted to the website ahead of the events to help players prepare.”
Organizers are reporting that there will be a discord server setup to connect with all of your go playing friends between rounds. “We miss seeing friends at the Go Congresses and hope to see many of them through the week on the social channels!”
International professional go play is becoming more interesting with the recent addition of pro players in the United States, as well as in Europe. Non-Asian players have been included in some international tournaments by invitation in recent years, but it is very unusual for one of them to survive the first round of the final competition. There are a large number of international events nowadays, and the title winner can receive as much as the equivalent of $400,000 US. Most of the well-known events are open to anyone who can survive the competition in their own countries to gain a place in the international event, although some are restricted to female players and others are a competition between the winners of similar titles in other countries. In some cases even amateurs can gain admission.
The most striking thing about the current international scene has been the dominance of Chinese pros in recent international events. Only one international title is now held by Japan: Cho U 9p of Japan won the playoff between the holders of the Agon Cup from China and Japan. Recently most of the top titles were held by Chinese players, although currently the Koreans are making a comeback. The Chinese player Ke Jie 9p holds eight international titles, more than any other active player, and is widely considered the strongest active player in the world. However, Shin Jinseo 9p of South Korea has won nine games in international tournaments this year, which is more than any other player. The Korean team of five won the Nongshim (Spicy Noodles) international event in February of this year. This win-and-continue event between five player teams is one of the oldest competitions and very popular among fans. Occasionally a single player will manage to wipe out most of another country’s team. This year, Shin Jinseo 9p of Korea won the last five games in the contest, defeating two Japanese and three Chinese players, including Ke Jie of China in the last game.
One of the oldest top tournaments is the LG Cup, now in its 26th year. The second round was held on June 1st, leaving eight players in the contest. Three are from China, including Ke Jie, Mi Yuting 9p, and Yang Dingxin 9p. Four are from Korea, including Park Junghwan 9p, who has been ranked as number one in the world in recent years, Shin Jinseo 9p, Shin Minjun 9p, and Byun Sangil 9p. The one remaining player from Japan is Ichiriki Ryo 9p, who currently holds five titles in Japan, including two of the top five. All of these names will become familiar as we continue to follow the current international pro scene. The LG Cup will conclude with a three game finals match early next year. Last time’s winner of the title was Shin Minjun of Korea, who is in his early twenties, as are most of the current top pros.
