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The 2020-2021 Year New York Go Honor Society (NYGHS) application will be open until September 15, with selections announced September 30. This year’s application is open to all North American youth players who would like to be part of the NYGHS family. To join, one must be a high school student between grades 8-12 with a minimum rank of AGA 10 kyu or stronger. More information on eligibility and roles can be found here, with more details on the NYGHS website.

The NYGHS was established in September 2019. Within the past year, the five youth members in NYGHS have had many achievements and contribution to Go communities, including the organization of two New York Go Leagues, a free open tournament for all players. The first league had over 90 participants. The NYGHS is a non-profit chapter supported by the New York Go Association (NYGA). The NYGHS executive team includes multiple honorary members from Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Princeton. The board members, such as the chairman and board of directors, will be selected from the applicants in a self-recommended fashion, by NYGA officers and honorary presidents.

The mission of the NYGHS is to learn the philosophical ideas that have been embedded in Go for thousands of years. It is a platform that provides young Go players an environment to enrich their Go experience, improve their organizational skills, and broaden their horizons. Specifically, through the NYGHS, our Go players will work together to hone their leadership, logical reasoning, and problem-solving abilities. They will also communicate and cooperate with students from top American colleges to expand social skills and enrich personal accomplishment.

“Big thanks to Ryan Li 1p, who was the first honorary president for the year 2019-2020, for leading our NYGHS members to accomplish many proud achievements to the Go communities in the past year. Our members reached out to 50 elementary and middle schools in New York; organized the New York Go League, established the NYGHS logo and its own social media platforms, and much more,” says Stephanie Yin, president of the NYGA and AGA VP for Development. “The upcoming honorary president will be Lucas Baker, a former software engineer on the Google DeepMind AlphaGo Team. I am sure our members will have a great time learning from and working with him!”

Feng Yun 9p is now accepting new students for online weekly classes beginning in September. Classes are open to all ages and organized into three levels, and improving students will be able to move into higher levels at Feng Yun’s recommendation after initial placement. Feng Yun 9P has been teaching weekly classes, private lessons, and workshops for more than two decades, and established the Feng Yun Go School in New Jersey in 2002. These online classes will combine her teaching experience with contemporary technology, using Zoom and various online Go servers. Classes will be live and interactive, allowing students to interact and ask questions. “My tradition is to know the individual student, identify weaknesses, and recommend a study program,” says Feng Yun. “Whether you want to become a national champion or just want to appreciate the wonderful game of weiqi more deeply, these classes have much to offer.” More information about the classes and registration is available on her website.