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50 Years aGO – February 1973
Sunday February 19, 2023
By Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister
The main event of February was the veteran Sakata Eio’s defense of the Jūdan title against young challenger Takagi Shōichi 7d. It should be noted, in those pre-Kisei days, the Jūdan was the number three title, behind the Meijin and Hon’inbo (the Jūdan has since fallen to 7th). We see the two players engaged in the first game on February 14-15, which was won by Sakata. The veteran also won the second on the 21st and 22nd. Finally we see a triumphant Sakata after winning three straight on the 28th. (Game records: Game One, Game Two, Game Three)
On February 16-18, the 3rd Prague Handicap tournament welcomed 48 players. The handicap nature of the event is clearly established by the two players who shared the laurels – V Muller 10k and J. Lesak 20k.
Photos from Go Review, game records from SmartGoOne
1st New York State Championship registration open with $1,200 top prize
Wednesday January 18, 2023
Registration for the 2023 New York State Championships is open to all players of all levels. The event will be held on February 25 and 26 at the New York Institute of Go in Midtown Manhattan, New York.
The main events include the Open Tournament, New York State Open Championship, and New York Youth Championship with a maximum of 140 seats. Besides the main tournament games, there will also be evening events like Pair Go, Crazy Go, 9X9 and 13X13 Tournaments. The event is located in the center of Hell’s Kitchen with a variety of delicious food.
Thanks to a parent donor, all divisions from the double-digit kyu to the open division will be awarded cash prizes. Youth divisions will be awarded with trophies and certificates. Additionally, the two champions in open and youth state championships tournaments will receive specially designed trophies.
“After the New York Go Center permanently shut down 10 years ago, we lost not only a place for Go players to play Go, but also a big family for us to laugh and share stories with, forget about pressure and unhappiness, and just enjoy some Go time. We welcome everyone to the 10-year reunion tournament in Manhattan!” says NYIG founder Stephanie Yin.
Richard Duan wins Virginia Youth Championship
Thursday December 8, 2022
Eleven-year-old Richard Duan 2D upset two adult 4-Dan players in even games at the November 27th Capital Go Club’s Fall Tournament in Fairfax, Virginia, winning the Youth Championship, a subset of the overall tournament. Three other players achieved two wins: Chebong Cho 4D, Raymond Kim 4D and Sun Lee 14K. Samuel Lee 7D (1W-2L) and James Park 7D from the Korean American Baduk Association (Annandale Va.) have been invited to the 2022 VA State Championship Final, coming up this Sunday, December 11. Pairings for the first round, which starts at 9:30a at 4119-B Chatelain Rd, Annandale VA, will be Park 7D vs Zhang 6D, and Lee 7D vs Yaming Wang 5D.
Ms. Mei Cai (1-2) is a candidate for the Virginia women’s champion though other Virginia female players may request a challenge by 12/15/2022 via email agatd1@gmail.com. Meng Wang and Michael Zhou helped organize the quarterly tourney.
Report by Capital Go Club; photo by Bin Duan.
Capital Go Club to resume in-person tournament play in Virginia
Sunday November 6, 2022
The Capital Go chapter of AGA will host a 3-round tournament on Sunday, November 27 from 11am-6pm. The Fairfax Virginia venue (photo) can only seat a max of 20 players, so to guarantee a spot please pre-register here.
“Despite a smaller group we will partially join the same-day-tournament in southern California,” reports Edward Zhang. “Together there may be nearly 100 players so likely we can avoid high-handicap games, or limit handicaps to just two stones.” There will be awards and certificates. The 2022 VA State Championship finals also starts on 11/27, with prizes of $200/$70 plus the perpetual trophy. Organizers include Meng Wang 6D, Michael Zhou 6D and Edward Zhang 6D.
Michael Zhou named Head Coach of Capital Go Club
Sunday September 25, 2022
Michael Zhou has been named head coach of the Capital Go Club. In his new role, Coach Zhou will mentor club members and assist in organizing future club events and workshops such as an upcoming in-person tournament in Virginia on November 26. .
“Coach Zhou has been a very strong player on the North American go scene, and has won several tournaments in California,” says club organizer Edward Zhang 7D. “He is very kind and patient with young players and mentored a lot of rising youth stars including Alex Qi 1P and Blake Kang 6D. In his lessons, Coach Zhou always stresses ethics, integrity, and manners, seeking to provide valuable life lessons for teens.”
Less than a month to the 2022 U.S. Go Congress
Wednesday July 6, 2022
“T minus 25 days and counting,” reports 2022 U.S. Go Congress Co-Director Eric Wainwright. Nearly 400 have signed up for the first in-person Go Congress since 2019, set for July 30 through August 7 in the scenic Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado. In addition to both rated and unrated tournaments, the Congress features 85 sessions with professional go players, including lectures, game analysis, and simuls. “On-site lodging is full,” Wainwright reports, “but we’re seeing a few random cancellations. The waitlist is near empty, so get your name added here.” Some off-day tours are still available, including Rocky Mountain National Park, horseback riding, and town tour.
AGA Board candidate update
Saturday June 25, 2022
Candidates for 2022 board elections will be Stephanie Yin and Paul Celmer in the Eastern region . The other regions and at-large seats are Bradley Rose in the Central region, Ted Terpstra in the West and Justin Teng for the At-Large seat.
Best of three Virginia Open final November 6 and 17
Monday November 1, 2021
The 3rd Virginia State Go Championship has adopted a best-of-three format for the final rounds. After a strong Open Elite division competed at the 10th Virginia Open in October, finalists from five cities will gather at the Korean American Baduk Association in Annandale on Saturday November 6th. The final will be held at the National Go Center on Wednesday 11/17 and 12/1 if necessary. Game records and results will be updated promptly on the Capital Go Club site.
Seeds:
- Qingbo Zhang (from Fairfax)
- Zhiyuan Zhang (Vienna)
- Yaming Wang (McLean)
- Ruoshi Sun (Charlottesville)
- Irvin Pajarillo (Fredericksburg)
Semi-final games: 11am and 3:30pm ET on 11/6
Final: 5pm and 8:30pm ET on 11/17
-report and photo by Capital Go Club
King Bi 4d wins first Dapu Cup North America Go Open
Monday November 1, 2021
Thirty-six go players trekked to Temecula in Southern California to contest the 3-round first Dapu Cup North America Go Open. The tournament was organized by Kevin Yang and directed by the San Diego Go Club.
In a strong Open section – which included two 7 dans and two 6 dans – King Bi 4d topped the field with a perfect record. Open players who tied for second with 2-1 records were Kevin Yang, Seth Cardew, Xingshou Liu, and Yixian Zhou.
In the handicap section, Tommy Liu 1d went 3-0 to top the strongest band (all dan players). Roxin Cao 1k, Nick Liddington 11k, and Donavan Chen 26k were all 3-0 in the other handicap bands.
-report by Ted Terpstra
Trophy winners at the Dapu Cup 
King Bi (middle) accepting Dapu Cup from Kevin Yang (left) and his father Yimeng Liu 
Youngster viewing first board competition between Kevin Yang (rt) and Yixian Zhou