American Go E-Journal » Your Move: Readers Write

“On Yang’s puzzle (12/10 Member’s Edition), did you mean white to play instead of black to play?” wonders Eric Osman.
You are correct; sharp find! Sorry about that. We’ve updated the problem, so if you reload the tsumego problem link, you should see the correction.

Cool 404 Message: Now that OGS merged with Nova, some of the Online-Go URLs don’t work, reports avid OGS player Phil Straus, but “click here for a nice version of the 404 error message.”

“How to Learn Anything Fast” Features Go: “A book, ‘The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast’ by Josh Kaufman (left), devotes a chapter to learning the game of go,” writes Chris Greene. “His light discussion introduces the basics and provides faint justice to go techniques; but, it does not replace a good beginner’s book. (Kaufman’s) focus is on demonstrating his personal learning technique/adventure.”
See our 6/18 report Expert On “How to Learn Go in 20 Hours”

“I am a high school student who is also a 5 Duan go player from Shanghai, China,” writes Liwei (David) Xu. “Although I continue my study, I have never given up my hobby. And I am preparing for the application of the US univeristies and I have already achieved my SAT and TOEFL scores. I hope to keep on my hobby in the university. I want to study in a university with the background of go in the US; can you give me some advice?”
“We are always delighted to hear about strong young players who are coming here!” responded EJ Youth Editor Paul Barchilon “To learn more about which colleges have a strong go playing community, visit the ACGA website.” He also suggested the Xu plan to attend the annual US Go Congress, and reach out to some of the strong players here in America, “many of whom are involved in organizing go activities in various schools.” Justin Teng, a strong player and freshman undergraduate at the University of Maryland-College Park (and now Assistant Youth Coordinator for the AGA) adds that “Many of the top universities in the country all have go clubs (Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT, etc). I would say University of Toronto has some of the strongest players (although it’s in Canada), along with University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Princeton University. I can’t speak for how active all of the other university go clubs are, but I think maybe it’s best to pick a university that has a strong program for whatever major you are interested in pursuing, and then see if any of them have go clubs. I suspect you will be applying to some of the top universities, and most of them will have a go club.”

“I am wondering if there is a typographical error in  last week’s ‘Capture Go’ story, when Mr. Jayaraman says, ‘We call the game we teach go, not Capture Go,” writes  veteran organizer Jean DeMaiffe, a graduate of Yasuda Sensei’s International Go Teacher Certification Program. “Surely the organizers are going to call their game ‘Capture Go’ or better still, as Yasuda-sensei calls it, ‘The Capture Game’.  I have taught ‘The Capture Game’ as part of my Go curriculum for years and can readily attest to the importance of clearly differentiating between the goals of the two games.  After learning to play capture, most of my students consistently need to be refocused on capturing territory, rather than just stones. Thanks for your help in setting one or more of us straight on this issue.”
“Our curriculum is meant to serve less as an introduction to regulation go than as an in-depth introduction to the underlying principles of the game,” responds Jayaraman. “These include the basic rules of stone placement, liberties  and capturing, as well as the traditions of the game like etiquette, problem study, and history. Our use of the term ‘go’ is also rooted in some practical considerations. Our program is primarily focused on equipping teachers with no prior knowledge of go with the skills, supplies, and support to be able to introduce their students to the game. In many cases these classes may be the only time they ever hear of the game. For those whose interest in regular go is sparked, however, they and their families will be familiar enough with the game to seek out more information about it, and hopefully utilize the existing resources in our community, like the Memphis Go Club or the introductory regulation go workshops the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis offers.  For these students who pursue it, the precise name of the specific rule variation that first set them on the path of go will probably be inconsequential.”

“Thanks for the recent obituaries (In Memoriam: Philadelphia Go Players Hugh Albright and John Bender 10/10 EJ),” writes Bob Barber. “I think it’s a great idea to remember those with whom we’ve shared the game of go. I knew Hugh Albright very well from Congresses. He was perhaps 2 kyu when I was 10 kyu. He was always generous with his time. As I marched up to 1 dan, Hugh may have lingered at 2 kyu. We usually got in a game or two each year. I was at that lecture that John Bender gave at Congress. He looked like a model, and his companion looked like a model. And, he’d gone from zero to 4 dan in no time! I was very impressed. Now I read that he had large talents in other fields. Very sorry to hear that his intense life is over already.”

“What’s the status of the AGA rating system?” wonders EJ reader — and AGA member — Brady Daniels. “ It seems updates have become scarce recently, and I’m sure your readers would love to know why, and what solution is planned. Shouldn’t ratings be updated after every weekend tournament, or at least, say, twice a month?”
Provided that tournaments report complete and accurate results, the ratings are currently updated at least twice a month. Email ratings@usgo.org if you have other ratings-related questions or comments. 

Thanks & Kudos: “Thank you, thank you, thank you to Roger Schrag, (Go Spotting: Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland 9/1 EJ)” writes Jean de Maiffe. “When I was in the Portland Chinese Garden in July, the board displayed appeared to have nothing whatever to do with the modern game of go. I almost wish I had taken a picture for the ‘then and now’ comparison. Kudos to whichever go player suggested the changes to the artist who had placed the stones attractively perhaps, but without knowledge of the game.”

Gripping Stuff: “Great coverage of the WAGC,” writes EJ British correspondent Tony Collman. “Gripping stuff. Thanks to Michael Redmond for the lucid commentaries.”

Bol, Not Vonk: “The photograph accompanying the 9/1 news item ‘EuroGoTV Update’  is of Jan Bol, not Bert Vonk,” writes Jaap K. Blom.
We apologize for the error, which has been corrected.

More Strong Players: “The University of Michigan go club has strong players,” writes Alex Heath (Your Move/Readers Write: Strongest Go Clubs?  8/28 EJ). “They won the Collegiate Go League championship games undefeated with Zifan Yang 7d (though he told me he was a 9d on tygem), Seungjin Lee 7d, Troy Zhao 7d, John Starkweather 5d and Anbo Chen 4d.”

World Go News A Plus: “I was very surprised to see the ‘”Where’s U.S. Go News?’ item in the most recent E-Journal,” writes Nate Eagle. “The E-Journal maintains an impressive pace, especially given the relatively small go community in the United States. I’m very happy to get news about go in the rest of the world. Frankly, I’d enjoy even more coverage by Americans about go activity in other countries. Things like the Power Report are a great start, but I’d love to get more stories about the rich world of go that happens beneath the top title matches. Thanks for all of the great work you guys do – the E-Journal is the best part of my AGA membership.”

Where’s U.S. Go News? “No U.S. go news at all?” writes Allan Abramson in response to the 8/29 EJ, which featured reports on go in Japan and the UK. “Perhaps someone needs to be assigned to make or find news?”
We welcome go news from across the United States and around the world; send reports and photos to us at journal@usgo.org

Jie Li Strong But Not Pro: “While Jie Li is undoubtably quite strong, he’s not actually a professional, let alone 9P,” writes Pierre Mohan (“Where are the strongest Go Clubs” 8/29 EJ). “He’s an amateur,” confirms Brian Allen. “However, he is 9.27 in the AGA ratings, only a stone away from Myung Wan Kim 9p at 10.25 in the AGA ratings.”

More On Strong Go Clubs: “Regarding today’s ‘Your Move’ (“Where are the strongest Go Clubs” 8/29 EJ), Joy Craft may be interested in visiting the website of the Bay Area Go Player’s Association, since she lives in the SF Bay Area,” suggests Steve Burrall.