American Go E-Journal » Your Move: Readers Write

“I am looking for suitable electronic clocks for go,” writes Agustín. “The AGA website makes an amazing work at listing where to get go equipment of different qualities, but unfortunately it is almost entirely about go stones, boards and bowls, but not clocks. The ideal clock I am looking for would be “Cheapest available clock in the US which supports both byo-yomi (5 x 30 seconds, 5 x 1 minute, etc) and Canadian Byo-Yomi (20/25 stones in 10/15 minutes). Since you’re probably using clocks in every tournament, I am hoping that you can point me on the right track.”
Send your suggestions to us at journal@usgo.org

Top European players on AlphaGo and the future of go: “I was in shock,” says Thomas Debarre 6d of France. “I felt a bit disappointed with the quality in the sense that not one game was countable at the end,” said Merlijn Kuin 6d of The Netherlands. “The 21st century is and will be ‘the age of go,” says Mateusz Surma 1p of Poland. “The future of go isn’t easy, but not because of AlphaGo,” says Diána Kőszegi 1p of  Hungary (photo). Kim Ouweleen interviews with top European players on AlphaGo and the future of go are available on the European Go Federation’s website.

BGA Go Crossword: “I see from your recent item, Catching Up: Obama on go, AlphaGo helps predict the future, and more, that Roy Laird is a crossword fan,” writes British Go Journal Editor Bob Scantlebury. “Others with a love of crosswords as well as go may like to check if their British Go Association (BGA) membership is up to date if they have one (or sign up , if not), as the upcoming Winter edition of the quarterly British Go Journal (BGJ) will feature a bumper, go-themed 19×19 competition cryptic crossword.” But be warned, Scantlebury says, “this is a British-style cryptic crossword, as featured in UK broadsheet dailies — and with a difference.” The BGJ is free to BGA members; the Winter edition will be out in early January and sent out in hard copy, as well as being available in pdf online to those who are members.

Go in New Master of Orion: “I was recently playing the new Master of Orion video game, a remake of the renowned turn based strategy classic video game,” writes Guillermo Molano. “This game takes place in a fictional galaxy where many races compete while expanding by colonizing solar systems. While playing I found a solar system named Go, another one named Fuseki, and a last one named Tesuji. I don’t know if there are more systems with more Go references. Perhaps its not that surprising since Master of Orion is a strategy game and it was developed by a studio in Argentina. That country has the strongest players in all Latin America.”

“My God! It’s full of water.” “Do you know what this quote is referencing?” asks Austin Harris. “It is written on our 26th Go Congress water bottle from Colorado Springs in 2010. We assume it’s referencing something funny that happened at the previous Go Congress. We’ve been dying to know. Any clues? Or anybody else that might know?”
Email journal@usgo.org with your answers/guesses.

Pokemon Go?! “I thought I was into real go but they stole the name!! How disappointed was I?” writes Ted Terpstra after reading about Pokémon Go in The New York Times recently .

Senior Invitation in Sunnyvale: “I would like to encourage go players 50 and older to meet at the Sunnyvale, CA, Senior Center on Thursdays between 2:30pm and 5:30pm,” writes Jean DeMaiffe, responding to our Beginner at 80, Still Playing at 90 7/10 EJ post. “The Senior Center chess players have graciously agreed to share their playing room with us. For now, I am providing two go sets plus a few books, all of which are stored with the chess players’ equipment.” Although DeMaiffe, who’s taught beginners for years, says she won’t always be able to attend, “if a go player contacts me in advance, I will happily make an effort to attend any particular meeting.” Reach her at 408-930-5888 or jean@dougandjean.com.
UPDATE (7/29): This invitation has been retracted due to circumstance beyond DeMaiffe’s control; we regret any inconvenience.

Redmond Responds: “Andrew Feenberg (Rational Play? The Master of Go vs. AlphaGo) clearly knows his stuff,” writes Michael Redmond 9P, “but I think it’s confusing that he leaves the challenger’s name as Otake. I was told that Kawabata just happened to choose that name, and it probably has nothing to do with Otake Hideo, who was a young player at the time. The challenger was Kitani Minoru, of course.” Redmond adds that he disagrees with Feenberg’s comment that “in the case of the actual match the inferior player wins through manipulating the new meta-rules and upsetting his adversary rather than through superior play.” Redmond says that “I would not call Kitani or AlphaGo the inferior player,” and adds that “I think most pros would agree with me when I say it was Honinbo Shusai who tended to manipulate the old traditions to take more advantage than any of his predecessors did. The new rules were in part an attempt to keep the match fair.”

Feenberg Strikes a Chord: “Andrew Feenberg‘s article, Rational Play? The Master of Go vs. AlphaGo, struck a chord in me,” writes Joel Sanet. “I can remember decades ago feeling great admiration for Otake Hideo when he said that he would rather lose the game than play an ugly move. Today I am learning how useful the empty triangle can be.”

Where’s the 2015 Yearbook? “Last year you published the 2014 Member’s Edition Collection of Games, including a zip file of all files,” writes Joe Maia. “I didn’t find a similar page for the 2015 Game Collection. Are here any plans for a game collection (with zip file) for the 2015 Game Collection?”
The online 2015 Yearbook — the Member’s Edition Collection of Games, Commentaries & More — is in production now; members should keep an eye out for a notice about publication soon. If you want to get the Yearbook and the weekly Member’s Edition, click here to join the AGA now.

Seeking Go Players in CA: “Trying to find Igo players (any strength) in Marin County, California,” writes Myoun Korin, “Cities like San Rafael, Corte Madera, Mill Valley, Fairfax,etc.”
Click here for Where to Play Go across the US, including clubs in California.

More AlphaGo effect: “My uncle teaches math at Colorado Mesa University and asked me to give a presentation about go and AlphaGo,” writes Sirocco Fury Hamada. “Dr. Edward Bonan-Hamada’s mathematical modeling class at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO is interested in mathematically modeling human reasoning. He asked me to teach his students about go so they could understand it and think about the math behind AlphaGo. It was a small class, just seven students, but they asked great questions and are very interested in go now. A lot of them expressed interest in wanting to learn more about it and playing it online or with each other. AlphaGo is creating interest in go in unusual (or not) places!”

(Things got extra busy here at EJ Central and we fell behind a bit in posting your letters and tips; here’s a batch of recent items sent in)

“On page 331 of ‘Caliban’s War’ by James Corey, “It’s like playing Go. It’s all about exerting influence. Controlling the board without occupying it.” – Peter Freedman

“Sam Hinkie, the controversial GM of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76’ers, just announced his resignation with a 13-page letter that references AlphaGo at one point.” Hinkie wrote “Watch what’s happening with the collaboration between IBM’s Watson and M.D. Anderson or
Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo. It won’t be just an ancient board game that’s disrupted. It’s also anything but a game to Lee Sedol.” Here’s a link to the full letter.” – Freeman Ng

“Although this is a chess article — Historical Chess Ratings – dynamically presented — there is also a short film on Go,” writes Michael Bacon.

“I wonder if the journal team can do a bit of digging and find out more information about this display in Italy,” suggests Ramon Mercado.