American Go E-Journal » Your Move: Readers Write

“Here is an example of another kind of verse, a famous kyoka (mad poem) attributed to Sansa, the first Honinbo and founder of that line,” writes Keith Arnold in response to Paul Celmer’s recent query (Searching for a literary go reference 9/9 EJ). “He is said to have composed it on his deathbed, which would date it at 1623. As a demonstration, perhaps, of mu-shin, and not without a touch of grim humor, he makes his own imminent death the subject.”

Go narabaya
ko ni mo tatete
iku beki wo
shinuru michi ni wa
te hitotsu mo nashi

If this were go
I’d start a ko fight
and surely live,
but on the road to death
there’s no move left at all.

“This is from an article, Some Senryu about Go,  by William Pinckard who often contributed to Go World.  I found it on the Kiseido site, but I suspect it was originally published in Go World 15 and in the second edition of the Go Almanac.”
(Thanks also to Peter Schumer, who also sent in this poem)

Portable Go Board? “What kind of goban are the kids in your Chicago tournament story (Chicago Kids Compete in First Tourney 5/21 EJ) using?” writes Chris Uzal. “Who makes it? And how did they make stones for it? It looks perfect. Right size for a backpack and a place for your fingers if you have to move the board. We need more of these in the United States and Europe. The traditional board size is due for a break in tradition.”
Small magnetic sets like that are readily available in the US.  Yellow Mountain and Yutopian both carry them.  

“I question whether it’s a good sign when one of the greatest go players of all time is making commercials for Candy Crush soda,” (Go Spotting: Cho Hunhyun Crushes It 5/15 EJ) writes Terry Benson. “It’s amusing and well shot. (Cho Hunhyun) may have done it as a fun ‘why not?’ or because he knows the president of the company, but think Placido Domingo for Halls lozenges or an aging football great selling Depends. I’m sure he was well compensated.”

Speed Ratings: “I stopped by the Hopkins Go Tournament on April 17, and I checked my rating a few days later and found that the tournament had already been rated!” writes Keith Arnold. “I am not sure who to praise on the AGA end, but good job by the first time tournament organizers in getting their data in so quickly.  Makes me wish I had played.” photo (left) by Ning-Yuan Ernest Wang

Next Generation: “Thanks for all the work you put in to publishing the E-Journal every day,” writes Steve Schmeiser. “I recently showed my son my goban and stones and he had a lot of fun placing the stones on the board and hearing them ‘thunk.’  He is also a great kibitzer!  I thought the other members might enjoy this photo of the next generation of go players.”

Go Barely Mentioned in “Full” History of Board Games Post: “Go is mentioned twice in The Full History of Board Games,” writes reader Uri Feigin. “I would expect it to be detailed much more but…”

Li Keqiang’s Go Metaphor: In a departure from previous years, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang did not cite any traditional Chinese sayings or poems at a recent news conference after the annual National People’s Congress. Instead, he used a go metaphor to convey his message. “In weiqi – a chessboard game invented by the Chinese – one has to both plan the big picture and also get the key moves right,” he said, explaining his strategy in managing China’s economy.
– Based on a report in the South China Morning Post; thanks to Melanie Manion and Dave Weimer for passing it along.

More on Legal Go Positions: “A colleague of mine 30 years ago offered a very clever way of accurately estimating the number of legal go positions, (Number of Legal 18×18 Go Positions Computed 3/17)” writes Eric Osman. “His name is Peter Sichel and his clever way was this: generate random board arrangements, and see what percentage of those are legal. If you want more accuracy, generate some more! The estimate for the number of legal positions is merely your percentage of legal ones multiplied by the total number of possible positions which of course is 3 to the square of 19 power.”

Where to Watch Go? “I have been playing go since ~2003, when I started playing in college for fun,” writes Ben Scheyer. “As I’ve gotten older, I have less time to play on places like KGS, but I would still like to do things like watch games while eating or on my phone. Unfortunately, I can’t find anywhere with a collection of games to watch online! Your YouTube channel has only a few computer games from a year ago, and it’s very difficult to search for. There must be dozens of go games going on in the world, and I can find hundreds of hours of games like Starcraft II and League of Legends online. If you have any advice for where I can find games that would allow me to watch online on a consistent basis, I would appreciate it.”
Email your suggestions to us at journal@usgo.org

More on That Old Go Photo: “It is ironic that the E-Journal would publish this photo (Go Filmmakers Looking for US Go Congress Photos, Videos 2/16) with the wrong info, since it is originally from the Journal,” writes Keith Arnold. “The August 1985 issue to be precise.  It is a photo of the 1985 Westerns which took place on Labor Day weekend 1985 in San Francisco. Sharp eyes will recognize pros Jimmy Cha and Chun Sam Jho in the center of the picture, while future pro Janice Kim sits in the front, second from the left.  I believe I see Richard Dolen, Hal Small, Ron Snyder, Ned Phipps, Joanne Phipps, Chris Kirschner, Stu Horowitz and Herb Doughty. There is no photo credit, but the ‘St. Clair’ mentioned by Mike Bull (1st US Go Congress, Not 2/19) is referenced as the event’s t-shirt designer.”