Robert Jasiek has released his 12th book, “Positional Judgement 2 – Dynamics.” Targeted at players 5 kyu to 5 dan, the book focused on “the 
dynamic aspects of the middle game (influence, aji, fights etc.) and the related positional judgement with theory and examples,” says Jasiek. “While territory characterises peaceful positions, our assessment of dynamic positions includes reductions, aji, potential, influence, thickness and fights. The general theory applying to these concepts raises the quality of our middle game and enables our very profound positional judgement.” 276 pp., EUR 26.50 (book), EUR 13.25 (PDF). Click here for sample pages, a review, and all of Jasiek’s books.
American Go E-Journal
Jasiek Releases “Positional Judgement 2 – Dynamics”
Wednesday January 27, 2016
U.S. Rep Sought for Bailing Cup
Tuesday January 26, 2016
Online play-offs to determine the U.S. rep to the 3rd Bailing Cup will take place on the weekend of February 6-7 on KGS. The AGA has received a request to send an amateur player to Beijing, China (China Qiyuan) for the 3rd Bailing Cup in March 11-15th. All expenses (travel, lodging, local transportation, and food) will be afforded by players. Players will compete in one of 48 pools and will qualify for the major competition if they take the top place in their assigned pool.
Eligibility: US/Canadian citizen, must meet AGA/CGA eligibility requirements. Must be able to play in the online tournament* and the major tournament sections if player advances. Interested players should email their names, best form of contact, and KGS IDs to cherry.shen
*Note: This selection tournament applies to amateurs only. Any professional players may directly register with Bailing Cup and participate in the preliminary round.
– Cherry Shen
– Cherry Shen
Amateur Pair Go report
Sunday January 24, 2016
Korean pair Jeon Yujin-Song Hongsuk won the 26th International Amateur Pair Go Champion in Tokyo held December
5-6 at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont. Amy Wang 4D and Danny Ko 7D represented the United States. It was the second time the two had represented the US. “Amy represented in 2013 and I represented in 2014, so we pretty much knew the drill,” says Ko.
There were 32 teams including 12 Japanese pairs. “We drew a difficult first round match-up and fell to one of the strong Japanese pairs (7 Dan male and 6 Dan female) on Saturday morning (Dec 5). The game was somewhat competitive but we fell behind after a mid-game fight and lost about 10 points.”
After the first round, players and guests prepared for the goodwill game wearing national costumes. “Amy and I decided to wear ‘old western’ costumes. It was a great chance to meet other players and guests. I paired with a 6 Dan Japanese lady and played against Hajin Lee 3P and a Japanese 6-dan male player (left). It was my first time to play Hajin although we have been good friends for many years.”
“Sunday morning, we played Indonesia in the second round. We led the game with comfortable margin and won the game by resignation,” Ko told the E-Journal. “We drew the one of Japanese pairs (7-dan male and 5-dan female) again in the third round. The game was very competitive and both teams had many chances throughout the game. We pretty much lost the game at the last fight and lost about 5 points.”
In the 4th and 5th rounds, the US team played Mongolia and Finland. winning both games in less than 100 moves by resignation. Their 3-2 result resulted in 16th place for the US. “The result was a little disappointing since we were hoping to win four games,” says Ko. “But we played very competitively against two Japanese pairs so it was not a bad performance. Click here for complete results.
The Power Report: Judan challenger: Iyama or Yo; Meijin League Update; Lead shared in Honinbo League; Women’s Meijin League concludes; Iyama makes good start in Kisei defense
Thursday January 21, 2016
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Judan challenger: Iyama or Yo: The new tournament year at the Nihon Ki-in got off to a good start on January 7. Most of the interest focused on the semifinals of the 54th Judan tournament. The Judan is the only top-seven title Iyama Yuta doesn’t hold; if he becomes the challenger, he has a chance of achieving a simultaneous grand slam. In his semifinal, Iyama (B) beat Imamura Toshiya 9P by resignation. His opponent in the play-off to decide the challenger to Ida Atsushi will be Yo Seiki 7P of the Kansai Ki-in. In his semifinal, Yo’s opponent, Shida Tatsuya 7P (B), forfeited the game because of an illegal move when he recaptured a ko immediately, without making a ko threat. (To be precise, Yo’s ko threat was a ko capture in a position that was a double ko; Shida, who was in his last minute of byo-yomi, should have captured the other ko.) Last year Yo lost the play-off to decide the Oza challenger to Iyama, so he will be seeking revenge. This chance comes on January 21.
Meijin League Update: The first game of the second round of the 41st Meijin League was played on January 7. Ko Iso 8P (B) beat Hane
Naoki 9P by resignation. At this point, Ko, on 2-0, took the provisional lead. On January 11, Takao Shinji 9P (B) beat Kono Rin 9P by resig. and joined Ko in the provisional lead.
Lead shared in Honinbo League: The first game in the fourth round of the 71st Honinbo League was played on January 7, with Ichiriki Ryo 7P (B) beating Yamashita Keigo 9P by 4.5 points. On January 14, Yo Seiki 7P (W) beat Motoki 
Katsuya 7P by resig. This was Motoki’s first loss, so he now shares the lead with Yo; both are on 3-1. Takao also has only one loss, so he has a chance of joining them in the lead.
Women’s Meijin League concludes: The final round of the 28th Women’s Meijin League was held on January 7. Aoki Kikuyo 8P had already won the league in the fifth round, but she won her final game as well to finish with a perfect score. Results: Aoki (W) beat Fujisawa Rina 3P by resig.; Okuda Aya 3P (B) beat Kato Keiko 6P by resig.; Suzuki Ayumi 6P (B) beat Mannami Nao 3P by 2.5 points. The title match with Xie Yimin will start in March.
Iyama makes good start in Kisei defense: The first game of the 40th Kisei title match was held at the Konjakutei inn in Higashiyama Hot Spring in the city of Aizu-wakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture on January 14 and 15. The defending champion Iyama Yuta (aged 26) drew white in the nigiri to decide the colors. The challenger Yamashita Keigo 9-dan (aged 37) made a positive start, playing aggressively in the opening. The game was decided by a ko fight in which Yamashita sacrificed a group in order to win a ko started after White invaded a black position. Iyama took the lead in this exchange and hung on for a win, rebuffing some do-or-die attacks by Black. Yamashita resigned after 202 moves. The second game will be played on January 28 and 29.
Dallas Tournament Aims to Build Go Community in South Central US
Thursday January 21, 2016
The upcoming South Central Go Tournament in Dallas February 13-14 “aims to bring together players in the south central part of the country to
enjoy a weekend of competition, and to build a sense of community amongst one another,” says organizer Bob Gilman. As of January 18, 22 players have registered, 14 from Texas and 8 from other states. Find more information on Facebook. Note that there is a special rate at the Residence Inn, Plano, Texas for players coming from out of town. This rate is available through January 22. Also, provided there are sufficient registrations, players will get access to video reviews of selected games by prominent teacher In-seong Hwang. Registration for the tournament is open here. For more information comment on Facebook or write Bob Gilman.
One Week Left to Register for Kyu Championships
Tuesday January 19, 2016
Registrations for the North American Kyu Championship (NAKC) are due by January 26. Any kyu players under the age of 18, from Canada, the United States, or Mexico are welcome to join. Junior (under 13) and Senior (under 18) players will compete with each other, but crystal trophies will be awarded to both the best Junior player and the best Senior player in each bracket – all the way down to double digit kyu. The winner of the top bracket will also be allowed to join the Redmond Cup, a youth tournament traditionally only open to dan players. Thanks to the AGF, any participant who competes in every round, win or lose, will be eligible for the choice of a $400 scholarship to the summer AGA Go Camp or a $200 scholarship to the 2016 Go Congress. All four rounds will be held on KGS on January 30. For more details, visit the NAKC’s official Rules and Format page. To register, click here. -Story and photo by Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth editor. Photo: Kyu players honing their skills at the 2015 US Go Congress in St. Paul.
City League players in the AGA Pro Exam
Tuesday January 19, 2016
Three of the eight competitors in the recent 2015 AGA Professional Qualifying tournament are players from the AGA City League. They are tournament winner Eric Lui 1p of the Greater Washington team, Aaron Ye (Bay Area team) and Jeremy Chiu (San Francisco 1 team). Ye (right) gave Eric Lui (left) a tough challenge in the final matches of the tournament. Other professionals who play in the AGA City League are Ryan Li 1p (2014 AGA professional, Canwa Vancouver 1 team), Tim Song 1p (Greater Washington), and Huiren Yang 1p (Boston).
– Steve Colburn; photo by Chris Garlock
AGA City League’s 3rd Round Set for Sunday January 24th
Monday January 18, 2016
Round three of the AGA City League will take place this Sunday, January 24 at 3p EST. Throughout the day you can catch your local and favorite players from around the US and Canada. Check the schedules for each league to see when they are playing: League A, League B, League C.
Round three will have a game review from Hajin Lee 3p. Watch all of the live coverage on Pandanet app on your Windows, OSX, linux 32bit and 64bit, iOS, or android. Games will be played in the ‘AGA City League’ and ‘AGA City League (Manual)’ Rooms.
– Steve Colburn
Mark Lee Wins San Diego Go Championship
Monday January 18, 2016
Mark Lee’s year is off to a strong start. In the ultimate game of the 2016 San Diego Go Championship — held January 10 — Lee 7d beat UCSD freshman Weihan Huai, a 
professional from China, in the Open section, to become the first non-UCSD student to win the annual event. Lee’s win came just a week after he won the sixth annual Jin Chen Memorial Tournament in Seattle on January 3. With twelve dan-level players in the San Diego Open division, this was the largest and strongest field to play in the five-year-old event.
professional from China, in the Open section, to become the first non-UCSD student to win the annual event. Lee’s win came just a week after he won the sixth annual Jin Chen Memorial Tournament in Seattle on January 3. With twelve dan-level players in the San Diego Open division, this was the largest and strongest field to play in the five-year-old event.In the handicap section Sam Tregar 5k, Luke Weatherby 8k and James Acres 1k all had perfect 3-0 records with Tregar winning the title on tie-breaker over the 18 contestants.
Players came from as far as Los Angeles and Phoenix, to enjoy a day of fierce competition. The tournament was co-hosted by the San Diego Go Club and the UCSD Go Club.
An added bonus was that newly minted AGA pro Eric Lui 1P dropped in to observe, comment and join half the contestants for the post-games dinner at a local Japanese restaurant.
– report/photos by Ted Terpstra; (top left) Mark Lee (left) playing Weihan Huai (with Eric Lui watching, back, second from right); (top right) Mark Lee (left) receiving his cash prize from Ted Terpstra (president, SD Go Club); (bottom right) Group shot of 2016 SD Go Championship. (bottom left) Sam Tregar (right) Handicap-section winner.
Kansai to Host First Japan Go Congress
Monday January 18, 2016
The first Japan Go Congress will be held July 15 through 18 in Takarazuka, Japan, and organised by the Kansai Ki-in. In addition to a main
tournament, the Congress — at which 200-300 participants are expected — will offer a variety of side events such as lectures, teaching games with professionals, and other traditional Japanese games. Famous for its Grand Theater, Takarazuka is also known as the “city of opera.” Situated northwest of Osaka, it is outside of typical urban tension, but still easily accessible. Available accommodations include Daikin Dormitory, the Takarazuka Inn Hotel and the Takarazuka Hotel; click here for details. “The Kansai Ki-in warmly welcomes players from abroad,” reports their Go Congress Team.
Just before the Japan Go Congress, the 4th Osaka Go Camp — also organized by the Kansai Ki-in — will be held from June 26 to July 14. Last year there were more than 70 participants at the camp, where “You can train with professionals in a cozy environment and do sight-seeing,” report organizers.