American Go E-Journal

Yuan Zhou 7d instructed, enlightened and entertained members of the Triangle Go Group over a warm, sunny North Carolina weekend December 13-14 in Raleigh. In addition to extremely helpful reviews of participants’ games, Zhou (right) also introduced attendees to a new style of play called Team Play. Team Play (left) is competition between groups, rather than individuals, played on a single board maintained by the TD, with each team located in a separate room.  

In his lectures, Zhou illustrated guidelines for play with examples from the style of Go Seigen, Kabayashi Koichi, Cho Chikun, Lee Changho and others. This year, marking his ninth annual visit to North Carolina, Yuan Zhou treated the attendees to an inspiring deep analysis of the recent Chunlan Cup final game in June between Gu Li and Zhou Rui Yang.

Zhou also reminded workshop participants of the philosophical elements of go, and mentioned some of the underlying principles and basic elements. Introducing a review of a 9-stone handicap game, Zhou encouraged our strong players to welcome high handicap games and to teach those who want to become stronger.
– report/photos by Bob Bacon

Two baduk teachers visited Seattle in December,  courtesy of the Korean Amateur Baduk Association (KABA).  Yoonyoung Kim 4P, a Korean tournament winner, and Hyunwoo Kim, who is completing the Baduk Studies program at Myongji University, taught a weekend workshop, played simultaneous games, and attended the Pair Go Gala.  The weekend workshop on Dec. 12-13 was attended mostly by single digit kyu players, and was taught in English.  The well prepared teachers led the students through tesuji problem sets, and gave lectures on invasions and reductions.  They also reviewed student games and questions, and presented one of Yoonyoung Kim’s professional games.  Sonny (Sung-Chul) Cho 6d said he “was very much impressed by their sharp analysis of Go games and theory”.

Not much has been written about Yoonyoung Kim in English, but she is a tournament player to watch for.  She became a pro in 2007, and is now 26 years old. Just days before she came to Seattle, she beat Ahn Jo Young 9P in the GX Caltex Qualified.  He is the known as the “Half Point Magician” since he defeated many top players including Lee Sedol and Gu Li by the smallest margin.  In 2014, Yoonyoung Kim made the top 32 in the Samsung Masters World Championship.  She defeated Fan Yunuo, a young Chinese prospect, but lost to Murakawa Daisuke only by two and a half points and did not move to the best of 16 round.   In 2010 she was on the Korean female team for the Asian Games, and won a gold medal as part of that team.  She also won the Women’s Kisung tournament in 2010, and was first runner up in the 2011 Women’s Kook-Soo  Tournament.

Hyunwoo Kim, a former Korean insei,  is finishing coursework at Myongji University, and actually needed a written excuse for missing one of his classes.  His excellent excuse was written by Lee Anne Bowie, who is President of the Seattle Go Center, and a former high school teacher.  Hyunwoo has taught go in many places, including ten months in New Zealand.  Yoonyoung and Hyunwoo were warm and friendly teachers, able to help students at many levels.  Photo: Yoonyoung Kim reviewing simul game.  Photo and Report by Brian Allen.

The Davis/Sacramento Go Club held its Winter Tournament at the Rancho Cordova Library in Sacramento on December 12. The event drew 16 players from San Jose to Grass Valley. There was a tie between Yufei Hu 4d (right) and Matthew Cheng 1d (left), for Division I. Tai-an Cha 4k (center), won Division II.
– Willard Haynes