American Go E-Journal

The 2018 New York Youth Go Open was hosted on November 17 at the New York Institute of Go in Little Neck, NY. The Institute’s first youth AGA-rated face to face tournament with both trophies and cash prizes attracted 45 young players from the minimum age of 4  to 10th graders. Eleven-year-old Sophie Lin 2d won the top division with a four-game winning streak.

“We will continue working harder to hold more tournaments, and encourage and provide more opportunity to young players in New York!” said Institute president Stephanie Yin 1p. Every year, the New York Go Association and New York Institute of Go holds anywhere from 5-10 tournaments, with at least five of them youth competitions. Stephanie Yin has now taught nearly 400 youth players in New York, steadily growing the community of young go players. Click here for more on the Institute, including local tournaments, the Institute’s go club, and their YouTube channel.

Winner’s Report
Open Division (2dan-7kyu, No handicap): Sophie Lin, Chase Lin, Boyang Liu
Kyu Division: 8kyu-17kyu
Senior Division (grades 6-10): Brandon Zhu; Lillian Wu; David Wu
Junior Division (grades 3-5): Jack Zhang; Alex Fan-Cui; Gary Ning
Kyu Division: 18kyu-26kyu
Senior Division (grades 6-10): Alan Yang; Joyce Shen; Darian Pan
Junior Division (grades 3-5): Fangyi Yu; Fangwu Yu; Ava Gao
Elementary Division (K- grade 2): George Ning; Chenxi Du; Daniel Deng

by Keith Arnold

I loved Charles French.  That is a term I do not throw around much, but I loved Charles French,who passed away, age 90 on November 13.  All of us, who can remember the time before a stroke severely limited his tournament, workshop and Congress attendance, will recall him fondly.

Charley found go as a chess player fairly early in his life, but never truly got to play until he found the AGA in his retirement. His enthusiasm for the game was perhaps the greatest I have ever witnessed, and he played with a glee that would rival any child.

He also played at a pace rivaled only by a glacier.  His determination and concentration were amazing and he played with deliberate joy, outlasting if not outplaying you.  Indeed, his motionless pose before the go board became a thing of legend, immortalized by me in my poem “Charley at the Ban.”

He was an inveterate tournament goer and congress attendee.  Charley ran a go club from his home in Pennsylvania for many years and, with skills from his work as Treasurer of  the Philadelphia Gas Works, he patiently sorted out some long neglected tax issues for the AGA back in the 1990s. He was a favorite student of Jujo Jiang, who unfailingly asked about him long after he stopped holding his Cleveland Workshops.  He reached 2 kyu, a respectable achievement for a man who started playing in retirement. The AGA database shows 522 games and 108 tournaments, but many of his games were too early for the database to capture.

Charley was a wonderful man, a gentleman of the last century in every good way, and perhaps a few of the bad, that term implies.  He was unfailingly courteous, polite, generous and kind. He loved family and children and above all a good joke and a laugh. Charley also appreciated women, a handsome man, he enjoyed attention, and yes,  to be waited upon, but was always thankful and full of praise for the efforts of others.

Probably because he loved my wife, we spent many, many July weekends at his home on the Jersey Shore.  These were truly some of the favorite times of my life, well fed and taken care of by his wife Addie, and the only price of admission endless games (and with Charley games were endless)  in the sun on the deck. And “Uncle Charley’s” delight and joy in the arrival of our daughter is something I will always remember and appreciate.

stalwart opponent
always, now forever, I
await your next move

An undefeated Michael Chen 8D took top honors in the Gotham Go Tournament on November 10 in New York City. Tournament Director David Gleckle directed his first tournament with his assistants Ying and Sichen, and organizer Peter Armenia extended special “Thanks to my wife Gretchen for managing all the food and drinks.”

Results:

Open Division:
1: Michael Chen (undefeated) 8d
2: Peixuan Wang 8d
3: Jing Guo 6d

Dan Division:
1: Patrick Zhao 3d
2: Alexander Qi 2d
3: Niel Ni 1d

1-4k Division:
1: Jino Chang 2k
3: Ted Lin 2k
3: Jason Chimon 1k

5-9k Division:
1: Andy Segal 5k
2: Luke Kuo 9k
3: Jeffrey Losapio 5k

DDK Division:
1: Alex Fan-cui 10k
2: Zhiyong Huang 15k
3: Ashley Qi 15k

And winning the drawing for the special Manhattan Go Board was Patrick Zhao.

On the weekend after Thanksgiving, Saturday and Sunday, November 24 & 25, the San Diego Go Club will host the first annual California State Go Championship. The 5-round tournament will include an Open Section and Handicap Sections, and the best record in the Open by a California resident or student will earn the title of 2018 California State Champion, win cash and a trophy and have her or his name engraved on a permanent champion plaque. A total of $600 and trophies will be awarded for the best results in the various sections. AGA membership is required. Pre-registration by 11:59 p.m. Thanksgiving Day is required to play in Round 1. The site for the competition is the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park.

In conjunction with the Open Championship, the SDGC is hosting the 2018 13×13 State Go Championship. This competition will be 5-round, 30-minute games, intended for 20-Kyu to 30-Kyu players and beginners. The best boy and girl will be declared the 13×13 California State Champions and win appropriate trophies. The site is the same as the Open State Championship. Pre-registration by 11/23, 11:59 p.m. is required to play in Round 1 but walk-ins can play in later rounds. AGA membership is required but the California Go Association will have Chinese professional Hai Li rate the games for it. Players in this tournament can choose to play in the first three rounds of the AGA-rated 19×19 State championship on Saturday and take byes for rounds 4 & 5 on Sunday.

Register here for both tournaments.

The Evanston Go Club’s November 10 fall tournament drew 42 players from five states; Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and, “Wait for it,” said TD Mark Rubenstein, “Hawaii!” The diverse field included players ranging in rank from 26k to 7d. Albert Yen 7d, a regular at the Evanston tournaments for many years, was able to play his first-ever even game against another 7 dan, Boya (Eric) Hu.

“With 13 dans, 15 single-digit kyus, 14 double-digit kyus, and ages ranging from 7 to 70, this tournament was one to be remembered!” said Rubenstein. “And exactly half the participants were first-time attendees; a new record!”

Daniel Lambert, who streams his games on Twitch, was recording his games at the tournament and has posted them online with commentary. And Xinming Simon Guo, the AGA’s 2015 Teacher of the Year, was there teaching some of his youngest students.

Prizes were supplied by Yellow Mountain Imports. “YMI has been donating prizes to us for many years; thanks Yellow Mountain!” said Rubenstein.

“You’ll notice all the DDK winners played six games,” Rubenstein added. “In fact, thirteen players played more than four games, which is the minimum to be eligible for a prize. This is one of the advantages of self-paired tournaments; players can play as many games as they like. You’ll also notice that Jim Benthem is holding three coins in his hand, and is the only one without a prize. That’s because there were only two prizes available for the Dan section, so the three players agreed to flip coins for them… and Jim lost the toss.”

As is the tradition, about a dozen players and family members went out for pizza after the tournament.

Click here  for more photos.

Winners:
Dan division:  3-way tie for first place (no second place): Albert Yen 7d (3-1), Yang Yang 3d (3-1); James Benthem 1d (3-1)
Single-Digit Kyu division: Tied for first place: Laura Moon 2k (4-0), Steffen Kurz 4k (4-0); Second place: Daniel Lambert 6k (4-1)
Double-Digit Kyu division: First place: Blake O’Day 10k (6-0); Tied for second place: Mike O’Day 15k (5-1), Jowita Wisniewski 20k (5-1)

Update (11/14): Links added for Daniel Lambert.

Alexander Yehsakul of the Columbus Go Club partnered with volunteers from three other go clubs in the area to set up a go workshop room at the Youmacon anime convention in Detroit on November 3. About 60 conventioneers came to the workshop, with perhaps 40 on average in the room at any given time. Attendees learned the rules of go and got to play on 9×9 boards. Volunteers taught individuals one on one and groups using a demo board, and were always on hand to answer questions. Go games from OGS were displayed on a projector in the background. “I think the event went really well!” reports Yehsakul. “Turnout was great and we got some really positive feedback.”

This was the first time Yehsakul and this group of volunteers organized a go event like this. They hope to run another go workshop at Ohayocon in January, 2019. “Events like this are really important to spread and develop the go community in North America,” Yehsakul added.