American Go E-Journal

Chinese Weiqi Association’s Yang Yi 6P drops by Seattle Go Center

Wednesday August 22, 2018

Chinese professional Yang Yi 6P, Vice Chairman of Chinese Weiqi Association, played a simul with seven local players at the 2018.08.21_Seattle-ZhangYue-YangYi_2018-07-07Seattle Go Center on July 7. He had dropped by the previous month while in town visiting family and agreed to return after a trip to Hawaii. Yang is a 2018.08.21_Seattle-YangYi-simuls_2018-07-07widely respected go player and teacher in China, “where many famous Chinese go players, including Gu Li, have benefited from his instruction,” reports Seattle Go Club manager Mike Malveaux. “The simuls event on July 7 was very successful,” Malveaux reports. “The Go Center is very grateful to Mr. Yang for making time to visit and teach!” Yang has visited the west coast before, visiting the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles after the 2013 Go Congress in Tacoma, WA.

– reported by Zhang Yue and Chen Xiangnan; photos by Chen Xiangnan

Feng Yun and Dalhoon Ahn out in Tianfu Cup Preliminary; Round 3 set for Wednesday night on KGS

Tuesday August 21, 2018

Feng Yun 9P and Dalhoon Ahn 9P were eliminated in the second round of the Tianfu Cup Preliminary, played online on KGS on Tuesday. The first round was played on Monday. In the third round, to be played Wednesday on KGS at 7P EDT in the AGA Tournaments Room, Andy Liu 1P will play Eric Lui 1P in the top bracket and the bottom bracket will feature Stephanie Yin 1P (who defeated Feng Yun) vs. Ryan Li 1P and Ming-jiu Jiang 7P vs. Huiren Yang 1P (who defeated Dalhoon Ahn). The five-round double-elimination tournament runs through Friday and will select two professional representatives to represent North America in the first Tianfu Cup in China. AGA National Tournament Coordinator Jeff Shaevel is the Tournament Director.

Your Move/Readers Write: How many Nakayama? Poughkeepsie go players wanted; Thought experiment idea; Where to score a scoresheet?

Tuesday August 21, 2018

How many Nakayama? “I’m wondering how can I find out how many books Nakayama Noriyuki  wrote in Japanese,” writes Kent Olsen. “I would like to start a Go Fund Me page to get some of them translated.”2018.08.21_6-ways-to-turn-thought-into-action-630x354

Poughkeepsie go players wanted: “I have been trying to find local players in the Poughkeepsie, NY area and have not had any luck,” writes David. “It seems the majority of events/clubs are too far from my home for me to attend. The only go club relatively close to me is the New Paltz Go Club, but on your website there are times listed, yet no meeting place. I have tried getting in touch with the organizer of the club but I have not heard back from them. I get the feeling that the club might not be meeting anymore. I am writing this e-mail in the hopes that you might be able to help me find some local players.”

Thought experiment idea: Philosopher/scientist Pat Conover, who’s “currently working with issues of logic and consciousness,” writes to share a thought experiment “y’all might want to take on for the fun of it, to drive the creators of artificial intelligence crazy, or just to expand reflection on how go masters construct and integrate tactical and strategic aji.” Imagine an elliptical shaped board with about half again as many points as a standard go board, Conover says, “with three carve out spaces: a triangle, a pentagon, and an approximate circle, irregularly placed in the ellipse. Set up a Go Prime tournament or tournaments with allowed pauses for players to take notes, express feelings and considerations, etc. Let some observers construct narratives that could be of interest to scientists and philosophers.”

Where to score a scoresheet? “Do you know where I can find a printable score sheet (such as a PDF file), possibly with a primer on how to score a game (proper notation, etc.),” asks Glen Hart.

Email responses to us at journal@usgo.org

The Traveling Board: “Pi” to app to local club: a blogger’s journey

Monday August 20, 2018

“This is a game that has serious appeal to me,” writes independent filmmaker, website designer “and sometimes teacher” Chris Knight in recent blog post, “Do Not Pass Go: An evening with the world’s oldest board game.” “I’m looking 2018.08.20 Chris Knight lesson2018.08.20 Chris Knight Leo-Mike gameforward to playing again, and trying to improve.”

Knight, who lives in North Carolina, first saw go in “Pi,” Darren Aronofsky’s 1998 directorial debut. His curiosity about the game portrayed in the film led him to an iPad app and then to his local go club in North Carolina, where a lesson with Brendan got him hooked. “Go seems to have a really good community around it, and quite a diverse player base,” Knight says. “And I can’t help but think that in time, though it may be decades from now, it’s going to become as popular among Americans as is already chess, checkers, and Cards Against Humanity!” In additional to a number of cultural references, the blog post includes a description of how to play, with helpful photos.

Go Spotting: Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon

Monday August 20, 2018

Episode 80  of the Hardcore Leveling Warrior webtoon includes an appearance by a character named “Bubble,” a former pro go player whose skill is controlling bubbles.2018.08.20 manga screenshot

Thanks to James Richard Spriggs for the tip!

Categories: Go Spotting,Main Page
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Your Move/Readers Write: Go or go?

Monday August 20, 2018

“Thank you for all your hard work at Congress,” writes Bob Barber. “Although I don’t play anymore (much), I like to keep up with my pals and the world of Go. Speaking of which, I noticed in a recent New Yorker (July 23, page 47), this: ‘…and gigantic sets of chess and Go.’ For what it’s worth, I (and the New Yorker) think Go should be capitalized.”
The style here at the E-Journal is not to capitalize. Our colleagues at BoardGameGeek summarize the reason  nicely: “We capitalize the names of published games like Twilight Struggle because they’re proper nouns. But according to Webster’s, we don’t usually capitalize the names of public-domain games like chess, poker, and backgammon.”

1st Tianfu Cup Prelim set for 8/20-24 on KGS

Saturday August 18, 2018

Two professional representatives will be chosen to represent North America in the first Tianfu Cup in China. Eight professionals have signed up, so there will be a five-round double-elimination tournament (without the final round) taking place on KGS at 7 PM, US Eastern time, Monday through Friday, 8/20 – 8/24. “This promises to be an exciting event with four games on Monday and Tuesday, then as needed to complete the brackets,” reports AGA National Tournament Coordinator Jeff Shaevel.  All games will be played on KGS in the AGA Tournaments Room. Participants are: Dalhoon Ahn 9P, Feng Yun 9P, Ming-jiu Jiang 7P, Ryan Li 1P, Andy Liu 1P, Eric Lui 1P, Huiren Yang 1P and Stephanie Yin 1P.

Redmond to comment pro Pair Go championship games

Thursday August 16, 2018

Michael Redmond, 9-dan professional, will provide live commentaries on YouTube for the 2018 professional Pair Go World 2018.08.16_pair-go-redmondChampionship, which will be held on August 19 and 20.

Categories: Main Page,Pair Go
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Join the AGHS – officer applications open

Monday August 13, 2018

AGHSLogo2Officer applications for the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) have been released. The AGHS is an organization run primarily by high school students to promote go throughout America, and hosts events such as the Young Lions Tournament, School Teams Tournament, and Youth Go League. The application is due on September 7; all high school go enthusiasts are encouraged to apply! For more information, including officer descriptions, please visit the application form here. 

Second Latin American Go Congress set for Oct 12-15

Sunday August 12, 2018

The second Latin American Go Congress has been scheduled for October 12 to 15 in Antigua Guatemala. Last year’s inaugural 2018.08.12_latin-am-congressevent was held in Cancun, Mexico and attracted players and professional teachers from as far away as South Korea and Japan. “The Latin American Go Congress appeals to many go players as it is both inexpensive and short compared to other go congresses,” reports William Luff, who attended last year’s. The Congress begins on Friday and wraps up on Monday. Participants will also have the opportunity to visit World Heritage sites holding Mayan ruins. The Congress includes the second Latin American Youth Go Championship, the third Ibero-American Pair Go Championship, the second Latin American Pandanet Team Championship and the 20th Ibero-American Go Championship, which is being held in memory of Hans Pietsch, the young German professional murdered while on a promotional tour for the Nihon Ki-In in Guatemala in 2003. Anyone who knew Pietsch who would like to contribute to a short tribute video which will be played at the Congress’ opening ceremony should contact Luff at will122166@gmail.com

Categories: Main Page,South America
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