American Go E-Journal

Washington Open Baduk Championship Selected as AGA Pro Tourney Qualifier

Saturday April 19, 2014

Next weekend’s Washington Open Baduk Championship has been selected as a qualifier for this year’s AGA Pro Qualification Tournament; top boards will be broadcast on KGS by the EJ (email journal@usgo.org if you’re interested in being on the broadcasting team). The two-day event in Northern Virginia includes pro lectures and an unrated rapid tournament. The first Washington Open Baduk Championship will be held in Vienna, VA on April 26-27, with a top prize of at least $1,200 and cash prizes for every section. Myungwan Kim 9P (right) and Sohyun Park 3P will give lectures for both dan and kyu players on Saturday night, followed by a rapid tournament, and the professionals will do game reviews and simuls on Sunday afternoon. The tournament will be held at the Korea-U.S. Science Cooperation Center (1952 Gallows Road, Suite 330) in Vienna, VA and is sponsored by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Korean Cultural Center – DC, and Scorpion Sport Inc. in L.A. It is co-hosted by the Korean Amateur Baduk Association (KABA) and the American Go Association (AGA), and organized by the NOVA Go Club, the Baltimore Go Club, and the Korean-American Go Association. There’s no entry fee but AGA membership is required and lunch is free. Click here to register. NOTE TO VISITORS: Organizers have negotiated a discounted rate with Extended Stay America (8281 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Fairfax VA 22031), 4.5 miles from the playing site; call 703-204-0088 and ask for the NOVA Go Club rate, or email MRD@extendedstay.com.
– photo by Chris Garlock

Categories: U.S. Pro Tournament,U.S./North America

Amir Fragman Wins Israeli KPMC Qualifier

Saturday April 19, 2014

Amir Fragman defeated Israeli champion Ali Jabarin 6d at the Israeli Korean Prime Minister Cup (KPMC) Qualifier tournament, held 16-17 April 2014 during Olamot (Worlds) festival in Tel Aviv.

Top players in Israel attended the 6-round tournament, where fourteen contestants challenged for the right to represent Israel at the upcoming Korean Prime Minister Cup in October 2014.

The tournament was decided in the 5th round, when Fragman defeated Jabarin 6d by resignation to win first place, with Jabarin in second, while third place was shared by Tal Michaeli and Ofer Zivony.

More details and photos here.

– Reported by Shavit Fragman

Categories: Europe,Events/Tournaments,Go News,World

Tags: Europe, Israel, tournament

New Offerings from SmartGo Books, Plus Add Your Own Notes

Saturday April 19, 2014

SmartGo Books now lets you add your own notes in books, reports SmartGo’s Anders Kierulf, who’s now in Paris for the 42nd International Paris Go Tournament which runs through April 21.

“Four new books and several translations have been added to SmartGo Books,” Kierulf adds. The new offerings include two from John Fairbairn: “Wonders of Life & Death: Honinbo Shusai’s tsumego classic Shikatsu Myoki” and “Today We Have a Splendid Feast: The Meijin Inseki’s Yoshin Teiki,” while “Fight Like a Pro – The Secrets of Kiai”, a much-requested book by Rob van Zeijst and Richard Bozulich, is also now available.

Gunnar Dickfeld has added Volume 3 of “Black to Play! Train the Basics of Go (20-15 Kyu)”, in English and German, and volumes 1 and 2 are available in English, German, Spanish, and French, while “The Basics of Go Strategy” is now available is Spanish as well as German.

Click here for details on all the SmartGo Books books now available.

Categories: Tools: books, software & hardware

Miichigan & Toronto Vie for Collegiate Go League Championship Saturday on KGS

Friday April 18, 2014

After a convincing performance against lower seeds Yale and U Maryland last Saturday, the two top seeds of the Collegiate Go League, University of Michigan and University of Toronto, are vying for the championship title this Saturday, April 19 at 1 pm (EST) on KGS. Top boards will have live professional commentary and will be announced throughout KGS; head to the ‘Collegiate Go League’ room to catch the action and see who will be crowned ACGA university champion for season 3 and receive the coveted cash prize and ACGA Cup. Commentary will begin around 1:30 pm after matches commence.
– Cole Pruitt

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Cuban Go Community Hosts Visits by Mexican Youth & Japanese Teachers

Tuesday April 15, 2014

Young Mexican go players are visiting Cuba this week in a historic first exchange between the two countries. Next month the Cuban go community will host a group of go players from Japan, the seventh such visit.

The first Cuba – Mexico School Go Exchange, which includes individual and team competitions, is taking place at the Cuban Go Academy from April 14-18. The Mexican children are a part of an educational go project at the “Center of Educational and Artistic Investigations’, a primary school begun in 2008. The Go project is led by Siddhartha Avila, who has brought Mexican groups to the last two US Go Congresses. The Cuban children attend a local primary school in Havana and are also pupils in the Cuban Go Academy where they study twice a week.

The visit by the Japanese delegation of adult go players (set for May 14-22) will celebrate 400 years of relations between Cuba and Japan. The Samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga visited Havana in 1614. The May event will take place both in the province of Santiago de Cuba and in Havana, and the Japanese teachers will bring a donation of go equipment to the Go School in Santiago de Cuba to support the community in light of the recent hurricane damage.

Categories: World

Brian Olive Tops 8th Orlando Go Tournament

Tuesday April 15, 2014

The eighth annual Orlando Go Tournament was held April 12-13 in Orlando, FL. Brian Olive 1d topped the dan division, while Bart Lipofsky 6k topped the upper kyu division, Ellis Knickerbocker 8k the middle kyu and Tia Duncan 12k the lower kyu. Thirty-four players participated in a five-round event, with strengths ranging from 21 kyu to 5 dan.

Winner’s Report:
Dan (1D and up): 1st: Brian Olive (1D); 2nd: Josh Lee (5D); 3rd: Jonathan Fisher (3D).
Upper Kyu (7K through 1K): 1st: Bart Lipofsky (6K); 2nd: Steve Barberi (1K); 3rd: Tony Vick (6K).
Middle Kyu (10K through 8K): 1st: Ellis Knickerbocker (8K); 2nd: Asahel Salgado (9K); 3rd:Aaron Otero (10K).
Lower Kyu (11K and down): 1st: Tia Duncan (12K); 2nd: Heather Crawford (15K); 3rd: Joel Mora (12K).

– photo: Christopher Sagner, Josh Lee, Fuqian Shi (left, front-to-back) and Jonathan Fisher, Yoshio Tanaka, Brian Olive (right, front-to-back); report/photo by Paul Wiegand

Categories: U.S./North America

Wang Chen Wins 2014 World Students Go Oza

Monday April 14, 2014

Wang Chen, one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ who rule China’s amateur rating list, won the 12th World Students Go Oza Championship, held in late February in Toyko.

Wang (right) defeated Ken (Kai Kun) Xie of New Zealand, Japan’s Yamikumo Tsubasa, Go Risa, also from Japan, and Chung Chen-En of Taiwan. Yamikumo, Go, and Chung did not lose to anyone else, so they finished as part of the four-way tie for runner-up. Tie-breaking points put Yamikumo second, Chung third, and Go fourth. Taiwan’s Hu Shih-Yun also lost only one game and came in fifth. The opponent she lost to was the USA’s Maojie Xia, who had played the two Japanese and finished a highly commendable sixth.

Viktor Ivanov (Russia, 9th place) and Kwan King-Man (Hong Kong, 10th place) matched Maojie Xia by winning two games apiece, and although Yanqi Zhang (France, 12th place) won only once, the opponent she beat was Zhou Shiying, the Chinese female player. At both the reception and the awards ceremony, officials in the All Japan Students Go Association, which handled all the organizational work (drinking party included), remarked on the rising level of play in countries outside the Far East.
– based on a more extensive report on the IGF news feed, which includes complete results and clickable game records.

Categories: Japan,World,Youth

Kyu Review of Lee-Gu Jubango Game 3 Posted

Monday April 14, 2014

Benjamin Hong has just published a review of the Lee-Gu Jubango Game 3 on his BenGoZen blog. for the Game 3 of Lee Sedol 9p and Gu Li 9p’s jubango was released yesterday. Hong is a single-digit kyu player and says that “As with the previous reviews of Games 1 and 2, this review continues to be geared towards kyu players who struggle with the advanced analysis and discussion that normally occurs between dan and professional level players.” He adds that “There is commentary for every move so that hopefully you won’t ever feel lost. In addition, I am happy to announce that frozensoul (5d) has joined forces with me again for this game review. Many thanks goes out to him for providing a number of the insights you’ll see throughout the review.” photo courtesy GoGameGuru

Categories: Game Commentaries

Go Spotting: Conway’s Game of Life

Monday April 14, 2014

Cambridge mathematician John Conway apparently conceived Game of Life — his ‘cellular automaton’ — on a go board, according to this video sent in by Peter Kron. The game, which became widely known when it was mentioned in an article published by Scientific American in 1970. It consists of a collection of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply. Depending on the initial conditions, the cells form various patterns throughout the course of the game. For an introduction, you can watch the video fragment from Stephen Hawkings The Meaning of Life.
– Greg Smith; includes reporting on bitstorm.org

Categories: Go Spotting

North London Pips France at London International Teams Event

Sunday April 13, 2014

A North London team won the Spring 2014 London International Teams Trophy event on Saturday April 5, just beating a team from France on tie-break after both won two team matches out of three, including five game wins for each. The tournament was decided on the result of the Captains’ game between Huang Aja 6d for N London and Pierre Paga 5d for France. Click here for the deciding game record (pictured, right, at move #100).

A handicap division was won by South London, with Central London B as runners-up. Click here for further details in the British Go Association’s report, and here for full results.

In this twice-yearly friendly tournament, teams of three – which ideally (but not necessarily or, in fact, often) have an international dimension – compete for a trophy donated by Kobayashi Yukata. It is organized by the Central London Go Club (CLGC) and this season was held at the Melton Mowbray pub in the ancient London street of Holborn (left). The pub is a go hub for London now, the permanent home of the London City Go Club (Fridays, 6p – 11p) and currently also housing the CLGC (Saturdays, noon – 11p).

Click here for a photo album of the event from the Nippon Club’s Tanaka Kiyohiko.

Tony Collman, British Correspondent for the E-Journal; photo: Pierre Paga 5d (l), France, plays Huang Aja 6d, N. London; graphic: Holborn, ca. 1900, showing the same buildings which house the pub, courtesy of Wikipedia; game record courtesy of Huang Aja.

Categories: Europe,Events/Tournaments,Go News