American Go E-Journal

Pennsylvania first to host AGA State Go Championship

Tuesday March 6, 2018

The Penn Go Society has announced the first Pennsylvania State Go Championship, part of the American Go Association’s new system of state championships around the country (click here for details). The Pennsylvania championship will be held April 28-29 in Philadelphia, PA, with five rounds over two days, handicap and open divisions, and over $1000 in prizes.

Pre-registration is required; deadline is April 24th. The tournament will be held on the 8th floor of the Wharton Student Life Center (2401 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103). Email tournaments@penngosociety.org for more info.

The tournament director will be Jason McGibbon; games will be AGA rated and Japanese byo-yomi time setting (45 min main + 5 x 30 byo-yomi). Check-in on Saturday and Sunday will be from 9:30AM-10AM. The first round on both days will begin at 10:15AM. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided, and many restaurants are within easy walking distance of the venue. The official State Championship title is reserved for Pennsylvania residents, but non-PA residents are eligible to play and win prize money.

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America

Fifth Annual World Collegiate Go Championship to be held at University of Cambridge

Tuesday March 6, 2018

The Ing Foundation is hosting the 2018 International Collegiate Go Tournament at the University of Cambridge, England this summer. The event starts on July 9th and will conclude on the 15th. This event is open to any current, future, or recently graduated college (both undergraduate and graduate) student, who will or has attended school in the year 2018. “This is a truly unique experience as the Shanghai Ing Foundation does not spare any expense during the planning of this event,” says Michael Fodera. All costs related to room, board, tours, and travel during the event will be covered by the Ing foundation. The student is responsible for getting to and from the tournament site (both international and domestic travel costs), and for any personal expenses such as souvenirs, and entertainment during the course of the trip. Click here for complete details.

Categories: Main Page,Youth

1971 Honinbo Tournament Game 2 video released

Tuesday March 6, 2018

A new video compresses the second game of the historic 1971 Honinbo Tournament into a compelling 4 1/2 minute sequence, complete with music by the Blue Dot Sessions. Ishida Yoshio, just 22, entered the Honinbo League for the first time that year, won it, and went on to beat the established Honinbo, Rin Kaiho, in the title match. The second game is thought to be the most exciting of the match. “The focus of this project was to highlight the wonderful graphic beauty of a flowing go game rather than a analysis of the moves,” says video creator Mike Garland.

Categories: Go Spotting,Japan,Main Page

AlphaGo Zero vs. Master; Game 7: The magic show

Monday March 5, 2018

AG Zero comes up with a new variation to handle Master’s shimari, “and then there’s a bit of a magic show, in which Zero does all sorts of stuff inside Master’s moyo,” says Michael Redmond 9P in his commentary. “It’s pretty hard to believe.”

“The relaxed and fun atmosphere (Redmond and Garlock) have when doing these reviews is great,” says Rory Mitchell. “It keeps things light amidst all the intense thinking required, and ultimately makes these videos very rewatchable.” Adds GerSHAK, “Absolutely BEAUTIFUL game to watch. Loved the post-game summary of white’s most exciting moves, too.”

Click here for Redmond’s video commentary, hosted by the AGA E-Journal’s Chris Garlock, and see below for the sgf commentary. To support this content, please consider joining or renewing your membership in the American Go Association; click here for details.

Video produced by Michael Wanek and Andrew Jackson. The sgf files were created by Redmond, with editing and transcription by Garlock and Myron Souris.

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Categories: Computer Go/AI,Main Page,Master/AlphaGo Commentaries,Redmond Reviews

2018 Worldwide Iwamoto Awards competition opens

Monday March 5, 2018

Applications are now being accepted for the 2018 Worldwide Iwamoto Awards. Organized by the European Go Cultural Centre (EGCC), the Iwamoto Awards is an international contest that rewards promising go projects. Anybody who is actively promoting and spreading go can enter the competition (read the rules here) and submit their project. The top three contenders will win prizes of €1000, €500 and €500. Deadline for submission is May 31.
photo: The 2015 winner, a touchscreen go table designed by Daniel Bösze.

Categories: Europe,Main Page,World

Chess blogger Michael Bacon posts on go

Monday March 5, 2018

Chess blogger Michael Bacon — the “Armchair Warrior” has recently published some posts on go, including “AlphaGo and the Hand of God,” “The Surrounding Game” and “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess.” In addition to being well-written, thoughtful – and sometime provocative — explorations, Bacon’s posts are well-illustrated with photos and videos.

“AlphaGo and the Hand of God’ is about the “AlphaGo,” documentary, which Bacon calls “poignant,” adding that “While watching the movie the thought crossed my mind that what I was watching was a watershed moment in the history of mankind, analogous to Neal Armstrong’s ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’”

In “The Surrounding Game,”Bacon reminds readers that not only was Edward Lasker – attributed in the film as the source of a famous quote about go – an International Master, not a Grandmaster, as identified in the film, but that there is a dispute about the quote itself, with some attributing it to former World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker, a distant relative. However, Bacon clearly likes the film, which follows the lives of several top American players, Ben Lockhart and Andy Liu, competing to become the first Western professional. “Despite their diverging paths, Ben and Andy face the same question: is a lifetime dedicated to Go truly worth living?”

And in “Weiqi (Go) Versus Chess”, Bacon contrasts chess and go in politics, popularity and player personalities. Noting that “Chess appeals to people who like to attack and who savor the win over the process,” Bacon says that go “is a game of patience and position. It appeals to very bright people who don’t expect to win quickly but who are willing to earn success one small step at a time. GO players enjoy the process as much as the win.” He also argues that “AlphaGo has done for the game of Go in America what Bobby Fischer did for the game of Chess when he defeated the World Chess Champion, Boris Spassky, in 1972… In a very short period of time the game of Go will be unrivaled, leaving all other board games in its wake.” Further, he suggests that “It could be that the people of the planet are moving away from the brutal, war like, mindset of a war like game such as Chess and toward a more cerebral game such as Go.”

Categories: Computer Go/AI,Go Spotting,Main Page,Master/AlphaGo Commentaries

Go spotting: “Band-Maid” music video

Monday March 5, 2018

Go makes a split-second appearance in the music video for the Japanese girl rock band “Band-Maid” in their new song “Domination.” “Go board seen at 1:06 in the song,” reports Todd Dahlquist.

Categories: Go Spotting,Main Page

Are you a Rotarian?

Sunday March 4, 2018

rotarylogo The Go Playing Friendship of Rotarians, a special interest group within the worldwide service organization Rotary International, is seeking US rotarians who would be interested in participating in their activities. The group started in Japan, and has been active in Korea and Taiwan, but wants to get US players involved, according to Takuhei Kanazawa of Tokyo Aoyama Rotary Club. Interested folks can contact AGA President Andy Okun at president@usgo.org.

Categories: Main Page,Uncategorized

2018 U.S. Go Congress website launched

Sunday March 4, 2018

Organizers of this year’s US Go Congress recently launched a new design for the Congress website, where you can subscribe to the Congress mailing list to stay up to date on Congress news and be among the first to know when registration opens. The 2018 Congress runs July 21 – 28 at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. “If you’ve never been to Williamsburg, you’re in for a treat,” reports Congress Co-Director Nate Eagle. “The beautiful, tree-lined campus of William & Mary is directly next to Colonial Williamsburg, where you can step directly into a recreation of 18th-century American life. I spent a couple weekends down there in the Fall and am looking forward immensely to seeing some of those beautiful grass lawns filled with go boards and sprawling go players, locked in combat.” Registration is expected to open later this month.

photo (l-r): Congress directors Diego Pierrottet and Nate Eagle “duking it out while Lord Bortetourt suppresses his urge to kibitz.”

Categories: Main Page,U.S. Go Congress,U.S./North America

AGA to launch state championships across U.S.

Sunday March 4, 2018

The American Go Association is preparing to launch a brand-new system of state championships around the country and is seeking interest from AGA chapters in the various states.

“Our goals are to promote high-level competition in local areas, develop state level organization, and to provide more direct assistance to local chapters,” said AGA President Andy Okun. The championships will be run by the individual states according to AGA guidelines detailed here: Coordinator Selection, Application, and Summary. AGA chapters within each state will pick a State Championship Coordinator, who will be the point of contact between that state and the AGA State Championship Coordinator Paul Ohmart, who can be reached at 50state@usgo.org.

“The AGA recognizes that different states will have different issues in organizing a statewide event and will need to have different approaches; we will work to find the best approach,” said Ohmart. The AGA will also provide two types of trophies to each participating state, an individual trophy for the winner and a perpetual trophy to be held by the winner until the next championship. Chapter leaders will be contacted individually to help get the programs rolling.

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America