Attachments and how to improve will be the main topics at the September 10 go seminar in Littleton, Colorado, led by Kellin
Pelrine 7 Dan (right). The first half of the seminar — which runs 2-4:30 at the Columbine library — will discuss attachments, particularly isolated ones used in the opening and early middle game to create forcing moves and toeholds in new areas rather than ones that defend or expand from existing stones. The second half — after a brief pizza break — will be about ideas on how to improve, illustrated in the context of a game review, and the seminar will conclude with a Q&A. There’s no charge to attend, but please RSVP to littlegoclub@gmail.com. “I look forward to seeing you there!” says Pelrine.
American Go E-Journal
Free Go Seminar Set for Sept. 10 in Littleton, CO
Sunday August 28, 2016
The Power Report: Ichiriki grabs share of Kisei S League lead; Oza challenger: Takao or Yo; New Honinbo League; Start of new Women’s Meijin League; One thousand wins to Hikosaka; Tengen challenger: Yamashita or Ichiriki; Veterans dominate Agon Kiriyama Cup
Sunday August 28, 2016
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Ichiriki grabs share of Kisei S League lead: A key game was played in the Kisei S League on August 18. Playing white, Ichiriki Ryo 7P (right) beat Kono Rin 9P by resig. In the third round, Kono had taken the sole lead, but this win gave Ichiriki a share of the lead. It also helped out Murakawa Daisuke 8P, who had shared the lead with Kono in the second round. All three are on 3-1.
Oza challenger: Takao or Yo: Takao Shinji is doing badly in the Kisei S League, but he is doing well in other tournaments. Besides becoming the Meijin challenger, he has also reached the play-off to decide the challenger for the 64th Oza title. In the semifinal, held on August 15, Takao (B) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig. His opponent in the play-off is Yo Seiki 7P, who beat Yamashita Keigo in the other semifinal, held on August 18. Taking white, Yo won by resig. If anything, Yo will be more determined to win the play-off than Takao, as he has missed a number of opportunities recently. Last year he lost the Oza play-off to Iyama Yuta, who went on to take the title. Yo also lost this year’s Judan play-off to Iyama, giving the latter his chance to try for a grand slam. Yo will be hoping for third time lucky.
New Honinbo League: Two of the four vacant seats in the 72nd Honinbo League have been decided. On August 18, Ko Iso (W) beat Tsuruyama Atsushi 7P by resig.; on August 25, Yuki Satoshi 9P (B) beat Cho Sonjin 9P by resig.
Start of new Women’s Meijin League: The first round in the 29th Women’s Meijin League has been completed and 
one game in the second round has been played. Results are given below.
(August 11) Fujisawa Rina 3P (B) beat Sakakibara Fumiko 6P by 19.5 points.
(August 18) Aoki Kikuyo 8P (B) beat Ishii Akane 2P by resig.; Okuda Aya 3P (B) beat Kato Keiko 6P by resig.
(August 25) Fujisawa Rina (W) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7P by resig. For the time being, Fujisawa has the sole lead on 2-0.
One thousand wins to Hikosaka: On August 18, Hikosaka Naoto 9P (right) became the 19th Nihon Ki-in player to reach the landmark of 1,000 wins. He had 544 losses, 3 jigos, and 1 no-result for a winning percentage of 64.8. At 54 years 5 months, Hikosaka is the 10th oldest to reach this mark. It took him 40 years 4 months, which is the 10th quickest. His winning percentage is the 10th highest. Hikosaka won the Judan title in 1998 and came fourth in the 11th Fujitsu Cup in the same year. He has played in the three leagues once each.
Tengen challenger: Yamashita or Ichiriki: The semifinals in the 42nd Tengen tournament were held on August 22. Yamashita Keigo (B) beat Kyo Kagen 4P by resig. and Ichiriki Ryo 7P (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke, also by resig.
Veterans dominate Agon Kiriyama Cup: The go press in Japan has been making much of a number of strong teenagers who have emerged in the last couple of years. However, the older generation is not moving aside graciously for them. The line-up in the 23rd Agon Kiriyama Cup semifinals illustrates this. The pairings are: Cho Chikun (aged 60) v. Takao Shinji (aged 39) and Yamashita Keigo (aged 37) v. Kono Rin (aged 35). That’s an average age of nearly 43. It’s hard to imagine this happening in Korea or China. The semifinals were played on August 25. Cho (W) beat Murakawa by resig. and Kono (W) beat Yamashita by 1.5 points.
Go Classified: Weekend players wanted near Stafford, VA
Sunday August 28, 2016
Weekend players wanted near Stafford, VA: I am a stuck-in-the-upper-kyus player who wants to start growing again. I prefer in-person matches, but I only have time on the weekends due to work and school. If you are looking for even games, looking for a teacher/stepping stone, or are willing to teach me, please let me know! I can bring three 19×19 go sets and one reversible 9×9/13×13 board to play in public places or in someone’s home. Please contact me at joseph.axilrod.craig@gmail.com
2016 US Go Congress Tourney Reports Posted; Game records wanted
Saturday August 27, 2016
Final tournament winner reports for the 2016 US Go Congress are now available online. Reported tournaments include the 
US Open, US Open Masters Division, NAMT and Evening League, as well as the Senior Cup, Women’s Tournament, Lightning Tournament, Die Hard, Redmond Cup, Under 16 Girls’ Championship, and Adult/Youth Pair Go. Note that these are winner report, not crosstabs. Click here for the US Open crosstab and the US Open Masters Division crosstab. If you’d like your sgf game record(s) added to the crosstab, send to us at journal@usgo.org
photo: 2016 US Open; photo by Chris Garlock
SmartGo’s Kierulf on the US Go Congress and his new app
Saturday August 27, 2016
SmartGo’s Anders Kierulf recently published a nice post-Go Congress blog post. In it you’ll find out why Kierulf will be 
bringing a a 9.7″ iPad to the next Congress instead of his 12.9″ iPad Pro, gives shout-outs to Brady Daniels for making a good case about why you should come to the next Go Congress and Kevin Hwang’s Go Talk about “What did you like most about the Go Congress?” both of which he says “clearly show that people are a main feature of the annual Go Congress.” Kierulf also reports that he just launched a new app for Othello, “a game that go is often confused with.” SmartOthello is written in Swift, Apple’s new programming language, “and is the first step in a redesign of my go apps,” Kierulf tells the E-Journal. “Most of the E-Journal readers are probably not interested in Othello/Reversi, but many might be interested to see the direction of the SmartGo apps.”
photo: Kierulf at the 2016 US Go Congress with Yasuko Imamura, a go instructor and SmartGo user from Kyoto
Go Spotting: The Japanese Miracle Men, My Golden Days & Dragon Inn
Saturday August 27, 2016
Ralph Hewins’ The Japanese Miracle Men (1967) provides portraits of the most influential Japanese tycoons of the post-war
period, “and for several of them it is highlighted that they were keen go players,” writes Erwin Gerstorfer. “Some of them even having the highest amateur Dan level of that time.” Among the go-playing tycoons behind the economic rise of Japan after World War II were Taizō Ishizaka and oil magnate Taro Yamashita. In the book, Ishizaka, who was president of the Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations and 
promoted go internationally, relates his go experience and his success in business, Gerstorfer says.
“Recently saw the films My Golden Days (2015) and Dragon Inn (1967, left) at the Cleveland Cinematheque,” writes Steve Zilber. “The first has the boyfriend starting to teach his new girl friend how to play (just a few seconds) and the second has two Chinese soldiers playing before they’re attacked (again, just a few seconds). Zilber is president of the Cleveland Go Club.
American Yunguseng Dojang Autumn Class Registration Now Open
Friday August 26, 2016
Registration is now open for the American Yunguseng Dojang’s 16th season of on-line classes, taught by former Korean insei 
and top-ranked player on the European rating list Inseong Hwang. The program contains five games of league play and analysis of all games, three lectures with interesting topics such as opening theory, local techniques, and evaluation, and a weekly highlights video.
The past three seasons had seven leagues with 42 players, but with 43 members already registered, the upcoming season is expected to open the biggest number of leagues ever. The best player each month get’s a month’s free tuition; click here for current standings.
This season kicks off September 5; register now and get free access to the recorded lesson videos until the season begins.
photo: Yunguseng members meet each other in this year US Congress in Boston and show off their member fans.
Correction: Kim Broke WYGC Record in 1985
Thursday August 25, 2016
“Congratulations to Aaron Ye on the WYGC (EJ 8-13)” writes eagle-eyed reader Keith Arnold, “he may be the first to finish third, but he is not the first to finish in the top three. Janice Kim took second place in the World Youth Championship in 1985.” Arnold also noted that Bellamy Liu tied for third place back in 1995, and that several contestants besides Calvin Sun had also placed fourth in the past. “Keith, repository of go lore, is correct in all things,” responded Janice Kim 3p when asked for comment, “I myself wasn’t sure if he had the year right, so I had to go look at the trophy. The year before (’84) I came in 9th, interestingly, my recollection is that Lee Chang-ho 9 dan came in 3rd, and Ryu Shi-hoon 9 dan came in 4th (he was a Korean insei who went to Japan and even won a title there). Kim Young-hwan (not sure what dan he is now) won. The next year when I came in second, Kong Byung-ju (again, not sure what dan he is now) won. The Korean insei system got started around 1980-81, and that first cohort was a POWERHOUSE, headed by Yoo Chang-hyuk 9 dan, the oldest of us. I think I was riding the wave of that team, and see sometime soon something similar for young US go players. I should note that I was studying in Korea, but representing the US, and in those early days the insei system in Korea wasn’t really formalized.”
“To be an insei (or ‘wonsaeng’ in Korean) back then you just kind of had to show up and ‘represent yourself,’ as one might say,” Kim continues. “When Kong Byung-ju came to Seoul, one of the older pros had him take 2 stones against Yu Chang-hyuk, who had already been granted professional 1 dan status for coming in 2nd in the World Amateur Championships a bit earlier. I think Yu was 18, making him one of the oldest of us, he was pretty strong already, in just a couple of years he was challenging Cho Hoon-hyun 9 dan in title matches. That strong younger generation coming in with the lower dan ranks, was one of the reasons why Korean low-dans were globally feared back then.”
“I remember distinctly when Yu was playing this 2-stone evaluation game with Kong, they went to just the early middle game, and then Yu Chang-hyuk said “Andennundayo,” basically, it’s not happening, I can’t give him two stones. That was enough to put Kong Byung-ju at wonsaeng 3 kyu or ‘gup’, in A League. The games that A Leaguers or lower-dan pros played in the wonsaeng study room were fascinating to watch, they were all even, and I remember once a huge, complex capturing race with big eyes, where one side had over 20 liberties, the other, one less, although I wasn’t able to see that before the resignation came. I could not believe my own eyes that a player short a liberty so far down a twisting path would resign at that point, certain of defeat. It’s informed my go sensibilities to this day what it means to be truly strong, although many people would look only at the loss.”
“When Kong and I played in the final at the World Youth, I think I believed I could win, but maybe subconsciously didn’t, I used to watch everyone’s games and wonder inside if I could possibly be playing at that level. Afterwards we went to the top of the hotel we were staying at in Taipei, and tried to drink the beer they had given us at the banquet out of our trophies. I have never cared for beer though, even under such circumstances, so we ended up just singing instead.”
-Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor
The Power Report (3): Takao to have another crack at Meijin title; Fujisawa to challenge for Women’s Honinbo; Kono has sole lead in Kisei S League; 900 wins for Hane; Promotions & Obituaries
Saturday August 20, 2016
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Takao to have another crack at Meijin title: All the games in the final round of the 41st Meijin League were held on August 4. At this stage, three players were still in the running to become the challenger. With only one loss so far, Takao Shinji 9P (right) was one point ahead of Cho U 9P and Murakawa Daisuke 8P, who were both on 5-2. Besides winning his own game, Cho needed Takao to lose for him to make a play-off. Conditions were tougher for Murakawa, however. Only the two higher-ranked players qualify for a play-off in the Meijin League. That meant that Murakawa needed both Takao and Cho to lose, in which case he would meet Takao in a play-off. Go Weekly claimed that the odds of this happening were only one in 16. Takao made these calculations irrelevant by winning his game; this avoided a playoff in the league for the first time in six years. We have just seen Yamashita make three challenges in a row in the Kisei title; Takao is following in his footsteps with his second successive challenge in the Meijin title, not to mention his recently concluded Honinbo challenge. He will be hoping to do better than last year, when he failed to win a game. Apart from Murakawa, Iyama’s main opposition is still coming from older players.
Recent results:
(July 7) Cho U 9P (B) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P by 2.5 points; Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Hirata Tomoya 7P by resig.
(July 21) Takao Shinji (W) beat Uchida Shuhei 7P by resig.
(Final round, August 4)Takao (B) beat Ko Iso 8P by resig. ; Yamashita (B) beat Cho U by resig.; Murakawa (B) beat Kono Rin 9P by resig.; Hirata Tomoya 7P (W) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig.
The order after Takao is: 2. Murakawa (6-2); 3. Yamashita (5-3); 4. Cho (5-3); 5. Kono (4-4); 6. Ko (4-4). Hane (3-3), Hirata (2-6), and Uchida Shuhei 7P (0-8, bye in last round) lost their places (that had already been decided before the last round). The first game will be played at the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo on August 30 and 31.
Fujisawa to challenge for Women’s Honinbo: After a good start to her career the year before last, in which she 
won two titles, Fujisawa Rina (right) had a “waiting” year last year. Things have now changed, however. In the play-off to decide the challenger to Xie Yimin for the 35th Women’s Honinbo title, held at the Ichigaya headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in o
n August 8, Fujisawa (W) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7P by resig. after 150 moves. The title match will start on September 13. Rina turns 18 on September 18.
Kono has sole lead in Kisei S League: After three rounds, Kono Rin 9P is the only undefeated player in the 41st Kisei S League. In his third-round game, Kono defeated the joint leader after two rounds, Murakawa Daisuke 8P. Level with Murakawa in second place is Ichiriki Ryo 7P. This is a small league, with only five rounds, so Kono is well positioned.
In the eight-player A League, So Yokoku 9P has the sole lead with five straight wins. Closest to him is Cho U 9P on 4-1, the other players have suffered two or more losses, So and Cho will meet in the final round. In the seven-round B1 League, Kyo Kagen 4P has the sole lead with 6-0, followed by Cho Chikun 9P on 5-0. In the B2 League, Ko Iso 8P has the sole lead on 5-1, followed by Yuki Satoshi 9P and Yo Seiki 7P on 4-2.
Recent results:
(July 7) Yamashita Keigo (W) beat Yoda Norimoto 9P by 1.5 points.
(July 14) Ichiriki (B) beat Takao Shinji by resig.
(July 21) Kono (W) beat Murakawa by resig.
(August 11) Yamashita Keigo 9P (B) beat Takao Shinji 9P by resig.; Murakawa Daisuke 8P (B) beat Yoda Norimoto 9P by resig. (Apologies for the game out of order in my previous report.)
900 wins for Hane: Hane Naoki (right) has reached the landmark of 900 wins. At 39 years 11 months, he is the fourth 
youngest to do so. It took him 25 years three months, which is the third quickest. His winning percentage at this point of 66.6 is the 12th best.
Promotions
To 6-dan: Kobayashi Chizu (90 wins; as of August 5)
To 4-dan: Kyo Kagen (50 wins; as of July 8); Adachi Toshimasa (50 wins; as of July 22)
To 3-dan: Seki Tatsuya (40 wins; as of July 15)
Obituaries: Ito Makoto, Ueki Yoshio
Ito Makoto was born on August 4, 1945 in Shiga Prefecture. He became a disciple of Kitani Minoru and made 1-dan in 1964. He reached 8-dan in 1989 and was promoted to 9-dan when he retired in 2005.
Ueki Yoshio, a member of the Osaka branch of the Nihon Ki-in, died of cirrhosis of the liver on August 10. Born in Osaka on February 25, 1969, he became a disciple of Yamashita Yorimoto 7P. He qualified as 1-dan in 1985 and reached 8
-dan in 2001.
AGA Broadcast Friday Night: Ke Jie 9p vs Won Sungjin 9p in Bailing Cup
Thursday August 25, 2016
– Michael Wanek