The 2016 Pair Go World Cup will be held on July 9 & 10 in Tokyo. Sixteen of the world’s best male-female pairs have been
invited to compete for the top prize of 10M JPY. The star-studded field includes Ke Jie – Yu Zhiying (China); Iyama Yuta – Hsieh Yimin (Japan); Park Junghwan – Choi Jeong (Korea) and Chen Shih-Iuan – Hei Jiajia (Taiwan). Notable pairs from the West include Eric Lui – Sarah Yu (North America); Fernando Aguilar – Rosario Papeschi (Latin America) and Ilya Shikshin – Natalia Kovaleva (Europe). All games will be broadcast on Pendant. Click here for details.
American Go E-Journal
Pair Go World Cup Coming up Next Month
Sunday June 19, 2016
“Tony” Tang Simul Spurs Record Turnout at Syracuse Club
Sunday June 19, 2016
The Syracuse Go Club had its largest turnout ever for a weekly meeting on Monday, June 13, when 14-year-old Zhangbokan 
“Tony” Tang 7d played a simul against all comers. Tang, recent winner of the Maryland Open, faced 17 opponents, giving handicaps ranging from 4 stones (for 1 dan players) to 13 (for 20 kyus) — seven other players chose to watch. Only three of his opponents emerged victorious, but a good time was had by all. Tang, who is staying with a host family in Syracuse for three more years until he finishes high school, is about to return to China to visit his family for a few weeks, but he will be returning in time for the US Go Congress, accompanied by his teacher Weijei Jiang 9P.
– report/photo by Richard Moseson
Go Classified: Demo board; go mags/books
Sunday June 19, 2016
Demo board for sale: Full size magnetic demo board made in China for sale.The board is in great condition (see photo). 
The magnetic stones are used, but most of them are in good condition. Price: $100 plus shipping. Email: dan_moise@yahoo.com
Go magazine & books: Go Review Jan 1972 to Spring 1977; Go World 1-78; The American Go Journal vol. 9 no. 1 (Jan 1974) to Fall/Winter 2002/2003, plus a couple of mimeographed predecessors; about 30 Ishi Press books (numbers on request); the Ranka 1976 yearbook; a small stack of Japanese and Korean publications, including two copies of Ahop Jul Baduk, a booklet about 9-line go; and some non-Ishi books like Lasker, Korscheldt, the Treasure Chest Enigma, and a couple of go proverb books. email tree.song@verizon.net
Your Move/Readers Write: Responses to Feenberg
Wednesday June 15, 2016
Redmond Responds: “Andrew Feenberg (Rational Play? The Master of Go vs. AlphaGo) clearly knows his stuff,” writes Michael Redmond 9P, “but I think it’s confusing that he leaves the challenger’s name as Otake. I was told that Kawabata just happened to choose that name, and it probably has nothing to do with Otake Hideo, who was a young player at the time. The challenger was Kitani Minoru, of course.” Redmond adds that he disagrees with Feenberg’s comment that “in the case of the actual match the inferior player wins through manipulating the new meta-rules and upsetting his adversary rather than through superior play.” Redmond says that “I would not call Kitani or AlphaGo the inferior player,” and adds that “I think most pros would agree with me when I say it was Honinbo Shusai who tended to manipulate the old traditions to take more advantage than any of his predecessors did. The new rules were in part an attempt to keep the match fair.”
Feenberg Strikes a Chord: “Andrew Feenberg‘s article, Rational Play? The Master of Go vs. AlphaGo, struck a chord in me,” writes Joel Sanet. “I can remember decades ago feeling great admiration for Otake Hideo when he said that he would rather lose the game than play an ugly move. Today I am learning how useful the empty triangle can be.”
June 30 Deadline for Go Teachers’ Workshop
Wednesday June 15, 2016
Application for admission into the joint Iwamoto North American Foundation – Nihon Kiin Go Teachers’ Workshop are still being accepted until June 30. The workshop is intended for people with interest in implementing go into school or university curriculum. The sponsors will cover most of the expenses for the attendees. Content of the weeklong workshop includes training sessions on go instruction and organization; visits to Japanese educational institutions that have go installed into their curriculum; lectures on Japanese go history and culture; group discussions on implementing go education; and pro teaching games. Click here for more details and application procedure.
Baoxiang Bai of China wins 2016 World Amateur Go Championships
Tuesday June 14, 2016
China’s Baoxiang Bai (right) defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Cheng Hsu to win his second world amateur championship with a 
perfect 8-0 record. Korea’s Kibaek Kim was second, and Chinese Taipei’s Chia Cheng Hsu was third. Benjamin Lockhart of the US was 13th, Manuel Velasco of Canada was 28th and Emil Garcia of Mexico was 36th. The tournament took place June 5-8 in Wuxi, a city of six million located slightly northwest of Shanghai. Full results here. Click here for more WAGC reports on Ranka.
Go Spotting: Kurusawa’s “Stray Dog”
Tuesday June 14, 2016
“In the 1949 movie ‘Stray Dog’ Toshiro Mifune plays a homicide detective looking a criminal,” writes David Matson. “Ten minutes before the end he scans a room for suspects. The two men who best fit the description are both in their late 20’s, wearing white linen suits and white hats with wide black bands. Both men are reading newspapers. One man has an open-collared white dress shirt with no tie, sunglasses and a watch on his left wrist. The other has a crew-neck sweater with horizontal stripes. I watched this on Hulu, viewed on a small laptop, but I think both newspapers showed go game diagrams (different games).”
Your Move/Readers Write: Where’s the 2015 Yearbook? Seeking Go Players in CA
Tuesday June 14, 2016
Where’s the 2015 Yearbook? “Last year you published the 2014 Member’s Edition Collection of Games, including a zip 
file of all files,” writes Joe Maia. “I didn’t find a similar page for the 2015 Game Collection. Are here any plans for a game collection (with zip file) for the 2015 Game Collection?”
The online 2015 Yearbook — the Member’s Edition Collection of Games, Commentaries & More — is in production now; members should keep an eye out for a notice about publication soon. If you want to get the Yearbook and the weekly Member’s Edition, click here to join the AGA now.
Seeking Go Players in CA: “Trying to find Igo players (any strength) in Marin County, California,” writes Myoun Korin, “Cities like San Rafael, Corte Madera, Mill Valley, Fairfax,etc.”
Click here for Where to Play Go across the US, including clubs in California.
“A strange and very bitter feeling”: France’s Dai Junfu on his WAGC performance
Tuesday June 14, 2016
by Dai Junfu, France’s representative at the 2016 World Amateur Go Championships (WAGC). 
It is a strange and very bitter feeling. I finished in 9th place at the 37th WAGC, a very disappointing result. Before the tournament, many people close to me said that I had the level to take 3rd place, and with luck, that I could finish even higher on the podium. Even myself, I had the same illusion, because Satoshi Hiraoka, the representative of Japan and twice winner of the WAGC, had been defeated by players from Europe, but I had never lost against a European. In the end, my sense of pride and lack of practice cost me dearly.
I had quite a difficult draw, because at the end I had the third highest SOS despite my three defeats. Starting from the third round, my opponents where all higher than 6-dan, excepting the final round. After having beaten the USA’s Benjamin Lockhart (7-dan), I was drawn against the winner of the tournament, China’s Bai Baoxiang, in the 4th round. He is considered to be one of four titans of amateur go in China, and his level is at least 4 or 5 professional dan. He turned down many chances to become a professional because he makes a good living from the many amateur tournament in China which have high prize pools. I tried with everything, but he had a solid victory without leaving me the slightest chance. It was the first time in 10 years that I had the feeling of losing a game without creating any problems for my opponent. Very sad. For the 5th round, my opponent was the player from Hong Kong (6-dan). He took a lot of territory but was unable to resist my attacks. With 4 wins from 5, I regained my confidence and was on track for a podium finish.
The turning point came in the 6th round. After losing to Taiwan, Japan’s Satoshi was without any significant victory. I was convinced that I was bound to defeat him, and that he would undoubtably make some blunder and I would have an easy win. In the game, my play was completely unbalanced. I could not recognise myself. I started to wake up when he had almost enclosed his gigantic moyo. Despite my tesuji in his centre, contrary to my illusions, he responded well and I was lost. Later, Mr Satoshi lost by not more that 2.5 points against Bai Baoxing because of bad yose. Actually, he is very strong. If I had appreciated his level, then I would have played differently against him in my game! After this defeat, I had said goodbye to the podium.
Round 7, is the game against my old friend Cristian Pop (7-dan) from Romania. Cristian made his usual moyo but I brought the game under my control. Then, at the crucial junction, I played the losing move, an instinctive play without a second of reflexion. Cristian took advantage of a ko and a good threat to take back control of the game. The last round was against a Belgian player and I won easily. Thanks to my high SOS, I took the 9th place but it was really a mediocre result and I felt a little ashamed. After the championship, I had the impression that the level of amateur players had progressed globally. The European players also had very good results. Notably the Ukrainian Andrii Kravets took 4th place ahead of Japan.
Even if it was a disappointing tournament for me, I met many new friends from all around the world. Notably I established a good relationship with the administration of the IGF. I hope that I can contribute more to the development of Go in the world because of my ability with languages (Chinese, French, English and a little Japanese). I hope that I can train a little more so as not to drop down in level, and I hope to make a better result if I am able to represent France again.
Based on the original report in Revue Francaise de Go, which includes game records and pictures.
Your Move/Readers Write: More AlphaGo effect; Go classifieds work
Monday June 13, 2016
More AlphaGo effect: “My uncle teaches math at Colorado Mesa University and asked me to give a presentation about go and AlphaGo,” writes 
Sirocco Fury Hamada. “Dr. Edward Bonan-Hamada’s mathematical modeling class at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO is interested in mathematically modeling human reasoning. He asked me to teach his students about go so they could understand it and think about the math behind AlphaGo. It was a small class, just seven students, but they asked great questions and are very interested in go now. A lot of them expressed interest in wanting to learn more about it and playing it online or with each other. AlphaGo is creating interest in go in unusual (or not) places!”
Go classifieds work: “The classified ad you ran for me (books, semiprecious stones, and kaya bowls for sale) was an unqualified success,” writes Donald Garratt. “All the items have been sold! Thank you. I will contact you in the future when I am ready to sell some more go equipment.”
Go Classified ads are free; email us at journal@usgo.org