“When I was reading the book ‘Chess Secrets I learned from the Masters,’ Edward Lasker’s semi-autobiographical book, I found that weiqi/go is 
mentioned in the introduction and in the middle of the book,” writes Xinming Simon Guo. “To my surprise, his go story covers two and half pages in the 6-page introduction.” Lasker and a friend had learned go’s rules from a magazine. “To our amusement, the game was called a ‘competitor’ of chess,” Lasker writes. “But on closer examination we found the statement was well-founded, and we played Go at the slightest provocation.”
American Go E-Journal
Go Spotting: Lasker’s “Chess Secrets I learned from the Masters”
Monday February 23, 2015
Hinoki Press Founder Chris Greene Dies
Sunday February 22, 2015
Hinoki Press founder Chris Greene died last Friday. Greene, who had cancer, died at home in Libertyville, Illinois. He is survived by his wife, 
Vicky, and his daughters, Melissa and Elizabeth. “I was lucky enough to work with Chris doing a little copy editing on some of Hinoki’s books, and found him to be a gentleman and a friend to the go community,” said AGA president Andy Okun. “The books he published represent a lasting contribution to the game and its enjoyment.”
A long-time go player, Greene started the go book publishing company in 2006 after retiring from his career as a programmer and published 18 go books before selling it late last year to Go Game Guru (Go Game Guru Buys Hinoki Press, Will Keep Titles in Print 11/12/2014 EJ). “Chris made an immense contribution to the body of English language go literature in a relatively short time,” said Go Game Guru’s David Ormerod. “He was incredibly modest about his achievements and stoic about his illness. When I last spoke to him, on Thursday, he was primarily concerned that the material that he’d worked hard to have translated and published in English remain available to future generations of go players. His motto for Hinoki Press was, ‘always carry a go book in your hand.’ We will miss our friend and fellow go player and will do everything we can to honor his wishes.”
Evanston Go Club Bounces Back
Sunday February 22, 2015
After a long period of low attendance, things are looking up for the Evanston Go Club. “The new location has sparked a lot of interest” says club
president Mark Rubenstein. “We started meeting at the new Starbucks in downtown Evanston (IL), and the response has been fantastic. Customers are showing an interest in the game, and we’re teaching more beginners than ever! This week I was setting up a board and stones at an empty table. I went to get my opponent, and when I returned I saw that two college students had sat down at the board and started playing Go Moku. They didn’t even know about the club!” Check out the club’s website for more information.
photo by Mark Rubenstein
European Go News Editor Wanted
Sunday February 22, 2015
The E-Journal is seeking a new European go news editor. Current European go news editor Annalia Linnan is taking a well-deserved break after two years of consistently excellent work. The volunteer position is responsible for editing reports from EuroGoTV and other sources; editing experience is helpful but not required. Those interested may email journal@usgo.org.
¥5000 Off for Osaka Go Camp Pre-Registrants
Sunday February 22, 2015
Register by February 28 and you’ll save 5000 yen (about $40) on Maeda Ryo 6P’s 3-week intensive go camp in Osaka, which runs June 
28 through July 18. Osaka Go Camp activities include intensive training by Kansai Kiin professionals, the opportunity to play go at the Kiin with professionals, play against top amateurs and former inseis, as well as sightseeing, cultural trips and making new go friends. The camp is sponsored by Kansai Kiin and the Osaka University of Commerce. Email Osaka.go.2015@gmail.com for more info or to reserve your space.
Go and Artificial Intelligence Tech Talk
Sunday February 22, 2015
Tim Kington, a software engineer at Fog Creek Software and 2-dan amateur go player, talks about go, Artificial Intelligence and attempts to 
create computer programs that can beat human players in “Go and Artificial Intelligence – Tech Talk,” produced for his Fog Creek colleagues. Kington gives an overview of go, explains how to play it and why go AI is hard. He finishes by describing the progress so far with go AI programs and what the future is likely to hold. The post includes a handy guide to the talk’s content and timing so viewers can jump to the area of interest, as well as a written transcript.
Your Move/Readers Write: Borges, Go & Math
Sunday February 22, 2015
“On your site, you’ve posted a poem about go by Jorge Luis Borges, and asked about his connection to the game (Go Spotting: Jorge Luis Borges
on “the astrological game of Go” 10/1/2012 EJ),” writes Scott Enderle. “I am not currently aware of any direct connection, but I think it’s worth mentioning that Borges’ writings explored the idea of combinatorial explosion more deeply than perhaps any literary writer before or since. His story The Library of Babel is a particularly notable example — there’s a fairly recent book about the mathematics behind it, William Goldbloom Bloch’s The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges’ Library of Babel (click here for a review). So the connection as I see it is more conceptual than historical. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Borges never actually played the game, but I imagine that he was immediately able to intuit some vague sense of its beauty because of his fascination with other sources of combinatorial complexity.”
Go Spotting: “Go Stone” Tweet
Sunday February 22, 2015
The Go Blog @thegoblognet recently tweeted some stills from the Korean go film “The Stone” (Go Spotting: New Korean Movie “The Stone” 11/28/2013 EJ). #baduk #weiqi #igo #囲碁 #바둑 #围棋 #gogame 
#moviestills ift.tt/1C98g3g .
Your Move/Readers Write: 1st US Go Congress, Not
Thursday February 19, 2015
1st US Go Congress, Not: “The group photo said to be of the 1st Go Congress in 1985 is not (Go Filmmakers Looking for US Go Congress 
Photos, Videos 2/16),” writes Michael Bull. “That photo predates the Congress and was taken in San Francisco, CA at one of the last of the East Coast/West Coast championships. The long time manager of the SF Go Club Shinji Dote is seated in the front and he never attended a US Go Congress, (he was unable to attend the 1999 Congress in SF because of poor health). The photo was taken by a SF Go Club regular known only as St. Clair.”
School Teams Tournament Open for Registration
Thursday February 19, 2015
The American Go Honor Society has announced the 2015 School Team Tournament (STT) will be held March 28 and April 4. “The STT is our annual flagship tournament, played in the classic Hikaru no Go team style where each school sends three representatives to compete against other schools,” said AGHS Co-President Hugh Zhang. All matches will be played online, and schools from Canada, the US, and Mexico are all invited. As a new top prize this year, the American Go Foundation is offering full scholarships (tuition + room/board) to the AGA Summer Go Camp. All three members of the top dan and top kyu team will win the scholarships. Prizes will also be awarded in the other divisions, including $75 cash for first place, $50 for 2nd, and $25 for 3rd, as well as medals, and the stylish new AGHS T-Shirt pictured at right. This year’s tournament will be held on March 28 and April 4. To register, fill out the form here, by March 20. More information may be found on the AGHS website. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.