American Go E-Journal

AGA live commentary on LG Cup finals starts Sunday night

Saturday February 4, 2017

The AGA broadcast team is back at it, starting this weekend with the LG Cup Finals. On Sunday, the AGA’s own Gansheng Shi 1P will provide live commentary on our YouTube channel of the first game of the finals between Zhou Ruiyang 9p vs Dang Yifei 6p, starting at 7PM PST (10P EST).

Then, Tuesday the 7th and Wednesday the 8th, join Stephanie Yin 1P as she comments the next two games in the series.
YouTube commentary on all three broadcasts will begin at 7PM PST (10P EST), about halfway through these long games (main time is 3 hours per player).

Categories: U.S./North America
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Go Spotting: “The Vegetarian”

Thursday February 2, 2017

“There is a nice allusion to go in Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian, winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize,” 2017.01.30_The_vegetarian_-_han_kangwrites Tony Koslow. On page 164 (2016 US paperback edition translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith):

There’s been a time when she could spend hours like this, weighing up all the variables that might have contributed to determining Yeong-hye’s fate. Of course it was entirely in vain, this act of mentally picking up and counting the paduk stones that have been laid out on the board of her sister’s life.

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In Memoriam: Evanston Go Club’s Ian Feldman

Wednesday February 1, 2017

Evanston Go Club member Ian Feldman passed away on Sunday, January 22 of an apparent heart attack. He was 74 years 2017.02.01_ian-feldmanold. Ian was, in long-time friend John Harriman’s words, “The most regular of regulars” at John’s go club and at the No Exit cafe go club when it was in existence. He attended the two current clubs for about 20 years, and was well-known for his intelligence, humor, and insight. Many beginners have benefited from his willingness to teach. Ian also attended numerous U.S. Go Congresses, where he placed as a 1 kyu one year.

“I’ll never forget a conversation we had at the 2002 Chicago Congress”, said EGC president Mark Rubenstein. “I was listening to music on headphones while playing one of my U.S. Open games. I missed an obvious move and lost a group, resulting in my resignation. After the game, Ian asked me why I was wearing headphones, and I told him it helped me relax. “You shouldn’t be relaxed while playing Go!”, he chided me. “You need to be on edge, so you can feel the threat of your opponent’s every move!” He was right, and his comment has stuck with me all these years.”

Ian’s family has donated his collection of go books to the Evanston Go Club. The books will become the Ian Feldman Lending Library, and will be available for club members to borrow any time.

photo courtesy Mark Rubenstein

Categories: U.S./North America
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NJ Open Survey (updated)

Wednesday February 1, 2017

This year, Rutgers University Go Club is hosting one of the largest tournaments on the East Coast. The New Jersey Open will be held on a Saturday in March (exact date to be decided) in the Campus Center. AGA membership is not required. Must be 18+ to participate. Preregistration will begin in February, but if you’re interested in coming, please fill out the interest form linked here – your responses will let us know how much space we need to book.
(2/1/2017): We’ve just received word that the club has made the decision that holding the tournament this year is beyond their reach, and are cancelling their plans. Stay tuned for updates. 

Categories: U.S./North America
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Northwestern University Exploring Go and Math

Tuesday January 31, 2017

Screen Shot 2017-01-31 at 4.56.26 PMNorthwestern University in Illinois offered a new course on go last semester. The course was designed to help students build number sense, understand math concepts, and practice mathematical thinking, and was offered through the Center for Talent Development. The course evolved from a joint research project set up in November, 2015, by Xinming Guo, founder of Go and Math Academy, and David Uttal, a professor of Psychology and Education at Northwestern University. Guo has been advocating go for years, integrating the game as a math manipulative in the classroom. Each year thousands of students in Chicago and its suburbs have opportunities to make their first contact with go. After a demonstration of go and its connections to math education, Professor Uttal suggested Guo develop a course on go and math for the CTD program at Northwestern University. The new course was offered to students for the first time this past fall.

Professor Uttal leads a research laboratory of undergraduate, graduate students, and post-docs investigating spatial cognition and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) education. With the help of Professor Uttal and his lab, the research now focuses not only on go and elementary math education, but also on go and spatial thinking. The project team is comprised of Professor Uttal, his doctoral student Yanning Yu, and Guo. “Once we have more research results, we are hopeful that a link can be established between go and fundamental cognitive skills of human beings,” says Guo.

“The course and research have generated rich data so far. Doctoral student Yu and another research assistant, who recorded the entire 8-week course, have made many surprising discoveries after just a preliminary analysis,” says Guo. Deeper analysis is continuing and will provide more supporting materials for the 2nd phase of the research. “Go is a gold mine for future researches, no, a diamond mine,” said Professor Uttal.

Guo shared his vision of bringing go to every school in his keynote speech at the US Go Congress in 2015. He continues to develop elementary go and math curricula to help students build solid math foundations, and also runs professional development seminars for teachers. “I hope that our research on the relationship between go and math can also make contributions to the history of go in the whole world,” said Guo. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo by Xinming Guo: Professor Uttal (l) and Xinming Guo (r) with the Northwestern CTD Catalog, fall 2016, which lists their go course under the math category.

Upcoming events in Canada

Monday January 30, 2017

Montreal Winter Cup – Saturday February 18th.

Brock Tournament (St. Catherine’s Ontario) February 25/26th weekend. One day event, details to be settled soon and posted to the CGA site 2017.01.29_crofton-hall

University of Toronto Winter Tournament – Sunday March 12

Toronto Spring Cup – Saturday April 1st and Sunday April 2nd

Ottawa Cup – Typically April 30th weekend, but no plans confirmed yet

Quebec Open – very reliably held Victoria day weekend (May 20-21)but not yet officially announced

Canadian Open – Vancouver, July 1st-3rd, at the Crofton House. The main tournament will be Saturday/Sunday, with Pair Go, playoffs, and possibly other side events Monday.

Click here for the Canadian go event schedule

photo: main playing hall for the 2017 Canadian Open

Categories: U.S./North America
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Go Spotting: Reddit app

Monday January 30, 2017

“Reddit on their app download has a picture of the AlphaGo news,” reports Barry Physics. 2017.01.29_reddit

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Website tech issues resolved, Kiseido offers discounts on all go books

Sunday January 29, 2017

Kiseido’s recent website tech issues have been resolved, reports Richard Bozulich. Click here  to go to Kiseido’s new secure 2017.01.28_kiseidoURL. “In the meantime, until February 6, Kiseido is having a sale of all its books with with discounts of up to 15% and free shipping,” says Bozulich.

Lease Signed for National Go Center

Saturday January 28, 2017

The National Go Center has found a home in Washington DC with the signing of a 5-year lease on a space on Wisconsin 2017.01.28_ngc-lease-signingAvenue, just two blocks from the Tenley Metro stop. “We are very pleased to have found a great location to meet the needs of go players across the greater DC area,” said NGC Executive Director Gurujeet Khalsa. With 2900 square feet, Khalsa says “there’s plenty of space for a nice playing area and classrooms for teaching and after-school programs.” There are also lots of restaurants nearby, and off-street parking in addition to easily-accessible public transit.

“Congratulations to Gurujeet and his colleagues for their success!” said Iwamoto North America Foundation (INAF) Executive Director Thomas Hsiang. “INAF is dedicated to promoting the game and culture of go in North America and the National Go Center will be a central part of this mission. We look forward to helping celebrate the Center’s opening soon!”

Khalsa says that construction on the playing area can begin March 1. “If all goes smoothly with construction and a Certificate of Occupancy in DC then we are looking to have opening ceremonies with a Cherry Blossom tournament and events on the weekend of April 1-2.”

photo: Gurujeet Khalsa and NGC landlord William Chang signing lease; photo by Haskell Small

Categories: U.S./North America
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Second split of Collegiate Go League begins today

Saturday January 28, 2017

The second split of the Collegiate Go League (CGL) begins today. The CGL is a competitive league for college go clubs, now 2017.01.28_CGL_bannerrunning for its sixth season. Fifteen universities from across the US and Canada are competing in the CGL’s regular season with 10 rounds and playoffs in April to determine the champion.

After 5 rounds of competition, University of Maryland-College Park leads the A League, while Lafayette College leads the B League. Among the fierce competitors are former stars of the North American youth scene, such as Yunxuan Li 7d for Cornell University, Lionel Zhang 6d for UCLA, and Calvin Sun 1p for UC Berkeley.

“Tune in on KGS to see your favorite players face off!” says Justin Teng. Click here for schedules and details.