American Go E-Journal

Edward Zhang wins Virginia State Championship

Friday February 19, 2021

Edward Zhang 6d won Virginia State Championship finals over the holidays and is now the current Virginia State Champ with Qingbo Zhang 5d runner up for the second year in a row. The four competitors in the two-round knockout final won their spots by being the top finishing Virginia residents in the Virginia Open played in December. Games were played on OGS; the tournament was organized with the help of Baduk Club. Past champion Josh Lee 6d could not participate to defend his title as he has moved out of state. “I was disappointed with my prelim performance,” says champion Zhang, “But I wanted to inspire my 7-year-old daughter, who learned Go just a few weeks before, that daddy doesn’t just ‘talk the talk.'” Click here to see the final game between Edward Zhang 6d and Qingbo Zhang 5d.

-report by Gary Smith, photo provided by Edward Zhang

Categories: Events/Tournaments,Main Page,Other,U.S./North America

The Empty Board: Philosophical Reflections on Go #17

Wednesday February 17, 2021

By William Cobb

Have you ever tried to do something really fast? I can think of several things I would want to do as fast as possible: spit out something that tastes really bad, get out of a house that is on fire, run in a race, get out of the shower when the hot water suddenly gives out. Of course, there are things you wouldn’t want to do as fast as possible: finish the last bite of chocolate cake, listen to your favorite songs or sing them or play them. There are some activities that you naturally savor and linger over, not wanting them to end so quickly you can’t enjoy them. Where does playing go fit here? EJ reader Joe Mihara made a comment recently that Chris Garlock passed on to me: “What fun is Go if you have no time to think? I thought that the ’thinking’ was what was fun about the game?” This seems obvious to me.

I know that some people like to play “blitz” go, slapping down the stones as fast as they can. It can be wildly exciting, but only if you are not concerned about understanding what is happening during the game. Many go players are a little unhappy about having only forty-five minutes to play their moves in a game in most tournaments as there is so much to consider—and it is interesting, even enjoyable, to consider as many of the possibilities for every move as you can. It seems odd to suggest playing a game of go under circumstances that make it impossible to know what is happening in the game. In fact, I think that taking time to think about most things you do as you do them is a good idea. Trying to get through a fascinating process as fast as you can just makes no sense. Even if the only thing you care about is winning, how can you enjoy winning if you have virtually no awareness of how it happened? The issue is whether the process or the result is what you care about. To me, one of the most attractive things about go is that the rules make you lose half the time and win half the time. All there is to enjoy is the process.

photo by Phil Straus; photo art by Chris Garlock

Categories: Main Page,The Empty Board

2021 online e-Go Congress announced

Tuesday February 16, 2021

The AGA today announced that the 2021 US e-Go Congress will be held online July 17-24. With the pandemic continuing, the AGA has determined this is the safest for all of its players. The Congress Coordinator is working with this year’s director “to prepare and plan another excellent year of lots of Go,” organizers report.

“Last year’s e-Go Congress was a great success,” said AGA Congress Coordinator Lisa Scott, “and we’re thrilled to be able to build on that for another year. We’re all looking forward to being back in person at a US Go Congress when it’s safe to do so, but in the meantime, it’s wonderful to be able to involve so many people, in North America and around the world, who might not be able to attend an in-person Congress. I can’t wait to see everyone online this summer, and in-person next year!”

Tournaments will include a weekend “Open” tournament, a weekday daytime “blitz” tournament, evening 9×9, Pair Go, Double-Digit Kyu tournaments, professional events, a daytime youth event and the City League Tournament Championships. Tournaments will be held on KGS, OGS, and Pandanet. “We hope to see many friends and repeat players from last year,” say organizers. Watch the E-Journal and the Go Congress website for more information.

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

Go Spotting: Hikaru no Go; Cyberpunk 2077

Tuesday February 16, 2021

Cyberpunk 2077
“While playing Cyberpunk 2077, a recently released RPG videogame, I was doing a mission and came across a game of Go on some barrels in the middle of a street,” reports Liam McFadden. “Oddly enough, as you get further away from the board, the texture switches from showing a 19×19 board to a 10×10. I’m not surprised that the texture changes to the smaller board size, but I find it interesting that obviously somebody knows enough about Go and cared enough to put this in the game, but then makes the lower resolution board a 10×10 rather than 9×9.”

Hikaru no Go
There is now a Chinese drama based on Hikaru no Go, reports Dave Weimer. Here’s a review. Also, on page 59-60 of Walter Mosley, Trouble s What I Do (Little Brown, 2020) is the following: “Talking to Twill was like playing a game of Go; words were like pieces that accrued on all sides until, in the end, victory was the child of sacrifice.”

Categories: Go Spotting,Main Page

Shin Min-jun wins first major world championship

Monday February 15, 2021

South Korean baduk player Shin Min-jun has won his first world championship, coming first in the LG Cup World Baduk Championship.
The 22-year-old who’s ranked 4th in South Korea, defeated top-ranked Chinese player Ke Jie, giving him his first major victory since his debut eight years ago. Shin lost the first game, before winning the next two. Shin also became the 15th South Korean to win a major event.

Arirang News

Categories: Korea,Main Page

Stay in touch!

Monday February 15, 2021

Have you moved this year? Changed your email address? Make sure you’ve updated your contact information in the AGA’s membership database. There are few tournaments going on and our TDs love to have accurate info. Tournaments have different residency requirements which we check. We have video guides for your Member account and Chapter account. Chapters info is published on our Where to Play Go map and the AGAGD.

Categories: AGA Chapters,Events/Tournaments

50 years aGO – February 1971

Sunday February 14, 2021

by Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister

On February 2 Ishida Yoshio finally played his third game – picking up his second win — in the Honinbo League, over Sakata Eio. By the end of the month, Kato Masao had played twice as many games, with a 4-2 record, while Fujisawa Hosai led the league with a perfect 4-0 record. (Game record here).

Also on February 2, Otake Hideo defeated Hashimoto Utaro to even up the Judan title at 2-2. Otake is pictured making the sealed move (which proved to be a mistake, though not a fatal one). However, on February 11 Hashimoto, the 64-year-old veteran of the atom bomb game, defeated his youthful opponent to win the title. Interestingly, he also won the first Judan title, and veteran Fujisawa Shuko, who just regained the Meijin title last year, had won the first Meijin as well. (Game records here: Judan 4 & Judan 5)

Speaking of old and new, on February 18th a match occurred in the Nihon Kiin Championship Tournament. On the right is 70-year-old Hayashi Yutaro 9 dan. On the left is a 14-year-old 4 dan named Cho Chikun. The score was a lot closer than the age difference; a half point to the elder. (Game record here).

Categories: 50 years aGO,Japan,Main Page

The Power Report: Sumire’s progress; Ida wins 5th Crown

Saturday February 13, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Sumire’s progress

First of all, some good news for Nakamura Sumire fans. On August 15, she scored a commendable win over Takao Shinji in a practice game played on the net. Takao was playing in his capacity of coach of the national team. Taking white, Sumire won by 1.5 points. It’s not an official result, of course, but pros take all their games quite seriously.

In the September 14 issue of Go Weekly, it was announced that Sumire would be transferring to the Tokyo headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in on January 1. The timing is right for her, as she had finished elementary school and will proceed to junior high in April. Sumire: “I thought that I wanted to study hard in Tokyo, where there would be many strong players and rivals. I will do my best to improve, even if only a little.” Her father, Nakamura Shinya 9P, commented: “Sumire has been saying that she wanted to test herself in Tokyo. . . . She won’t forget her feelings of gratitude to all the people who helped her in the Kansai. I hope she will do her best.”

Incidentally, the magazine also mentioned that a fan with an anime-style portrait of Sumire on it had gone on sale.

Results since my previous report are given below.

(Sept. 7) Sumire (W) beat Tsukuda Akiko 5P by 6.5 points (Prelim. A, 24th Women’s Kisei tournament). This win earned Sumire a seat in the main tournament for the second year in a row.

(Sept. 14) In the preliminary tournament for the 15th Hiroshima Aluminum Cup Young Carp Tournament, Sumire won three games in one day and qualified for the main tournament. This tournament is open to players under 31 and under 8-dan. The time allowance is 30 seconds per move with ten minutes of thinking time to be used in one-minute units (the NHK Cup format). She beat three woman players: Honda Mariko 1P, Miyamoto Chiharu 1P, and Omori Ran 1P.

(Sept. 17) Sumire beat Ishida Atsushi 9P (Preliminary C, Oza tournament). Go Weekly noted that her record since the resumption of professional play in June was now 8-2.

(Oct. 1) Sumire (W) lost to Takahashi Masahiro 7P by resig. (Prelim. B, 69th Oza tournament).

(Oct. 8) Sumire (W) beat Ueno Risa 1P by 6.5 points (main tournament, 24th Women’s Kisei). With Sumire being 11 and Ueno 14, this was a game between the two youngest players at the Nihon Ki-in, for which the combined age of 25 was probably a record. They became pros at the same time, but this was the first official game between them. Sumire also played in the main tournament last year, but on more favorable terms, as she had to play only one game in the qualifying tournament. This is her first win in the main section of a tournament.

(Oct 26) Sumire (B) lost to Aoki Kikuyo 8P by 8.5 points (24th Women’s Kisei).
(Oct. 29) Sumire (W) beat Kori Toshio 9P (Prelim. C, 77th Honinbo). This was her fourth win over a 9-dan in 11 encounters.
(Nov. 16) Sumire (B) lost to Tsuji Hana 1P (46th King of the New Stars preliminary).
(Nov. 19) Sumire (B) beat Taguchi Misei 1P by resig. (Prelim. B, 32nd Women’s Meijin).
(Nov. 21) Sumire (W) lost to Ueno Asami, Women’s Honinbo, by resig. (round 1, main tournament, 15th Young Carp).
(Dec. 3) Sumire (B) lost to Iwamaru Taira 7P by 7.5 points (Prelim. C, 77th Honinbo).
(Dec. 10) Sumire (B) beat Nakajo Chihiro 1P by resig.; Sumire (W) beat Mizuno Hiromi 5P by resig. (both in Prelim. B, 32nd Women’s Meijin)
(Dec. 17) Sumire (W) beat Miyamoto Chiharu 1P by 32.5 points (8th Women’s Hollyhock Cup prelim.)

Sumire’s results for the year were 21 wins to 17 losses

Ida wins Crown title for 5th straight year

This year, the 19-year-old Otake Yu 4P challenged Ida Atsushi 8P (aged 26) for the 61st Crown title. The game was played at the Nagoya headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in on November 26; taking black, Ida won by resignation after 181 moves. He won the Crown title for the fifth year in a row. First prize is 1,700,000 yen (about $16,300).

Promotions

To 2-dan: (Ms.) Moro Arisa (30 wins; as of Sept. 4); (Ms.) Kato Chie (30 wins, as of Oct. 30)

To 4-dan: Fujimura Yosuke (50 wins; as of Sept. 8); Kazama Jun (50 wins; as of Nov. 13)

Retirement

Inoue Kunio 9P retired as if October 5. Born in Tokyo on January 19, 1948, he became a disciple of Suzuki Goro 9P in 1955, then switched to the Kitani school in 1966. He made 1-dan in 1968 and reached 8-dan in 1988. After his retirement, he was promoted to 9-dan.

Obituaries

Sakai Masanori 5P died on September 15. Born in Hiroshima Prefecture on October 12, 1929, he became a disciple of Iyomoto Momoichi Hon. 8P. He became 1-dan in 1950 and reached 4-dan in 1974. He retired in 1996 and was promoted to 5-dan.

Kosugi Kiyoshi 9P died on September 27. Born on February 2, 1939, he was taught by his father Kosugi Chokufu 7P. He became 1-dan in 1957 and reached 8-dan in 1991. He was promoted to 9-dan after his retirement in 2004. With James Davies, he was the author of 38 Basic Joseki in the ISHI press Elementary Go Series. The late Kosugi Masaru 9P was his younger brother.

Asano Hideaki 8P died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Nov. 10. Born on January 14, 1945, he entered the Kitani school. He made 1-dan in 1966 and reached 7-dan in 1997. He retired in 2011 and was promoted to 8-dan.

Categories: Japan,John Power Report,Main Page

The Power Report: Ichiriki wins Tengen; Shibano defends Oza; Ke Jie wins Samsung Cup

Friday February 12, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ichiriki wins Tengen

After failing in five challenges to Iyama Yuta for top-seven titles, Ichiriki Ryo finally prevailed in his sixth challenge, which was for the 46th Tengen title. He now has two top-seven titles to his name.

First of all, Ichiriki had to overcome the redoubtable resistance of Kono Rin 9-dan, whom he defeated in the play-off to decide the challenger. The game was played on September 4, and Ichiriki (W) won by resignation. The results in the title match are detailed below. Ichiriki made a lucky start by scoring a half-point win, but Iyama fought back to take two games in a row. At this point, it looked like the same old story, but Ichiriki has acquired some tenacity. He scored two successive wins and won his second top-seven title, to add to the Gosei he won earlier in the year from Hane Naoki. Iyama, with his major triple crown of the three top titles, is still indisputably the number one, but Ichiriki is competing for the number two position with Shibano Toramaru.

Game 1 (Oct. 8). Ichiriki (B) by half a point.
Game 2 (Oct. 20). Iyama (B) by resig.
Game 3 (Nov. 27). Iyama (W) by resig.
Game 4 (Dec. 7). Ichiriki (W) by resig.
Game 5 (Dec. 16). Ichiriki (B) by resig.

Shibano defends Oza title

The 68th title match pitted two of the new leaders of Japanese go against each other: the 22-year-old Kyo Kagen 8P and the 20-year-old Shibano Toramaru Oza. The latter’s play in the Oza title match showed that he had recovered from the shock of losing the Meijin title. He managed to fend off Kyo’s challenge while dropping just one game, though he did seal his victory with a half-pointer.

Game 1 (Oct. 23). Shibano (W) by resig.
Game 2 (Nov. 6). Shibano (B) by resig.
Game 3 (Nov. 17). Kyo (B) by 5.5 points.
Game 4 (Dec. 3). Shibano (B) by half a point.

Ke Jie wins Samsung Cup; Ichiriki carries the flag for Japan

Four players from Japan took part in the 25th Samsung Cup, which, like other international tournaments these days, was played on the net. Ichiriki Ryo 8P and Kyo Kagen 8P were seeded for Japan. Sada Atsushi 7P won a seat in the open section and Mimura Tomoyasu 9P in the senior section respectively of the Japanese qualifying tournament. Once again, Ichiriki led the way for Japan, reaching the quarterfinals with two wins (the first win was on time, but he was ahead). Fittingly, the final featured the top two ranked players in the world: Shin Jinseo, who is number one, and number two, Ke Jie. The latter won 2-0, but Shin was handicapped in the first game by a move that was made accidentally. The cord of his mouse touched the “touch panel” of his notebook computer and triggered a ridiculous move: Black’s move 21 on the 1-8 point. There was a technical problem in the 21st Nong Shim Cup (see the first installment of this report), which led to a replayed game, but Shin not appeal, something that the Samsung rules for this tournament did not allow for anyway. In the second game, Shin took the lead but fell victim to an upset in the endgame. Ke picked up his fourth victory in the Samsung Cup and his eighth international victory overall. First prize is worth 300,000,000 won (about $272,000).

Selected results:

(Round 1, Oct. 27). Ichiriki Ryo 8P (Japan) (W) beat Gu Jihao 9P (China) on time; Shi Yue 9P (China) (W) beat Sada Atsushi 7P (Japan) by resig.; Kang Jihoon 2P (Korea) (W) beat Kyo Kagen 8P (Japan) by 1.5 points; Choi Jaeyoung 5P (Korea) (W) beat Mimura Tomoyasu 9P by resig.;

Round 2 (Oct. 28). Ichiriki (W) beat Shin Minjun by resig.; Ke Jie 9P (China) (W) beat Cho Hanseung 9P (Korea) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) (W) beat Lian Xiao 9P (China) on time.

Quarterfinals (Oct. 30). Xie Erhao 9P (China) (B) beat Ichiriki by resig.; Yang Dingxin 9P (China) (B) beat Li Weiqing 8P (China) by resig.; Ke (B) beat Li Xuanhao 8P (China) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) (W) beat Shi Yue by resig.

Semifinals (Oct. 31). Shin (W) beat Xie by resig,; Ke (W) beat Yang by resig.

Final
Game 1 (Nov. 2). Ke (W) by resig.
Game 2 (Nov. 3). Ke (B) by half a point.

Tomorrow: Sumire’s progress; Ida wins 5th Crown

Categories: Japan,John Power Report,Main Page

The Power Report: Kono to challenge for Kisei; New Meijin League; 22nd Nong Shim Cup

Thursday February 11, 2021

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Kono to challenge for Kisei title

After the fourth round of the S League in the 45th Kisei tournament, Takao Shinji 9P was in the sole lead, but he slipped up in the final round, losing to Murakawa Daisuke 9P. Kono Rin won his final game, against Cho U, so he ended on 3-2, even with Takao, Murakawa Daisuke, and Ichiriki Ryo. In such a short league, multiple ties are common, but there are no play-offs. The higher-ranked player prevails, and this was Kono, who was number one. However, Takao, as number two, came second and so qualified for the irregular knock-out tournament that decides the challenger. Below are S League results since my last report and details of the knock-out.

(Aug. 20) Cho U 9P (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 9P by resig.; Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Kyo Kagen 8P by resig.
(Aug. 31) Takao Shinji (B) beat Cho U 9P by half a point.
(Sept. 14) Murakawa (W) beat Ichiriki by 1.5 points.
(Sept. 21) Murakawa (W) beat Takao by 4.5 points.
(Sept. 24) Kono (W) beat Cho U by resig.; Ichiriki (W) beat Kyo Kagen by resig.

The play-off between the winners of the two B Leagues was held on September 19. Shibano (B) beat Mutsuura Yuta 7P by 3.5 points. Results that follow are those in the Tournament to Decide the Challenger, an irregular knock-out.

(Oct. 5) Shibano Toramaru Meijin (B), winner of the B Leagues, beat Hong Akiyoshi 3P (Kansai Ki-in), winner of the C League, by resig.
(Oct. 19) Yamashita Keigo (B), winner of A League, beat Shibano by resig.
(Oct. 30) Takao Shinji 9P (B), second in S League, beat Yamashita by resig.
(Nov. 9) (Best-of-three match to decide the challenger, Game 1). Takao (B) beat Kono, first in S League, by resig.
(Nov. 12) Kono (B) beat Takao by half a point. Kono started this “best-of-three” with a one-game advantage, so he won it 2-1. He is making his second successive challenge to Iyama Kisei.

New Meijin League

The new players in the 46th Meijin League are Anzai Nobuaki 7P, Motoki Katsuya 8P, and Yo Seiki 8P. Anzai has played in a Honinbo League, but is a debutant in the Meijin League. Motoki has played in three Honinbo leagues and has challenged for the title, but this is his first Meijin League. Yo is playing in his third Meijin League and had made five appearances in the Honinbo League. Only one round was completed by the end of the year. Results follow.

(Dec. 3) Ichiriki Ryo Gosei (B) beat Anzai by resig.
(Dec. 10) Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig.
(Dec. 14) Kyo (W) beat Shibano Toramaru Oza by half a point.
(Dec. 17) Yo Seiki 8P (B) beat Motoki by resig.

22nd Nong Shim Cup

The conclusion of the 21st Nong Shim Spicy Noodles Cup was delayed until August (see the first installment in this report), but the 22nd Cup got off to a start on schedule, though, like the final round of the previous cup, it was played on the net. So far, the first two rounds, that is, nine games have been played. As a tournament, it has been more even than usual, with no one player dominating. In fact, only one player, Gu Jihao of China, has won successive games. China has four wins to Korea’s three and Japan’s two; each country has two players left. The final round is scheduled for February 22 to 26.

Round 1
Game 1 (Oct. 13). Hong Kipyo 9P (Korea) (B) beat Fan Tingyu 9P (China) by resig.
Game 2 (Oct. 14). Kyo Kagen (Xu Jiayuan) 8P (Japan) (W) beat Hong 9P by resig.
Game 3 (Oct. 15). Gu Jihao 9P (China) (W) beat Kyo by resig.
Game 4 (Oct. 16). Gu (W) beat Kang Dongyun 9P (Korea) by resig.

Round 2
Game 5 (Nov. 20). Gu (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 9P (Japan) by resig.
Game 6 (Nov. 21). Shin Minjun 9P (Korea) (W) beat Gu by half a point.
Game 7 (Nov. 22). Shibano Toramaru 9P (W) beat Shin by resig.
Game 8 (Nov. 23). Tang Weixing 9P (China) (B) beat Shibano by resig.
Game 9 (Nov. 24). Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) (W) beat Tang by 4.5 points.

Tomorrow: Ichiriki wins Tengen; Shibano defends Oza; Ke Jie wins Samsung Cup

Categories: Japan,John Power Report,Main Page,Uncategorized

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