American Go E-Journal

Alexander Qi 5d wins New York Youth Open with perfect record

Sunday August 23, 2020

The New York Go Association successfully held the 3rd annual New York Youth Open (NYYO) in the AGA Tournament Room of KGS on July 25, Saturday. This year, the NYYO attracted a record high 91 players from the United States and Canada. The players, ranging from 5 dan to 25 kyu, played four Swiss-paired even games in 8 divisions based on their rank. After a day of tough fighting, Alexander Qi emerged as the winner of Division A with a perfect 4-0 record.

Division Winners:
Division A (3D and above): Alexander Qi 5d
Division B (1D to 2D): Andrew Zhang 2d
Division C (2K to 1K): Stephanie Tan 2k
Division D (5K to 3K): Jason Yang 3k
Division E (8K to 5K): Mark Zhang 7k
Division F (12K to 9K): Isaac Zhang 9k
Division G (16K to 12K): Chenxi Du 13k
Division G (25K to 17K): Matthew Wang 18k

The team of tournament directors used the Golaxy system to actively monitor the usage of AI, for the first time in youth tournament in North America, in Division A. The NYGA expect to reinforce fair competition in all online tournaments through better anti-AI rules and practice, and encourages players to record their full games with video cameras in all high-level online competitions in the future.

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

Registration open for Austin Go Club’s ‘GO’VID 19×19 Online Go Tournament on KGS

Sunday August 23, 2020

The Austin Go Club will be hosting the online ‘GO’VID19x19 tournament on September 26th and 27th. The tournament will have both open and handicap sections with a total of five games held in the Austin Go Club room on KGS. The tournament is open to AGA members of all levels; the number and size of handicap divisions will be based on registration. Registration is open until 6pm CDT on Friday September 25th. For more details and registration information, please click here. Any questions can be addressed to AustinGoClub@gmail.com.

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

Registration open for weekly online classes with Feng Yun 9P through her Go school

Saturday August 22, 2020

Feng Yun 9p is now accepting new students for online weekly classes beginning in September. Classes are open to all ages and organized into three levels, and improving students will be able to move into higher levels at Feng Yun’s recommendation after initial placement. Feng Yun 9P has been teaching weekly classes, private lessons, and workshops for more than two decades, and established the Feng Yun Go School in New Jersey in 2002. These online classes will combine her teaching experience with contemporary technology, using Zoom and various online Go servers. Classes will be live and interactive, allowing students to interact and ask questions. “My tradition is to know the individual student, identify weaknesses, and recommend a study program,” says Feng Yun. “Whether you want to become a national champion or just want to appreciate the wonderful game of weiqi more deeply, these classes have much to offer.” More information about the classes and registration is available on her website .

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

U.S. e-Go Congress videos released on YouTube

Saturday August 22, 2020

The recent 2020 e-Go Congress was covered by broadcasts on AGA Twitch but if you missed some of the live sessions, the E-Journal has begun posting Congress videos and will release one each Tuesday at 6 PM EDT on the AGA YouTube channel, in addition to our regular Friday releases of commentaries by Michael Redmond 9P (tune in on AGA Twitch at 8p EDT Sunday, August 23 for his live commentary on Game 46 in the popular AlphaGo vs AlphaGo series).

The series launched last Wednesday with the Congress Opening Ceremony (originally aired on August 1).

The live broadcasts are available on AGA Twitch for 60 days after the initial live broadcast. Note that the YouTube versions will come with more refined cuts and easy chapter navigation.

Tentative AGA YouTube Congress Video Release Schedule
*The Chess & Go collaboration (aired on August 9) has been posted on August 16 under Jonathan Schrantz’s (@vampirechicken) YouTube channel.
August 19: Opening Ceremony (including the AI Roundtable Discussion with Lucas Baker, Andreas Hauenstein, Hajin Lee and Sichen Zhong)
August 23: Closing Ceremony (including the winning entries of the Bob High Memorial Song & Poetry Contest, also available in standalone versions)
August 25: AGF Teacher of the Year Keynote – with Frank Luo
September 1: Lecture #1, Trick Moves – with Ryan Li 1p
September 8: Lecture #2, Chop & Hold – with Inseong Hwang 8d
September 20: Introduction to Go for Beginners – with David Kahn
September 15: Board 3, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Myungwan Kim 9p
September 22: “Twitch Plays Go” Beginners Special – with Eric Lui 1p
September 29: Congress Reviews Day #1 – with Guo Juan 5p
October 6: Board 2, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Inseong Hwang 8d
October 13: Congress Reviews Day #2 – with Guo Juan 5p
October 20: Pair Go Top Boards – with Yoonyoung Kim 8p
October 27: Congress Reviews Day #3 – with Guo Juan 5p
November 3: Board 1, 2020 Pandanet-AGA City League Finals – with Michael Redmond 9p
November 10: Congress Reviews Day #4 – with Guo Juan 5p
November 17: Lecture #3, Attachments – with Ryan Li 1p
November 24: Lecture #4, Local Techniques – with Inseong Hwang 8d
December 1: Review: Board 1, Round 4 of e-Go Congress Open – with Myungwan Kim 9p

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

50 years aGO: August 1970

Saturday August 22, 2020

Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister

Fujisawa Shuko (left) defeats Sakata Eio

I was pleased that I was not the only one to struggle with identifying Takagi Shoichi, pictured last month. It takes a pro to know one, congratulations to Alexandre Dinerchtein for recognizing the Mt. Holyoke Congress attendee and winner of his second title this month fifty years ago.

On August 6, Fujisawa Shuko defeated Sakata Eio for the right to challenge Rin Kaiho for the Meijin title. (game record here) Rin can be seen watching along with Takagawa, Otake and Awaji Shuzo. Shuko started the match on August 28 in classic style, winning the first game while using only 4 hours and 25 minutes of his clock in the two day match.

Here we see the great Iwamoto waving goodbye (top left) as he takes an extended trip to spread go in the west. Leaving Tokyo on August 7, his itinerary included Berlin, Frankfurt, Zagreb and Vienna.

He would leave behind the E-Journal’s own Richard Dolen (bottom right), who was visiting Japan during an extended research visit. The then-4dan college professor also took part in the third annual match (top right) on August 23 between the “Gaijin” (foreigner) team and the Koyukai, a woman’s go group at the Nihon Kiin. The all-male team were victorious, winners including Dolen, Richard Bozulich, Horst Muller, William Pinckard, John Tilley and future Congress Director Stuart Horowitz. The two losses for the west were U.S. attorney Gene Kazlow on board one, and the late T. Mark Hall, co-creator of GoGod.

Speaking of Richard Bozulich, not only was the founder of Ishi Press victorious on board 2, here he is (bottom left, in the glasses) enjoying some whiskey with Iwamoto and others in an ad in the August issue of Go Weekly.

Categories: 50 years aGO,Main Page

Officer Applications for the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) Open

Friday August 21, 2020

“Applications for the 2020-2021 American Go Honor Society (AGHS) officer team are now open,” says Vice President of Operations Melissa Cao, “The American Go Honor Society is an organization driven primarily by high school students to promote go among young players throughout America. Tournaments, leagues, and other go events catered towards youth are hosted throughout the school year by the AGHS.”

To apply, please fill out the form here
The application deadline is Monday, August 31st at 11:59pm PDT.

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America,Youth

Redmond live commentary Sunday night; latest Redmond Review posted

Saturday August 15, 2020

Michael Redmond 9P’s live commentary series resumes this Sunday, August 16 at 8p EDT on Twitch when he and E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock will review Game 45 in the AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo series.

In the latest episode in the Redmond’s Reviews series — which originally aired live on Twitch back in May on Mother’s Day — Redmond takes a look at his game against Yao Zhi Teng 5P. Once again, Michael tries some AlphaGo moves and “things get messy,” he says. Yao Zhi Teng 5p “is one of the younger really strong players,” and this game was played in late 2019 before the competition hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.

Also, Redmond continues to post new content on his YouTube channel, including life and death problems and his 1988 Judan final against Sakata Eio.

Categories: Computer Go/AI,Main Page,Redmond Reviews

First North American Youth Open scheduled for September 5th

Friday August 14, 2020

The 1st North American Youth Open will take place on KGS on September 5th! The NAYO (North American Youth Open) is an open youth tournament held by the American Go Association for players of all levels who are under 18 years old. With the support of the AGF, the tournament has a prize pool of over $1000.

The goal for the NAYO is to provide an opportunity for young players to once again compete in a high standard North American tournament. The AGA intends to host this competition annually and make this event the largest open youth Go tournament in North America. This tournament was originally conceived as a face-to-face tournament sponsored by the New York Institute of Go and the American Go Foundation. The organizers hope to return to this model once in-person tournament play is safe.

Eligibility: All of the participants must be under 18 years old by the date of the tournament. There is NO rank requirement to enter, players of all levels are welcome. Players with no rank may register as 25 kyu. All players must be a current AGA, CGA, or MGA members. Players whose ranks at their associations are out of date, but have a solid KGS rank with at least 10 recent games may enter. Pre-registration is required. Please visit the website for more information and registration.

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

International Osaka Go School to open in September

Friday August 14, 2020

After the popular Osaka Go Camp was cancelled for the 2020 year due to COVID-19, organizer Maeda Ryo 6P has decided to organize and open a new online Go school for players of all levels. The International Osaka Go School will allow members to play four reviewed league games amongst each other, play one teaching game with a professional, and attend two lectures per month. Teachers include Maeda Ryo 6P, Francis Meyer 1P, and Ting Li 1P of the Kansai-Kiin. Interested players should visit the International Osaka Go School’s website for more details and to sign up. Any players who sign up for two full months of the school will be eligible for a discount of 10000JPY off of registration for the next Osaka Go Camp, to be held during the summer of 2021.

Categories: Japan,Main Page,World

2020 e-Go Congress tournament results

Thursday August 13, 2020

After a week of online play between nearly one thousand participants, the results are in! This year’s 2020 e-Go Congress hosted eight tournaments, plus the Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest.

Pandanet AGA City League Tournament and Championship
TD: Steve Colburn
A League Champions: New York City – Ryan Li 1P, Hanchen Zhang 1P, Zhongfan Jian 7d; Runner Up: Bay Area – Mingjiu Jiang 7P, Hajin Lee 4P, Jeremy Chiu 7D; 3rd place: Greater Washington, 4th place: Canwa Vancouver 1, 5th place: Waterloo 1
B League 1st place: Chicago, 2nd place: Waterloo 2, 3rd place: Canwa Vancouver 2
C League 1st place: Los Angeles, 2nd place: Montreal, 3rd place: Atlanta
D League 1st place: Seattle 2, 2nd place: New Mexico, 3rd place: New York City 2

Double Digit Kyu Tournament
TD: Bart Lipofsky; ATDs: Ke Lu, Andrew Zhang
Group 1 (10 kyu) – 1st: Jingfan Feng 10k; 2nd: Tim Cowles 10k; 3rd: Piotr Milian 10k
Group 2 (11-12 kyu) – 1st: Tyle Stelzig 12k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Ryan Gustafson 12k
Group 3 (13 kyu) – 1st: Joe Fratianni (Goooplayer) 13k; 2nd: Christina Wang 13k; 3rd: abenthy 13k
Group 4 (14-15 kyu) – 1st: Lucia Moscola 14k; 2nd: Isaac Zhang (Irz112) 15k; 3rd: Murasakino 15k
Group 5 (16 kyu) – 1st: Anna Zhou 16k; 2nd: Elias Tew 16k; 3rd: Nathan Han 16k
Group 6 (17-19 kyu) – 1st: Matthew Wang 18k; 2nd: Jason Li 19k; 3rd: Cody Tang 17k
Group 7 (20-22 kyu) – 1st: Regina Kim 22k; 2nd: Angel Zhou 22k; 3rd: Daniel Luo 21k, Gavin Turner (gturns) 21k
Group 8 (23-30 kyu) – 1st: Zak Li 28k; 2nd: Junxiong Lin (Linnobita) 30k; 3rd: Caleb Tan 28 k

9 X 9 Tournament
TD: Eric Wainwright; ATDs: Ke Lu, Emil Meng, Solomon Smilack
Dan Division – 1st: Jing Huang (game sorry); 2nd: Panpat Sirimongkoi
Single-digit Kyu Division – 1st: Pawel Stepnowski; 2nd: Milos Stojanović
Double-digit kyu Division – 1st: Angel Zhou; 2nd: cdingo

Pair Go Tournament
TD: Andrew Zhang; ATD: Kevin Hwang
Table winners: Joanne Leung and Wei Zhou, Seowoo Wang and Justin Teng, Yingzhi Qian and Will Lockhart , Katherine Xie and Willis Huang, Elizaveta Plyugina and Kanno Hiroki, Marianna Szychowiak and Steve Zhang, Brian Dai and Harvey Bai, Elizaveta Antonova and Jonathan Fisher, Cody Frias and Josiah Frias, David Wallach and Shai Simonson, Valeria Sánchez Aguilar and Felipe Herman van Riemsdijk, Eva-Dee Beech & Trevor Morris, Romain Guimard & Jason Liu, Joanna Li and Tao Li, Jingfan Feng and Staysee Yod Teague, Angel Zhou and Yixian Zhou, Bijan Betel Miri and Ryan Woolgar, Rachel Small and Joshua Johnson, Joe Fratianni and Daniel Luo, Paola Sarmiento and Alan Yeray Cortés, Jaedon Ruan and Jerry Ruan, Theo Waitkus and Nikolas Heintz, Timothy Chen and Justin L. Wang

Youth Relay Go
TD: Devin Fraze; ATDs: Justin Teng, Lionel Zhang
All of the 63 youth participants from will receive a prize! Players ranged from 30k to 6d. Winning teams: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11

Team Relay Go
TD: Audrey Wang; ATD: William Luff; Top Board Coaches: Michael Chen, Eric Lui; Coaches: Michel Fodera, Sichen Zhong
Winners by Team – Michael Chen’s Team: N. A. Doss, Seowoo Wang, Steve Zhang, Xinzhou Song; Eric Lui’s Team: Guanyu Song, Justin Teng, Brandon Zhou, Joshua Guarino; Michael Fodera’s Team A: Jiayang Su, Colin Williams, Christopher Morse, Alan Yang; Michael Fodera’s Team B: David Kahn, David Rohlfing, James Putnam, Stegan Weissner; Sichen Zhong’s Team A: Laurence Ip, Joseph Chaves, Serena Tu, Francois Wolf; Sichen Zhong’s Team B: Marc Sarrel, Kenny Glekel Qian, Jason Yang, Peter Vander Valk

Blitz Tournament
TD: Jon Boley, ATDs: Orion Campbell, Katherine Xie
Group 1 (7 dan) – 1st: Xinyu Tu 7d; 2nd: Shuaiheng Tao 7d; 3rd: Yilin Xu 7d
Group 2 (4-6 dan) – 1st: Soren Jaffe (trickyruin) 5d; 2nd: Quentin Turlot 4d; 3rd: Blake Kang 5d
Group 3 (1-3 dan) – 1st: Jerry C. Jaffe 1d; 2nd: vegmandu 3d; 3rd: Helcio Alexandre Pacheco 2d, Jared Nishikawa 2d
Group 4 (1-3 kyu) – 1st: Alan Yang (Silent123) 3k; 2nd: Alvin Chia (RiftMix) 1k, Eliot Yoon 1k, Andrew McGowen (dangerdoom) 1k
Group 5 (4-7 kyu) – 1st: Stephanie Tan 4k; 2nd: Tevis Tsai 6k; 3rd: Jason Liu 4k, Jason Yang (JY0034) 4k
Group 6 (8-14 kyu) – 1st: Zhiyong Huang 8k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Piotr Milian 10k
Group 7 (15-30 kyu) – 1st: Angel Zhou 22k; 2nd: Roxin Cao 15k; 3rd: Wilton B. 18k

e-Go Congress Open
TD: Dan Ritter, ATDs: Cat Mai, Milan Mladenovic, Neil Ritter
7d+ Division – 1st Xinyu Tu 7d; 2nd: Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 7d; 3rd: Kanno Hiroki (Myosu) 7d
6d Division – 1st: Guanyu Song 6d; 2nd: Tony Zhao 6d; 3rd: Willis Huang (Kaihua) 6d
5d Divsion – 1st: Atlbrandon 5d; 2nd: Toranosuke Ozawa 5d; 3rd: Robert Tirak 5d
4d Division – 1st: Ke Lu 4d; 2nd: Chanho Park (Ewak) 4d; 3rd: Quentin Turlot 4d
3d Division – 1st: Patrick Zhou 3d; 2nd: Juanshu Lan 3d; 3rd: Zhihong Yao 3d
2d Division – 1st: Eyz 2d; 2nd: Sathya Singh 2d; 3rd: Vladimir Nesterov (Vladgen) 2D
1d Division – 1st: Juraj 1d; 2nd: Tao Li 1d; 3rd: chownwil 1d
1k Division – 1st: The Amazing Jerboa 1k; 2nd: Benjamin Gunby 1k; 2rd: Howard Wong 1k
2k Division – 1st: Torr 2k; 2nd: George Beck 2k; 3rd: Richard Solburg 2k
3k Divison – 1st: Derek Zhou 3k; 2nd: Slb_ 3k; 3rd: Alan Yang (Scythe1798) 3k
4k Division – 1st: Patrick Sun 4k; 2nd: Stephanie Tan 4k; 3rd: Jason Yang (Driftlikelightning) 4k
5k Division – 1st: He Who Walks In Shadows 5k; 2nd: Seanp 5k; 3rd: Alex Mitrani 5k
6k Division – 1st: Badukadunk 6k; 2nd: Anderson Barreal (Tobi_4) 6k; 3rd: Squidmd 6k
7k Division – 1st: Mario Espinoza (Chrysalis) 7k; 2nd: Eric Mao 7k; 3rd: Mark Fraser 7k
8k Division – 1st: Zhiyong Huang 8k; 2nd: Alexander Trotter 8k; 3rd: Robert Qi 8k
9k Division – 1st: Esther 9k; 2nd: Benoit Cordoba 9k; 3rd: David Rohlfing 9k
10k Division – 1st: Drsparkle713 10k; 2nd: Paul Landers 10k; 3rd: Tim Cowles 10k
11k – 12k Division – 1st: Eva-Dee Beach 11k; 2nd: Zhihan William Huang 12k; 3rd: Joanna Li (quantumjo) 12k
13k – 14k Division – 1st: Christopher Graham (chgraham) 13k; 2nd: Joe Fratianni (Goandchessplayer) 13k; 3rd: Steve Zilber 13k
15k – 16k Division – 1st: Isaac Zhang (Hypernova) 15k; 2nd: Roxin Cao 15k; 3rd: Vaughn Hannon 16k
17k – 21k Division – 1st: Cody Tang 17k; 2nd: Eric Beach (ebeach) 18k; 3rd Felix Tee 20k
22k+ Division – 1st: Angel Zhou 22k; 2nd: Mari Oshima 29k; 3rd: Junxiong Lin (Linnobita) 30k

Bob High Memorial Song and Poetry Contest
Organizers: Terry Benson, Chris Kirschner; Judges: Brady Daniels, Mike Lash, Hajin Lee 4P, Audrey Wang
Poetry – Winner: Confinement with Go by François Wolf; Runner Up: The Machine by Jonathan Fisher
Song – Winner: Komi on Your Side by Todd Blatt; Runners Up: I’ve Played Every Shape Man by Hector Lampert-Bates and Song to Terry by Roy Laird
Youth and 1st Time Entry Category Winner: I’ve Played Every Shape Man by Hector Lampert-Bates

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

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