Nine players, all kyu level, came together on November 23 from the New Mexican cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and White Rock to compete for the NM State Go Championship. Players competed to defeat Billy Maier 3k, the reigning champion from 2018. After winning all three games in this three round tournament, Billy remained undefeated and earned the right to hold the perennial trophy until next year. Other prizes included magnetic go sets and Kiseido gift certificates.
Robert Gilman 6k was awarded second place and Kyle Fenmore 1k took third. Some difficulties arose in determining final winners due to the technical reasons associated with small tournaments, and TD Robert Cordingley is looking forward trying a slightly different GoClubsOnline (goclubs.org) pairing strategy next year.
We were very pleased to welcome Janice Kim, who attended as a spectator from Albuquerque. Our thanks go to Peter Shotwell for the go sets, Kiseido Publishing for the gift certificates, and the AGA for their sponsorship.
report and photos provided by Robert Cordingley
The tournament room
Billy Maier (right) defending against Kyle Fenmore
TD Robert Cordingley (right) hands defending champ Billy Maier his prizes
“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” is a film that is hard to forget, though that may be because I was a Cross Country runner in college. Since moving to a very small town in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas I am discovering another kind of loneliness: that of the go player living where there are no other players within less than a full hour’s drive away. I play lots of games on DragonGo, but it is definitely not the same. There is something important about sitting across the board from another player and placing actual stones on a hard piece of grid-marked wood. Go is a lot more than a fascinating intellectual activity of analyzing tactical and strategic possibilities in a very complicated situation. There is an intimacy of contact and involvement with another human being and real objects that is impossible over the internet. Insofar as go can function as a path to enlightenment it doesn’t happen with an internet connection. The online involvement of the players is just not as real or engrossing, nor is the handling of the stones when it is replaced by clicking a mouse. I really miss these physical and psychological feelings that make playing with another person on an actual set such an enjoyable and enlightening experience. I may have to start making that harrowing drive across the most harrowing roads I have ever encountered.
photo by Phil Straus; photo art by Chris Garlock and Karoline Li
Board N’Stones have just released the sixth and final volume of the Black to Play! series by Gunnar Dickfield, available in books stores as a paperback or as an ebook from gobooks.com.
The Black to Play! series begins in the first book with problems for beginners – 30k to 25k – and is aimed for players who have just gotten in touch with the game. It provides exercises to help deepen and ingrain the understanding of the rules. They will learn about the correlation and dependencies of the stones to each other, and thereby be able to improve your games. The exercises throughout the six volumes gradually increase in difficulty as the player learns and grows stronger, accompanying the player on the way to Shodan, the first master rank. This sixth volume is dedicated to players from 5k to 1k, and includes more whole-board problems, allowing the learner to apply local problem solving strategies in a larger context and real game situations.
This series is available in English (Black to Play!), German (Schwarz am Zug), and French (A Noir de Jouer). Board N’Stones (Brett und Stein Verlag) is a long time publisher for Go books based in Germany with about 45 titles in print, focusing mainly on Go books in German with some titles in English and French.
2019 California State Go Champion & Open winner, Evan Lin, accepting his trophies and cash prize from San Diego Go Club President, Ted Terpstra
Go players came to San Diego, last weekend, from all over California: Sacramento, Hayward, San Jose, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, Irvine, La Jolla, Carpintera, Aruza, Temecula, Corona… 66 players in all, to contest several California State Go Championships.
The California Open had 15 strong dan players including three 7 dans and six 6 dans. The winner of the Open, with the only undefeated record of 5-0, was Evan Lin 7d, the new 2019 California State Go Champion. He was followed by Yifan Yu 6d (4-1) in second, and five players tied for third with a record of 3-2: Bo Luan 6d, Sato Kosuke 5d, Muzhen Ai 7d, Ming Lin 6d and Yi (Michael) Wang 6d.
2019 California Girl’s U16 Go Champion, Aenaelle Acres
First through Third places in the Handicap Divisions: Division I: James Acres (4-1) 1k, Osman Kibar (4-1) 4k, Zhenxuan Liu (4-1) 1d Division II: David Baran (4-1) 7k, Viktor Makoviichuk (4-1) 7k, Pasco Kwok (3.5-.5) 11k Division III: George Spellman (4-1) 22k, Aenaelle Acres (4-1) 23k, Wanyu Abigail Chen (3-2) 17k. 13×13 Youth Open: Vincent Zhang (5-0), Preston Shi Wang (4-1), Ji-Na Sun (3-2)
2019 California State Go Champions Overall: Evan Lin 7d U16 Girls: Aenaelle Acres U16 Boys: Sato Kosuke Girls’ 13×13: Ji-Na Sun Boys’ 13×13: Vincent Zhang
-photos by Henry You -report by Ted Terpstra
2019 California Youth 13×13 Go Championship participants getting certificates from Ted Terpstra, Hai Li 5P, and Henry You (SDGC Vice-President)
This is Ryo Maeda 6p of Kansai-Kiin. I have been attending the US Go Congress for the past 19 years.
This year the Kansai Kiin will be organizing the 5th Japan Go Congress in Takarazuka (July 10-12, 2019). And also the Osaka Go Camp for the 8th time (June 21- July 9, 2019).
The website for both events is http://www.osakago.com. (Safari users may have trouble opening the website. A different browser is recommended.)
During the camp, we have league games in the mornings and full teaching programs in the afternoons by professional players every day. The teaching programs will be in English.
On holidays, we will also organize some day trips to places like downtown Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and a two-day trip to Okayama Himeji and kobe, friendship tournament with Okayama Go players and sightseeing includes dinner and Hmeji castle sightseeing.
I promise that everyone can improve quite a lot through the Camp and the Congress and will have a lot of fun!
We are looking forward to seeing you in Osaka and Takarazuka.
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
A gain and a loss for women’s go Let’s give the bad news first. The sponsors of the Women’s Meijin tournament have announced that they are terminating the tournament. The current titleholder, Fujisawa Rina, will officially hold the title until the end of March 2020. No reason was given. The good news: The Nihon Ki-in has announced the founding of a new tournament, the Hakata Kamachi Cup Women’s Open Tournament. It will be open to all women professionals in Japan. A preliminary round will start in December to choose the 16 players to compete in the main tournament, which will be held from February to April next year. The semifinals, final, and play-off for third place will be held in Fukuoka on April 13 and 14. First prize is 7,000,000 yen (about $65,000), second 2,000,000, third 1,000,000, and fourth 600,000 yen. The main sponsor is the Medical Corporation Saitama Giant Tree Association (Kyoju no Kai); chairman of its board is Kamachi Ken’ichi, who lends his name to the tournament. As far as I can work, the association’s main business is running the New Kuki (City) General Hospital. This is the second women’s tournament with a medical sponsor, following the Hollyhock Cup, which is sponsored by the Aizu Central Hospital.
Ida defends Crown The Crown (Okan) title is open to members of the Central Japan or Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in. This year the challenger was Ogata Masaki 9P, who won this title from 1988 to 1991. In the final, played on October 20, Ida Atsushi Okan drew white and won by 1.5 points, winning the title for the fourth year in a row. First prize is 1,700,000 yen (about $15,700).
Hirata wins Young Carp The Hiroshima Aluminum Cup Young Carp tournament is open to players 30 and under and 7-dan and under. The final of the 14th Cup was held at the Central Japan Newspaper Building in Hiroshima on November 24. Hirata Tomoya 7P (W) beat Matsuura Yuta 7P by 3.5 points. Hirata is a fitting winner, as he hails from Hiroshima. First prize is 3,000,000 yen (nearly $28,000).
Promotion To 9-dan: Ko Iso (200 wins, as of Nov. 4.)
Obituaries Izumitani Masanori Died of prostate cancer on October 18, aged 77. Born on January 3, 1942 in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Became a disciple of Ito Tomoe 7P. Qualified as 1-dan in 1961, reached 7-dan in 1996. Retired in 2018 and promoted to 8-dan. His son is Hideo 8P. His disciples include Konagai Masaru 8P. Izumitani was a director of the Overseas Dep’t. of the Nihon Ki-in for a number of years and also made some instructional tours overseas, including attending the 3rd Go congress at Mt. Holyoke in 1987 as the official representative of the Nihon Kiin.
Ogawa Tomoko Ogawa Tomoko 6P died in a Tokyo hospital of an undisclosed illness on November 15. According to the Nihon Ki-in, she had been suffering from lower back problems since October and had taken official leave of absence as of October 30. She had returned home after a hospital stay, but her condition suddenly worsened on the 14th. She was born in Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, on April 1, 1951, but spent her childhood in Nagoya. She learnt go from her father at the age of 6. She became well known when she won the All-Japan Amateur Women’s Championship at the age of 14; her pageboy hairstyle (okappa) or bob cut added to her fame—she was called, not quite accurately, “the okappa Honinbo.” In 1966, after finishing junior high, she became a disciple of Kitani Minoru. She made 1-dan in 1970 and was promoted to 6-dan in 1995. She won four women’s titles (in the days when there were fewer of them): the 25th Women’s Championship in 1979 and the 26th in 1980; the Women’s Honinbo in 1986; and the Women’s Kakusei Cup in 1987. She became even better known to the public when she served as assistant commentator on the NHK Cup for ten years. In 2008, she became the second woman professional (after Sugiuchi Kazuko) to win 500 games. In 1977, she married the actor Yamamoto Kei, who had taken go lessons from her. They appeared together in a number of TV commercials. She served for two years as president of the Professional Go Players Association and for six years as a Nihon Ki-in director. She published life-and-death problems continuously for 29 years in the Sports Hochi newspaper. She was the author of many books, including the Ishi Press book “The Endgame,” written with James Davies. She was one of the most popular professionals and whatever she did, she always looked serene and competent.
This post has been updated to reflect Izumitani Masanori’s attendance at the 1987 U.S. Go Congress.
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 32 of the popular series.
Redmond talks about the new era in Japan, as, after 30 years on the Chrysanthemum Throne, Emperor Akihito abdicated earlier this year — the first Japanese emperor to do so since 1817 — marking the end of the Heisei era and the inception of the Reiwa era, and his son and successor, Emperor Naruhito, was enthroned.
In Game 32, Black plays the mini Chinese Opening, which was also played in Game 31, with the colors reversed. “A very similar move comes up in this game,” says Redmond, “illustrating why the popularity of the mini Chinese has been reduced. It’s another exciting game in which, after a lot of fighting, it ends up in a half-point difference.” Redmond warns Garlock that “You’re going to be a bit more worried this time, I think, about the life and death of some of these groups.”
The series will continue with Friday releases this month, with AG-AG games 33 and 34, as well as a commentary on a game Redmond played with Ishida Yoshio last summer. AG-AG 34 was originally streamed live on Twitch on December 3; follow the AGA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds for announcements of future commentary streaming in this series. “The live streaming brings these commentaries to a broader audience and enables fans to interact with us in real time,” says Garlock. “Special thanks to Senior Producers Michael Wanek and Andrew Jackson for all their work on this series, and to new producer Steven Hu and editor Allen Moy.” NOTE: Live streams are currently planned for December 9 and 11, both at 7p EDT on the AGA’s Twitch channel; be sure to follow the channel and get notified of live streams.
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
New members of Meijin League Four of the eight members of the Honinbo League drop out each year but only three of the nine members of the Meijin League. That makes it a good league to get into, as you have a better chance of keeping your place. The new members for the 45th league have recently been decided. On October 31, Kyo Kagen 8P (B) beat Mimura Tomoyasu 9P by resig. in the play-off for a place. The 21-year-old Kyo has been a top player for a couple of years now, but he will be making his debut in this league. He also has seats in the Kisei S League and the Honinbo League. He is the first player younger than Iyama Yuta to have seats in all three top leagues. The second seat was decided on November 7. Rin Kanketsu 8P (W) beat Adachi Toshimasa 6P by 2.5 points. Rin makes a comeback to the league after a gap of seven years. The play-off for the third seat, played on November 18, was the one that attracted most attention, as it featured a clash between the top woman player, Fujisawa Rina, and one of the top younger players (= post-Iyama), Ichiriki Ryo. So far, no woman player had secured a seat in a league. Fujisawa was in outstanding form and won eight games in a row in this tournament to reach the play-off. However, she was no match for Ichiriki. Playing white, she did give him a scare with a bold counterattack in a bad position, but in the end she had to resign after 241 moves. Ichiriki will make his debut in the Meijin League.
Ko Iso wins 2nd SGW Cup The SGW Cup: Golden Mean Tournament is open to players from 31 to 60 who have not won a title. The main tournament is a four-round Swiss for the 16 players who won seats through the preliminary tournament. It was held on November 3 and 4. Ko Iso 9P scored 4-0 and won his first official title. First prize is 2,000,000 yen (about $18,500).
Lee Se-dol announces retirement If Lee Chang-ho was the top player of the 1990s, Lee Se-dol, with 18 international victories, was clearly the top player of the first decade and a half of this century. The peak of his career came with his 6-2 victory in the only modern jubango, playing Gu Li, in 2014. He underestimated the strength of the first AI go-playing program AlphaGo and was chagrined to lose 1-4, but in retrospect winning a game in the match came to be seen as a triumph, as he is the only player to beat one of the Alpha programs. He is still only 35, but he has brought down the curtain on his go career. It is not a surprise, as he has hinted retirement was coming and he took a lengthy leave of absence a while back.
Tomorrow: A gain and a loss for women’s go; Ida defends Crown; Promotion; Obituaries
by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Ueno wins 38th Women’s Honinbo As described in my previous report, Fujisawa Rina made a good start in her defense of her Women’s Honinbo title, winning the first game, played on October 9, by 3.5 points, but that turned out to be her sole win of the series. The second game was played at the “old inn” Kaneyu in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, on October 27. Taking black, Fujisawa made a fierce attack on a white group and seemed on the verge of winning when Ueno made an exquisite counterattack, which she followed up with a superb shinogi (rescue operation) for an endangered group. Black resigned after 158 moves. In the third game, played at the Tokyo headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in, on November 6, Fujisawa again took the lead, but Ueno was able to stage an upset by starting a complicated ko fight. Fujisawa resigned after 235 moves. The fourth game was played at the same venue on November 15. Ueno (W) won by resignation after 200 moves, so she took the title and the first prize of 5,500,000 yen (about $51,000). Once again, Fujisawa seemed to have the advantage at one stage, but Ueno again complicated the game by setting up a ko. Fujisawa ignored a ko threat that turned out to be more potent than she had expected. White was able to live inside her territory, so she had to resign. The women’s go world is now dominated by two players: the 18-year-old Ueno with this title and the Women’s Kisei and the 21-year-old Fujisawa with the Women’s Hollyhock Cup, the Women’s Meijin, and the Senko Cup. Note. In my previous report, I mentioned that Ueno was the first woman to top the most-wins list. On Oct. 11, Shibano Toramaru displaced Ueno at number one, and the following week Ichiriki Ryo pushed her down to third position, which she has since maintained. She was number one for four months.
Choi wins Bingsheng Cup The 10th Qionglong Mountain Bingsheng Cup World Women’s Weiqi Championship was held in Suzhou City in China in late October. Three players from Japan took part in the 16-player tournament. Xie Yimin 6P and Ueno Asami 3P were eliminated in the first round, but Fujisawa Rina 4P made the semifinals. This is the best result so far by a Japanese woman player in this tournament and the best internationally for 12 years. Incidentally, the player who beat her in the semifinal, Zhou Hongyu, is just 17 years old and is the winner of the Chinese King of the New Stars title, which is open to male and female participants. The cup was won by Choi Jeong 9P of Korea for the third year in a row and the fourth time overall. Her prize is 300,000 yuan (about $42,600). Results are given below. (The time allowance is two hours each, with the last five minutes going to byo-yomi.)
Round 1 (October 30)
Lu Minquan 5P (China) (B) beat Yang Zixuan 3P (Chinese Taipei) by resig.
Yu Zhiying 6P (China) (B) beat Oh Yoojin 7P (Korea) by resig.
Zhou Hongyu 5P (China) (W) beat Ueno Asami 3P (Japan) by resig.
Wang Chengxing 5P (W) beat Cho Seungah 3P (Korea) by resig.
Li He 5P (China) (B) beat Hei JiaJia 7P (Oceania) by resig.
Fujisawa Rina 4P (Japan) (W) beat Stephanie Yin (Yin Mingming) 1P (North America) by resig.
Choi Jeong 9P (Korea) (B) beat Ariane Ougier 4D (Europe) by resig.
Rui Naiwei 9P (China) (W) beat Xie Yimin 6P (Japan) by 1.5 points.
Round 2 (October 31)
Fujisawa (W) beat Lu by resig.
Choi (B) beat Yu by 1.5 points.
Zhou (B) beat Wang by resig.
Rui (W) beat Li by resig.
Semifinals (November 1)
Choi (B) beat Rui by resig.; Zhou (W) beat Fujisawa by resig.
Final (November 3)
Choi (B) beat Zhou by resig.
Kono to challenge for Kisei Ichiriki Ryo enjoyed superb form in this year’s Kisei tournament, winning all seven of his league games and then three in a row in the final knock-out tournament that decides the challenger, including a win over Kono Rin in the first game of the final “best-of-three.” In contrast, Kono scored only 3-2 in the S League and had to rely on his higher rank to come out on top in a four-way tie. As winner of the S League, however, he started with a one-win advantage, so he had to win only one game, which he did. Incidentally, because this match is in theory a best-of-three (in practice, it’s limited to two games), nigiri to choose colors was held before both games. Kono also challenged for the Kisei in 2017, but lost 2-4 to Iyama. He also lost by the same score in this year’s Honinbo title match and the 2014 Meijin title match, so his first task is to break the third-win barrier. Iyama has held the Kisei for seven years in a row; one more successful defense and he will match Kobayashi Koichi’s record. The match will start on January 9.
Full results in the final knock-out stage (the first result is repeated from my previous report): (Oct. 9) Suzuki Shinji (winner of C League) (B) beat Motoki Katsuya 8P (winner of B Leagues) by 5.5 points. (Oct. 21) Ichiriki (winner of A League) (B) beat Suzuki by resig. (Nov. 4) Ichiriki (B) beat Takao Shinji 9P (2nd in S League) by resig. (Nov. 11) Ichiriki (B) beat Kono (winner of S League) by 2.5 points. (Nov. 14) Kono (W) beat Ichiriki by resig., making his score 2-1.
Tomorrow: New members of Meijin League; Ko Iso wins 2nd SGW Cup; Lee Se-dol announces retirement
-Paul Barchilon, AGF Vice President and KGS Liaison
The AGF is instituting a series of changes to the KGS Go Server to make it more available and more useful as a tool for promoting go. As a first step, KGS+ events will now be free with users able to make a donation – not only to support KGS+ but to cover server costs and fund improvements on the software. All of this year’s saved lectures are now also free, and can be viewed under the KGS Plus menu.
For those that haven’t tried it, KGS+ provides lectures and lessons with professionals and very strong amateurs. In the past, sales of KGS+ provided enough income to pay for itself as well as the server costs. However, attendance has dropped in recent years and the server has not been able to meet its costs for quite some time now. The AGF Board hopes that by opening the lessons to everyone, more people will attend, join the community, and support KGS.
We recognize that the software is now almost 20 years old, and we have a very long list of things we want to improve. Our current all-volunteer model for making those changes and maintaining the server has not kept up. Those with the necessary skills are far too busy. As a first step the AGF will be hiring a software engineer to write a web based registration module. This will allow people to register from any device, including phones and tablets, and from any computer whether it is running Java or not. The current requirement for Java has kept the server blocked entirely from many environments (such as public schools in the US and many international locations).
While the AGF is willing to run KGS at a loss as a service to the go community, we would rather a smaller loss or to break even with any added money invested back into KGS. We hope that by switching to a donation model, we will generate the revenue for upgrades, fund more events, and provide a stable platform for play. Since the AGF is a 501c3 charity, donations to support KGS will be tax deductible.
Although KGS has seen declining attendance in recent years, there are still between 350 and 800 players on at any given moment. We feel that KGS builds community in a way that other servers don’t. The chat and room functionality allow people to meet new friends, create virtual go clubs, and learn together with what are still some of the best game editing tools available. Our hope is that the community shares our regard for KGS and will contribute to help keep it afloat. If you would like to donate to the server, through Paypal or with your credit card, click here.
AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo; Game 32: Worrying about life and death
Friday December 6, 2019
Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary, Game 32 of the popular series.
Redmond talks about the new era in Japan, as, after 30 years on the Chrysanthemum Throne, Emperor Akihito abdicated earlier this year — the first Japanese emperor to do so since 1817 — marking the end of the Heisei era and the inception of the Reiwa era, and his son and successor, Emperor Naruhito, was enthroned.
In Game 32, Black plays the mini Chinese Opening, which was also played in Game 31, with the colors reversed. “A very similar move comes up in this game,” says Redmond, “illustrating why the popularity of the mini Chinese has been reduced. It’s another exciting game in which, after a lot of fighting, it ends up in a half-point difference.” Redmond warns Garlock that “You’re going to be a bit more worried this time, I think, about the life and death of some of these groups.”
The series will continue with Friday releases this month, with AG-AG games 33 and 34, as well as a commentary on a game Redmond played with Ishida Yoshio last summer. AG-AG 34 was originally streamed live on Twitch on December 3; follow the AGA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds for announcements of future commentary streaming in this series. “The live streaming brings these commentaries to a broader audience and enables fans to interact with us in real time,” says Garlock. “Special thanks to Senior Producers Michael Wanek and Andrew Jackson for all their work on this series, and to new producer Steven Hu and editor Allen Moy.”
NOTE: Live streams are currently planned for December 9 and 11, both at 7p EDT on the AGA’s Twitch channel; be sure to follow the channel and get notified of live streams.
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