The Redmond Cup

The Redmond Cup is the longest running and most prestigious youth tournament in the United States. Named after professional 9-dan Michael Redmond and first organized by his family, the tournament was created to encourage play among grade school children and to discover excellence among North American youth players. It was initially sponsored by the Ing Foundation, with additional support from the American Go Foundation. The tournament has been one of the continent's premiere youth events since 1994, and is currently funded by the AGA, with support from the AGF. Michael Bull ran the event for the first twenty years, before passing the hat on to Paul Barchilon and Justin Teng.

Eligibility

The Redmond Cup is a competition for dan-level players in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Kyu players may compete in the North American Kyu Championships, where the winners of the top division are granted entry into the Redmond Cup. The Redmond Cup has two divisions: Senior, for players under 18, and Junior, for players under 13. The cut-off date is the final day of the US Go Congress, which is July 31st for 2021. Players whose birthday falls prior to that date must play at the age they will be at that time. Players must be either citizens of the United States or residents of the United States, Canada or Mexico, as well as members of their respective national Go organization.

Structure and Prizes

Preliminary games of the Redmond Cup are played online beginning in mid-March, with one match taking place every two weeks. The top two players in each division will be invited to play a best-of-three match for the title, at the US Go Congress. The AGA will provide up to $850 in congress expenses, and up to $400 in travel expenses, for each finalist. The final matches will always be live. If a player is unable to attend the congress, their slot will be given to the player with the next highest finishing score. In each division, the first place winner will receive $300, and the second place winner will receive $200, courtesy of the AGF. All four finalists will receive a trophy.

Current Tournament

Registration for the 2022 Redmond Cup is closed. Registration for the 2023 tournament will open in January 2023.

Champions

Event Year Junior Division Senior Division
1st 1994 Jonathan Wang (champion) Bellamy Liu (runner-up) James Chien (champion) Alan Chen (runner-up)
2nd 1995 Yinan Chen (champion) Bellamy Liu (runner-up) James Chien (champion) Timothy Law (runner-up)
3rd 1996 Eric Lui (champion) Jesse Chao (runner-up) Timothy Law (champion) Michael Hong (runner-up)
4th 1997 Jesse Chao (champion) Eric Lui (runner-up) Edward Kao (champion) Michael Hong (runner-up)
5th 1998 Eric Lui (champion) Justin Wang (runner-up) Dennis Liang (champion) Michael Hong (runner-up)
6th 1999 Eric Lui (champion) Justin Wang (runner-up) Dennis Liang (champion) Jonathon Wang (runner-up)
7th 2000 Eric Lui (champion) Curtis Tang (runner-up) Jonathon Wang (champion) Richard Liang (runner-up)
8th 2001 Curtis Tang (champion) Matthew Burrall (runner-up) Eric Lui* (champion) Richard Liang (runner-up)
9th 2002 Andy Liu (champion) Matthew Burrall (runner-up) Mozheng Guan (champion) Justin Wang (runner-up)
10th 2003 Curtis Tang (champion) Johnnie Liu (runner-up) Mozheng Guan (champion) Andy Liu (runner-up)
11th 2004 Curtis Tang (champion) ? Mozheng Guan (champion) Zhaonian (Michael) Chen (runner-up)
12th 2005 Lionel Zhang (champion) Calvin Sun (runner-up) Zhao Nian Chen (champion) Richard Liang (runner-up)
13th 2006 Calvin Sun (champion) Patrick Lung (runner-up) Curtis Tang (champion) Andy Liu (runner-up)
14th 2007 Calvin Sun (champion) Hugh Zhang (runner-up) Landon Brownell (champion) Cherry Shen (runner-up) (SGF)
15th 2008 Hugh Zhang (champion) Andrew Huang (runner-up) (game records) Gansheng Shi (champion) William Zhou (runner-up) (game records)
16th 2009 Jerry Shen (champion) Yunxuan Li (runner-up) (SGF, SGF, SGF) Gansheng Shi (champion) Zhongxia (Ricky) Zhao (runner-up) (SGF, SGF)
17th 2010 Oliver Wolf (champion) Henry Zhang (runner-up) (SGF, SGF, SGF) Curtis Tang* (champion) Jianing Gan (runner-up) (SGF, SGF)
18th 2011 Aaron Ye (champion) Sammy Zhang (runner-up) (game record) Calvin Sun (champion) Gansheng Shi (runner-up) (game record)
19th 2012 Aaron Ye (champion) Austen Liao (runner-up) Jianing Gan (champion) Calvin Sun (runner-up) (news)
20th 2013 Aaron Ye (champion) David Lu (runner-up) (R2 SGF) Jianing Gan (champion) Andrew Lu (runner-up) (news)
21th 2014 Aaron Ye (champion) Jeremy Chiu (runner-up) Bill Lin (champion) Jianing Gan (runner-up) (news)
22nd 2015 Ary Cheng (champion) Raymond Feng (runner-up) Albert Yen (champion) Yunxuan Li (runner-up) (news)
23rd 2016 Ary Cheng (champion) Luoyi Yang (runner-up) (R1, R2) (news) Jeremy Chiu (champion) Albert Yen (runner-up) (R1, R2, R3) (news)
24th 2017 Ary Cheng (champion) Matthew Cheng (runner-up) (R1, R2, R3) (news) Aaron Ye* (champion) Muzhen Ai (runner-up) (R1, R2) (news)
25th 2018 Ary Cheng (champion) Frederick Bao (runner-up) (R1, R2, R3) Aaron Ye (champion) Jeremy Chiu (runner-up) (R1, R2) (news)
26th 2019 Kevin Huang (champion) Frederick Bao (runner-up) (R1, R2) (news) Aaron Ye (champion) Jeremy Chiu (runner-up) (R1, R2) (news)
27th 2020 Kevin Huang (champion) Tony Yang (runner-up) (R1, R2, R3) Brady Zhang (champion) Xinlei (Alex) Liu (runner-up) (R1, R2, R3)
28th 2021 TBD (champion) TBD (runner-up) Alex Qi (champion) Kevin Huang (runner-up) (R1, R2)
29th 2022 Evan Tan (champion) Eric Yang (runner-up) (R1, R2) Alex Qi (champion) King Bi (runner-up) (R1, R2)
  • The honorary title of Redmond Meijin is granted to those who win the Redmond Cup five times. Eric Lui was the first to do this, in 2001. Curtis Tang had his fifth win in 2010. Aaron Ye became the third in 2017.

Acknowledgements

The AGA and the Redmond family would like to express their gratitude for the efforts of tournament director Michael Bull, the generous sponsorship by the Ing Foundation and to Timothy Jeans and the American Go Foundation for the annual donation of prize money.