News from the American Go Association
June 20, 2005
Volume 5, #52
In This Issue:
US GO NEWS: Li, Yun & Lee Win In Masters; Wong Tops Virginia Open; Congress Registration Deadline Extended
WORLD GO NEWS: Cho U Takes Asian TV Cup; Kobayashi Satoru And Yamashita Lead Meijin League; Japanese Triumphant In New China-Japan Matches; Zborowski Wins Scottish Open
YOUR MOVE: Readers Write: Adding Up; Toronto Go; Strong And Wise
THE TRAVELING BOARD: The Go Player's Guide to Toronto (2005)
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
US GO NEWS
LI, YUN & LEE WIN IN MASTERS: Jie Li, Feng Yun and Jung Hoon Lee won in the latest rounds of the Masters Tournament on Friday. Jie Li 9d defeated Thomas Hsiang 7d by resignation, Feng Yun 9P defeated Joey Hung 8d by resignation and Jung Hoon Lee 7d defeated Yuan Zhou 7d by 3 points. Previously, Hsiang defeated Yun in Game 1, Hung 8d defeated Zhou in Game 2 and Li defeated Yun in Game 3. All games have been played on the Internet Go Server; the final will be played at the U.S. Go Congress.
WONG TOPS VIRGINIA OPEN: David Wong 1d of Richmond, VA was the top winner at the sixth Virginia Open on June 18th. The only other four-game winner in the record field of 35 players was Vi Cao 27k of Fairfax, VA. The player who traveled the furthest was Hao KeQiang 3d who came all the way from Beijing, China, visiting his daughter in Richmond. Eric Lui 7d cheerfully gave large handicaps to several dan players who enjoyed seeing what makes a 7d different; only Ray Hunley, playing as a 2d with five stones, managed to defeat Eric.
- reported by Bill Cobb
CONGRESS REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED: With nearly 400 already registered, U.S. Go Congress organizers have extended the June 15 registration deadline through midnight June 26th. After June 26th there is a $50 late registration fee and after July 15th there will be a $100 late registration fee. Register now at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.asp
THIS JUST IN: 11 pros have now confirmed for the Congress; Hideyo Son 4P of the Kansai Kiin and Katsuya Fujiwara 6P are the latest additions. Also, if you're interested in The Great Climbing Event on the Wednesday Day Off, email organizer Bill Enger at registrar@go2004.org (the previous email address was incorrect, we apologize for any inconvenience). Travel alternatives: west-coasters can catch Amtrak's Cascades train, which reader Peter Drake tells us is "a roomy, relaxing ride with a nice view." Details at
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1080842092705&ssid=135
CHO U TAKES ASIAN TV CUP: An undefeated Cho U 9P has won the Asian TV Cup, defeating Lee Changho in the first round, Yu Bin in the second round, and Cho Hanseung in the finals, winning all three games by 2.5 points. This is the second international title for Cho U this year; he won the LG Cup back in April. However, he is not doing nearly as well in defending his Honinbo title, and is now down 0-3 against challenger Takao Shinji 8P. The fast-move Asian TV Cup involves the top two finishers in the TV Cups in Japan, Korea, and China, plus the winner from the previous year, which this time was Yu Bin 9P of China. The other six players were Liu Xing 7P and Gu Li 7P of China, Cho U 9P and Yoda Norimoto 9P of Japan, and Lee Changho 9P and Cho Hanseung 8P of Korea. All six games in the tournament were won by White, which led to a discussion among some top players about whether the 7.5 komi may be too large. You can download the game records at the go4go website.
KOBAYASHI SATORU AND YAMASHITA LEAD MEIJIN LEAGUE: In the 30th Meijin League to determine the challenger for current title holder Cho U 9P, two players now have a 5-1 record, Kobayashi Satoru 9P and Yamashita Keigo 9P, the current Tengen. Two other players still have a chance with 4-2 records: Imamura Yoshiya 9P and Sakai Hideyuki 7P. Sakai must still play both of the leaders, while Imamura's remaining matches will be with O Meien 9P, who is 3-3, and Cho Sonjin 9P, who is 1-5. The last two rounds will be in July and August.
JAPANESE TRIUMPHANT IN NEW CHINA-JAPAN MATCHES: At the recent Expo in Aichi, Japan, the Japanese won two special team matches sponsored by the Chinese to commemorate the go exchanges between China and Japan, John Power reports on the home page of the Nihon Kiin. The matches involved some famous players who were part of the regular China-Japan matches in the 1970s and 80s, along with two top younger players. In the five player team contest, Rin Kaiho 9P of Japan defeated Chen Zude 9P, Kobayashi Koichi 9P of Japan defeated Nie Weiping 9P, Takemiya Masaki 9P of Japan defeated Ma Xiaochun 9P, Chang Hao 9P of China defeated Hane Naoki 9P, and Yamashiro Hiroshi 9P of Japan defeated Luo Xihe. In the three player team match, Otake Hideo 9P of Japan defeated Chen Zude, Nie Weiping of China defeated Hane Yasumasa 9P, and Yuki Satoshi 9P of Japan defeated Chang Hao. It is very unusual these days to have a tournament in which all of the players hold the rank of 9P.
ZBOROWSKI WINS SCOTTISH OPEN: Jakub Zborowski 2d of Poland won all five games to top the Scottish Open, which was played this year at Aberdeen University with twenty-five participants. Francis Roads 4d of Wanstead was second with four wins. There was a tie for third between Tony Atkins 3d and Neil McLean 4k, who beat Atkins to create the tie.
- reported by BGA News
YOUR MOVE: Readers Write
ADDING UP: "To help alleviate the question of missed issues of the E-Journal, how about coming up with a numbering scheme for the issues?" suggests Joe Maia. An excellent idea, Joe, which we're pleased to implement beginning with today's issue.
TORONTO GO: "I live in Toronto, Canada and I'm trying to find a go club in Toronto," writes reader Dave Greer. The Canadian Go Association's website, which was down temporarily, is back online at http://www.go-canada.org/ and includes a list of clubs throughout Canada. We also turned to former CGA President Phil Waldron for advice; see The Traveling Board, below.
STRONG AND WISE: "In your June 13 issue of the American Go E-Journal in the US Go news section you wrongly report the rank of the professional player Huiren Yang as 8 Dan," writes Sangit Chatterjee. "It should be 1P. 8 Dan gives Yang an amateur status, which he is not. Incidentally, you report his name as Hui Ren but the correct spelling is Huiren which is one word and means 'wise man.'"
THE TRAVELING BOARD: The Go Player's Guide to Toronto (2005)
by Philip Waldron 7d
For a complete list of Toronto clubs, check out the Canadian Go Association's website at http://www.go-canada.org/ It's been a while since visiting go clubs in Toronto; I have always lived outside the city, so my adventures have been limited to a few clubs in particular and my geographical descriptions may be spotty for the city's Korean clubs.
That said, your best bet for a first go club is the Toronto Go Club at 519 Church Street (near the Wellesley subway stop). It is free of charge and meets Sunday afternoons from noon to five, but people really start showing up around 1P. The club also meets Wednesday nights, but I'm not sure of the hours (6 or 7 until 10P).
There are also two Korean go clubs that I know of. While the players are all Korean, they're friendly and happy to have Caucasians visit. There is a daily game fee; it was $5 per day for nearly a decade, but I think the rate is $7 now. I don't know when the clubs open (midafternoon, I expect), but they keep going until you're cross-eyed. Be warned, the Koreans smoke like fiends, but the clubs are usually well attended. Golf season tends to draw a few players away though.
One of the Korean clubs is near Bloor & Christie street. The Church Street crowd can give you a street address, but take the subway to Christie, get off and start walking down Bloor street away from the park (east, I think). Within a block or two you will see a Mexican restaurant at the corner of Bloor and a street whose name I have forgotten (told you my city geography was getting rusty!). The go club is just across the street from there. The other Korean club is in North York, about a block east of Yonge on the south side of Sheppard Ave. (there's a yellow "Go Game Club" sign on the building). Parking is a bit of a problem, but at the times you'll likely be playing there are places nearby that should be empty.
Beyond these three clubs, there is are several others I've had no experience with. There is a Chinese go club towards the east end of the city, and one at a local Japanese community centre. There's also a club in a games store (near Eglinton Ave, I think) that's a little inconvenient to get to by public transit. Finally the University of Toronto often has a club, but that depends on student organizers and is a little touch and go. Regardless, I wouldn't expect it to be functioning during the summer months.
GO CLASSIFIED
NOTE: Just a reminder that classified ads appear once in the E-Journal and are then posted for 4 weeks on the AGA website at http://www.usgo.org/resources/classified.asp
PLAYERS WANTED: 14k player in Jesup, GA looking for good players to start local go organization. Contact Kenneth Wright at 912-294-3571 (cell and voice mail) or email crhomegaman@bellsouth.net
BUY, SELL, OR TRADE equipment, books and go materials, find a go teacher, find someone to play go with! Complete go classifieds online at http://www.usgo.org/resources/classified.asp
June 25: New York, NY
NYHSGA Summer Tournament
Alex Pak llyrias@gmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/nymhsga/tournament.html
June 25-28: Hackensack, NJ
Yilun Yang Go Workshop
John Stephenson 201-612-0852 jcs@wingsgoclub.org
July 2-9: Oneonta, NY
East Coast Youth Go Camp
eastagagocamp@usgo.org
July 16: Arlington, VA
Congress Tune-up
Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net
July 16-23: Oakland, CA
West Coast Youth Go Camp
westagagocamp@usgo.org
July 17: Somerville, MA
MGA Summer Handicap Tournament
Zack Grossbart 617-497-1232 zack@grossbart.com
This is a digest of events for the next month only; for a complete listing see the Tournament Calendar on the AGA website: http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp
For the European Go Calendar see http://www.european-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDate.htm
GET LISTED & BOOST TURN OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 7,000 readers every week! List your Go event/news In the E Journal: email details to us at journal@usgo.org
Published by the American Go Association
Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that commented game record files MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of the E-Journal. Please direct inquiries to journal@usgo.org
Articles appearing in the E-Journal represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the American Go Association.
To make name or address corrections, go to http://www.listlynx.com/MailUser1.asp Story suggestions, event announcements, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:
Editor: Chris Garlock
journal@usgo.org