News from the American Go Association
April 17, 2006
Volume 7, #32
CHINA GO TRIP ORGANIZED
REDMOND AND XIAN TO ATTEND US GO CONGRESS
KOREANS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE FUJITSU
YAMADA TO CHALLENGE FOR HONINBO
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2006.04.17 Cho-Lee, Fujitsu
CHINA GO TRIP ORGANIZED: Go'n'games is organizing its third annual Go to China trip this summer, running from June 20 - August 20. The 2-month trip to Beijing features "go lectures almost every weekday," reports organizer Michael Yao, "plenty of sightseeing arrangements during the weekends, great food, visits to professional tournaments and go clubs, a crash course in Chinese, football, basketball and some good night life, including karaoke," A similar package will be available for those who are only able to stay for one month (organizers hope to put together a 2-week visit, as well). Four U.S. players are already signed up; find out more at http://gongames.com/china
REDMOND AND XIAN TO ATTEND US GO CONGRESS: Michael Redmond 9P and his wife Xian Xian 3P have announced that they will be attending the 22nd Annual US Go Congress, report organizers Peter Armenia and Paul Celmer. American-born Redmond started playing go at the age of 10 and became an insei at the Nihon Ki-in at 14. In 2000, he reached the top rank of 9P, the first North American to rise to the highest ranks of the Japanese professional system. To register and to learn more about the August 12-20 US Go Congress, visit http://gocongress06.org. Pay by June 22 and save $50.
KOREANS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE FUJITSU: In the second round of the 19th international Fujitsu Cup, five of the six Koreans survived, but only one Japanese and two Chinese players. The lone Japanese survivor is Yuki Satoshi 9P, who defeated Gu Li 7P, China's number one player, by resignation. In the first round Yuki defeated another top Chinese player, Yu Bin 9P. The two Chinese are Chang Hao 9P and Zhou Heyang 9P. Chang defeated the Taiwanese player, who made it into the second round, Zhou Junxun 9P. Zhou Junxun defeated Takao Shinji 9P and current Honinbo in Japan in the first round. Zhou Heyang defeated the only Korean who lost, Yoo Changhyuk 9P. The other Koreans in the next round are Lee Sedol 9P (who beat Cho Chikun 9P of Japan), Lee Changho 9P (who beat the current Japanese Kisei Yamashita Keigo 9P), Park Jungsang 5P (who defeated North America's MingJiu Jiang 7P in the first round and Hane Naoki 9P of Ja
pan in the second), Choi Cheolhan 9P (who took out Cho U 9P, Japan's current top title holder), and Park Yeonghun 9P (who beat recent Samsung Cup winner Luo Xihe 9P of China). It was a very impressive display of Korean strength. It seems highly likely that the finals will again be between two Koreans, as has been the case for five of the last six years. The last non-Korean to win the Fujitsu was Kobayashi Koichi 9P of Japan in 1997. The game between Lee Sedol and Cho Chikun was particularly interesting and we have attached an SGF file of the game record for your enjoyment. Cho seems to get a huge territorial lead, but Lee finds a daring way to reduce Cho's large area on the left side to a seki.
YAMADA TO CHALLENGE FOR HONINBO: Yamada Kimio 9P won the playoff to determine the challenger for Japanese Honinbo Takao Shinji 9P. There was an unusual three-way tie at the end of the eight player round robin league to determine the challenger; Yamada, Hane Naoki 9P, and Yoda Norimoto 9P all had 5-2 records. Yamada beat Hane by resignation in the first of the single elimination play-off, and then managed to squeak by Yoda Norimoto 9P by a mere half point. The best-of-seven Honinbo title match will begin in early May. Takao Shinji won the title from Cho U last year.
GO CAMPERS WANTED: Here's a special question for our young readers: what's your favorite go camp memory? Send it to us at journal@usgo.org and we'll consider it for the upcoming special Go Camp Edition! Starting young is one of the keys to becoming a strong go player and each year, youth members from 8-18 attend Go Camps where they enjoy lectures, simultaneous games, and paired games. All of this happens in a summer camp setting with camp activities and outings. Swimming, soccer, miniature golf, hikes, and barbecues are just some of the activities from past camps. Visit www.usgo.org/gocamp to see a video about Go Camps and get more information now.
CORNETT JOINS YEARBOOK TEAM: The E-Journal/Yearbook team is pleased to welcome our new Yearbook CD editor, Howard Cornett. A Syracuse NY-based database developer and web designer, Cornett learned to play go in the mid-Nineties. "My favorite part of the game is the sportsmanship," Cornett says. "Everyone seems to want to help everyone else get better. If more people played go, the world would definitely be a better place to live." Cornett has already begun work on the 2006 Yearbook CD: "Simple and easy to use are always my goal and that will certainly apply to the AGA Yearbook CD." Cornett picks up on the excellent work done by Michael Heinich, who created the original Yearbook CD. Our thanks to both volunteers!
April 22: Seattle, WA
Cherry Blossom Festival Tournament
Jon Boley jon@airsltd.com 206-545-1424
April 22: Rochester, NY
Empty Sky Spring Ratings Tournament
Christopher Sira emptyskygo@gmail.com 201-230-2383
April 22: Daytona Beach, FL
Embry-Riddle Go Club Tournament
Andrew Kreshock AKCarcer@gmail.com 610-406-3914
April 22-23: Houston, TX
Houston Spring Go Tournament 2006
Robert Cordingley rcordingley@houston.rr.com 281-333-1614
April 22-23: San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Go Club Spring tournament
Steve Burrall sburrall@comcast.net 916-688-2858
April 23: Menlo Park, CA
3rd California High School Goe Tournament
Mingjiu Jiang mingjiu7p@hotmail.com 650-969-2857
April 23: Amherst, MA
Western Mass. Spring Go Tournament
Charles Sutton casutton@cs.umass.edu 413-253-9873
April 29: Hartford, CT
Chinese Cultural Center Spring Weiqi Tournament
Bill Fung chiwaifung@netzero.com 860-648-1527
April 29: Sacramento, CA
Davis/Sacramento Quarterly Tournament
Fred Hopkins cfredhop@msn.com 916-548-8068
April 30: Somerville, MA
MGA Spring Handicap Tournament
Zack Grossbart zack@grossbart.com 617-497-1232
Classified ads are free for AGA members: send your ad to us at journal@usgo.org
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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