News from the American Go Association

August 17, 2006
Volume 7, #70

JIANG FENDS OFF TEEN CHALLENGER
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING
TOURNEY ROUNDUP
FRIDAY'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FIRE FOLLOW-UP
GO PROFILES: Landon Brownell 7d
PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING: Murakami Akihide 1P
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2006.08.17USOpenRd4Bd1CTang-MJiang

JIANG FENDS OFF TEEN CHALLENGER: Ming Jiu Jiang 7P fought off a spirited challenge from 13-year-old Curtis Tang 7d to prevail on Board 1 of the US Open Thursday, while Jie Li 9d's slump continued with a come-from-behind victory by Romanian Cornell Burzo 8d. The Jiang-Tang game featured a complicated new joseki that Tang picked up in Ma Xiaochun's Weiqi School in Shanghai, China. The game - with comments by both Jiang and Tang - is attached. Look for an update on latest US Open standings on the web soon.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING: Hundreds of go players around the world have once again been following the US Go Congress action online as top boards have been broadcast on the IGS and KGS this week. Despite significant technical difficulties with an unstable wireless network, the EJ staff has managed to broadcast all the Board 1 games in both the US Open and the Ing Cup, as well as most of the Board 2 games and sometimes even Board 3 as well. In addition, news updates and photos have been posted on the AGA's website daily, and today, 15 of the top-board games - 6 from the US Open and 9 from the Ing - were posted on the news page. A handy feature of the new and improved website - www.usgo.org -- is that all the news, photos and games are permanently saved as new material is uploaded: use the arrows to cycle through the archived page.

TOURNEY ROUNDUP: Latest standings were not available at presstime; look for updates on the website soon and in tomorrow's EJ.

FRIDAY'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Boards 1 & 2 of the 5th round of the US Open will be broadcast LIVE on the IGS starting at 9A Friday; at 3:30 there will be a Pro-Am demonstration game broadcast live on the IGS.

FIRE FOLLOW-UP: It was Assistant Tournament Director Michael Bull who fetched the fire extinguisher and put out the blazing laptop Sunday, after Kim Dal Soo attempted to smother the blaze with the tablecloth. Bull left the scene as soon as the fire was out because, he says, "Well... the lunchroom was going to close."

GO PROFILES: Landon Brownell 7d
       Landon Brownell is a 7 dan go player from Corvallis, Oregon. He is sixteen years old, and is home -schooled. He learned go with his brother four years ago, and he does not have a teacher. In last year's Go Congress, he won 1st place in the 4 dan division. He is also a very strong chess player, and he likes go and chess equally well.
- reported by Lawrence Ku

PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING: Murakami Akihide 1P
    Murakami Akihide 1p was just 8 years old when his father, a 3d amateur, first taught him to play go. He decided to become an insei at 14 because go was "really fun (and he) wanted to keep playing" and he spent four years in the program. Murakami took the pro test six times; the first game he played during his initial attempt is his most memorable, due to its intensity and importance. When he was 20, he passed the pro test with a 14-3 record, earning him first place and the prestige being only one of two to pass that year.
    Murakami studied under Kikuchi Yasuro 8d, the amateur founder of the Ryokusei Academy, and says that he admires Fujisawa Shuko the most and studies his games often. This is Murakami's first Congress and he's been busy, playing simultaneous games, teaching in the Youth Room, and participating in a review of the top two boards in the third round of the Ing Cup. Surprised by how much activity the Congress has packed into each day, Murakami has signed up for the Pair Go tournament and during Wednesday's Day Off, Murakami hiked to the top of High Windy mountain, a grueling several-hour hike that few have attempted. Look for a photo on the website soon!
- Reported by Aria von Elbe

2006 GO CONGRESS EJ TEAM: Chris Garlock, Aria von Elbe, Michael Kyriakakis, Laura Kolb, Lee Huynh, Lawrence Ku, Akane Negishi, Mario Moran, Chuck Robbins, John Hilt, Steve Colburn.

Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb

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