News from the American Go Association

October 16, 2006
Volume 7, #88

AMS DRUB PROS IN NAMT WEEKEND ROUNDS
YU WINS MILE HIGH FALL TOURNEY
DC EDGES OUT ROCKVILLE IN INTERCLUB MATCH
HUANG & AN MOST-IMPROVED IN PRINCETON TOURNEY
BROWN RECOGNIZED BY SYRACUSE CLUB
FULL GO TOURNEY/EVENT SCHEDULE
CHO U WINS FIFTH JAPANESE TITLE BUT STRUGGLES IN MEIJIN
ALL-CHINA CHUNLAN CUP FINALS SET
11-YEAR OLD MAY BE NEXT LEE CHANGHO
ROMANIANS WIN EURO CHAMPIONSHIP
YOUR MOVE:
All EJ, All The Time; Decoding Game Records
ONLINE GO: Latest Website Updates
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAR

AMS DRUB PROS IN NAMT WEEKEND ROUNDS: It was a rough weekend for professional go players in last weekend's North American Master's Tournament (NAMT). ZhaoNian Chen 8d, taking white, defeated two pros -- Huiren Yang 1P Saturday and Xuefen Lin 1P Sunday, both by resignation - while Jie Li 9d won against Yilun Yang 7P on time. In the only pro victory of the weekend, Mingjiu Jiang 7P beat Thomas Hsiang 7d by resignation. In A League results thus far, Yang is 4-1, Mingjiu Jiang, Jie Li and ZhaoNian Chen are 3-1, Feng Yun is 0-1, Xuefen Lin is 1-3 and Huiren Yang is 0-3. A League game records are posted online at http://www.eskimo.com/~wheelers/go/namt.html Scroll down to the A League Round Robin Matrix and click on the result. Thanks to Dennis Wheeler for posting these. In the next round, Jie Li plays Xuefen Lin at 1P (PST) this Wednesday, October 18 on IGS. Four more games are scheduled for this weekend; details online at www.usgo.org (click on NAMT on the right).

YU WINS MILE HIGH FALL TOURNEY:  Erwin Yu won the Rocky Mountain Fall Go Tournament October 14 in Westminster, CO. 41 players competed, including 13 youth players. Second place went to 11-year-old Kellin Pelrine, who lost in the finals to Yu. Pelrine "will turn 12 in December and has only been playing for 14 months," reports organizer David Weiss. "He should be an AGA 4 dan after the new ratings are out." In the B division, the winner was Jim Michali; second-place winner was Dave Johnson.

DC EDGES OUT ROCKVILLE IN INTERCLUB MATCH: The Greater Washington Go Club edged out the Rockville (MD) go club, 6-5, in the latest inter-club match, held on October 13. "Friday the 13th came down hard on Rockville," bragged GWGC organizer Hal Small. "The valuable fan teetered back and forth in the final match-deciding game between Marion Edey and Ken Zheng." Full results: Todd Heidenreich (Rockville) beat John Lancaster; Gene Feltner (GWGC) beat Kaname Yunokawa; Horacio Blumenthal (GWGC) beat Neil Bernardo; Jan Pablo Quizon (Rockville) beat Haskell Small; Zaheer Valivullah (Rockville) beat Marion Edey; Francis (Rockville) beat Ken Koester; John Lancaster (GWGC) beat Neil Bernardo; Haskell Small (GWGC) beat Kanabe Yunokawa; Betsy Small (GWGC) beat Ken Zeng; Jan Pablo Quizon (Rockville) beat Horacio Blumenthal; Marion Edey (GWGC) beat Ken Zeng. The inter-club event continues next month in Rockville on Nove mber 10.

HUANG & AN MOST-IMPROVED IN PRINCETON TOURNEY: Sean Huang and Terence An won Most-Improved at the October 8 Princeton Fall Self-Paired tourney, which 29 players who completed 54 rated games. There were no prizes, but Sean Huang gained 8.9 stones from his -32.3 rating to finish at -23.3, while Terence An gained 8.6 stones to move from -16.7 to -8.1, winning both Most-Improved status. "The Huang family name was well-represented," says organizer Rick Mott, "with eight kids: Sean, Michael, Joanne, Barbara, Diana, Daren, Edric, and Andrew." Zhaonian Chen 8d,
winner of the last two New Jersey Open tournaments, stopped by on the way to his NAMT game to offer commentary and play some unrated games with Princeton club members. "Incidentally," Mott notes, "I think this may be the first tournament in the history of the AGA to start exactly on time." A photo on the AGA website documents the historic moment, with a clock in background showing 3 seconds before 9AM. Finally, five new members joined the AGA at the tournament, including a visitor from France, Benoit Monin, and five youth members who renewed their memberships.

BROWN RECOGNIZED BY SYRACUSE CLUB: Dr. Mark Brown of the Syracuse University (S.U.) Philosophy Department was recognized for 35 years of service as advisor to the S.U. Go Club at an October 12 Game Night hosted by the S.U. Math Club, Pi Mu Epsilon. "Mark has now retired" as advisor, reports Syracuse go organizer Anton Ninno, "but he continues to play and teach go at the Syracuse Go Club on Monday evenings at the Dewitt Wegmans. I want to thank him for teaching me, and so many other S.U. students, to play go over three decades, and for providing good company to the staff and faculty who came to play every Thursday night." Several dozen people participated in the Game Night festivities and members of the Syracuse Go Club were on hand to give a presentation on the game and give beginner lessons. "Discussion has begun to see if the S.U. Math Club can take over go activities on campus," adds Ninno. In other Syracuse go action, the local club ran a booth at the Westcott Cultural Fair in Syracuse, NY on September 24. "The event drew several thousand local residents on a beautiful late summer day to hear music, enjoy a variety of ethnic food, and learn about many local organizations and services," says Ninno. "We answered questions about go and offered quick beginner lessons to people who stopped by to check out the go sets and books on display."

FULL GO TOURNEY/EVENT SCHEDULE: From coast to coast - and points in-between - the next month brings a full schedule of a dozen go tournaments and events. Tournaments will be held every weekend, from Syracuse to Sarasota, Portland to Catonsville, Hartford to Denver, as well as the Cotsen - which is expected to draw a large and strong field -- in Los Angeles and the Yang workshop in Lancaster. See Calendar below for details or click on http://www.usgo.org/usa/events.php

CHO U WINS FIFTH JAPANESE TITLE BUT STRUGGLES IN MEIJIN: Cho U 9P has ridden a roller-coaster between victory and defeat over the last week, adding a fifth title by defeating Hane Naoki 9P in the Agon Cup but falling behind 1-3 in his Meijin defense against Takao Shinji 9P, the current Honinbo. The teenage phenom Iyama Yuta 7P won the Agon Cup last year, but was beaten in the first round this time by Cho U. Cho now holds the Meijin, Oza, Gosei, Agon, and Ryusei titles, which include three of the top seven in Japan. Cho missed evening the match by just a half-point in the fourth game of the title match; Takao also won the first game in their match by a half point. Takao took the Honinbo title from Cho U in 2005 and is now just one win away from taking the Meijin title that Cho has held for two years. Cho, undoubtedly already planning revenge, is playing in the just-started Challenger's Leagu e.

ALL-CHINA CHUNLAN CUP FINALS SET: The Chinese are looking forward to their first-ever victory in the international Chunlan Cup as two Chinese players face off in the best-of-three-game finals. Chang Hao 9P, who defeated Peng Quan 7P in the all-Chinese semifinals, will play Gu Li 9P, who defeated Xie He 6P to gain the finals. This cup - now in its sixth edition -- has been won four times by Koreans and once by a Japanese player.

11-YEAR OLD MAY BE NEXT LEE CHANGHO: Eleven-year-old Na Hyun may well be the next Lee Changho, reports Goama, the new Internet go journal. Na is already an official insei in the Korean Baduk Association and is expected to make pro in a year or two. His picture was recently featured on the AGA home page where he was seen playing the USA's own Calvin Sun in the semifinals of the Junior (under 12) division of the World Youth Go Championship. Na won the Junior Division, while Sun, who was the youngest player in the Junior Division, came in fourth.

ROMANIANS WIN EURO CHAMPIONSHIP: The Romanian team of Catalin Taranu, Cristian Pop, Cornel Burzo, and Lucian Corlan won a smashing victory in the recent European Team Championship, losing only two games in six rounds. There were eight four-player teams from seven countries participating this year, but perennial winner Russia did not participate this time. Czechia took second place, followed by Hungary and Germany. Teams from Austria, Slovakia, and two from Serbia made up the rest of the field. The contest took place in Bratislava, Slovakia. Full results are posted here: http://www.eurogofed.org/results/team/teams2006.htm

YOUR MOVE: Readers Write

ALL EJ, ALL THE TIME: "Is it possible to obtain past issues of this email newsletter?" wonders a new reader. Back issues are available online at http://www.usgo.org/EJournal/archive/ejarchive.html

DECODING GAME RECORDS: "I just got a computer and for the first time I tried to play out a game in the attachment," writes Willard. "I find I can't decode the moves and in some cases the abbreviations. It would also be nice if there is a program which takes these moves when you click on them and displays them on a go board." Game records must be read with sgf reader program software; there are many such programs available online. Most go servers "clients" (i.e. the software used to play go online) also double as sgf readers. Check out .sgf readers at http://www.usgo.org/resources/computer.html#study

ONLINE GO: Latest Website Updates
By Roy Laird, AGA Webmaster
      Since we got back from the Go Congress, we've been busy little webmeisters at www.usgo.org Here are a few highlights of what's new. If you haven't stopped by in a while, check us out!
      Yearbook Online: The Yearbook page http://www.usgo.org/yearbook/yearbook.html now links to hundreds of articles that have appeared in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Yearbooks; basically everything but the attachments, which come on the CD with the Yearbook itself but are not available online.
      EJ Archive: We're continuing to update our EJ archive, and have just added a "Search" feature.
      Life Member List: We love our Life Members! To see a list of everyone who has taken this step, go to http://www.usgo.org/org/index.html#life
      Go Books Update: It's hard to keep up with all the new books that are being published, but your best source is "Go In Print" at http://www.usgo.org/resources/books.html, where we've added five new entries to the "New and Noteworthy" section. We're proud to note that this page is now the "Bibliography" link at gobase.org, and you'll find links to all related reviews that have appeared in the EJ..
      Site Index: Finally, there's an index of the complete site at http://www.usgo.org/agasi/index.html. Well, most of the site anyway, and we're working on that.
      The Bob High Memorial Library is probably the web's best-hidden secret. At http://www.usgo.org/bobhighlibrary/, you'll find dozens of essays, original research, parodies, memoirs and other items of value to the go-minded person that don't fit anywhere else.

GO CLASSIFIED
Locate go clubs worldwide at http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Go players in the Lake Tahoe (NV) area. Contact Fred Hopkins cfredhop@msn.com or call 916-548-8068 about forming a club. (10/6)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Monument, CO: Looking for go players in the Monument, CO area. I know of no one that plays around here. Please contact me at go_player_137@yahoo.com. Any strength whatsoever. (10/2)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: SW Portland/Beaverton: Ages 10-18 who would be interested in starting a youth go club. Contact Andrew Peterson at tigerboy@integrity.com (10/2)

PLAYERS WANTED: Southfield, MI. I have been fascinated by go for years, am anxious to learn more. Looking for players in my area. Am probably a high kyu player, with no rating. Please respond to David at dkobakofm@gmail.com (10/2)

BOOK VETTER WANTED: If you could help many frustrated players stick with go, would you jump at the opportunity? Here's your chance! One vetter 5d & stronger is sought for my new book "Improve Fast In Go", designed to help players in the 5-15k range improve more quickly. Vetter receives acknowledgment in the book, an autographed copy on publication and the priceless appreciation of the many players who might otherwise give up the game. Contact Milt Bradley at bradleym@eniinternet.com with a brief description of qualifications. (9/25)
   
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Syracuse, NY; If you attend Bishop Grimes JR./SR. High School, I might start go club at school if any people at the school play the game. Matt Jones, Doode24@twcny.rr.com (9/25)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Columbus, Indiana; We have moved here for half year. Looks like no one here plays the game. Please contact me with Kent151@Sina.com (9/25)

PLAYERS WANTED: Philadelphia, PA; Anyone interested in playing a quick game over lunch hour in Center City? Email Mark at doloangel@gmail.com (9/25)

SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with nearly 9,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org

CALENDAR
Complete events listings online at http://www.usgo.org/usa/calendar.html

October 21-22, 2006: Portland, OR
Portland Go Tournament
Peter Drake drake@lclark.edu 503.245.1239
Glenn Peters glenn@aenigma.com

October 28, 2006: Arlington, VA
Pumpkin Classic
Allan Abramson allango@igc.org 703.684.7676

October 28-29, 2006: Los Angeles, CA
Cotsen Go Tournament
http://web.mac.com/thelec/iWeb/Go/Index.html
Casie Rizer casie@thelec.com 310.473.5873
Lauren Madison execadmin@thelec.com 310.473.2243

October 29, 2006: Sunnyvale, CA
9th Ing's Cup Youth Goe Tournament
http://www.GoMasters.com
Mingjiu Jiang mingjiu7p@hotmail.com 650.969.2857

November 2-5, 2006: Lancaster, PA
10th Lancaster Yang Workshop
Sam Zimmerman szimmerman@ctipc.com 717.892.1249
Chuck Robbins crobbins@ctipc.com 717.682.2667

November 5, 2006: Seattle, WA
Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley jon@airsltd.com 206.545.1424

November 5, 2006: Sarasota, FL
Sarasota Self-Paired Fall Tournament
(come anytime between 10am-7pm)
Larry Rabinowitz rabitz@verizon.net 941.922.1000
Dan Moise dan_moise@yahoo.com 941.284.6987

November 5, 2006: New York, NY
Ratings Tournament at N Y Go Center
Sponsored by TOYOTA
Hiroto Suzuki suzuki.hiroto@gmail.com 212.223.0342

November 11, 2006: Tacoma, WA
Tacoma Autumn Tournament
Mike Malveaux mikem@hilltopgo.com 253.906.0095

November 11-12, 2006: San Francisco, CA
2006 Dote Memorial SF Go Club Fall tournament
Steve Burrall sburrall@comcast.net 916.688.2858

November 12, 2006: Catonsville, MD
UMBC Go Club's Semi-Annual Tournament
Todd Blatt todd3@umbc.edu 443.392.6822

November 12, 2006: Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor Fall Go Tournament
Jin Chen chenjin@umich.edu 313.643.2888

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

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