News from the American Go Association

October 27, 2006

Volume 7, #91 (Member's Edition)

FENG YUN WINS 2 IN NAMT
COTSEN ATTRACTS TOP CA PLAYERS
EJ TO BROADCAST COTSEN GAMES
BOULDER KIDS 100 STONES STRONGER
TEEN IN CHANG-KI CUP SEMIFINALS
CHO SEOK-BIN WINS IN FINLAND
CHO U 1-0 IN OZA DEFENSE
YASHIRO KUMIKO PULLS AHEAD IN WOMEN'S HONINBO
CHALLENGE GOES ONLINE
AGA SEEKING TREASURER
WEEKEND ACTION:
Los Angeles, Arlington & Sunnyvale
KLUTTS WINS QUIZ
THIS WEEK'S GO QUIZ: Non-native Korean or Chinese Winners
AGA HAPPENINGS: Rank Certification
GAME COMMENTARY: Hot Shot On The Rise
ATTACHED FILE(S): 2006.10.27 Iyama-Ogata, Daiwa Shoken, Dinerchtein

FENG YUN WINS 2 IN NAMT: Feng Yun 9P defeated Thomas Hsiang 7d by 13 points in Monday's round of the North American Master's Tournament, and then beat Xuefen Lin 1P by resignation on Tuesday. One round will be played this weekend: Saturday at 7A PST, Mingjiu Jiang vs Huiren Yang. Details, including the full schedule, are online at www.usgo.org (click on NAMT on the right).

COTSEN ATTRACTS TOP CA PLAYERS: Defending Cotsen Open champion Jie Li 9d of San Diego is set to take on California's top players this weekend, including Xuefen Lin 1P, Lu Wang 8d and strong Korean players from the LA area. Sponsored by Eric Cotsen and the American Go Association, the Cotsen Open is one of the largest and strongest tournaments on the national go scene. The 2-day 5-round tournament is open to all ranks, with $3,000 in prizes, free registration, free lunch, pro game reviews and more. Tourney details at http://web.mac.com/thelec/iWeb/Go/Index.html  

EJ TO BROADCAST COTSEN GAMES: All five Board 1 games at this weekend's Cotsen Open will be broadcast live on both IGS and KGS. The E-Journal will be on hand to cover the tournament again this year; look for live game commentary by Thomas Hsiang 7d, Philip Waldron 6d and Cornell Burzo 7d, as well updated photos at www.usgo.org

BOULDER KIDS 100 STONES STRONGER: The Boulder Kids and Teens club in Colorado celebrates 100 stones in improvement since implementing a cake and ice cream policy in May. Details in Monday's E-Journal.

TEEN IN CHANG-KI CUP SEMIFINALS: The third Chang-ki Cup, sponsored by the Ing Chang-ki Foundation, is down to four players, one of whom is only 15: Gu Li 9P, Hu Yaoyu 8P, Kong Jie 7P, and young Tuo Jiaxi 3P. Details on Monday.

CHO SEOK-BIN WINS IN FINLAND: Unbeaten Cho Seok-Bin 7d of Germany took top honors among the 91 players in Tampere, Finland, in the latest event on the Toyota IGS PandaNet European Go Tour. Details on Monday.

CHO U 1-0 IN OZA DEFENSE: In contrast to his must-win situation, down 2-3 in the defense of his Meijin title, Cho U 9P won the first game in the defense of his Japanese Oza title against Yamashita Keigo 9P. Details on Monday.

YASHIRO KUMIKO PULLS AHEAD IN WOMEN'S HONINBO: Yashiro Kumiko 5P has moved ahead 2-1 in the defense of her Japanese Women's Honinbo title against Inori Yoko 5P. Details on Monday.

CHALLENGE GOES ONLINE: Everything you ever wanted to know about the 2007 Shodan Challenge is now available online at the new Challenge website now up at http://www.usgo.org/usa/Challenge.html Find out what the Challenge is, see the answers to frequently asked questions and check out the Challenger calendar. PLUS: don't forget the deadline to sign up is November 1!

AGA SEEKING TREASURER: The American Go Association is seeking a new Treasurer. Applicants should have recent experience in bookkeeping or accounting, and a solid understanding of financial management, but need not be a CPA. Experience in non-profit organizations or finance is a huge plus. The position needs someone who can provide financial guidance and leadership for the AGA's anticipated growth while maintaining our financial integrity. Anyone interested should write to Kevin Purvis at Volunteers@usgo.org.

WEEKEND ACTION: Los Angeles, Arlington & Sunnyvale
- 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 28, 2006: Arlington, VA
Pumpkin Classic
Allan Abramson allango@igc.org 703.684.7676
- October 29, 2006: Sunnyvale, CA
9th ING'S CUP YOUTH GOE TOURNAMENT
http://www.GoMasters.com
Mingjiu Jiang mingjiu7p@hotmail.com 650.969.2857

KLUTTS WINS QUIZ: B.C. Klutts is this week's Go Quiz Winner. Klutts was selected at random from those who came up with famous non-Japanese winners of Japanese titles, including O Rissei of Taiwan, who won the Kisei, Judan and Oza as well as a NEC, NHK and Shinjin-Otitle; O Meien (Taiwan; Honinbo and Oza); Cho Sonjin (Korea; Honinbo, NEC, Shinjin-O); Ryu Shikun (Korea; Tengen and Oza). Smaller title holders include Kim Sujin of Korea, So Yokoku and Qiu Jun of China, and Yo Kagen , Cho Riyu and Tei Meiko of Taiwan. Kudos to Phil Waldron for picking up a couple we missed -- and for not forgetting our own Michael Redmond for winning the Ryuen Cup, and sections of the Oteai as well. Also worth noting is American James Kerwin winning the 1-dan section of the Kisei title. And if we consider the Fujitsu a Japanese (rather than an international) title, that adds winners Yoo Changhyuk, Cho Hunhyun, Lee Chang Ho, Lee Sedol and Park Youn g-hoon (Korea) and Ma Xiachun of China. Klutts wins a free AGA membership. Got Quiz? Send us your ideas for future Go Quiz questions at journal@usgo.org

THIS WEEK'S GO QUIZ: Non-native Korean or Chinese Winners
      As you can see from last week's quiz answer, many non-Japanese players have won Japanese titles. But has a foreign-born player ever won a Korean or Chinese title? We can think of at least one; click here if you know the answer: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=330212370809 Honorable Mention to anyone who comes up with more than one. One winner will be drawn at random from the correct answers and will be awarded a go book or $15 gift certificate from one of our fine go vendors. Go Quiz Editor: Keith L. Arnold, hka

AGA HAPPENINGS: Rank Certification
    This week we offer a sneak peak of one of our most anticipated new programs, the upcoming Rank Certification. The AGA Board has just approved a working proposal to begin issuing certificates, or diplomas, starting at the single digit kyu level up to amateur 7 dan. This will be a merit-based program that will include affordable certificates to enable members who have worked hard to earn this recognition may acquire a certification. Currently the committee is evaluating rank criteria, with AGA statistician Paul Matthews leading the charge, and working on award presentations. We're targeting a first-quarter 2007 date to roll out the first Rank Certifications. For more information about the program, email rank@usgo.org. If you're interested in helping, please send an email to volunteer@usgo.org
- Kevin Purvis


GAME COMMENTARY: Hot Shot On The Rise
       Today's game features an impressive performance by the young hot shot Iyama Yuta 7P, whom everyone expects to break into the top level soon. He won the Japanese Agon Cup last year. In the September 17 game from the 1st Japanese Daiwa-Shoken Cup, Ogata Masaki 9P gives him some good chances, though, which Iyama makes effective use of, especially White 28, when Ogata misses a chance to reduce Black to two small groups. The opening is quite interesting. The commentary is by Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P.
       NOTE FOR NON-MEMBERS: Get game commentaries, reviews and more every week in the Friday Member's Edition! Don't miss another week; sign up now at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.html
       To view the attached .sgf file(s), simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen's http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html

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

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Editor: Chris Garlock
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