World
Go News from the American Go Association
May 14, 2007; Volume 8, #38
TOP STORIES: Go
Leaders Convene Impromptu Summit; Virtual
World Gets Go Club
US TOURNAMENT REPORTS: DC & Rockville Tie In Team Match;
Cho Seokbin/Glenn Peters Top
Portland Pair Go; Osman Wins
Western MA Tourney; Dazhi
Xu Tops Monthly NYC Tourney
UPCOMING GO EVENTS: Rocky
Mountain Go Tournament; Big
Baht In Bangkok; Memorial
Day With Guo Juan; Fort
Myers Launches Monthly Tourneys; NYC
To Host Ing Masters Qualifier; Czech
Games Festival Includes Go; Kerwin
Returns To Hollyhock; US Go
Congress Invests In Youth
WORLD GO NEWS: Takao
Wins Close First Game In Honinbo; Yoda,
Cho & Sakai Lead Battle To Challenge For Meijin; Macfadyen Wins British Candidates'
Tournament
AGA NEWS: AGF
Launches Logo Contest
GO QUIZ: Travelin'
Man
MEMBER'S EDITION BONUS CONTENT: Yang
Triple Feature
GO
REVIEW: Go World
Archive
GO CLASSIFIED
GO
LEADERS CONVENE IMPROMPTU SUMMIT: In a undisclosed
location somewhere in 
England,
the Presidents of the American Go Association, the British Go
Association and the European Go Federation worked long hours into the
night over many bowls of rice and cups of tea on collaborative efforts
to promote go around the world, especially across the Atlantic. "In the
offing may be trans-Atlantic team tournaments," reports a highly placed
AGA administration official, "as well as shared journal resources and
increased attendance at each other's go Congresses." EJ sources
captured this shot of Lash holding a gift from Atkins that "contains
the key to educating youth on the beauty and wonder of the game."
Future summits are planned at other equally secure locations to be
determined.
VIRTUAL
WORLD GETS GO CLUB: The Second Life virtual world now
has a go club. The Go Center Of Second Life (photos at right and top),
built just last month, features a playing pavilion with several gobans,
twice-weekly meetings, and a 27-meter table board. Click
here for more info and photos, or email
gozogoodnight@gmail.com
US TOURNAMENT REPORTS
DC
& ROCKVILLE TIE IN TEAM MATCH: Washington and
Rockville battled each other to a standstill at Friday night's monthly
Team Go match. "In a closely contested match, the visitors from the
Bethesda-based Greater Washington Go Club and the Rockville Go
& Chess Group home team struggled to a mutually agreed upon
tie," reports organizer Hal Small. "Both sides agreed to declare the
match a draw and the ceremonial victory fan will remain with the
Rockville team until the next meeting on June 8 at GWGC." Results:
Jinglu Qiao (RGCG) def. Haskell Small (GWGC); Max Peterson (GWGC) def.
Frank Chen (RGCG); Todd Heidenreich (RGCG) def. Betsy Small (GWGC); Ben
Wang (RGCG) def. Richard Rose (GWGC); Horacio Blumenfeld (GWGC) def
Joseph Huang (RGCG); Richard Rose (GWGC) def. David Palmer (RGCG);
Frank Chen (RGCG) def. Max Peterson (GWGC); Richard Rose (GWGC) def.
Margot Bauman (RGCG); Max Peterson (GWGC) def. Todd Heidenreich (RGCG);
Betsy Small (GWGC) def. Frank Chen (RGCG); Nathaniel Klinger (RGCG)
def. Richard Rose (GWGC).
- additional reporting by John Goon
CHO
SEOKBIN/GLENN PETERS TOP PORTLAND PAIR GO: The Cho
SeokBin/Glenn Peters team took first place at the May 5 Pair Go event
at Reed college in Portland OR. The tournament included five
male/female pairs, plus three male/male pairs that formed when some of
the original registrants couldn't attend. "For many, it was the first
time playing Pair Go," reports organizer Akane Negishi, "it was such a
blast!" Adds Negishi, "playing Pair Go is a fun way to find out your
strength, weakness, and your own style. We should do this every year,
and hopefully we'll get more female players by next time!" Results: 1st
place Cho SeokBin/Glenn Peters 3-0; 2nd place Peter Freedman/Matt 2-1;
3rd place Cynthia Gatsy/Jim Levenick 2-1. For Wendie & Josh Gum
0-3 pair, 1 month of free KGSPlus (KGS features PairGo/Rengo). "Many
thanks to Allan Abramson for the tips," says Negishi, "and to Albyn
Jones for the venue, William Shubert for extra prizes, and The
International Pair Go Association for the generous support." photo courtesy Akane Negishi
OSMAN
WINS WESTERN MA TOURNEY: Eric Osman 2d swept the May 6
Western Massachusetts Spring Tournament in Amherst, MA. Winners: Dan:
1st. Eric Osman 2d (4-0); 2nd: Micah Feldman 5d; 3rd: Robert Ferguson
2d. Kyu: 1st: Alex Henzel 5k (4-0); 2nd: Scott Magnoni 14k (4-0).
Fighting Spirit: Damian Muriel 30k.
DAZHI
XU TOPS MONTHLY NYC TOURNEY: Dazhi Xu 5d emerged as the
champion over a field of nineteen strong competitors from all over the
Tri-State area at the May 6 New York Go Center tournament. "No one went
undefeated in our monthly rating slugfest," reports the Center's Roy
Laird. Other (3-game) winners: 2nd: Sudhir Vel 1d; 3rd: Marshall Powers
5k; 4th: Edward Gaillard 2k; 5th: Avi Moshovitz 8k and 6th: Pierre
Viola 10k. "Players from 5-dan to 20-kyu refreshed themselves between
rounds in the garden," adds Laird, "while TD Christopher Vu kept
everything moving nicely."
UPCOMING GO EVENTS
ROCKY
MOUNTAIN GO TOURNAMENT: May 19, Colorado Springs, CO.
Colorado Technical University, http://www.csgo.org/events.php Jim
Michali jmichali@comcast.net 719.487.8816
BIG
BAHT IN BANGKOK: More than 100,000 Baht ($3,000 USD) is
up for grabs at the 1st The Mall Go International Competition,
scheduled for May 19-20 in Bangkok, Thailand. Info/registration:
happygenius@hotmail.com
MEMORIAL
DAY WITH GUO JUAN: May 25-27: Round Top, NY;
Jean-Claude Chetrit jc@brooklyngoclub.org 718.638.2266
FORT
MYERS LAUNCHES MONTHLY TOURNEYS: The Ft. Myers Go Club
is starting monthly tournaments on the second Saturday of each month,
reports organizer Kent Secor. The first tournament will be June 8th at
the Cape Coral Public Library, with registration at 9:30 and the first
round at 10. To pre-register, email Kent Secor at kent1956_go@yahoo.com
or check out Secor's blog
NYC
TO HOST ING MASTERS QUALIFIER: The New York Go Center
will host a North American Ing Masters Qualifier on Sunday, June 10.
Sponsored by the Ing Foundation and organized by the AGA, this series
of six playoffs across the country and two on the Internet provides
strong players across the country a chance to join a field of seeded
professionals in a field of 16 to compete for $3,000 at the US Go
Congress in July-August. Pre-registration required: email nygc@usgo.org
and click
here for full details.
CZECH
GAMES FESTIVAL INCLUDES GO: A go tournament is part of
the 18th International Festival of Chess, Bridge and Games, set for
July 12-29 in Pardubice, Czech Republic, reports Dr. Jan Mazuch,
Festival Director. Other games include renju, Sudoku, Scrabble (played
in Czech only), backgammon, Magic and more. Click
here for details on the go tournament or here
for general event info.
KERWIN
RETURNS TO HOLLYHOCK: After a long absence, Jim
Kerwin's legendary go
workshop returns to Cortes Island in British Columbia, Canada July
8-13. "If you're not one of the few and fortunate to have experienced
this workshop before, you're in for a huge treat!" says Eric
Wainwright. Click
here for full story and registration details.
US
GO CONGRESS INVESTS IN YOUTH: US
Go Congress organizers are more than doubling the pro
presence at the Congress Youth program this year. "We're aiming to make
the Youth Program stronger than ever," Congress co-director Peter
Nassar reports. "This year we will have 2-4 professional go players
teaching every day, plus pro clinics each day." Five hours of daily
instruction, in the form of game analyses, lectures, and simuls will be
available for kids. Longtime Youth Room Director Todd Heidenreich is
passing the torch to AGF Teacher of the Year - and EJ Youth Editor -
Paul Barchilon. "Todd has devoted seven years to running the Youth Room
at the Congress and has helped raise a generation of go playing whiz
kids," says Nassar. Heidenreich will join the EJ Congress Team this
year, broadcasting top boards live on KGS. "I am very excited to have
the opportunity to run the youth room," says Barchilon, "and I look
forward to working with the kids." In addition to expanded access to
professional instruction, the Congress will also have several youth
tournaments with a big prize budget. "With pizza parties, prizes and
tons of fun, we aim to make this a memorable Congress for all the
kids!" says Barchilon.
WORLD GO NEWS
TAKAO
WINS CLOSE FIRST GAME IN HONINBO: Takao Shinji 9P (l)
has won the first game 
in the defense of his Honinbo title against
challenger Yoda Norimoto 9P. Takao's margin of victory was the
narrowest possible: a mere half point after 282 moves. The game
(attached) features "Very unusual joseki" according to Alexander
Dinerchtein 1P in the latest GoAma. Dinerchtein calls Black 9 and 17
"Weird moves." If Takao wins this match, it will be his third
consecutive year as Japanese Honinbo; he is also the current Meijin,
which he took from Cho U 9P last year. These two prestigious titles are
the only ones Takao holds, although he has won other minor titles,
including the Ryusei twice. Yoda, who is ten years older, has an
outstanding record, winning many titles, including the first
international Samsung in 1996, and among the top seven Japanese titles,
the Judan, the Gosei, and the Meijin, the last for four consecutive
years in 2000-2003.
YODA,
CHO & SAKAI LEAD BATTLE TO CHALLENGE FOR MEIJIN:
Yoda Norimoto 9P, Cho U 9P, and Sakai Hideyuki 7P lead the League round
robin to determine the challenger for the Japanese Meijin title held by
Takao Shinji 9P. With just a few games to go, the latter two have the
advantage of having only one loss, while Yoda is 4-2. Sakai appearance
in this group is a bit of a surprise; a former World Amateur Champion
who did a medical degree before becoming a pro, his professional
playing career is shorter than others his age and he has yet to win a
title. Cho is the youngest of the three, born in Taiwan in 1980, and
has been a dominant force in recent years, winning many top Japanese
titles, including Honinbo, Meijin, Oza, Judan, and Gosei, as well as
some minor international titles. Yoda is fourteen years older than Cho,
but also has had an illustrious career, though without as much success
in recent years. Among the others in the League, Yamada Kimio 9P has a
3-2 record. Kobayashi Satoru 9P and Mimura Tomoyasu 9P are both at 2-3,
while Hikosaka Natoto 9P and Ko Iso 7P are at 2-4. Yamashita Keigo 9P
is surprisingly out of the running at 1-4. Another
sign of the tightness of this contest is the fact that there have been
three half point games (one each by the three leaders) and four
decided
by one and a half points.
MACFADYEN
WINS BRITISH CANDIDATES' TOURNAMENT: Matthew Macfadyen
6d (r) of Leamington won all six games to top the tournament to
determine the League for the British Go Championship. The current
champion is Bei Ge 5d, who is originally from Beijing. He will be
joined in the League by Macfadyen, who was the champion last year, Des
Cann 5d, Alex Selby 3d, David Ward 4d, T. Mark Hall 4d, Will Brooks 3d,
and Sam Aitken 3d. The top two players from this round robin League
will play a best-of-five-game title match. Since 1978, Macfadyen has
been British Champion twenty-one times.
AGA NEWS
AGF
LAUNCHES LOGO CONTEST: The American Go Foundation has
launched a logo contest, reports Terry Benson. The American Go
Foundation is a major supporter of youth go in the United States,
raising tens of thousands of dollars to support 100 new programs each
of the last several years in schools, community groups, and libraries.
Deadline for submission is June 10, 2007. Click
here for full contest details.
GO
QUIZ: Travelin' Man
Most of you (13/16) knew that SmartGo's
Anders Kierulf (l) was the guy with the NC, CA and UT license plates.
Thanks to Anders for suggesting the question (hey, wait a minute, talk
about free advertising!). Chuck Robbins gets around to tournaments, but
the man behind MasterGo has always been in Pennsylvania; Bruce
"Nemesis" Wilcox has done some traveling, but not in NC or Utah, while
David Fotland developed "Many Faces of Go" in California. Congrats to
Grant Kerr, this week's winner, chosen at random from those answering
correctly. Standings update - Waldron 16/17, Salamony 13/14, Denis
10/11, Kerr 8/8, Terry Fung 5/5 and R. Hayes 5/6. Remember, send more
go vanity plate photos to journal@usgo.org.
THIS WEEK'S QUIZ: We
have been passing stones for over a decade now and the AGA rules
certainly appear here to stay. In fact, they have even been the
inspiration and model for another national rule set - including the
passed stone rule. Which one - Great Britain, Italy, France or New
Zealand? Click
here to vote.
MEMBER'S
EDITION BONUS CONTENT: Yang Triple Feature
In today's game commentary, Yilun Yang 7P takes a look at a game
between two 5-kyus. Plus, sharpen up your endgame skills with Yang's
endgame problems.
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 click here to get them for
most platforms at Jan van der Steen's Gobase.
GO
REVIEW: Go
World Archive
Reviewed by Roy Laird
Full disclosure: I own every issue of Go World magazine, 110 of them to
be exact, all 13.4" of shelf space; if I'm not the most objective
reviewer, I'm certainly an informed one. Not that well informed of
course -- if I'd read half the material that's in there, surely I'd be
shodan by 
now!
But I know enough to know that the Go World material from the past
thirty years is the OED, the Britannica, the magnum opus, the mother of
all lodes of go wisdom. Now the complete first 108 issues, from 1977 to
2006, is available for $99.95 on three DVDs, 7.54 GB to be exact, 108
PDF files (available separately for $2.50 each.), with access to a
variety of search option. My favorite is the GoBase
page, with 30 or so preset categories and a keyword-based system. Each
CD contains complete indices for all issues (oddly, each link offers
the option to "Click and Buy" the issue you already presumably own),
but to avoid error messages and get the most out of it, you'll want to
dump everything into one directory on a hard drive.
What's there? Just about everything, and lots of it -- nearly 7000
pages in all! The heart of the collection is detailed analysis of more
than 1000 of the most important title matches played in the past thirty
years. The games alone will keep the most avid student busy for years.
On the instruction side, it's hard to know where to begin. Honda's The
Great Joseki Debates, now out of print and selling online for up to
$30, appeared in its entirety in Go World first; and there are many
other equally worthy book-length series: "Good and Bad Style",
"Blueprint 361", "Tesuji Magic" and "Annals of Handicap Go", to name a
few. The "News" section features a complete account of world go;
oddities and curiosities such as "The 19 Stone Extension" and "The
Driftwood Board" abound throughout; and did I mention the covers? Each
one features a piece of classic Asian art with a go theme, beautifully
printed with explanatory text. Great gobs of problems, targeted
instruction on every phase of the game for all levels, the equivalent
of 50 or more books covering every aspect of the game -- the GW oeuvre
is truly "one-stop shopping" for the serious player.
Now that you can search, sort and find all this stuff, how will you use
it? There are some drawbacks to viewing this type of material on the
monitor. Text and accompanying diagram often do not appear together,
and flipping back and forth onscreen is clunkier than just using
eyeballs and paper. (I guess that's one reason that even the digital
age, there are more books in print than ever.) So when you find
instructional material you want to read, you'll probably want to print
it out. Printing sample pages on my HP PSC 500 inkjet printer and
comparing to the original, I found the quality of the digital copy
pretty good, certainly legible, but not quite as sharp as the original;
I found some of the black stone numbers in the diagrams a bit hard to
read. They're not as clear, for instance, as the diagrams in EJ PDF
downloads that are prepared digitally, rather than scanned; but they
might print up better on a higher quality printer, and they probably
wouldn't bother some people. On the other hand, bright white printer
paper makes the text stand out, compared to the off-white paper of Go
World print copies. To see for yourself, download issue
#45 and see what you think.
For the serious student, the Go World digital archive is unquestionably
the best value on the market today. But when it comes to studying, I'm
glad to have my hard copies; I'll probably search, find, then do it the
old fashioned way -- sit down with a Go World magazine and a go board
and begin to lay out the stones.
GO
CLASSIFIED
- VIRTUAL PLAYERS WANTED: Play go in The Second Life virtual world's go
club, The Go Center Of Second Life. Features a playing pavilion with
several gobans, twice-weekly meetings, and a 27-meter table board.
Click here http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoCenterOfSecondLife for more info
and photos, or email gozogoodnight@gmail.com
- PLAYERS WANTED: Kansas City metro area; email
theresanevilmonkeyinmycloset333@yahoo.com if you live in the Kansas
City area; I am trying to get a go club started. (5/14)
- PLAYERS WANTED: Philadelphia, PA. Looking for players in the Center
City area for a newborn club. If interested, please contact
kakashi.no.sai@gmail.com (5/7)
- PLAYERS WANTED: South Jersey: Looking for strong players in the South
Jersey area. Contact bart_simpson9181994@hotmail.com (4/23)
- BOOKS FOR SALE: Best offer before May 1 (click here for list
http://www.usgo.org/news/). Please include shipping in your offer.
Email bids to: stewart.kane@gmail.com (4/23)
- PLAYERS WANTED: Springfield, OR: I would like to try and start up
another go club here; Kurschun Finch kurschun.finch@mindspring.com
(4/23)
- WANTED: Floor go board new or used, no preference. Email
Dragonfx14@yahoo.com 4/23
- PLAYERS WANTED: Anyone in the southern Salt Lake, Utah area that wants
to set up a club, middle-schoolers wanted most. E-mail me at
thewriteheart@gmail.com (4/16)
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.
American
Go Association
P.O. Box 397
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-0397