World Go News from the American Go Association
May 28, 2007; Volume 8, #41

TOP STORIES: Andy Liu 2-0 In WAGC; WAGC Top 10 Update
US TOURNAMENT REPORTS: Eric Lui Upsets Zhaonian Chen In Maryland Open; Zhou, Sun To Represent US In World Youth
WORLD GO NEWS: Yoda Evens It Up In Hard-Fought Honinbo; Yun Beats Lee Changho In First Game Of Wangwi
GO QUIZ: Happy Birthday Michael!
GO CLASSIFIED

ANDY LIU 2-0 IN WAGC: Ninth-seeded Andy Liu 6d won both of his games Monday in the first two rounds of the 28th World Amateur Go Championships. The high school phenom shrugged off jetlag – he’d arrived Sunday night just in time for the WAGC opening ceremonies – to force resignations in both games. Lui faced Bei Ge 5d of the UK in the first round, taking white in a closely-fought game in which komi proved too heavy in the end. In Game 2 he took black against Jaime Ramirez Reyes 4d of Colombia, jumped out to an early lead when Reyes missed an opportunity to tenuki and then killed a large group. Both games are attached, with comments and variations by top professionals, in this week’s Member's Edition Bonus Content. Photo: Omori Yashushi 8P reviews Andy Liu 6d's WAGC Round 2 game against Jaime Ramirez Reyes 4d while Ryoho Fujiwara (r) translates. photo by John Pinkerton

WAGC TOP 10 UPDATE: There have been few surprises thus far in the tournament, with most of the top ten players winning their games. Victor Guang Chow of South Africa – the 7th seed – lost a half-pointer to Erik Ouchterlony of Sweden in the first round (but defeated Bosnia/Herzegovina in the 2nd round). China’s Zi Teng Shan 8d (defeated Brazil & Poland); Shan said yesterday that the reason ever-younger players have been winning the Chinese WAGC qualifiers is that the younger players have the stamina necessary to win the weeklong qualifier. Japan’s Hironobu Mori 7d defeated Croatia & Thailand. Mori is “a bit of an unknown factor, John Power tells the EJ. “Mori was a darkhorse winner of the Japanese WAGC qualifier,” says Power, adding that while Mori is a favorite here because he’s the Japanese representative, previous Japanese players were well-known amateur players who were favored because of their established career records. Korea’s Dong-Ha Woo defeated Lithuania & Belgium. Woo, another top contender for the WAGC title, is a former Korean insei who, after failing to make pro by 18, returned to amateur play to follow the only other route to professional. Winning the WAGC can earn a Korean player promotion to professional. Romania defeated Vietnam & Malaysia. Chinese Taipei defeated Norway & Spain. Argentina defeated Serbia/Montenegro and Slovenia at presstime. Hong Kong China defeated Bosnia/Herzegovina & Italy. Czechia defeated New Zealand & Sweden.
Three former inseis are playing in the WAGC this year, down from five in 2006: Cristian Pop 7d of Romania, Ondrej Silt 6d of Czechia and Benjamin Teuber 6d of Germany.

US TOURNAMENT REPORTS

ERIC LUI UPSETS ZHAONIAN CHEN IN MARYLAND OPEN: Eric Lui 8d swept the 34th Maryland Open, unseating two-time winner and defending champion Zhaonian Chen to win the Open Section. Other highlights included sweeps by Dan Short 2d, Nate Schmitz 5k, and David Allen 9k. The Empty Sky Go Club brought down 7 players to once again win the Gregory Lefler award for most club players from out of state, and Craig Nelson was the Kyu Champion. Sam Zimmerman ably directed 74 players, “including a pleasant record 15 female players,” reports organizer Keith Arnold.
WINNER’S REPORT: Open Section: 1st: Eric Lui 7d; 2nd: Zhaonian Chen 7d; 3rd: Xue Han 5d; 4th: Lionel Zhang 5d. A Section: 1st: Daniel Short 2d; 2nd: Xinmu Tan 4d; 3rd: Haskell Small 3d. B Section: 1st: John Moore 1d; 2nd: Saul Lapidus 1d. C Section: 1st: Craig Nelson 1k; 2nd: Max Peterson 3k. D Section: 1st: Nathan Schmitz 5k; 2nd: Arnold Eudell 4k; 3rd: John Hager 5k. E Section: 1st: Lisa Scott 7k; 2nd: Todd Heidenreich 6k. F Section: 1st: David Allen 9k; 2nd: Amanda Rofe 10k; 3rd: Louise Ingram 9k. G Section: 1st: Joel Wheatlely 15k; 2nd: Elizabeth Small 13k. H Section: 1st: Jared Campbell 17k; 2nd: Eva Mok 20k. Fighting Spirit Prize – Blair Chisholm 13k. photo by I-Han Lui

ZHOU, SUN TO REPRESENT US IN WORLD YOUTH: William Zhou 6d and Calvin Sun 6d emerged as the US representatives to the World Youth Go Championship after two days and five rounds of hard play at the Seattle Go Center on Saturday and Sunday. Watch for a full report tomorrow!

YODA EVENS IT UP IN HARD-FOUGHT HONINBO: (5/23) Yoda Norimoto 9P defeated Takao Shinji 9P by 1.5 points in a 343-move game, tying up their battle for the Honinbo title at 1-1. Takao, current Honinbo, beat Yoda by a half point in their first game in the best-of-seven-game title match. This second game was played in Jeju, Korea, on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 22nd and 23rd; the others will be in different Japanese cities. Yoda holds no titles at the moment, losing his last one, the Gosei, to Cho U 9P last July. In his early forties, Yoda has already had an illustrious career, winning many titles, both national and international. He's the only player ever to defeat Lee Changho 9P in the international Nongshim team match, enabling the Japanese team to win that event last year. He's scheduled to play in the Kisei League to determine the challenger for Yamashita Keigo 9P and is 4-2 in the current Meijin League. He won his first game in the Judan tournament last week, but lost his second game in the Tengen. Yoda also made it to the semifinals of the current Gosei, defeating Takao in the third round back in March, so the only one of the top seven Japanese tournaments he has not been involved in this cycle is the Oza--an impressive feat. Takao, who also holds the Meijin title, is hoping to threepeat in the Honinbo.

YUN BEATS LEE CHANGHO IN FIRST GAME OF WANGWI: Yun Jungsang 6P defeated Lee Changho 9P in the first game of their best-of-five-game match for the Wangwi title on Friday, May 25th. The Wangwi is one of the oldest Korean titles and Lee has held the title since 1995 -- eleven consecutive terms. Yun, who will be twenty this coming November and is twelve years younger than Lee, also holds the Kuksu title, which he took from Lee back in March by a score of 3-1. Lee had won that title nine times since 1990. The Kuksu is the oldest Korean title.

GO QUIZ: Happy Birthday Michael!
Half -- 10 out of 20 -- of you knew that May 25 was Michael Redmond’s birthday, a red-letter day (so to speak) for American go that brought us the first – and thus far, only – western-born professional 9 dan. Michael is shown shaking hands with Andy Liu (who is currently in Japan representing the U.S. in the World Amateurs) at last year's US Go Congress (yes that’s your quizmaster in the background and no, I am not that short; they’re on a platform). Good answers this week, both right and wrong. I gave Zeke Tamayo credit, but don’t answer a question with a question. Congrats to David Hawley on getting married, but that’s not what we were looking for. A good guess from Paul Morgan -- Redmond becoming a pro -- but not quite. The premiere of Star Wars, from Todd Blatt and Jeff Diamond is the second place winner; I would have given you guys credit if you had come up with Kim Salamony's comment that "30 years ago they started printing " A long time aGO..." at the start of movies. Gareth Williams is this week's winner, chosen at random from those answering correctly.
THIS WEEK’S QUIZ: This week we’re rooting for 16-year-old Andy Liu in Japan at the World Amateur Go Championships. The big three -- Japan, China and Korea -- have had a virtual monopoly on the Championship over the years - what other nation has had the best result? The Netherlands, Hong Kong, DPR Korea or Chinese Taipei. Click here to vote.
- Go Quiz Editor: Keith L. Arnold, hka. Photo by Roy Laird

GO CLASSIFIED

FOR SALE: 30-year collection of go material, including Go World #1 to #180 except for missing numbers Ishi #38 #48 #52 #53 #54 #55, also Kiseido #76. Issues #1 -#32 ,plus #39-#42 are in cardboard binders. Issues #16 and #51 are missing covers, all others are good or better condition; best offer for all issues. Also available are 35 various books from Ishi press, Yutopian publications, and other miscellaneous material. For further information, call 845-246-9621 or wjones1@hvc.rr.com (5/21)

PLAYERS WANTED: PA: Looking for any players in Clifton heights,Aldan, Drexel Hill, Or Upper Darby Pennsylvania Contact Jehuty43@yahoo.com (5/21)

PLAYERS WANTED: GA: Seeking go players or those interested in learning how to play in the Savannah, Georgia area. Contact dan_carata@yahoo.com (5/21)

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 (5/14)

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)

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