World
Go News from the American Go Association
May 29, 2007; Volume 8, #42
SPECIAL WORLD AMATEUR GO CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
LIU LOSES HALF-POINTER IN 4TH WAGC ROUND
AND THEN THERE WERE 4
YOUTH GO: ZHOU, SUN TAKE USYGC BY STORM
2007 AGA BOARD NOMINATIONS STILL OPEN
LIU
LOSES HALF-POINTER IN 4TH WAGC ROUND: “That
felt like the longest game in history,” said Andy Liu Tuesday
afternoon after his 379-move game with South Africa’s Victor
Guang Chow. Chow won by half a point and collapsed in relief as both
players congratulated each other. Chow – a 31-year-old
managing director of a technology firm in Johannesburg, played a very
unusual opening, with the first move on the 5-5 point and the second on
the 6-4, but tells the EJ that he was surprised that Andy was not only
familiar with it but was able to play so fast. “At the end of
the game,” said Chow, “I was in byo-yomi and Andy
still had an hour on his clock!” Liu led for most of the
game, which turned into a thrilling all-out ko-fight brawl that
attracted a big crowd at the end. Liu ran out of
stones in the middle of the fight and more had to be rushed over, and
in the final counting, both players completely filled the board and had
stones left over. The game, with comments by Yimin Hsieh 3P, the
Women's NEC Cup winner, is attached.
In the
third game, Andy Liu 6d won his third round game against Merlijn Kuin
6d of The Netherlands Tuesday morning (photo at left). Kuin –
this year’s Dutch Champion and European Student Champion
– kept the game close and fluid. Although Liu says he made a
couple of mistakes, he had a good 10-15-point
lead coming into the middle game and Kuin was forced to risk a group in
a do-or-die effort to keep the game close. A moment of levity came when
a gnat landed briefly on Kuin’s threatened stones. The gnat
survived but Kuin’s group did not. The game record
– with comments by Hironobu Mori – is attached.
Kuin took up go 11 years ago when “I got bored with chess and
school.” His mother took him to a tournament at the nearby
European Go Centre “and I had a great time.” He
took 2nd in the 2006 Toyota Denso.
Click here to check out the latest WAGC standings. Photos
by John Pinkerton (top right) & Chris Garlock (left)
AND
THEN THERE WERE 4: The fourth round is where the
champions really begin to emerge, and when the last stone had been
played Tuesday afternoon, there were no surprises on the big board.
Only four players were undefeated: Woo of Korea,
Mori of Japan, Shan of China
(in photo at right) and Lai of Chinese Tapei.
The rest of the top 10 – US, Romania, Czechia, Hong Kong
China and South Africa – were all 3-1. photo by
Chris Garlock
YOUTH GO
ZHOU,
SUN TAKE USYGC BY STORM: William Zhou 6d and Calvin Sun
6d emerged as the US representatives to the World Youth Go Championship
after five rounds of hard play over two days at the Seattle Go Center
over Memorial Day weekend. Zhou, an 8th grader, will be playing in the
senior division, while 10-year-old Sun will be playing in the junior
division in Boston this August. Dark horses Ricky
Zhao and Sudhir Vel made impressive bids, with the 3d Zhao defeating
two 6 dan players to advance to the semifinals and 1s Vel beating Hugh
Zhang 3d to advance to the final, where he lost to Sun.
The games were broadcast live on KGS,
where almost 150 people from around the world tuned in to watch and
kibitz, including Matt Burrall’s go student friends from
Korea, a whole contingent of French players, and many kids who had
played in the USYGC over the past few months. The game recorders
contributed to the drama as well, with telling comments like
“Lawrence’s hand was shaking as he played that last
move.”
The exciting tournament defied predictions, with huge reversals and
unexpected winners. On Saturday, 14-year-old Will Zhou 6d (left)
started the first day of competition by defeating 12-year-old Kellin
Pelrine 3d. In Zhou’s second game, against 14-year-old Jimmy
Guo 6d, a mistake early on put Zhou way behind, but in an amazing
comeback he turned the tables and eked out a win by a few points.
Meanwhile, 13-year-old Ricky Zhao 3d, pulled out a surprise victory
over 17-year-old Jason Gu 6d, and top-seeded 16-year-old Matthew
Burrall 7d lost his first-round match against Jimmy Guo. In Round 3,
Will Zhou gave Ricky Zhao his only defeat of the day, while 16-year-old
Lawrence Ku 6d handed Burrall a surprising endgame loss in an
incredibly close game.
Sunday’s finals were equally
exciting, with Guo defeating Zhao to advance and Zhou defeating Ku
before the final showdown. “I was very surprised that I won
the event,” Zhou told the EJ. “I thought I only had
a 1 in 3 chance and I didn't really expect to win. When I found out
that two very high ranked players, Matthew Burall and Jason Gu had both
been defeated, I had a lot more confidence. My victories against Jimmy
were very surprising. In the first game against him, I made two
20-30-point mistakes, but managed to get the win by a very small
margin. The second game I told myself I wouldn't make those kinds of
mistakes, but I made one huge mistake anyway. At that point I thought I
had already lost but I kept playing and managed to win at the
end.” Indeed, the spectators had long given up on Zhou, but
he staked everything on a huge multi-step ko and pulled off an amazing
victory at the very end of the game. Junior
division champion Calvin
Sun (right) tells the Journal " For the USYGC, although I knew I would
have a good chance to win, I kept practicing and learning from my go
teacher, Mr. Mingjiu Jiang." Sun adds, "I just did it as my teacher has
always taught me: Do your best to play every single game no matter how
strong or weak your opponent is. I'm glad I will represent the US and
play at the WYGC this year."
Both of the Zhou-Guo games are attached,
as well as Calvin Sun’s victory over Hugh Zhang and Lawrence
Ku’s win over Matthew Burrall.
“The finals are over, and some
very intriguing observations have been floating in
my mind ever since,” says Ku (who’s also an EJ
correspondent), reflecting on the games. “The next generation
of go in America seems to be represented by the younger players; the
older generation can¹t keep up with the younger generation,
and the high school players can’t keep up with the middle and
elementary school go players. In the senior division, there were four
high school students, but only one made it to the elimination round,
and in the junior division, the majority were under 10.” Matt
Burrall, expressing similar sentiments, told the Journal, “I
didn't play as well as I would have liked, but all my opponents played
good honest games and I was impressed with very solid play by a young
3-dan opponent named Kellin Pelrine.”
The Seattle Go Center hosted the finals
and the tournament was organized and directed by Gordon Castanza, Jon
Boley, and John Hogan. The event was made possible by the generous
sponsorship of the Ing Chang-ki Wei-chi Education Foundation.
WINNERS REPORT:
Senior Division: 1st: William Zhou 6d (14 years old); 2nd: Jimmy Guo 5d
(14); 3rd: Ricky Zhao 3d (13); 4th: Lawrence Ku 6d (16). Junior
Division: 1st: Calvin Sun 6d (10); 2nd: Sudhir Vel 1d (9); 3rd: Hugh
Zhang 3d (10); 4th: Maverick Lin 1k (11).
- Reported by Paul Barchilon and Lawrence Ku. Photos by Brian
Allen
2007
AGA BOARD NOMINATIONS STILL OPEN: Nominations are open
for the American Go Association three seats on the regional board of
director. “Willard Haynes have been nominated to continue in
his current position in the western region,” reports Arnold
Eudell. “Quentin Dombro had been nominated to compete against
incumbent Paul Celmer in the eastern region. In the central region
Laura Kolb is so far the only nominee.” To be eligible for
election, candidates must be nominated by June 15; click
here for bylaws on AGA elections; nominations can be sent to
elections@usgo.org
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