World
Go News from the American Go Association
August 27, 2007; Volume 8, #63
US GO NEWS: Two New Clubs Form;
1st Call For Redmond Cup &
Ing-Redmond
WORLD GO NEWS: Gu Li Takes First Game
In China-Korea Tengen; Lee
Sedol Wins Prices Information Cup
EUROPEAN GO NEWS: Papazoglou Wins
Euro Youth; New Go Pub Out
From Swiss; Dutch Summer Go
School
THE TRAVELING BOARD: Going
to China
GO PHOTOS: The Great
Transatlantic T-Shirt Swap & Kato the Cat
GO QUIZ: Young Elder
GO CLASSIFIED
MEMBER’S EDITION BONUS CONTENT:
Calvin Sun 6d (US) takes on Saitou Masaki 6d (Japan) in a WORLD YOUTH
CHAMPIONSHIP PRELIM ROUND in the Junior Division earlier this month in
Waltham, MA. The commentary is by Alexander Dinerchtein 1P. Zhu Yuanhao
5P looks at NEW OPENING IDEAS in an April 15 article from The World of
Weiqi translated by David Wong 2d. In our latest HOT OFF THE PRESS:
EXCERPTS FROM NEW GO BOOKS, get a sneak peek at the final volume of the
Fujisawa Shuko’s famous Dictionary of Basic Tesuji,
translated by Steven Bretherick and just published by Slate &
Shell. Non-members: all this great content is just
a click away!
TWO
NEW CLUBS FORM: “Come play go at the AGA's
newest chapter, the Lake Walker Go Club,” says local
organizer James Pickett. The club is located in north Baltimore and
meets Mondays at 8P. Contact Pickett at 410-433-5257 or email
j.m.pickett@att.net A new club is also forming in Utica, NY.
“Beginners are welcome,” says Jed Strohm.
“We will be meeting at SUNY-IT, just a few miles off the
Thruway exit 31.” The club will meet Thursday evenings from 7
to 10P in Donovan Hall. For more information, contact Strohm at
Jed1886@yahoo.com Got club news or updates?
Let 11,000 EJ readers know! Email details to us at journal@usgo.org
1ST
CALL FOR REDMOND CUP & ING-REDMOND: Registration
is now open for the 2008 Redmond Cup and ING-Redmond tournaments,
reports None Redmond. There are two divisions in the Cup; the Junior
league for those under 12 (must be 5 kyu or stronger) and the Senior
league for dan players 12-18 years old. The ING-Redmond is open to
players 5 dan and above who are less than 30 years old. Early rounds
are played online and the finals will be played at the 2008 U.S. Go
Congress in Portland, OR. For complete rules and to register, email
None Redmond at chinski@inreach.com before January 31st 2008.
GU
LI TAKES FIRST GAME IN CHINA-KOREA TENGEN: Gu Li 9P (l)
of China won the first 
game
in his match with Cho Hanseung 9P of
Korea on Monday, August 27th. This best-of-three-game match is an
annual event between the winner of the Chinese Tianyuan title and the
Korean Chunwon title (the corresponding title in Japanese is the
Tengen), sponsored by a Chinese and a Korean newspaper. Gu Li, in his
twenties, is well known as one of the very top Chinese pros; he has won
many titles, both national and international. He currently holds two of
the top Chinese titles, the Mingren and the Tianyuan, as well as the
international Chunlan Cup. Cho, aka Jo Hanseung, also in his twenties,
has had less success so far, but he did defeat Lee Sedol 9P 3-1 to take
the current Chunwon title.
LEE
SEDOL WINS PRICES INFORMATION CUP: Lee Sedol 9P (r)
defeated Lee Younggu 6P on Tuesday, September 21st, to take the 3rd
Korean Prices Information Cup with a score of 2-1. Lee Sedol has long
been one of the very top Korean players, winning many national and
international titles. He won this cup last year and currently holds
three other national titles, as well as the international Toyota Denso
World Oza and the Asian TV Cup. Lee Younggu (aka Yeongkyu), whose
twentieth birthday is September 23rd, has yet to win a title. He won
the first game in the best-of-three-game finals. The Prices Information
Cup is a new fast play tournament, started in 2005. Lee Sedol also won
this cup in its inaugural year.
PAPAZOGLOU
WINS EURO YOUTH: Benjamin Papazoglou 5d of France won
the European Student Go Championship, held August 6-8 in Stockholm,
Sweden. Martin Jurek 4d of Czechia took 2nd and Merlijn Kuin 6d of The
Netherlands placed 3rd (click
here for complete results). Papazoglou, who will represent
Europe at the World Student Championship, was French champion in 2004,
and won the Young French Championship five times.
- reported by Marilena Bara, EJ Special Correspondent
& Press Officer for the Romanian GO Federation. Photo by
Krister Strand; click
here to see more.
NEW
GO PUB OUT FROM SWISS: The Swiss Go Organization has
begun publishing Suji,
a new English-language go magazine available online. Two issues have
been published thus far, packed with plenty of fascinating go material,
including an interesting profile of Ion
Florescu, the Romanian go player who was one of the first Europeans to
become an insei. Florescu tells a wonderful story in Suji #2 about the
time he was doing byo-yomi for a pro game that entered byo-yomi early.
“The game was very close so they were spending a long time
for each move, counting and recounting the score,” Florescu
recounts. “I was watching them, the game and the clock as
well, while sitting in seiza (the polite way to sit next to
professionals when assisting them). My job was to count the time only,
but I was also counting the score, trying to guess who's going to win.
They played several ko fights, capturing in the end more than 100
prisoners! They even finished the stones they had in bowls, (and) were
forced to get a new bowl each... The game lasted very long and an
incredible number of moves were played. In the end, I guessed the score
right and the happiness I felt healed instantly the pain I had in my
legs, after sitting in seiza for so many hours. Later on, I learned
that the game was one of the longest games ever played in professional
tournaments in Japan." The game can be viewed on the Suji
homepage
DUTCH
SUMMER GO SCHOOL: "How could you decide on your strategy
if you do not know the score?” asked Cho Seok-bin 7d,
“In my games I count every four or five moves!" Cho was the
main instructor at this year’s Summer School August 15-19 in
Lunteren, Holland, attended by more than fifty players from Holland and
Belgium. The former Korean insei – who placed 3rd in this
year’s European Go Congress – was assisted by
Dutchmen Robert Rehm 5d, recent winner of the Amsterdam Open, and
Michiel Eykhout 6d, editor of the Dutch magazine GO. The second annual
5-day event featured Round Table Go – players participate in
a roundtable discussion of the first hundred moves of a game
– as well as games, lectures and a tournament. A resident of
Hamburg, Germany, Cho – who plays and teaches on KGS as
bin7674 -- hopes to move to Poland to study International Relations at
Warsaw University. Cho has won many weekend tourneys in Europe and
likes Poland and Warsaw a lot, as he won the Warsaw Open at the
University twice and also enjoyed teaching at the recent Summer Camp in
the North of Poland. Despite missing the first round of the event
tournament, Cho won first place 4-0, with second place going to Willem
Mallon of Holland and third for Jan Ramon of Belgium. Both are 4D and
scored 4-1, but Ramon's result is remarkable, as his eye-sight is so
severely handicapped that he needs an long-glass to glare over the
positions on the board.
- Reported by Peter Dijkema, EJ Special Correspondent and
editor-in-chief of 321go.org’s news section (at far right in
photo by Rob Friederichs, Dutch Go Federation director of
communication).
THE
TRAVELING BOARD: Going to China
By Stefan Helms
Get up. Have a go lesson with a strong
Chinese go player. Eat good Chinese food. Play go. Review games. Eat
more good Chinese food. Repeat daily - with breaks for sightseeing and
exploring - for up to two months. Created by Carl Johan Ragnarsson and
Michael Yao in 2003, the third annual "Go To China" trip brought
together go players from all over the world to study in downtown
Beijing this summer for 4-8-week sessions.
I arrived in the Chongwenmen area of
urban Beijing on June 23rd, where I soon met the other participants. Of
the twenty-eight players, three were American, eleven German, five
hailed from Sweden, not including Ragnarrson and Yao, both of whom have
lived in Sweden, and the others collectively represented almost all
areas of northern Europe. Although the participants varied in
geographic origin, almost everyone was in the 7k-3dan range, with the
strongest player being from Amsterdam. Most of the participants were
somewhat familiar with one another through having played on KGS, making
it easy for everyone on the trip to bond from early on.
Each day we woke up in our respective
apartments for 10 AM go lectures taught by various strong Chinese
players including Jeff Chang (9d KGS) and Will Zhang (9d KGS). For
these two hours, our group of 28 split into three groups according to
rank. One teacher was assigned to each group, and during these two-hour
lectures the teachers shared countless opening game, mid-game and
endgame strategies, reviewed both peer and pro games, and made sure
their lessons were understood to the fullest. Although our main
lectures occurred during these two hours, I often talked late into the
night with Jeff and the other pros -- who were so much a part of our
group that they slept in apartments with the rest of us -- about
everything from josekis to Chinese culture. After two-hour lectures, we
ordered in excellent food from surrounding restaurants for lunch before
beginning our afternoon games against one another. We would play these
games and often review them with our teachers until dinner time, where
our whole group-led by native Chinese speakers hired to help make the
trip go smoothly-would often travel to a nearby restaurant together.
The rest of the night, people either played or studied go or explored
the city. Often, after having studied the aggressive yet elegant
Chinese style of go play, we went to bed each night feeling we were
better go players than we had been the night before.
On the weekends, some 
continued
to play go while most people ventured off to Beijing tourist
attractions such as the Great Wall of
China, the Forbidden City, the Silk Market or the Summer Palace. It was
at these places that us Westerners, used to paying high prices for
things made cheaply in China, were able to live like kings
and buy things we would never consider buying back home. When we were
not playing go, we enjoyed Beijing to the fullest. The excellent
instruction and living conditions helped improve my game tremendously. Click
here for more information on the "Go To China" trip. Photo of
Forbidden City art courtesy Stefan Helms
GO
PHOTOS: (left) The Great Transatlantic
T-Shirt Swap: 2007 European Go Congress Director Rainer
Stowasser models his U.S. Go Congress t-shirt; he’d sent USGC
organ
izers EGC
t-shirts via EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock, who covered both
Congresses. (right) Matthew Burrall 7d plays Kato
the Cat. GOT CAPTION? For bonus
points in this week’s Go Quiz (see below), click
here to submit your candidate for a caption for this photo.
GO
QUIZ: Young Elder
Your quizmaster thought he would trick more of you this week, but 9 of
20 knew that Kobayashi -- 
not
the younger Cho Chikun -- was the correct answer to last
week’s quiz question about who was the last to become a
live-in disciple at the Kitani Dojo. Quoting elder disciple Ishida
Yoshio (in GoGod's New in Go) "In 1961, the Kitani Dojo (pictured)
moved to Yotsuya. Cho Chikun joined that year. We had to wait until
1965 for Kobyashi Koichi to join." Cho was 5 when he came to Japan to
live at the Dojo, Kobayashi was 13. Seven of you did say Cho. Two each
chose the late Kato Masao, who needs no introduction, and Miyazawa Goro
who, while he has never won a big seven title, is much admired by
professionals for his aggressive style. Congrats to Andy Tu, this weeks
winner, selected at random from those answering correctly. QUIZ
STANDINGS: Waldron 24/27, Salamony 21/24, Kerr 13/13, Fung 10/10, Denis
10/11, R Hayes 8/10, R Mercado 6/7. THIS WEEK’S QUIZ: The
first Japanese modern 9 dan was Fujisawa Hosai. The first Chinese 9 dan
was Go Seigen. Who was the first Korean 9 dan? Was it Cho Nam
Ch-ch'eol, Cho Hun Hyeon, Seo Pong-su or none of the above? Click
here to submit your answer.
- Quizmaster Keith Arnold, HKA
GO
CLASSIFIED
PLAYERS WANTED: Players near Orlando, FL, all strengths welcome, for
more information please contact Masterman535@gmail.com; I'm AGA 1d.
(8/27)
PLAYERS WANTED: Birmingham, AL: The Birmingham Go Association is
looking for players of all ages and ranks. We meet 2 nights a week on
Sundays 3pm to 6pm at the Riverchase Galleria in the food court in
front of Nord's games and on Thursdays 7pm to 11pm at the
Books-A-Million on Lakeshore Pkwy in the cafe area. Be sure to check
out http://www.bhamgo.org for the meeting times and directions and
register on the site to receive the weekly meeting Announcement. For
more info please contact Louis at 12059030688 or lcslouis@gmail.com
(8/20)
PLAYERS WANTED: Hunter College: Members wanted to start go club in
Hunter College NY; please contact Boris Bernadsky;
wessanenoctupus@aol.com 646-821-5588 (8/13)
NEW CLUB FORMING: Barnesville, Georgia: Go club starting in the Fall
'07 semester at Gordon College. If interested, please contact the club
main advisor at go_gordonga@yahoo.com. The club will teach new and old
players, and will have tournaments with other clubs either online or in
person. Also, Gordon College Club will be appearing at Anime Weekend
Atlanta for free go lessons on September 21-23 at the Renaissance
Waverly Hotel & Cobb Calleria Centre, Atlanta, Georgia. (8/2)
PLAYERS WANTED: Syracuse, NY: The Syracuse Go Club has set up a second
weekly go group on Thursday nights in a new location - the Recess
Coffee House at 110 Harvard Place in the Syracuse University
neighborhood. 7-10pm. This new alternate location is more convenient
for SU students and city residents. The Monday night meetings at Dewitt
Wegmans will continue as our home base. (8/2)
PLAYERS WANTED: New Port Richey, Florida: Looking for someone to play
with or maybe a go club I'm not aware of. I'm AGA 5k. Email
Queselk@gmail.com (8/1)
NEW GO WEBSITE: Relatively new website Ichi Ni San Go! is up, please
post feedback or suggestions on forums or e-mail Nik.s@Telus.net (8/1)
PLAYERS WANTED: Detroit, MI: Players of all strengths & ages
and/or willing to do teaching games and teach others how to play.
Justinman949@yahoo.com (8/1)
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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