World
Go News from the American Go Association
September 3, 2007; Volume 8, #64
U.S. GO NEWS: Nam Wins Chi
Tourney; U.S. Team Invited
To Hangzhou Tourney; September
Preview; 1st U.S. Internet
Pair Go Tourney Set; ’07
Challengers Announced; Kids,
Go & Chess
WORLD GO NEWS: Gu
Li Wins China-Korea Tengen Match; Xie
Yimin To Challenge For Japanese Women's Honinbo; Ge Wins UK Korean Ambassador’s
Cup
GO QUIZ: Cat Got Your Tongue?
YOUTH GO: Report from the
World Chinese Youth Go Tournament
CAN'T STOP THE MONKEY JUMP: Go
for Couples
GO CLASSIFIED
MEMBER’S EDITION BONUS CONTENT: Wang Yuan 8P on how
to TAKE THE BIG POINTS FIRST; from The World of Weiqi, (June 1, 2007),
translated by David Wong 2d. Our latest Hot Off The Press features a
excerpt of KOBAYASHI SATORU 9P’s Perceiving the Direction of
Play. In this third book from the new Hinoki Press, Kobayashi focuses
on developing the reader’s perception of the correct
direction of play, in joseki, the opening, and in fighting. He uses
examples from his own games, including games that he lost. Non-members:
all this great content is just a
click away!
NAM
WINS CHI TOURNEY: GunWoo Nam 7d (r, in white
jacket) swept all four rounds to win the Chicago No-Handicap
Tournament, held September 1 in Chicago, IL. Winner’s Report:
Dan Division: 1st: GunWoo Nam 7d; 2nd: William Zhou 7d; 3rd: Dennis
Liang 6d; 4th: Yen-Wei Huang 7d. Kyu Division: 1st: Michael Skalak 3k;
2nd: Daniel Smith 2k; 3rd: Mark Rubenstein 4k; 4th: Michael Schwartz
3k. photo courtesy Chien-Wei
Chang
U.S.
TEAM INVITED TO HANGZHOU TOURNEY: The U.S. has been
invited to send a team to the upcoming Hangzhou International City Go
Tournament, reports AGA President Mike Lash. Anyone interested in being
on the team must contact Nicole Casanta as soon as possible, as the
team names must be submitted by September 20. “In order to
represent the AGA, you must be a US citizen or permanent
resident,” says Lash, “and must be an AGA full
member in good standing for at least a year prior as of September 20,
2007.” The AGA will pay the players’ registration
fees and room and board are subsidized, but players are responsible for
their own travel expenses. “There will be 30 teams from all
over the world and China,” Lash says. “This year,
the tournament will be part of the 2007 West Lake Exposition, a large
Chinese cultural event.” The tournament runs Thursday,
October 25 through Monday, October 29. Players not on the U.S. team may
also participate in the tournament. For more info contact Casanta at
nicole@seraphine.us
SEPTEMBER
PREVIEW: With 14 go tournament or events on the
calendar, September offers something for go players coast to coast. See
below for details or click
here for more details.
September 7: Washington, DC: Yuan Zhou 7d
Lesson; haskellsmall@starpower.net; September
8: Davis, CA; Davis/Sacramento Fall Quarterly; Willard
Haynes willard@saclink.csus.edu 916.929.6112; September
8: Ft. Myers, FL: Ft.
Myers Go Club Fall Rating Tournament; Kent
Secor kent1956_go@yahoo.com 239.222.3625; September
9: New York, NY: New
York Go Center September Rating Tournament; TD:
Steve Bretherick nygc@usgo.org 212.223.0342; September
14: Washington, DC: Team Match haskellsmall@starpower.net;
September 15-16: College Park, MD: 19th
Mid-Atlantic Championship; Ken
Koester kkoester@riva.net 410.267.0487; Steve Mount smount@umd.edu; September
15: Livermore, CA: Livermore
Vintage Go Event; A Day of Go and
Wine at Livermore Valley Cellars Winery; Ming Gu mfgu@ssl.berkeley.edu
650.804.5001; September 15: Tacoma, WA: Annual
Fall Tournament; Gordon Castanza
gcastanza@comcast.net 253.853.4831; September
22-23: Menlo Park, CA: Bay Area Go Players Fall Tournament; Steve
Burrall sburrall@comcast.net 916.688.2858; September
22-23: Philadelphia, PA: 2007
Philadelphia Fall Open; $1,000 1st
Prize! Register by Sept. 15, and save $5.00 on the tournament fee!
Peter Nassar pnassar@vet.upenn.edu 215.898.6271; September
23: New York, NY: Master
Player Lecture featuring Dae-yol Kim 7D; Roy
Laird nygc@usgo.org 212.223.0342; September
29-30: Cary, NC: Triangle
Memorial ; $400 first prize in top
section Paul Celmer pcelmer@earthlink.net 919.610.0927; September
29, 2007: Middlebury, VT: Last Dango in Vermont; Peter
Schumer schumer@middlebury.edu 802.388.3934; September
29: Tacoma, WA: Back-To-School Fall Tournament; Gordon
Castanza gcastanza@comcast.net 253.853.4831; September
30: NY
Go Center Hosts Kazunari Furuyama 7D; Co-author
of Kiseido's three-volume "Get Strong at Joseki" series teaches
1ST
U.S. INTERNET PAIR GO TOURNEY SET: The first U.S.
national internet Pair Go tournament will be held this October and
November. “Using the internet will overcome the limitations
of distance,” says Allan Abramson of the NOVA Go Club, which
is organizing the event. There will be no entry fees and no prizes,
“Just fun!” Abramson promises. Registration
deadline is midnight, September 30. The playing conditions will be 45
minutes/side, no overtime, and one game a week. Two byes will be
allowed per team during the tournament. Teams will be expected to
contact each other to schedule the games, and to report the results to
Abramson by Sunday night each week. Click
here for more details and registration info.
COTSEN
SET FOR NOVEMBER: The annual Cotsen Go Tournament, one
of the biggest go events in the U.S., has been set for November 10-11
at the historic Mayfair Hotel in Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more
details or email casie@thelec.com
’07
CHALLENGERS ANNOUNCED: The list of 2007 Shodan
Challengers who successfully met their Shodan Challenge goals has been
released: 10k Bracket: Anthony Postert (10k), Joe Jordan (10k), Matt
Inwood (10k), Nathan Schmitz (2k), Ramon Mercado (9k); 5k Bracket:
Jason Preuss (5k), Bob Nugmanov (5k), Justin Urban (3k); 1d Bracket:
Daniel Poore (1d), Jaime Kaszynski (1d), Jason Allen (1k), John Moore
(2d), Jonathan Sobieski (2d), Sudhir Vel (1d), Ze-Li Dou (2d).
“We also would like to give honorable mentions to those who
made their unofficial goal,” say Challenge Coordinators Lee
Huynh and Laura Kolb. Those include Aaron Fox, Henry Hunt, Marc Habert,
Mark Schlatter, Mike Waggoner, Nikolas J. Stimpson and Ze-Li Dou.
“Congratulations to all,” say Huynh and Kolb, who
add that details of the 2008 Challenge will be released soon.
KIDS,
GO & CHESS: “Two ancient games of
cunning and patience: In one, sculpted armies face each other, with
ornate towers and galloping horses ready for battle; in the other,
humble stones of black and white fill a vast, blank space, struggling
to surround each other, building up networks of escalating
intricacy.” That’s the opening of Ethan
Goffman’s article on how “Two classic games teach
children useful skills” in the current issue of Knucklebones,
a national magazine devoted to board games. The article features
interviews with AGA Board Chair Roy Laird, Outreach Coordinator John
Goon, and EJ Youth Editor Paul Barchilon. “Goffman captures
the essence of what makes both go and chess great as learning tools for
kids,” reports Barchilon. The current issue (November) has
sold out already, but it can still be purchased from shops and a few
online retailers. To read or download a PDF of the article, click
here
GU
LI WINS CHINA-KOREA TENGEN MATCH: The annual
best-of-three-game
match between the winner of the Chinese
Tianyuan title and the winner of the Korean Chunwon title (Japanese:
Tengen) brought together Gu Li 9P (r) of China and Cho Hanseung 9P (aka
Jo Hanseung) of Korea this past week. Gu took it for China this time by
a score of 2-0. Cho had defeated Lee Sedol 9P to win the Korean title
3-1, while Gu beat Liu Shizhen 6P 2-1. Both Gu and Cho are in their
twenties, though Gu has had a much more successful career. The score in
the dual international match was 2-0, though Gu won the second game by
only a half point.
XIE
YIMIN TO CHALLENGE FOR JAPANESE WOMEN'S HONINBO:
Teenager 
Xie
Yimin 3P (aka Shei Imin, left) defeated Kobayashi Izumi 6P last week by
1.5 points to win the right to challenge Yashiro Kumiko 5P for the
Japanese Women's Honinbo title. Xie won her first title last year, the
Japanese Strongest Woman tournament, winning every game by resignation.
Yashiro is hoping for a threepeat in the Women's Honinbo match. She
took the title from Chinen Kaori 4P in 2005 and held on to it against
Inori Yoko 5P last year. Xie made it to the semifinals of the Women's
Kisei this year, where she lost to eventual winner of the title,
Umezawa Yukari 5
P. She is
also playing in the semifinals of the Women's Meijin, where she is
again paired against Kobayashi Izumi.
GE
WINS UK KOREAN AMBASSADOR’S CUP: Bei Ge (r)
won the Korean Ambassador's Cup Go Tournament on August 27 at the Mind
Sports Olympiad, held in Potters Bar, UK. “Eight of Britain's
strongest go players battled it out over three rounds for the right to
represent the UK at the International Go Tournament being held in
October by the Korean Amateur Baduk Association,” reports
British Go Association President Ron Bell. Second place went to Matthew
Cocke and third to Alistair Wall. The Ambassador’s Cup will
be held in Suwon City, Korea October 12-17.
GO
QUIZ: Cat Got Your Tongue?
32 responded to last week’s quiz on the first Korean 9 dan
– including 16 who recognized that Korea's first 9 dan was
Cho Hun Hyeon -- but because of the photo caption contest (click
here to vote for the best captio
n),
I only got one comment, noting that "Cho Hun Hyeon was the first 9d
from the Korean Baduk Association in 1982, Cho Nam Ch'eol made 9d in
1983 (4 picked him), and Seo Pong-su (4 as well) in 1986, but Cho
Chikun beat them all by making 9d in 1981". Well done Ms. Salamony!
Only 8 had the correct answer: none of the above! For those who cry
foul (Phil Waldron, Richard Hayes), the question clearly stated that Go
Seigen was the first Chinese 9 dan - and he was not a 9 dan in China,
just as Cho Chikun made 9 dan in Japan. Our photo this week shows Cho
Chikun's arrival in Japan, with his uncle, Cho Nam Ch'eol, along with
his older brother, Kitani with his wife and daughter, and a very young
Kobayashi Chizu. Congrats to this week's winner, Nikolas Koulouris. THIS
WEEK’S QUIZ: What about China?
Which of the following can say they were made 9 dan before anyone else
by the Chinese Wei Chi Association - was it Nie Weiping, Chen Zude, Ma
Xiaochun or none of the above? Click
here to submit your careful answer.
- Quizmaster Keith Arnold, HKA; photo courtesy My Friday
Night Go Files
YOUTH
GO: Report from the World Chinese Youth Go Tournament
by Calvin Lee, Special EJ Correspondent
The 2nd World Chinese Youth Go
Tournament, held by the Hong Kong Go
Association, took place
from August 19th to the 23rd at the YMCA Wu Kai Sha Village in Hong
Kong. The tournament, divided into four age groups, boasted over 200
players, representing 26 different go schools. China had 21 teams, each
from various provinces, while Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the
USA filled the remaining slots. Two schools from Hong Kong sent more
than 50 players. The tournament consisted of six matches, played over
three days in a 3-2-1 format. The United States sent Jimmy Guo, age 15,
6d, Calvin Lee, age 17, 5d, (Jimmy and Calvin are in the
photo at right) and Tony Zhang, age 14, 5d, in the A
division, Lionel Zhang, age 12, 5d, in the B division and Hugh Zhang (below,
in white shirt), age 10, 5d, in the C division.
Hugh’s mother Lisa Shan was the team leader. Jimmy Guo took
4th in the A division with a 5-1 record, while the USA as a team took
3rd place in the A division and 8th in Group A & B together.
The tournament directors also graciously offered Lionel’s
sister Shannon and Tony’s brother and sister Sammy and Joy
the chance to participate in the tournament, as they were staying with
their respective siblings anyway.
Going into the tournament,
I had expected the competition to be fierce and almost impossible to
keep up with. Chinese kids are supposedly amazing, making even the
strongest American youths look like nothing special. The youth
participating at this tournament were not at the professional level
yet, but they were plenty strong. Many of the kids were Chinese 3 to 5
dan. Although our first reactions were always of shock, we became used
to encountering six-year-old 5-dans. The matches were very quickly
paced, with 45 minutes absolute time, meaning no overtime periods of
byo-yomi. This set a great deal of time pressure on the American team
as we were used to at least an hour of main time and 5 periods of 30
seconds byo-yomi. However, players were able to persevere, and all five
members of the American team were able to finish with at least an even
record. Outside of matches, team USA spent most of their time in their
rooms, playing games for fun and discussing various aspects of the
game. For example, there was a heated debate about the merits of the
descent versus the hanging connection for the 3-4 high-approach
one-space pincer joseki. I think that through this sharing of playing
styles and knowledge, we were all able to improve our ability. At
night, while a number of kids played simultaneous teaching games with
professionals, we would play games with the Shenzhen team or review
games with Liang Weitang 9P. For meals we had traditional Chinese
cuisine, eating breakfast and lunch at the YMCA village and a seafood
dinner at a nearby restaurant.
On the last day, the tournament provided
tour buses for everyone to go to dinner and sightseeing. The main stop
of the tour was Tai Ping Mountain, where people could look down upon
the entire city of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, fog obscured our vision
the night we went. Throughout the four
days of the tournament, our coach Lisa Shan took care of us and made
sure that everyone was okay, offering encouragement and motherly
support to all members of the team. As a whole, the tournament not only
provided an opportunity for us to make friends with go players from all
over Asia, but it also allowed us to see the game in a new light.
Despite language barriers or cultural
differences, go continues to bridge the gap by providing a universal
channel of communication that will surely last for the ages.
Photo of Tony Zhang by Lisa Shan.
CAN'T
STOP THE MONKEY JUMP: Go for Couples
by Motoko Arai
And now for something completely different.
My husband and I play go together at
home. And yes, we're at about the same level. You'll have to forgive me
if I brag about that a little bit. I mean, sure, there are probably a
lot of couples who play go together, but I doubt there are many of them
who can say that they're at the same level. Furthermore, my husband and
I started playing go at the same time, we played our first games
together, and we have progressed at roughly the same pace. That's a
pretty impressive history, I'd say. I think it's definitely something
we have a right to boast about.
So, someone about the same playing
strength as you lives with you, under the same roof. I'm afraid I
really can't find the right words for how good this situation is. Of
course, if I put it like that, I guess my husband and I really should
be stronger than we are. But despite it being such a good situation,
and despite our studying together... I guess we just have to try harder.
Up till now I've written about going over masters' games and about
doing life and death problems. Both of these things my husband and I
have studied together, as a couple. So, what good did it do us to do
these things together? When going over masters' games, most people do
it alone, playing both the black and white moves themselves. But with
two of us, I can say, "I'll play Black - could you play White for me?"
and we can divide the labor. If you play the games out like this, even
though you're going over the same games you would be going over alone,
there's a lot more feeling involved. (If you wonder why this is so,
maybe it's because you end up cheering your color on, hoping you'll
win.) Compare this method to the more mechanical running through the
moves alone, and you'll find that doing it together is much more
absorbing. In addition, this happens: "Huh? Why didn't you play here?
Why did you play there instead?" "Well, obviously it's because I'm more
worried about things on this part of the board at the moment." With
this kind of banter going on while you're playing, you really do a
better job of studying the game. (All right, so whether this can really
be called "studying" is a topic for a separate article.)
As for life and death: "Hmm, Black to
live. Okay then, I'll play black. Honey, can you play White?" Do life
and death problems like this and your poor reading skills will quickly
disappear. Which is to say, if you're the same level as your partner
and you read a life and death problem out wrong, he will gleefully hand
you a crushing defeat. (And vice versa, of course.)
And then, as beginners, if you play out
life and death problems together, you get used to seeing some really
remarkable moves from your partner. Often these moves are unusual
enough that they don't appear in the book of problems that you're
studying. When one of you makes a really crazy move that isn't in the
book, whoever played it then continues to support the stone, unwilling
to admit their error, and a full game erupts! If I had a dime for every
time this happened.
Ah, what a wonderful thing it is to be
able to play Go together.
Motoko Arai is an award-winning science fiction author in
Japan. Translated by Chris Donner from the Nihon Kiin's Go Weekly
(January 22, 2007 issue).
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)
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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