November 19, 2007; Volume 8, #75
US GO NEWS: Keith Arnold 5d Wins Moon Cha Tourney; N.A. Oza Registration Rolling; New Books Out From Hinoki, Kiseido And Slate & Shell; AGA Chapter & News Briefs; The World Go Calendar
WORLD GO NEWS: Imamura Ties Up Japanese Oza; Cho Chikun To Challenge For Kisei; Yun Defeats Heo In Korean SK Gas Cup; Women Stumbling In Japanese Ryusei; China Preps For Triple Olympics; Bajenaru New Romanian Champ; Almost 300 Already Signed Up For ’08 Euro Congress
GO PHOTO: Austin Tourney
GO QUIZ: Fatally Flawed
YOUTH GO: Improving School Scores
GO CLASSIFIED
MEMBER’S EDITION BONUS CONTENT: Today's game file is the 2007 Pair Go final between Kim and Kang of Korea and Baba and Saito of Japan. "Michael Redmond commented that both sides played well, with Korea really being solid," reports AGA Guest Official Allan Abramson. Our bonus file is the latest installment of Haruyama's popular "Questions from Actual Play." Non-members: all this great content is just a click away. Photos of Moon Cha Tournament (r & below left) by Yuan Zhou.
KEITH ARNOLD 5D WINS MOON CHA TOURNEY: Keith Arnold 5d won the Moon Cha
Tournament,
held November 17 in Rockville, MD. Two dozen players participated in
the event, which featured a strong turnout from Rochester’s
Empty Sky Go Club and was organized by Yuan Zhou 8d; Chuck Robbins was
the Tournament Director.Winner’s Report: Open Section: 1st: Keith Arnold 5d; 2nd: Ken Koester 2d. B Section: 1st: Matthew Bengtson 1d; 2nd: Peter Nassar 4k. C Section: 1st: Steve Colbum 7k; 2nd: Peter LeFevre 9k; 3rd: Gurujeet Khalsa 22K.
N.A. OZA REGISTRATION ROLLING: Players from 30k to 6d have signed up for the Fourth Toyota/Denso North American Oza Tournament January 19-20, 2008 in Los Angeles and Baltimore. They’re coming from South Pasadena, Salt Lake City, New York and points in-between across the county. The biennial tournament is one of the premiere go tournaments in the North American go calendar, with hundreds of players competing for more than $25,000 in prizes. Pre-registration is highly recommended, as there will be a $10 late fee to register at the door and same-day registrants who arrive after 9A will not play in the first round. Click here to register.
NEW BOOKS OUT FROM HINOKI, KISEIDO AND SLATE & SHELL: Several new go books are out just in time for the holidays. Hinoki Press has published O Rissei’s Catching the Scent of Victory, in which O Rissei explains twenty of his games in a careful way that makes reviewing these pro games a useful learning experience for any player, eliminating – or at least reducing -- the frustration of not knowing what’s going on in a pro game. Just out from Slate & Shell is
Master
Play: The Style of Lee Changho by Yuan Zhou, with Zhou
clarifying the playing style of Lee through careful analyses of two of
his games. The reader receives a clear understanding of the style that
has made Lee the number one player in the world and also gets a better
grasp of how to develop one's own style. As previously reported,
Kiseido's All About Ko by Rob van Zeijst and
Richard Bozulich -- Volume 6 of Mastering the Basics --has been
published, which we're pleased to feature in our latest Hot
Off the Press: Excerpts from New Go Books selection with
today's edition (see attached PDF).AGA CHAPTER & NEWS BRIEFS: Miami Go Club Meetings Canceled: Due to remodeling of the cafe at Borders Bookstore there will be no club meetings until December 6; Japan Expo Go Volunteers Needed: Southern California go players are needed to help staff a go booth at the Japan Expo at the LA Convention Center Dec. 1 and 2: see the Classified ad below for details; Rank Certificate Program Manager Wanted: Detail-oriented person wanted to manage the new AGA rank certificate program: see the Classified ad below for details; Online TDs Sought: volunteer online tournament directors and assistants; see the Classified ad below for details.
THE WORLD GO CALENDAR: How’d you like to be able to find out about go tournaments around the world with a single click? We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it! The American Go Association’s Tournament Calendar is expanding to include go events worldwide. So whether you want info on a tournament down the road, up the continent or across the globe, soon you’ll be just a click away. Tournament organizers: this is a great way to increase turn-out! It takes just a minute or two to post your event online and reach a worldwide audience, plus each week’s events are featured in the American Go E-Journal, which reaches nearly 12,000 readers worldwide each week.
IMAMURA TIES UP JAPANESE OZA: Imamura Toshiya 9P (r), who is a member of the Kansai Kiin, won the second game of his challenge against Yamashita Keigo 9P for the Japanese Oza title on November 15th, to tie the best-of-five-game match at 1-1. Imamura has not had any big recent successes, but he did challenge for the Gosei in 1989 and won two minor Japanese titles in 1984. Yamashita has won several titles, including the Gosei, Oza, Tengen, and Kisei; he has held the Kisei for the last two years. He won the Gosei for the first time last year.
CHO CHIKUN TO CHALLENGE FOR KISEI: Cho Chikun 9P (l) defeated Cho U 9P by 4.5
points
on Monday, November 19th to earn the right to challenge Yamashita
Keigo 9P for the Kisei title. These days, it’s rare
for a player in his early fifties, as Cho Chikun is, to challenge for a
prestigious title like the Kisei, which is considered the number one
national title in Japan. Cho Chikun has held this title a total of
eight times, beginning with a three-year run from 1983 to 1985 and
concluding with a four-year run from 1996 to 1999. He also has held the
Judan title for the past three years and is the most recent winner of
the NHK Cup. Cho is already a major figure in the history of go: he has
won over 70 titles, which is more than any other Japanese pro ever. It
looks like he plans to add a few more to his record.
YUN DEFEATS HEO IN KOREAN SK GAS CUP: Yun Junsang 6P (r) has defeated Heo Yeongho 6P 2-1, taking the Korean SK Gas Cup on November 16th. Yun also holds the Korean Kuksu title, which he is currently defending against challenger Lee Sedol 9P. Lee has won the first game in that best-of-five-game match. Yun, who is about to turn twenty, took the Kuksu title from Lee Changho 9P by a score of 3-1 earlier this year. Heo is twenty-one and won the New Pro tournament last year. The SK Gas Cup is organized as two leagues of five players each. The winners of the leagues play each other in a best-of-three-game match for the title. The tournament is for new pros and features a basic time limit of three hours.
WOMEN STUMBLING IN JAPANESE RYUSEI: Just four women have survived the first round in the Japanese Ryusei. The Ryusei is a set of eight win-and-continue matches with twelve players each. The twelve winners of each section, with the players who won the most games in their sections, then play a regular single-elimination tournament. This year's event is just getting underway with most groups having played two games. The players are ranked in each group and women pros are included. This year there were ten women, only four of whom survived the first game in their groups. Kato Keiko 5P defeated Tajima Shingo 2P, but lost to Yu Ho 6P in the second game. Kato Tomoko 5P won her first game, but defeated another woman in the process, Mannami Nao 1P, and Aoki Kikuyo 8P is ranked high enough in her group not to have played yet. The only other woman still alive is the amazing teenager Xie Yimin 3P, who defeated O Yuinin 4P. She and Kato the only women to have defeated a male pro so far. Most of the players well-known outside Japan are, of course, in the top ranks of their groups.
CHINA PREPS FOR TRIPLE OLYMPICS: The First World Mind Sport Games in Beijing next October will conclude a series of events by which China hopes to herald its emergence as a first-rank nation. In August, the 2008 Summer Olympics will shine a spotlight on the capital, and in contrast with the delays getting ready for the 2004 Athens games, China is proceeding on schedule, with 30,000 workers building 37 facilities on a round-the-clock schedule at a cost of $40 billion. The centerpiece is the 91,000 seat National Stadium, nicknamed "The Bird's Nest" for its tangled beam design. When completed, it will be the world's largest enclosed space. To address athlete’s concern about pollution, 200 factories in Beijing have been closed, reducing emissions from local power plants. The Chinese will spend more than $3 billion just to clean the air in Beijing. In September comes the Paralympics, a competition for athletes with physical handicaps. Finally, in October, The Mind Sport Games will arrive, concluding a three-month festival of competitions. In keeping with the scale of the entire event, the Chinese hope for a substantial showing from Western go-playing nations and the American Go Association is committed to send a team of up to twenty players. Click here to support the American team.
- reported by Roy Laird
BAJENARU NEW ROMANIAN CHAMP: Dragos Bajenaru 6d (r) swept to his first Romanian Champion title with a perfect 7-0 score, besting Cristian Pop 7d who came in second with six wins and one loss and Cornel Burzo 6d (5-2) finishing 3rd. The Romanian National Championship Finals took place November 17-19th at the Poiana Brasov ski resort in the middle south region of Romania. Eight top players competed.
- reported by Mihaela Burzo, special European correspondent to the E-Journal
ALMOST 300 ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR ’08 EURO CONGRESS: With nearly 300 already signed up for next year’s European Go Congress in Sweden, the big news is that more than 20% are female participants . “This has never happened at any European Congress!” says organizer Martin Stiassny. Part of the impetus, Stiassny says, may be the significant discounts – up to 60% -- being offered to families who attend the Congress.
GO PHOTO: Austin, TX tournament (11/3 EJ) winner Andy Olsen plays Nick Sibicky. photo by Bart Jacob
GO QUIZ: Fatally Flawed
A combination of a quizmaster sending in a question from a Yang workshop and an editor scurrying to get the E-Journal out post-Cotsen coverage resulted in a fatally flawed quiz
question.
My apologies to you all, and particularly to Daniel Chou whose
excellent original question did not get a chance to shine. In fact, a
set of books known as "Fujisawa's Go Classes" are so well respected in
China that they are called "The cradle of Chinese professionals" -
implying that they provide the right upbringing. It is a fitting
tribute to the tireless efforts of Honorary Kisei Fujisawa Hideyuki (aka
Shuko, right) in fostering the game in China. Shanghai and
Chengdu were meant to be separate choices; Shanghai is the birthplace
of many pros (including our own Yilun Yang) and Chengdu is the famous
"City of Chi," more in reference to Chinese Chess than go, and it is
the birthplace of Gu Li 9P. The Ten Games of Danghu are a collection of
classic Chinese games. Thanks again to all who tried, seven of whom
went for the logical choice of the cities. Interestingly, our two Quiz
leaders chose "The Ten Games," but we are not going to hold that
against them. The amazing Grant Kerr was the only one to see through
the mists and come up with the correct answer. Congrats! Quiz
Standings: Phil Waldron 29/34; Kim Salamony 26/31; Grant Kerr 16/16;
Terry Fung 10/10; Daniel Denis 10/11; Richard Hayes 10/13; Ramon
Mercado 9/10. With at most two questions left, it looks like there will
be no change in our top three.THIS WEEK’S QUIZ: Who was the first Westerner accredited as a 5 dan (amateur) by the Nihon Kiin? Was it Oskar Korscheldt, Edward Lasker, Felix Dueball or Robert Ryder? Click here to vote.
- AGA Quizmaster Keith Arnold HKA; Photo of Shuko courtesy Sensei's Library.
YOUTH GO: Improving School Scores
Georgette Yakman is making a big move in a small town in western Virginia. Known as Ms. George to her students at Pulaski Middle School, Yakman is now laying the foundation for a curriculum that could put go in classrooms statewide. With U.S. students ranking near the bottom in math and scienc
e
achievement worldwide, school boards across the country are looking for
ways to improve their scores. Enter the STEM curricula , which stands
for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Many schools are
adopting this new model, which teaches all four subjects in an
integrated way. Unfortunately, the humanities were left out of the
equation. No art, no social studies, just the tech stuff. Yakman, who
teaches in a school district that serves an economically disadvantaged
community, is developing her own educational theory, which seeks to
reintegrate the humanities. “The arts impact
everything,” Yakman says, “so I think
it’s really important for my students to see how these
different subjects interact with one another and how they are applied
together in daily life. We now live in a world where you
can’t understand science without technology, which couches
most of its research and development in engineering, which you
can’t create without an understanding of the arts and
mathematics.” Yakman calls her new model STE@M, which
integrates the arts with the four technological fields.Yakman believes go can help kids with all five aspects of the STE@M curriculum. “We started teaching our own children when they were toddlers, just old enough to know better then to try and eat the stones,” Yakman told the E-Journal. She first noticed a connection with math skills and critical thinking when a local teacher began bringing students to her go club in Blacksburg, VA. When she began teaching at Pulaski Middle seven years later, she seized the opportunity to add go to her classroom instruction. Yakman’s ideas were also influenced by Jinsoo Kim, a visiting professor at Virginia Tech from South Korea. Both teachers were studying STEM education when they met, and they are now collaborating on a paper that presents go/baduk as an integrated tool for teaching across the disciplines.
Last month Yakman presented go and her STE@M theory at an international conference for educators in Atlanta. She has significant political support in VA, with the Governor, a Congressman, and a Senator all reviewing her program. Yakman is currently applying for a Governor's Grant to rewrite career and technical education curriculum in VA middle schools. The American Go Foundation is a formal partner in the project and will assist with the go curriculum and by providing equipment for the schools. Pulaski Middle will be the test school, with go taught in all three grades as part of their regular classes. If the Pulaski kids test higher than other schools, and improve their previous results, Yakman’s model stands a chance of being adopted statewide. Exciting stuff for a teacher in a small town, but for Yakman it is the kids themselves that are most important. “Many of my kids have parents who have to work multiple jobs, are in jail and/or rehab, and have had to leave their children with other relatives or in foster care. It's heart-breaking to see what they have to go through - and absolutely wonderful to open their eyes to new worlds beyond the window of their small town.” Thanks to Ms. George and her colleagues at Pulaski Middle these kids are getting a shot at a brighter future. E-J readers who would like to help may send tax-deductible contributions to the American Go Foundation. E-mail agf@usgo.org for more info.
- Paul Barchilon, Youth Editor; photo: Grade-schoolers battle it out on Yakman’s laptop at an introductory session.
GO CLASSIFIED
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with over 11,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org Locate go clubs worldwide
NEW! JAPAN EXPO GO VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Southern California go players are needed to help staff a go booth at the Japan Expo at the LA Convention Center Dec. 1 and 2. Help introduce hundreds of people to the game, while enjoying a few games or a lesson from stronger players and checking out the rest of the Expo. Contact Andy at abc@okun.name if you would like to help staff the booth. (11/19)
NEW! RANK CERTIFICATE PROGRAM MANAGER WANTED: The American Go Association is looking for a detail oriented person to manage the new AGA rank certificate program. This person will work closely with the rating and database coordinators to notify people eligible for rank certificates, answer questions, and send certificates to those who request them. There will probably be a bit of a flood at first, but then it will settle down to a moderate trickle. Anyone interested please respond to operations@usgo.org (11/19)
NEW! ONLINE TDS SOUGHT: The AGA is looking for volunteer online tournament directors and assistants for several upcoming online events, including some of the US qualifiers for the World Mind Sport Games, as well as other annual events such as the North American Fujitsu Qualifier. Prior tournament directing experience, familiarity with pairing methods and programs (PyTD, WinTD, etc.) is preferred but not necessary. Must have great computer and communication skills. More information will be provided to help guide you in becoming a valued resource for the AGA as online tournament directors and assistants. Respond to , by 30th November 2007 if you are interested. Include your AGA number, current rating, and prior experience, if any. (11/19)
GO PLAYERS WANTED… in Northern Virginia. All skill levels and ages welcome. The Tysons Corner Go Club meets every Saturday 9:30 – 12:30. Contact Ching-Sung Chin: chin8673@yahoo.com for more details (11/5)
GO Players Wanted: North Wales (central Montgomery County) PA. This informal group meets every Sunday afternoon. We are in the Borders store in Airport Square, Rts 309 and 202. Please contact nlzod@comcast.net
GO TEACHER WANTED: Canton, MA: Sharon Chinese School (www.sharoncs.org) needs a go teacher. Time: 3:30-5P every Saturday except holidays. Location: 900 Washington St., Canton, MA 02021 Contact: (781) 690-2066 (11/12)
FOR SALE: Complete collection of Go World issues #1 through latest (#112). Issues #1-10 are protected by hard binding. All issues are in perfect condition. Asking price: $500 plus shipping & insurance. Please contact bwbgo@yahoo.com (11/12)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Baltimore, MD: Go players wanted in northern Baltimore, MD. The Lake Walker Go Club (an official AGA chapter) meets every Monday night at 8. Contact Jim Pickett: j.m.pickett@att.net (11/5)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Go club starting in Orlando, looking for more members. All skill levels and ages welcome. Please contact Masterman535@gmail.com for more details. (10/29)
YOUTH PLAYERS WANTED: N. Portland: 7th grade student at N. Portland school looking for 3rd- to 12th-grade students for a Go Club or just to meet and play in the North Portland, OR area. "Newbies" thru intermediate levels especially encouraged. Please email Kyle at VGRfan@Yahoo.com if interested or have questions. THANKS! (10/29)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Western Morris County, New Jersey. Contact dpalumbo33@comcast.net (10/22)
JAVA DEVELOPERS AND WEB DESIGNERS WANTED for a new open-source web site devoted to promoting go in your local neighborhood. If interested, please contact Alf Mikula, amikula@gmail.com (10/15)
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Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
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