JIANG GOING TO WORLD ING CUP: Mingjiu Jiang 7P once again narrowly defeated Feng Yun 9P, winning by one point in the final round of last week’s knockout tourney to determine the U.S. representative to the World Ing Cup early next year. Jiang beat Feng Yun by 3 points in August to win the 2007 Ing Masters. In the first round last Tuesday – played online on KGS -- Huiren Yang 1P lost by resignation to Feng Yun 9P, and Mingjiu Jiang 7P defeated Xuefen Lin 1P by 13 points on Wednesday, setting up the final decisive round between Mingjiu Jiang and Feng Yun on Thursday. Held every four years, the World Ing has one of the largest winner’s purses for an international go tournament, with over $400,000 in prizes.
NAM, SALAMONY & WARZINSKI TOP CHI TOURNEY: GunWoo Nam 7d topped the December 8 “Break on Through” tournament in Chicago, IL, while Kim Salamony 5k and Dave Warzinski 5k won Chicago's first Pair Go Tournament. Nam topped a field of 33 players; Salamony/Warzinki beat out three other couples. “Generous support provided by Yellow Mountain Imports,” reports TD Bob Barber, “which supplied a slotted kaya board, stones, life and death book s
et, and
many t-shirts.” WINNER’S
REPORT: 1st Place Dan: NAM, GunWoo, 7d, 4-0;
1st Place High Kyu: URBAN, Justin, 3k, 4-0; 2nd Place High Kyu: BROWN,
Richard, 2k, 4-1; 1st Place Mid Kyu: PAI, Daniel, 9k, 4-0; 2nd Place
Mid Kyu: MORRISON, Michael, 8k, 4-1; Tie 1st Place Low Kyu: INWOOD,
Matt, 10k, 4-1, GREENE, Chris, 11k, 4-1.LIN/WEISS WIN DENVER PAIR GO: Katherine Lin 4k and David Weiss 3d (l) took first place in the December 1 Te wo Tsunaide Pair Go Tournament in Boulder, Colorado. The third annual tournament featured three official rounds, with up to five rounds played for fun, as well as seven award categories. This year, pairs were split into the main Open Section and the High Kyu Section. Each section had a 1st and 2nd place awards, and there were three awards for knocked out pairs. Following the tournament, 12-year-old 4-dan Kellin Pelrine played a 5-game simul. Jasmine Sailing was the Te wo Tsunaide organizer, and Bruce Young the Pairings Director; Organizational Assistants were David Weiss and Paul Barchilon. WINNER’S REPORT: 1st Place Open: Katherine Lin 4k and David Weiss 3d; 2nd Place Open: Karen Jordan 4k and Bob Meyer 5k; 1st Place High Kyu: Chelsea Kipper 20k and Aeones DeVeyra 3k; 2nd Place High Kyu: Amy Chen 19k and Thomas Creel 14k. Fighting Spirit: DeeDee Eckles 15k and David Ring 4d; Outstanding Youth Pair: Jessica Lin 3k and Kellin Pelrine 4d; Most In-Sync Pair: Diana Yang 10k and Albert Hwang 7k. Click here for photos and commentary.
Katherine Lin/Dave Weiss (l) face off against Karen Jordan & Bob Meyer in the final round. photo: Jasmine Sailing
OZA OFFERS EARLY REGISTRANTS INCENTIVE: One lucky winner on each coast will win a free copy of the latest GoGod (Games of Go on Disk) software, report West Coast Oza organizer Andy Okun. Everyone who registers for the 2008 Toyota/Denso North American Oza Tournament by midnight, December 31, will be registered in the GoGod drawings, one in Los Angeles, the other in Baltimore.
STUDENT OZA REP OPEN TO ALL N.A. STUDENTS: College students from throughout North America – not just the United States as reported last week – are eligible to represent North America at the 6th World Student Go Oza Championship next year. Anyone interested should contact American Go Association President Mike Lash at president@usgo.org The Student Oza is set for February 29 through March 4 in Tokyo, Japan, and is sponsored by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., organized by the All Japan Students Go Association and supported by the Nihon Ki-in. The tournament features college or university students under 30 from China, Europe, Chinese Taipei, North America, Japan, Central & South America, Korea and Thailand.
FINAL U.S. YOUTH QUALIE TO BE ONLINE: The final U.S. Youth Go Championship Qualifier will be held online, reports organizer Nicole Casanta, who adds that “we're looking for an online TD to run this Qualifier,” which she says “will likely have the biggest turnout of any Qualifier.” Email her at nicole@seraphine.us
2008 AGA SUMMER CAMPS: The site for next year’s West Coast Go Camp has been set – Tacoma, WA – but the East Coast venue is still open, reports AGA President Mike Lash. “We welcome energetic, organized and motivated volunteers who enjoy working with children to register your interest in hosting the East Coast camp next summer," says Lash. Contact him at preside
nt@usgo.org
The West Coast Camp will be held at the Pacific Lutheran University
(home of the 2005 Go Congress) and Brian Allen will be the Camp
Coordinator.U.S. MIND SPORTS TEAM GETS CONTRIBUTIONS, LOGO: Three more donations to help support the U.S. World Mind Sports Games team arrived last week, along with the brand-new team logo (l), reports Roy Laird. “The American Go Foundation was gratified last week to receive contributions by three go lovers totaling over $1000 to support the US team,” Laird tells the E-Journal. “They, along with everyone else who donates by 12/31, will get a tax break by deducting their donations from their 2007 taxable income.” The logo was designed by Mike Samuels.
LEE SEDOL ADDS KUKSU TO COLLECTION: Lee Sedol 9P (r) defeated Yun Junsang 6P 3-0 to take the Kuksu title for the first time on December 10th. Yun won this title last year by beating Lee Changho 9P 3-1. This makes five national titles that Lee currently holds, plus two international ones, the Toyota Denso World Oza and the Asian TV Cup. Moreover, he is in the finals of the international Samsung and in the finals of the international LG Cup. Both of the latter will be played early in 2008. The Kuksu is the most prestigious of the Korean titles. Yun won it just before turning twenty. Lee is twenty-four.
KONO RIN THREEPEATS IN TENGEN: Kono Rin 9P (l) completed a 3-1 defense of his Japanese Tengen title against Yamashita Keigo 9P on December 6th. This is the second consecutive year that Yamashita, from whom Kono took this title in 2005, has been the challenger, so Kono's three consecutive victories in the title match for this top-seven title have all been at Yamashita's expense. Yamashita took the first game this time, but Kono then reeled off three wins in a row to hold on to the title. The Tengen is not the only title Kono currently holds, it’s the only title he’s ever won. Yamashita is the current Kisei and Oza title holder. Yamashita has also made it to the third round in this year's Gosei tournament, in which Kono has not yet played his first-round game. Kono and Yamashita have both made it to the third round in the current NHK Cup.
GU LI AND LIU XING TO BATTLE FOR CHANG-KI CUP: The finals of the 4th Chang-Ki Cup will be a best-of-three-game match between Gu Li 9P (r) and Liu Xing 7P. This event was created to honor the founder of the Ing Foundation and has the largest purse of any national Chinese tournament. It has the unusual format of the semi-finals being best-of-three-game matches as well as the finals. In the semi-finals Gu defeated Qiu Jun 8P 2-0 and Liu defeated Piao Wenyao 5P 2-1. Liu, who is in his twenties, won the CCTV Cup in 2005
and the Chinese
Agon Cup in 2006, also defeating Cho
U 9P of Japan in the China-Japan
Agon Cup playoff. Gu is one of the most successful of current
Chinese pros, having won many titles, including several international
matches. In 2007 he won the international Chunlan
Cup, defeating Chang
Hao 9P, also of China, 2-0.UNDEFEATED ILYA SHIKSHIN WINS 3RD RUSSIAN CHAMPIONSHIP: Seventeen-year-old Ilya Shikshin 7d (l) has won 24th Russian championship for the third straight year. Ruslan Dmitriev 6d took 2nd and Alexey Lazarev 6d 3rd. An interesting side note is that Shikshin is undefeated in his three Russian championships titles. Photo: Martin Chrz
CALENDAR: Arlington, VA
December 15, Arlington, VA: Holiday Helper
Allan Abramson allango@igc.org 703.684.7676
GO CLASSIFIED
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with nearly 12,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org
GO BOARDS WANTED: Looking for a decent go board; not homemade, warped or abused (dinged or scratches OK). Need bowls too. Also seeking one 13x13/19x19 reversible board. Contact gkoewing@ gmail.com (12/3/07)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Mooresville, NC area. New club trying to start up. Playing on Sundays at Gamers University in Mooresville. Email Angela: a_e_blackwell@hotmail.com (11/26)
GO PROFESSOR WANTED: The Department of Baduk Studies at the Myongji University of Korea is looking for a Contract Professor. Must be a M.D. holder in the fields related to Baduk; responsibilities include lectures in English and lectures related to Baduk. For more info email Kim Se Young at gnuoyes@hotmail.com (11/26)
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, or see http://www.japanexpo.org/index.html if you just want to come along. (11/19)
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)
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 (http://www.usgo.org/WMSG08.html ), as well as other annual events such as the North American Fujitsu Qualifier. Prior tournament directing experience, familiarity with pairing methods ( http://senseis.xmp.net/?TournamentPairing ) 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 tournaments@usgo.org 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)
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