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AMERICAN
GO E-JOURNAL |
MEMBER’S
EDITION BONUS CONTENT: If you missed our
live coverage of last weekend’s North American Oza,
today’s attached game commentaries will give you a thrilling
taste of the excitement on the top boards. In the first commentary,
Alexandre Dinerchtein 3P takes a detailed
look at the 3rd-round Oza East battle royale between Feng Yun 9P and
Jie Li 9d, while in the second the Nihon Kiin’s Tadashi
Sasaki 8P comments on the final round in the Oza West between Mingjiu
Jiang 7P and Dae Hyuk Ko 8d. And there’s plenty more where
that came from: 32 Oza game records are posted online,
including 10 game commentaries by Sasaki and Dinerchtein. Non-members:
join the American Go Association and get all this great content with
every EJ! It’s
all just a click away! |
January
21, 2008; Volume 9, #5
the 2008
North American Oza last weekend in Los Angeles and Baltimore,
winning the right to represent the continent at the World Oza in Japan
later this year. The two title-winners were undefeated atop two very
tough fields crowded with many of the best players in North America
– four professionals competed in the Oza West -- providing
thrilling games that were broadcast worldwide. Jiang showed
“tremendous resolve,” according to guest commentator
Tadashi Sasaki 8P of the Nihon Kiin, who said that seeing a game like
the 6th-round battle between Jiang and Dae Hyuk Ko 8d – which
involved a huge sacrifice by Jiang -- “is one of the
pleasures of playing go.” Although Li, who’s won a
number of national titles, has not been as active on the American go
tournament scene lately – he’s currently studying
law at George Mason University – he was in fine form at the
Oza, defeating many of his opponents by resignation (including Feng Yun
9P) as well as narrowly besting Korean insei Hong Suk Song in an
extremely hard-fought and complicated 1.5-point game. The 2008 North
American Oza Tournament was sponsored by Toyota/Denso,
run by the American Go Association in partnership with the Nihon Ki-in,
and hosted in Baltimore by the Gilbert W. Rosenthal Memorial Baltimore
Go Club and in Los Angeles by the Santa Monica Go Club. Click
here for a downloadable full-color copy of the
’08 Oza guide, which includes a commentary on a World Oza
game by Alexandr Dinerchtein and a special Oza puzzle by Yilun Yang 7P.
and 163 in Los Angeles
– made this
year’s Fourth North American Oza the biggest yet in the
event’s history. Though turnout declined in the Oza East
(over 200 turned out in each of the previous editions in New York
City), the ’08 Oza West finally broke into triple digit
turn-out. The fields were also strong across the board as the big-money
event – over $30,000 in prizes was awarded –
attracted players of all strengths. photo
of L.A. playing area courtesy Andy Okun
simultaneous bi-coastal broadcast in AGA history. Teams in both Los
Angeles and Baltimore brought the excitement of one of the
year’s biggest events to audiences on KGS that often exceeded
400. Two teams trained and coordinated by E-Journal Managing Editor
Chris Garlock – who managed the Baltimore team while Oza West
organizer Andy Okun managed the LA team – broadcast nearly
three dozen top board games, with live online pro game commentary
provided for ten of the games by either Mr.
Tadashi Sasaki 8 Dan professional from the Nihon Ki-in (LA
games) or Alexandre
Dinerchtein 3P of Russia (Baltimore and some LA games). All
game records are posted online
Koester, Allan Abramson,
Todd Heidenreich, Sam Zimmerman, Arnold Eudell, Volunteers. Oza West:
Andrew Okun, Organizer/Registrar; Chris Kirschner, TD; Chris Hayashida,
Assistant TD; Robert Terry, Terry McIntyre, Lawrence Gross, Bob Myers,
Yixian Zhou, Janet Klawe, Volunteers. Oza EJ broadcasting teams: East
(Baltimore): Chris Garlock (EJ Team Manager, Board 1 recorder), John
Pinkerton (Board 2 recorder, photographer), Carrie Lapidus (Board 3
recorder, rounds 4 & 5), Phil Straus (photographer); IT
support: Steve Colburn. West (LA): Andy Okun (EJ Team West Manager);
Recording/broadcasting: Richard Dolen, Joe Cepiel, Ed Lee, Mike Sun; IT
support: Chris Hayashida; KGS support: Akane Negishi and Elvire
Scheibling. photo of Oza East TD
room by John Pinkerton
ho want to
play together, and youth go clubs in alternative schools or part time
schools are also allowed, as are teams from youth at public library
clubs. Substantial prizes will be awarded in every bracket. The
competition will begin March 1 and all games will be played on KGS. The
tournament is being run by the American Go Honor Society, in
conjunction with the AGA. Click
here for more information and to register.
Naiwei 2-1 on January 17 to win
the Yuanyang Cup, a new international women's tournament. Although it
is sponsored by a Chinese company and played in Baejing, China, the
finals in this first edition of the Yuanyang Cup were both Korean
representatives, Rui
Naiwei and Park
Jieun 8P. Rui won the first of the best-of-three-game title
match by a half point, but Park, who is twenty years younger than Rui,
took the next two by resignation to claim the title. A Japanese player,
Yashiro
Kumiko 5P, and a Chinese representative, Zhang Xiang 8P, made
it to the semifinals, but the two Koreans prevailed. Park won another
new international women's tournament last year, the Dali Cup, defeating
Kim Hyeoimin in the finals.