|
AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL |
MEMBER'S
EDITION BONUS CONTENT: In this
week’s game commentary, E-Journal contributor Alexandre
Dinerchtein 1P – a top European player and editor of the go journal
Goama – analyzes his last-round European Go Congress game against Park
Jongwook 7d. |
August 18, 2008; Volume 9, #44
CON
GRESS
UPDATES: Okun
Wins Board Auction: Newly-elected Western
AGA Board member Andy Okun (holding board) topped a fierce bidding war
on the final Friday of this year's U.S. Go Congress, winning the
auction with his $600 bid for a 2-inch table board signed by 2008 North
American Ing Masters finalists Feng Yun 9P (2nd from r) and Yilun Yang
7P (far l), as well as by visiting pro Takemiya Masaki 9P (far r).
“Signatures from Feng Yun, Yilun Yang and Takemiya Masaki on a nice
board are pretty special,” Okun told the E-Journal, “but on top of that
I’ve been taking lessons from Mr. Yang for a few years now and was
excited to see him in the final, so there was a personal angle there
too. I wanted to tip my hat.” Ing TD Jeff Shaevel conducted the
auction. The money raised will go to the American Go Foundation to
support their educational programs. At Friday's auction,
photo by Chris Garlock Kaz
Blogs!: Fans of Kazunari "Kaz" Furuyama - the
Tokyo-based former insei and E-Journal contributor shown here (below,
right) lecturing at this ye
ar's U.S.
Go Congress -- will be interested to learn that he has a new
blog offering go lessons and advice. photo
by Brian Allen Virtual
Congress: Check out online '08 U.S. Go
Congress photo albums by EJ photographers Phil
Straus and Brian
Allen.
REVISED
INT'L TOURNEY SELECTION REGS DRAFTED: Revised procedures
for selecting representatives to international tournaments have been
drafted, reports American Go Association Board Chair Roy Schmidt.
"After a series of problems arising from the application of procedures
for selecting players to represent the AGA in international
tournaments, the Board of Directors made some significant revisions to
the procedure," Schmidt tells the E-Journal. The proposal includes
clearly-defined competitive procedures, back-up procedures and a
minimum number of rated games against stronger players (for amateur
players). "Before formal adoption of the new version, the Board would
like to
hear
comments from the members, and especially from those most likely to be
eligible for opportunities to compete internationally," says Schmidt. Click
here to review the proposal; to make comments on the draft,
email agaboard@usgo.org
5
MINUTES WITH: Feng Yun 9P, 2008 N.A.I.M Champion
Sometimes, the teacher becomes the student. “In the second round of the
North American Ing Masters, I played a young Korean,” Feng Yun 9P (l)
told the E-Journal. “I’d been studying a game from the 1930’s for a
workshop I'm giving, and it turned out that the same position came up
in the game so I was able to apply what I’d learned.” Feng said that “I
think maybe this was the best Congress I ever had. I played much better
than the games I played earlier in the year at the N.A. Toyota Oza,
when I missed a basic life-and-death problem. I played better this time
and that makes me happy.” Although Feng said she felt she played well
at the 2007 Ing – when she narrowly lost in the final to Mingjiu Jiang
7P – “I had more confidence this year. Maybe,” she said, smiling, “I
learned something from the Takemiya lecture. There were some beautiful
moves (in the final against Yilun Yang 7P) that I was really proud to
have played.” As 2008 NAIM Champion, Feng Yun won the $3,000 top prize.
“I’m also pleased to see so many of my students doing well,” she added
proudly, “and it was wonderful to be able to bring my own children to
the Congress this year, where they played in the U.S. Open.” Feng is
preparing for a busy fall this year, with even more students expected
at her popular go school in New Jersey, as well as her coaching duties
for the World Mind Sports Games team from the United States. - interview by Chris Garlock; photo by
Phil Straus
GO
CALENDAR: Tucson & New York City
August 20: Tucson, AZ: Tucson Go Club August Rating Tournament
Marti
n Lebl martinlebl@gmail.com
520.850.9213
August 24: New York, NY: NYGC
Big Tournament-5
Boris Bernadsky boris.nygocenter@gmail.com
646.438.1338
TEEN
IYAMA YUTA TAKES LEAD IN KISEI LEAGUES: Teen phenom Iyama
Yuta (r) 8P leads the contest to
determine the challenger for the Kisei with a 3-0 record. The
Kisei, currently held by Yamashita
Keigo 9P, is a double round robin league, with six players in
each group. The winners of each group then play a single game to
determine the challenger.
With League play about half over, no one else in either league is
undefeated and no one else has three wins. Iyama still has to play Cho
Chikun 9P, who is 1-1, and O
Rissei 9P, 2-1, so it's not over yet, but the 19-year-old
Iyama continues to be the one to watch.
CHO
VS KO IN TENGEN PLAYOFFS: Ko
Iso (l) 7P will face Cho
U (below right) 9P in the
Tengen playoffs. The winner will take on current Tengen Kono
Rin 8P. Cho U defeated Cho
Chikun 9P by 1.5 points
back in
July to reach the finals of the Tengen, and his opponent was determined
last week when Ko Iso 7P defeated Hane
Naoki 9P, the current Honinbo. At the age of twenty, Ko Iso
7P is not as well-known and has yet to win a title, though he has
played in the last three Meijin Leagues, is tied for fifth place on the
list of Japanese pros who have won the most games so far this year, and
ended up in fourth place on that list last year. Tengen title-holder
Cho U holds more titles at the moment than any other Japanese pro.
GO
QUIZ: Miraculous Fightbacks
Congratulations to Hane Naoki, Honinbo (r, in photo below),
who came back from 0-3 to survive four straig
ht
kadobans and claim the Honinbo title 4-3. Cho Chikun is famous for this
type of comeback - winning 4 straight after being behind 0-3, which the
Japanese call a "miraculous fightback". Who was the first player to
achieve this feat in a Japanese top three title (Kisei, Meijin and
Honinbo)? Was it Sakata Eio, Rin Kaiho, Ishida Yoshio or Cho Chikun? Click
here to vote.
- Keith Arnold, Quizmaster
MORE
CONGRESS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Co-Directors of the 2008 US Go Congress would like to thank all the
people who helped make this Congress a success.
- The wonderful local organizing crew of volunteers who worked their
heads off without complaining, many of whom put in 18 hour days for 8
days. Cynthia Gaty, John Howard, Doug Cable, Richard
Mann, Chris Shelley, Doug Haning, Ellen Mann, Bob O Malley, Bill
Shubert, Mark Jefferys, Peter Drake, Josh Gum, Gordon Marsh, Glenn
Peters Yung-Ping Chen, Eddie Kim, Owen Chen, Ralph Chen, Phil Britt,
Casey Alexander, Kim Hodges, Tom Hodges, Gail O Malley, Gordon
Costanza, Jim Levenick, Kevin Altis and Linden Jeffries.
People like Jayme Fosa who just pitched
in. To those we missed, please forgive us. The national staff,
particularly Chris Kirschner for his
unflagging support
and advice, and the
E-Journal team who fired the shots seen round the world. All the pros,
and especially Takemiya Masaki 9P,
without whose instruction we will wither on the vine. Paul
Barchilon and his assistant, Fritz Balwit,
nurturing the next generation of American go players. All the
tournament directors, with a special thanks to Jeff
Shaevel and Chris Sira,
who set a new standard by starting all rounds of the US Open on time.
The players in the US Open...over 50 of
whom called to let us know of their travel status, a major contributor
to starting the US Open on time. Frank Fukuda, Yoshi
Sawada, and our intrepid team of translators. The AGA
and Mike Lash, who 'gave us our head',
facilitating our ability to self-organize and manage.
If we had it to do again, we'd do many things differently and have
already begun a conversation about developing a new paradigm for the
Congress, which has grown to a size requiring more standardization and
long term organization - beyond the capacity of a local group that has
never done a Congress before. It's time to move to a new level. The
Congress can continue to grow and be a major factor in the development
of go in the US, so long as we develop the proper infrastructure to
support it.
- Peter Freedman & Akane Negishi, Co-Directors, US
Go Congress 2008; photo by Steve Colburn
GO
CLASSIFIED
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with nearly 13,000
go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks;
email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org
PLAYERS WANTED: Reno / Lake Tahoe area. Contact Fred Hopkins 916-548-8068 or cfredhop@msn.com (8/18)
PLAYERS
WANTED: Dallas/Fort Worth area: Finding interest level for a regular
get-together or Go club that meets Tuesday nights in Bedford. Beginners
welcome. Please contact Jeremy at jergarmar@hotmail.com
for more information. (8/18)
FOR SALE: Japanese 1.5cm folding board, $40. Two Japanese 1.8cm folding
boards, $50. Pair of Japanese medium-size chestnut bowls, $50. Set of
very old, Japanese, 4.5mm shell & slate stones in chestnut
bowls, $85. Buyer pays shipping. The boards and bowls are all in very
good, gently used condition. Some of the antique shell stones are
chipped, as should be expected for their age, but they are quite usable
and very unique. You just can't buy new stones like these anymore.
Contact Anton at antonninno@yahoo.com
(8/18)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Springfield, MO. Starting a club; any players, any level wanted. E-mail Sara at dbztiger18@yahoo.com (7/28)
GO PLAYERS WANTED: At the Atlanta Chess & Game Center. All players, all levels welcome. Anyone interested please e-mail Michael Bacon: wmichaelbacon@yahoo.com Or call 404-377-4400 If there is enough interest we hope to start a Go meeting on Thursday evenings in September. (7/21)
GO
PLAYERS WANTED: Starting a Go club in the Decatur/Huntsville, AL area.
All players, all levels welcome. Anyone interested please e-mail
Brandon at gomeditate@gmail.com
(7/14)
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
Professionals: Yilun Yang 7P; Alexandr Dinerchtein 3P; Fan Hui 2P
Contributors: Paul Barchilon (Youth Editor); Lawrence Ku (U.S. West
Coast Reporter); Brian Allen (U.S. West Coast Photographer); Keith
Arnold (Go Quiz); Peter Dijkema (Dutch/European Correspondent);
Marilena Bara (Romania/European Correspondent); Ian Davis (Ireland
Correspondent); Jens Henker (Korea Correspondent)
Columnists: James Kerwin 1P; Kazunari Furuyama; Rob van Zeijst; Roy
Laird; Peter Shotwell
Translations: Chris Donner (Japan); Bob McGuigan (Japan); Matt Luce
(China)
Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that commented game record files MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of the E-Journal. Please direct inquiries to journal@usgo.org
Articles appearing in the E-Journal represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the American Go Association.
American Go Association
P.O. Box 397
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-0397