AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL
World Go News from The American Go Association
April 20, 2009; Volume 10, #16
CHO U TAKES JUDAN FOR FIRST TIME: Cho U 9P defeated Judan title holder Takao Shinji 9P on April 16th to take the Judan title by a score of 3-1. Takao's only win came in the first game of the title match. The Judan was Takao's only current title, although he will be challenging Hane Naoki 9P for the Honinbo title starting in May. Cho now holds five of the top seven Japanese titles, lacking only the Kisei and the Honinbo. Cho held the Honinbo in 2003 and 2004, but he has never won the Kisei.
JIE LI FALLS TO HANE NAOKI IN FUJITSU: Jie Li 7d (l), representing North America in the international Fujitsu Cup, was paired against current Honinbo Hane Naoki 9P of Japan in the first round on April 11 and after a long battle was forced to resign (see attached game file) Li can legitimately claim to be the strongest player in North America these days, but he gets few chances to play against top Asian pros. Hane is definitely one such, having been Japanese Kisei twice, in 2004 and 2005, NHK Cup winner in 2006, and the current Honinbo. We hope to bring you Li'
s comments on the game later; see also KOREANS FAVORED IN FUJITSU below.
- Bill Cobb
HALF-POINTER PUTS OH CHIMIN ON TOP IN PARIS: Oh Chimin 7d (r) from Berlin won in the Paris Go Tournament last weekend, undefeated in one of the strongest weekend tournaments ever held in Europe, with 350 players. French national teacher Fan Hui 8d and Hwang Inseong 8d lost only to Oh, while the French were delighted with Antoine Fenech 5d finishing fourth with only a loss against Fan. Many top-board encounters featured razor-thin margins. Dai Junfu 7d's losses to Hwang and Fan were "both by half a point in mutual time trouble," Dai told the E-Journal. "It feels like swimming a sprint race. You arrive at the same slap. You look at each other and both don't know who won." Not surprisingly, then, the final between unbeaten Hwang and Oh was also decided by a half-point margin. Even top players like Noguchi Motoki 7d and Hong Seulki 7d incurred two losses. Catalin Taranu 5P provided game commentary and EuroGoTv broadcast the three top boards. Click here for results and here for photos. Winner's pic at http://picasaweb.google.
- Peter Dijkema; photo by Judith VanDam
TEEN CHEN YAOYE WINS FIRST TITLE: Teenager Chen Yaoye 9P (l), who gained fame in 2007 when he became the youngest 9P ever at the age of seventeen, has now won a major Chinese event, the Tianyuan (J: Tengen). Chen was promoted under the Chinese system for reaching the finals of two international events, the LG Cup, where he lost to Gu Li 9P 3-2, and the Asian TV Cup, where he lost to Lee Sedol 9P. Chen, who had never won a title other than the Chinese National Go Individual Championship in 2005, won the Tianyuan by sweeping Gu Li 2-0, who's not only considered number one currently in China, but had held this title for the previous six consecutive years.
XI GAO SWEEPS BRITISH OPEN: Xi Gao 5d (r) from China swept all six games to win the British Open during the 42nd British Go Congress in Chester in the first weekend of April, where 61 took part in the main event. Andrew Kay 3d of Cambridge University took second with 5-1. Yohei Negi 1d (St. Andrews), Richard Bentley 4k (Durham) and local hero James Brownrigg 12k won five each. Ryan Peters 3d, the only contender from the USA, went 0-4, while Jan Overgoor 10k (NL), the only other foreigner, went 2-4. Click here for full results.- Peter Dijkema, European correspondent for the E-Journal
ING MASTERS DOUBLE-HEADER IN BALTIMORE & SANTA MONICA: This weekend saw not one but two qualifier tournaments for the 2009 North American Ing Masters (NAIM) championship. On the East Coast, Baltimore's UMBC go club drew nearly 60 players to its tournament which, in a North American first, featured a web live video broadcast on EuroGoTV. Top seeds Jie Li, Eric Lui and Yuan Zhou all beat each other in an unbreakable tie and were declared co-champions. Meanwhile on the West Coast, the Santa Monica go club held its own qualifier, won by Dae Hyuk Ko, with Seung Hyun Hong and Calvin Sun tying for second place and Rui Wang and Andrew Lu tied for fourth. The tournament also featured a novel first: the Southern California Chinese Broadcasting Company provided the playing venue for the event, making it what may be the country's first TV tournament.
- Chris Hayashida & Phil Waldron; photo: Danny Ko watches Yixian Zhou play Rui Wang and Calvin Sun play Andrew Lu; photo by Andy Okun
KUIN WINS 3RD STRAIGHT DUTCH TITLE: Defending champion Merlijn Kuin 6d (r) won the play-off for the Dutch title against Geert Groenen (l) 2-1 on April 18-19 in the European Go Centre in Amsterdam. Kuin had lost to Groenen in the Championships' tourney in January, while the latter had lost to former Dutch champ Frank Janssen 6d. On Saturday, Groenen won the first game after an early blunder by Kuin. But Kuin won both games on Sunday, with Yoon Young-sun 5P commenting on the games for a youth study group. The final game was also watched live by over 300 on KGS and 100 on EuroGoTv. This is the third consecutive Dutch title for Kuin, who will represent The Netherlands at the next World Amateur Go Championship in Japan at the end of May (which will be covered again this year by the E-Journal). Click here for photos.
- Peter Dijkema, photo by Tijmen van Wettum
NORTH AMERICA PREVAILS IN TRANSATLANTIC YOUTH MATCH: Over 800 online spectators turned out Sunday to watch the inaugural TransAtlantic Youth Match, which brought together twenty players from nine different countries for an online friendship tournament between North America and Europe. Notable results included three-time Junior Redmond Cup champion Calvin Sun's victory over European Youth Champion Ali Jabarin in the morning session (see attached game record), in contrast to the afternoon session where French strongman Thomas Debarre dispatched Senior Redmond Cup champion Gansheng Shi. By the end of the series Team North America secured enough games to earn a 6-4 victory and congratulations from EGF organizer Ales Cieply, who expressed optimism for the future: "We hope there will be more interaction between North American and European players." 18 year-old AGA youth organizer - and EJ reporter - Lawrence Ku conceived of the event as a way of making new go friends: "I have always wanted to get to know European players better, but as I was unable to attend the European Go Congress in the past few years. I thought that the best way to meet other young players was through a friendship match online."
- Phil Waldron
BLAKE WINS SALT CITY TOURNAMENT: Nick Blake (aka N2, at left in photo) of Rochester swept the top division of the Salt City Paired Tournament last weekend in Syracuse, NY. Bryan Lim (at right in photo) of Binghamton and Bob Sollish of Syracuse finished close behind in this division with identical 3-1 records. In the single-digit kyu division, Peter Wynn of Syracuse took the top prize, finishing with a 3-1 record, and the double-digit kyu division was swept 4-0 by Richard Reeves of Jordan, NY. Twenty-three players participated in the annual tournament, and for the second year in a row, all participants received prizes, thanks in part to Slate and Shell, which donated some book prizes and provided others at discounted prices. The tournament was co-hosted by the Syracuse Go Club and the Manlius Pebble Hill School Go Club.
TUESDAY DEADLINE FOR ONLINE NAIM QUALIFIER: The clock is ticking for registration in the first of two online qualifiers for the NAIM. "This is particularly important for players in the central US," reports TD Philip Waldron, "since the region has no face-to-face events this year." Registration closes at midnight on Tuesday April 21; see the tournament webpage for full details.
U.S. SLOTS OPEN FOR OROMEDIA CUP: There are still slots of go players who'd like to represent the U.S, at the 2nd Oromedia Cup, scheduled for May 1-4 in Hong Kong, reports American Go Association President Allan Abramson. Anyone interested can contact him at president@usgo.org
4TH ARGENTINEAN GO CONGRESS COMING UP: The fourth annual Argentinean Go Congress will be held May 1-3 in Buenos Aires. Organizers have been preparing for months, including weekly workshops for children - sometimes up to a hundred at a time -- at the Japanese Garden in Buenos Aires. This year's Congress included a literary call for original work involving go that drew a "a much higher number of works than expected," reports Lucas Galfaso. Fernando Aguilar 7d will present his new go book, the first intermediate level go book written in Spanish, in a ceremony sponsored by the Japanese Embassy in Argentina and held at the International 35th Book Fair in Buenos Aires.
ZHAO AND SONG TOP NJ USYGC: Zhongxia (Ricky) Zhao 7d, and Forest Song 2d took first place in their divisions at the United States Youth Go Championship (USYGC) in New Jersey. Both boys had perfect records, despite a strong playing field of high dan kids. The qualifier was held at the Feng Yun Go School, in Piscataway, NJ, on April 11, and drew 27 kids. "The tournament was great, although four rounds in one day was a bit tiring" Zhao told the E-Journal. "Feng Yun kindly took the time to review my last game with Michael Huang, so I had an opportunity to learn as well," he adds. A novice tournament with 16 players was held after the junior division tournament concluded in mid-afternoon. Paul Matthews was the tournament director for both events. Click here for more details and photos. Winners report: Senior Division: 1st: Zhongxia Zhao 7d; 2nd: Yang Xu 5d; 3rd : Michael Huang 5d; Honorable Mention: Kevin Shang, Chen Kaishuo, Kelley Zhao, Victor Kang; Junior Division: 1st: Forest Song 2d; 2nd: Xiao Huang 2k, 3rd: Eric Wu 5k; Honorable Mention: Harrison Chiu, Justin Ching; Novice Tournament: Charles Cheng 22k and Felix Ke 23k both won all of their games.
- Paul Barchilon; photo: top boards in the Senior Division at the Feng Yun Go School. Foreground: Michael Huang (l) versus Zhao Zhongxia (r); background: Xu Yang Xu (l) versus Jasmine Yan (r); photo by Paul Matthews
WANG AND XIONG QUALIFY IN BOSTON YOUTH TOURNEY: Andrew Wang 1k and Kevin Xiong 12k won the April 11 U.S. Youth Go Championship qualifier in Boston, MA. The tournament was also the third annual Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association's youth tournament, which drew kids from Maine and Vermont in addition to local youth, and was covered in the World Journal, the most popular Chinese newspaper in the U.S. In the Senior Division Wang was neck-and-neck with Tom Bahun 1k throughout the tournament, both undefeated until they faced each other in the final round. In the Junior Division Xiong was undefeated. Although only seven years old, he has been a student at the GBCCA Go club for the past three years. Photos from the event are posted online. Winners report: Senior Division: 1st: Andrew Wang 1k; 2nd: Tom Bahun 1k; 3rd: Natalie Sharpe; Junior Division: 1st: Kevin Xiong 12k; 2nd: Zachary Lu; 3rd: Edward Yun.
- Paul Barchilon, Youth Editor; photo: Boston USYGC final between Tom Bahun (l) and Andrew Wang (r); photo by Ke Lu
TRAN WINS HOUSTON USYGC: 16-year-old Minh Tran beat his 14-year-old brother, Van Tran in a 2-out-of-3 contest, taking first place in the Senior section. The qualifier was held April 4 in Houston, TX. "The Tran brothers seem very dedicated to the game," noted Tournament Director Robert Cordingley; "Since they haven't been playing long they have yet to get in some rated games, but we think they're probably around 15k." There were no contestants young enough to play in the Junior bracket.
KOREANS FAVORED IN FUJITSU: With five players left, the odds favor the Koreans in the 22nd Fujitsu. Meanwhile, Japanese players, who have had a hard time in international tournaments recently, are doing better in the Fujitsu. With the first two rounds completed, there are two Japanese players still alive: Yamashita Keigo 9P and Kono Rin 9P. Kono defeated China's number one Gu Li 9P in the second round. There are also two Chinese players in the third round: Piao Wenyao 5P and Chang Hao 9P. The Korean players remaining include Park Yeonghun 9P, Lee Changho 9P, Lee Sedol 9P, and Kang Dongyun 9P, a formidable group. Although Gu Li (r) won the Fujitsu last year for the Chinese, Korean players had won it the previous ten straight years. The last Japanese winner was Kobayashi Koichi 9P in 1997. Lee Sedol has won this title three times and Lee Changho and Park Yeonghun have taken it twice. The tournament will resume in June.
BOGDANOV WINS SWISS OPEN: Viktor Bogdanov (l) 5d from Petrozavodsk in Russia won the 33rd Swiss Open in Luzern during Easter weekend 6-1. Sebastien Ott 1k and Sebastien Koch 2d shared second with 5-2, but Ott took the title of Swiss Champion, because he had won their mutual encounter in the first round. Both are from Geneva. While none of the 40 players won all seven games, several Swiss scored 6-1. Click here for results and here for a gallery of photos.
- Peter Dijkema, based on a report on dgob.de
CELEJEWSKI LEADS QUALIFIERS FOR POLISH LEAGUE OF YOUNG MASTERS: Eighteen top Polish youth players took part in the early-April elimination for the League of Young Masters in Lodz, Poland. Pawel Celejewski 4d qualified with an undefeated record, while Stanislaw Frejlak 2d and Karol Cieslak finished 4-1. Mariusz Pabich 2d and Sebastan Pawlaczyk 1d also qualified. Cieslak caused some amazement, entering at 5k, but defeating two dan-level players. In the 'San-san' side event 32 players competed, with Vit Brunner 4d (Czechia) taking first place ahead of Leszek Soldan 5d. Click here for full results and some game records.
- Peter Dijkema
KOSZEGI AND KIM PROPOSE U.S. TOUR: Two English-speaking Korean professionals are available for a US tour later this year. Diana Koszegi 1P (l), one of only three Western women to achieve pro status, is a well-known player in the West with her own page on Wikipedia. Seung-jun Kim 9P (r), who recently returned from a teaching tour in Europe, especially enjoys working with international students. Both Ms. Koszegi and Mr. Kim speak excellent English, and they love to play soccer, tennis and other sports as well. Click here to help them plan this tour by answering a few questions. Seung-jun Kim photo by Boris Bernadsky; Seung-jun Kim photo from Wikipedia
GO QUIZ: Deep In The Heart Of Texas
Last week we asked which of the following states - Texas, Massachusetts, Colorado or Oregon -- has yet to hold its second Go Congress. While two dozen of you realized the Houston Congress was the only Go Congress in Texas so far, three each did not remember back far enough to recall the two Congresses in Massachusetts and Colorado, and only one chose Oregon. Four of you answered twice just to confuse me. Congrats to Bob Felice, this week's winner, chosen at random from thos e answering correctly.
THIS WEEK'S QUIZ: Jim Hlavka, tired of my Congress registration drive, asks "How about some arcane questions about go, instead of about Congresses?" Sorry, Jim, you'll have to wait one more week. Today's poll question wants to know " Where would you like to see a U.S. Go Congress held, and why?" Serious responses (and volunteers) are appreciated, and humorous ones will be evaluated on their merits. Click here to vote!
- Keith Arnold
GO CALENDAR: KGS, Oakland, Ames, Charlottesville & Tacoma
April 25-26: KGS Go Server: Ing Masters Online Qualifier #1
Philip Waldron tournaments@usgo.org
April 25: Oakland, CA: Bay Area Go Players Association Monthly AGA Ratings Tournament
Roger Schrag 510.501.2701 rsgo20090425@bayareago.org
April 25: Ames, IA: All-Iowa Tournament
Ramon Mercado 787.410.1977 cyclonego@iastate.edu
Tyson Willimas cyclonego@iastate.edu
April 25: Charlottesville, VA: UVA Spring Go Tournament
playgouva@gmail.com 757.329.5054
April 25: Tacoma, WA: Monthly Rating Tournament
Gordon Castanza 253.853.4831 gcastanza@comcast.net
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: Morris/Passaic County, NJ; New player seeking experienced players to get together weekly to learn and play Go. Contact Thomas Ott @ Ott.Tom@gmail.com (4/13)
HELP WANTED: I'm seeking interested people to assist me in developing a computerized go board. Must have an in-depth electronics and/or computer hardware (architecture) and programming experience. Can also be an advanced student, or this could be a possible development project for a college class.
Contact Kent Secor at kentsecor@yahoo.com (4/6)
PLAYERS WANTED: West Valley, UT: New club starting at Salt Lake County library; email Quinton Paul Ward at neoaptt@hotmail.com for details. (4/6)
STUDENTS WANTED: Guo Juan's Internet Go School is currently accepting enrollment for group classes for the term beginning April 18th. Our students and teachers want to meet you! Our very experienced teaching faculty includes Guo Juan 5P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P and Jennie Shen 2P. (4/6)
PLAYERS WANTED: El Segundo, CA: Hoping to start an after work or lunch-time go club in the El Segundo Imperial Avenue area for employees of Boeing, Raytheon, DirecTV, etc. email ElSegundo.Go@gmail.com (3/30)
GO BOOKS FOR SALE: Steve Fawthrop is selling all his go books and magazines. This includes all books published in English from the late '60s to mid '00s (well over 200 titles), a complete set of Go World, and hundreds of other magazines and Japanese books. Log onto GoDiscussions and look for his posts under user "Dr Straw's Book Sale". Those which don't sell on GoDiscussions will later be offered on EBay. UPDATE: Most OOP books have been sold. Many which are still in print are being offered for 75% of publishers prices. (4/13)
PLAYERS WANTED: Paris, France; The House Of Go: "Playing the game of go in calm, friendly atmosphere, over a cup of green tea in the heart of Paris." open every day. Contact: Xie Wei Dong 5me Dan xie@noos.fr or nyxxo@free.fr (3/30)
ASSISTANT GO CAMP COORDINATOR WANTED: The AGA Go Camp East is looking for an Assistant Coordinator for the summer of 2009. There is a small stipend for this position. For full details, contact David Dinhofer at: agagocampeast@usgo.org (3/30)
PLAYERS WANTED: Meadville, PA and nearby areas, contact Matt at mlitke431@hotmail.com (3/23)
ASSISTANT GO CAMP DIRECTOR WANTED: The AGA Go Camp East is looking for an Assistant Director for the summer of 2009. There is a small stipend for this position. For more information, contact Karen Jordan at: agagocampeast@usgo.org (3/30)
HELP FOR CLUB ORGANIZERS: Get instant on-line registration for your next tournament, any location, any time zone. Capture attendee lists, see registration trends, export/import to popular pairings programs, analyze profit and loss reports, award customized prize certificates and much more. See GoClubsOnline at http://www.goclubs.org/. Simple setup. Secure website. (3/16)
WANTED: Online go experts for posting go servers news on
GoSensations.com. Contact: Alexander Dinerchtein, backpast@gmail.com
for discussing details and your benefit (3/16)
STUDENTS WANTED: Yuan Zhou 7d is currently accepting new students. He
offers private lessons, group lessons in person or on the internet. If you are interested in becoming Yuan Zhou's student and/or taking lessons from him - especially if your rank is 9k and above - and if you are a serious go player who wants to learn, improve and enjoy go, contact him at yuan.zhou@zhouyuan.com (3/16)
YOUNG PLAYERS WANTED: San Diego, CA: Hoping to start a go club in San Diego for young people. We would need a teacher and students! inlandisle@gmail.com (3/9)
PLAYERS WANTED: China: Beijing Go Club; info at http://www.beijinggoclub.com (3/2)
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
Website Editor: Gurujeet Khalsa
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: Bob McGuigan (Japan)
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.
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