“Five days and 50 miles in, we’ve just come out of England’s Lake District, some of the most breathtakingly gorgeous scenery I’ve ever been through and certainly the toughest I’ve ever walked, hiked and rock-climbed,” reports EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock, who’s walking the 200-mile Coast-to-Coast with his wife Lisa (as reported in the EJ on May 6th) and raising funds for the American Go Foundation (AGF). “We’re enjoying the walk and working hard — still another 150 miles to go! — just like the folks at the AGF, who do so much for American go.” Click here to make a contribution to the AGF. Photo at left by Lisa Garlock: At Hayeswater Tarn, with the Lake District in the background. At right, by Chris Garlock: “Great pub, terrifically creative food, but where’s the go? Hopefully our friends in the BGA will attend to this.”
Welcome to the American Go Association
Garlock Notches First 50 Miles in 200-Mile UK Walk
Friday May 17, 2013
EuroGoTV Interview: Jonas Welticke on Life as an Insei
Thursday May 16, 2013
In a recent interview for EuroGoTV, 17-year-old German player Jonas Welticke 4d shared some insight about his experiences as an insei. Aside from Monday study groups with Ohashi Hirofumi 5d and “playing the other insei kids every weekend,” Wilticke said there is no formal routine, and he mostly studies by himself. His current record after his first week is 10-1.
Though some might imagine feeling out of place as a Caucasian insei, Welticke seems to have had no problem. In fact, there are some that might know him as a familiar face. “They have already published a considerably sized picture of me, though I didn’t know it,” he said. “They used some footage from the European Go Center and made an article about it almost one year ago.” More than the food, habits, and transportation, the biggest difference Welticke has found is how go is treated in Japan. He said there are “easily” 80 players at the Nihon Ki-in every afternoon. “It would be awesome to have as many go players in Europe,” he said. “Also, there are weekly newspapers dedicated to go. They are often sold out, which fascinates me again and again.” Welticke looks forward to having his name listed in the go newspaper toward the end of the month when he is promoted to D class. For the full interview, please visit EuroGoTV. -Annalia Linnan, photo credit EuroGoTV
Family Power: Shikshins Win European Pairgo Championship
Wednesday May 15, 2013
The strongest pairs in Europe competed in Amsterdam, May 11 and 12, for the European Pair Go Championship. The Shikshin siblings – Ilya and Svetlana, both 7d – who swept the Russian Pair Championship this February, were the clear favorites. Another interesting Russian pair featured Natalia Kovaleva 5d, the 2007 European Female Champion, playing with aspiring young player Alexander Vashurov 5d, who has won several European Youth Championships. Kovaleva has won the European Pair Championship five times, with her usual partner Dmitry Surin 6d, who could not come this year. Other strong competitors included Czech pair, Klara Zaloudkova 3d and Jan Hora 6d, and Hungarians Péter Markó 3d and Rita Pocsai 5d.
The tournament pulled in 24 pairs from 10 countries. The Shikshins won all of their games, capturing first place, in second were Zaloudkova and Hora, while third went to Kovaleva and Vashurov. With their win, the Shikshin siblings earned the right to represent Europe in pair go competitions at the next International Sport-Accord Games.
The Pair Go Championship was held in conjunction with the Amsterdam Rapid. The results here were not so predictable, as the tourney introduced handicap games and short time limits (30 minutes). Russia was also on top here, as the two players who made it to the final match were Ilya Shikshin and Natalia Kovaleva, both of whom were undefeated going in. The final match was held with reduced time-control (only 15 minutes) and Kovaleva, who had 2 handicap stones, was the victor. For full results from the Pair Go Championship go here, for the Amsterdam Rapid go here. Eurogotv also has game records from the Pair Go event here. -Daria Koshkina. Photo: Svetlana Shikshina 7d and Ilya Shikshin 7d, at right, playing Natalia Kovaleva 5d and Alexander Vashurov 5d, at left. Copyright Harry van der Krogt 2013, used by permission.
Four American Pros Coming to Congress
Wednesday May 15, 2013
Myungwan Kim 9P, Yilun Yang 7P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, and Jennie Shen 2p have confirmed they will be teaching at the US Go Congress in Tacoma this year. Co-Director Chris Kirschner reports: “Pros from Korea, China, and both Kansai Ki-in and Nihon Ki-in in Japan will attend, but we aren’t sure of the names yet.” Korea also plans to send two additional pros to the Teacher Workshop. See the What’s Happening link on the Congress Website for more details and frequent updates.
New From Hinoki Press: “Theory and Practice” series by Russian Master
Sunday May 12, 2013
In Russia, they take their mind sports seriously. Case in point: the Russian Sports Federation’s (RSF) chess program has produced many of the world’s finest players. Similarly, the RSF’s go program has produced top Western 
professionals through their partnership with the Hankuk Kiwon, producing players such as Alexander Dinerchtein 3P (“breakfast” on KGS) and Svetlana Shikshina 3P, and continues to produce promising up-and-comers such as Ilya Shikshin 7D.
If asked to name their mentors, all would certainly mention Valery Shikshin, an Honored Trainer of the Russian Federation (and as you may gather, father of both Svetlana and Illya). Shikshin has been teaching and coaching Russian go for 25 years, and has developed a set of axioms and principles that he sets forth in this four-volume “Theory and Practice Series,” now available exclusively in the US through GoGameGuru. Volume 1, The Theory and Practice of Tsumego, 
includes more than 300 original life-and-death problems, many from Russian master games. Starting with the basic shapes, Shikshin takes the reader all the way through corner positions, side formations, and on into the intricacies of seki and ko. I found the chapter on seki to be uniquely systematic in its understanding of how these strangely symbiotic shapes arise.
While Volume 1 of “Theory and Practice” is a new approach to an area that has been widely studied, Volume 2 — “The Theory and Practice of Semeai“ — is surely unique in English. Here Shikshin takes the same systematic approach to capturing races, illustrating a few dozen basic principles with numerous problems and game examples. As in Volume 1, the principles are illustrated by hundreds of problems and examples, many from actual games. Two other volumes will complete the series in the next few months – The Theory and Practice of Shapes, and The Theory and Practice of Analysis. These materials helped to produce some great Western go masters – they are surely a worthy entry into the Western go canon.
- Roy Laird
