AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association April 21, 2003 In This Edition: CALENDAR OF EVENTS YOUR MOVE: East Or West, Still The Nihon Kiin; Spring Journal Blooming U.S. GO NEWS: Lee Loses To Lee; Bradley Teaches Teachers ; Let Me Count The Ways CHAPTER NEWS: New England Go WORLD GO NEWS: Black Still Better With New Komi; Jujo Wins KBS Round 2; Judan Tied At 2-All; Izumi Notches Sixth Straight Win GAME COMMENTARY: New Pro Game! THE EMPTY BOARD: Playing in a Noisy Room GO REVIEW: The ABCs of Attack and Defense GO CLASSIFIED AGA CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS April 26: Houston, TX 2003 Houston Spring Tournament University of Houston George Wang 713-780-8282 imshy@wt.net April 26: Osoyoos, B.C., CANADA Osoyoos Peach Blossom Go Tournament 2003 Richard Hoen 250-495-5235 charkysan@netscape.net May 3rd: Denver, CO The Rocky Mountain Open Eric Kim, 303 671-8533; J.H. Lee, 303 766-4977 Eric Wainwright, 303 626-0103 ewainwright@decisioneering.com May 3: Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis Spring Tournament Robert O'Malley 541-738-1690 omalley@coas.oregonstate.edu May 3-4: Los Angeles, CA 2003 Cotsen Open and Handicap Tournaments 310-473-5873 GoTournament@thelec.com May 10: Arlington, VA May Madness Self Paired Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net May 10: Dearborn, MI Spring Go tournament Danny Walters dtwalter@umd.umich.edu May 10-11: Rochester, NY Empty Sky Spring Tournament Gregory L Lefler 585-442-1428 glacticjoke@hotmail.com May 24-25: Baltimore, MD 30th MARYLAND OPEN Keith L. Arnold 410-788-3520 hlime@earthlink.net NOTE: this listing is not all-inclusive, featuring only upcoming tournaments in the next month or events which require early registration. For a complete U.S. listings, go to http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.html For the European Go Calendar see http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/go/tourn.html YOUR MOVE: Readers Write EAST OR WEST, STILL THE NIHON KIIN: "Catalin Taranu is not a member of Kansai Kiin, as incorrectly is stated in last week's E-journal," writes reader Sorin Gherman, an AGA 7dan, "but of the Nihon Kiin. He belongs to the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Kiin, which may be also called "Kansai branch" because it's in the Kansai (West) area of Japan." SPRING JOURNAL BLOOMING: "We, living in the fringe of GO, were wondering when the next Journal will arrive to cheer us up?" writes Ulo Tamm from the Rockies. Not to worry, the Spring Journal goes to press this week and should be in the mail next week! U.S. GO NEWS LEE LOSES TO LEE: John J-S Lee, the North American representative to the 16th Fujitsu Cup, lost to Yi Changho (Lee Changho) 9 dan in the second round last week. Yi won with White by resignation. You can download or play through the game at http://ad.fujitsu.com/igo/16/applet/23.html In addition to the North American player, all the Chinese players were eliminated in the second round, so the contest will continue with players from Japan and Korea only. The Japanese are O Rissei 9p, Kobayashi Satoru 9p, Yoda Norimoto 9p and Takao Shinji 8p. The Koreans are Lee Sedol 6p, Song Taekon 4p, Yoo Changhyuk 9p and Lee Changho 9p. Ironically, the next round will be played in Beijing in June. BRADLEY TEACHES TEACHERS: Veteran go player and teacher Milton Bradley is teaching a new graduate-level course using go to help teachers learn problem-solving skills. The course, "Reasoning And Problem Solving" runs this summer and fall at Five Towns College in Huntington, N.Y. Milton's approach is outlined in the "Teaching The New 'R' Of Reasoning" section of his web page at http://newyork/villageworld.com/users/bradleym LET ME COUNT THE WAYS: Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races, by Richard Hunter, is now available from Slate & Shell at http://www.slateandshell.com . The third in Hunter's series of studies of particular tactics, this book shows you how to determine the status of even complicated capturing races involving kos quickly and accurately. CHAPTER NEWS: New England Go NEW CLUB IN MILFORD, NH: "A couple months ago we ran an item in the E-Journal asking if anyone was interested in a go club," writes David Rysdam in New Hampshire. "Our club has formed and anyone in the Nashua/Milford, NH area is welcome to join the Milford Go Club. They meet on Sundays at 7:30 at Barnes & Noble on Daniel Webster Highway." Contact david.rysdam@verizon.net for more information. WESTERN MASS RISES FROM THE ASHES: "The Western Massachusetts Go Club is back on its feet again," reports Andreu Cabre. "After organizing a couple of Go Congresses in the past, the club has seen its ups and downs. Six years ago, we lost our permanent meeting place and go activity was at a very minimal level for the following six years." Now, Andre reports, "Thank the go gods, things have changed. We have been able to find a permanent meeting place in Amherst." Attendance is now up to 20 each week and the club just decided to set up a second go night in Northampton on Thursday nights. The club has also decided to become an official AGA chapter again, "so that we may, for instance, organize AGA rated tournaments in the future, or sign up new AGA members." "So," Andre concludes, "to all those who despair, let them know that there is hope after all. The 'back to life from the ashes' go club is alive again." Info at http//www.cookwood.com/personal/go/ WORLD GO NEWS BLACK STILL BETTER WITH NEW KOMI: Go Weekly reports that the first study of the impact of changing the komi from 5.5 to 6.5 has been completed. Under the 5.5 rule, among pros, Black won 51.85% (51.6% in title matches). With 6.5, which started in November 2002, out of 688 games, Black has won 51.6%. Although this number of games is too small to be statistically significant, it looks like Black may still maintain an advantage under the new komi. -from John Power's column on the Nihon Kiin home page at http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/index-e.htm JUJO WINS KBS ROUND 2: Jiang Zhijiu (Jujo) 9 dan has won his game in the second round of the 22nd KBS Cup in Korea. He defeated Kim Mansu 4 dan with Black by resignation. Jujo's opponent in the 3rd round will be An Dalhun 5 dan. You can download the game at http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/kr/kbs/kbs.html JUDAN TIED AT 2-ALL: The challenger in the Judan title match in Japan, Takao Shinji 8 dan, has won the fourth round against O Rissei 9 dan, tying up the match at two games each. O recently lost his Kisei title and now is struggling to hold onto the Judan title. Takao is 26 and playing in his first major title match. He and Yamashita Keigo, who won the Kisei at 24, are seen as two of the best of the younger pros in Japan. IZUMI NOTCHES SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN: In the 26th Judan preliminary rounds, Kobayashi Izumi 5 dan, daughter of the well-known Kobayashi Koichi 9 dan, has defeated Cho Sonjin 9 dan for her sixth victory in a row in this contest. Izumi currently holds both the Female Honinbo and the Female Meijin titles. GAME COMMENTARY: New Pro Game! Today's game commentary is hot from the professional arena, with Lee Changho 9P taking on Lee Sedol 3P in the 7th LG Cup in a game played just a couple of weeks ago. The illuminating commentary is by Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P, by permission, from his subscription service for commented games at http//www.go4go.net "Normally, thickness or outside influence is acquired at the cost of letting your opponent get solid territory, so it is important to know how to use it effectively." Today's bonus file explores "How to Use Thickness" in a problem from Go Review X, 2 (February 1970), with additional comments by William Cobb. To view the attached file(s), simply save to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen's http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html THE EMPTY BOARD: Playing in a Noisy Room by William Cobb Zen sitting meditation is a way of being in the present moment. Because it's usually done in a quiet, serene place, people often think of "being in the present moment" as something you can only do in peaceful surroundings with small natural sounds, like a bubbling stream. This is a mistake. Sitting meditation allows you to practice being in the world in a way which you then hope to employ in less tranquil situations. As you master the skill, you are able to achieve a clear and inclusive awareness of what is happening around you that appreciates what is there for what it is and follows the path of your own choosing through it. For the Zen master there are no "distractions" because everything is accepted as part of the present moment. People meditate in a quiet place because it's easier, not because it's a requirement for the activity. Many times playing go is like sitting meditation, but what about when your opponent rattles the stones in his bowl or the players next to you start discussing their game? Most of us find this very distracting and can't hold our focus on the game when it happens. Why are these things so distracting? They are just noises, a normal part of the world around us. The noise of a stone hitting the board isn't a distraction, so why do we let those things take over our minds? If we pay attention to the art of focusing on the game when the room is quiet, we may learn how to maintain that focus when other things are happening. Being in the moment doesn't require eliminating things from the world, it requires accepting what is there without losing control of your focus. Noises are able to grab our attention because we haven't learned well enough how to control our minds. Just let those noises slide by and stay with the game. Expect this to take a little practice. GO REVIEW: The ABCs of Attack and Defense By Michael Redmond 9P Published by Slate and Shell Translated by Steven Bretherick, Edited by William Cobb and Gordon Fraser Reviewed by Michael Turk (Australian 10k) This book features an all-too-rare combination, an author who not only a strong player but a good teacher, too. Based on four principles - two of attack and two of defense, "ABCs" is designed for weaker middle-level kyu players. Chapter 1 illustrates four basic principles of attack and defense in relation to the sanrensei (three star points in a row) formation. Chapter 2 applies these principles to handling the two-sided two-space-high and the two-space-high and knight's move double approaches. The basic principles are clearly reinforced and some supplementary principles are also expounded. Chapter 3 demonstrates the movement of the stones in accordance with the four basic principles when black uses a pincer within 4-stone handicap games, again reinforcing the basic principles. It also briefly looks at building a moyo. The final chapter looks at 3-stone handicap games and illustrates the use of miai. And, again, the basic principles are reinforced with examples of fighting. One of the skills that I lack at my level is the ability to fight effectively or consistently, particularly against stronger players in a handicap game. This book is a sort of fighting primer. It contains examples from illustrative games and various joseki and tesuji for attack and defense. The emphasis is on understanding rather than memorization. I am looking forward to surprising my regular opponents in the Sydney Go Club and on kgs with an improved ability to fight in the next few months as the result of applying the principles contained within this book. GO CLASSIFIED WANTED: The Springs Go Club is looking for Go players in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area. All strengths welcome. (Currently we have players from about 20k to 3 dan.) Contact Jim Michali (jmichali@adelphia.net) or Tom Obenchain (tobenchain@pcisys.net). WANTED: Giant go set, like the one in Milan, Italy, as seen in "Go Promotion in Piazza Duomo" - Milano, 7th May 2000: http://www.goclubmilano.org/foto/duomo2000/inglese.html aninno@cnyric.org WANTED: Players in central Kentucky: Frankfort near Lexington and Louisville. wlmacintire@msn.com WANTED: "I have suddenly come across go and would love to get started," writes Harold. "I'm hoping someone out there would love a student now residing in Port St Lucie, FL; the brain needs a work out." harrlin @juno.com or call 772-466-1212. (posted 4/7) WANTED: "A friend and I are starting a new club in St. Louis City (there's already a good one in the suburbs but we're trying to get one closer to home)," writes Chris Cyr. "While we've got plenty of interest from beginners, we'd like to reach some experienced players too." chris@chriscyr.com (posted 4/7) WANTED: players in the Toledo (Ohio) area. 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Send your tournament data to MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org AGA CONTACT LIST: President: Chris Kirschner: president@usgo.org Secretary Susan Weir: Secretary@usgo.org Treasurer Ben Bernstein: Treasurer@usgo.org VP - Communications: Chris Garlock Journal@usgo.org Archivist Craig Hutchinson: Archives@usgo.org Chapter Management: Paul Celmer chapterservices@usgo.org Nicole Casanta: Chapters@usgo.org Community Outreach: John Goon Outreach@usgo.org Congress Liaison: Judy Debel Congress@usgo.org Education Coordinator: Lee Anne Bowie Education@usgo.org Equipment Distribution: Paul Celmer Equipment@usgo.org HR & Recruitment: Terry Assael Hr@usgo.org Membership Services: Tom Hodges, Joel Gabelman membership@usgo.org Policy & Governance: Keith Arnold Governance@usgo.org General Counsel: Michael T. Brockbank legal@usgo.org Professional Players' Representative: Zhu-jiu (Jujo) Jiang Professionals@usgo.org Ranking Issues: Jeff Shaevel Rank@usgo.org Ratings Coordinator: Paul Matthews Ratings@usgo.org Tournament Coordinator: Chuck Robbins Tournaments@usgo.org Tournament Regulations: Duane Burns Regulations@usgo.org Webmaster: Roy Laird: webmaster@usgo.org Youth Coordinator: Noné Redmond youth@usgo.org American Go Foundation: Terry Benson terrybenson@nyc.rr.com Database Manager: Sam Zimmerman database@usgo.org AGA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dave Weimer (Chair): weimer@lafollette.wisc.edu Chen-dao Lin: cdlin5@yahoo.com John Stephenson: Jcs@wingsgoclub.org David Dinhofer: David.dinhofer@alum.mit.edu Harold Lloyd: Hlloyd@core.com Bob O'Malley: omalley@coas.oregonstate.edu Jon Boley: Jon@airsltd.com Published by the American Go Association Text material published in " AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL" may be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that attached files, including game records, MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of the Journal. To make name or address corrections - notify us at the email address below. Story suggestions, event announcements, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome - subject to editing for clarity and space -- and should be directed to: Editor: Chris Garlock email: journal@usgo.org Voice: 202-857-3410 Fax: 202-857-3420