AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association September 15, 2003 In This Edition: U.S. GO NEWS: Zhao Tops Chicago; AGA Website Features Photo Of The Week WORLD GO NEWS: Redmond Tops Umeki In Tengen Prelim; Naiwei To Play In Kuksu Title Match; Yoda Wins First Round Of Meijin Best-Of-7; Bajenaru Wins Euro Toyota-Pandanet; Pomstra First in Leksand Open; China Continues Winning Streak in Cyber 5x5; 2004 Irish Congress Set; Asian Go News In Brief GAME COMMENTARY: Yang Bonanza MOMENTS IN GO HISTORY: Horowitz Plays Oba YOUR MOVE: Readers Write THE TRAVELING GO BOARD: An American 7k in China GO CLASSIFIED CALENDAR OF EVENTS U.S. GO NEWS ZHAO TOPS CHICAGO: Zhongxin Zhao 4d took top honors in the September 6 Chicago Fall Tournament, reports TD Bob Barber. With forty seven players participating, the complete results are: 1st Place Dan: ZHAO, Zhongxin, 4d, 4-0 $60; 2nd Place Dan: GHERMAN, Sorin, 7d, 4-1 $30; 1st Place High Kyu: BROWN, Richard, 3k, 4-0 $60; 2nd Place High Kyu: ZHOU, William, 2k, 5-1 $30; TIE 3rd Place High Kyu: WALL, Philip, 5k, 4-1 $30; TIE 3rd Place High Kyu: LACZ, Patrick, 7k, 4-1 $30; TIE 1st Place Mid Kyu: XIE, Ben, 16k, 5-0 $60; TIE 1st Place Mid Kyu: ZHAN, Shawn, 17k, 4-0 $60; TIE 1st Place Low Kyu: HU, Shengxiong, 21k, 4-0 $60; TIE 1st Place Low Kyu: WANG, Ryan, 24k, 4-0 $60. AGA WEBSITE FEATURES PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Starting this week the AGA homepage will feature a brand-new go photo every week at http://www.usgo.org This week check out 3-D Go at the 2003 U.S. Go Congress, plus more Congress photos on the AGA's new photo page at http://www.usgo.org/photos/ We welcome digital photos of go events for posting. Submissions must include photographer's name, date and location of event, type of event (tournament, public demonstration, etc.), and names of the people in the photos. You may also write a short description of the event. While all photos will be considered, final determination for posting will be made by the Journal Photo editorial staff. WORLD GO NEWS REDMOND TOPS UMEKI IN TENGEN PRELIM: Michael Redmond (playing Black) beat Umeki Suguru 8-dan by resignation in the Preliminary A round of the Tengen tournament. This is reported by John Power on the Nihon Kiin's home page (http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/index-e.htm). Unfortunately, we have no further details. NAIWEI TO PLAY IN KUKSU TITLE MATCH: Rui Naiwei 9p, perhaps the strongest woman go player in the world, played White to defeat Cho Hye-yeon 4p to advance to the 9th Women's Kuksu (National Champion) title match. The best-of-3 championship match will be played between Naiwei and the winner of a game between Hong Khon-no-eul and Kim Sesil scheduled for September 22nd. Naiwei, sometimes known as the "Iron Lady" by her Korean fans, has been the Kuksu champion since 1999, and is known to American players because of her work to establish a professional go organization and her participation in the North American Masters tournament, in which she was twice the challenger to her husband Jiang Zhujiu (Jujo) 9p, the title holder. Naiwei now lives in South Korea and is a member of the South Korean Go Association. - reported by Dennis Hardman. YODA WINS FIRST ROUND OF MEIJIN BEST-OF-7: Current Meijin title holder Yoda Norimoto 9p opened the 28th Meijin best-of-7 series with a win against challenger Yamashita Keigo 9p on September 11th. Playing Black, Yoda won the game by 7.5 points after 249 moves. If Yoda wins this series, it will be his 4th consecutive Meijin title. The next game will be played on September 24th. Game records can be found at www.go4go.net. - reported by Dennis Hardman. BAJENARU WINS EURO TOYOTA-PANDANET: Dragos Bajenaru 6d of Romania won the Toyota-Pandanet Tournament with a 6-0 record. Held September 5-7 in Brno, Czech Republic, there were 159 participants. Dmitrij Bogackij 6d took second place, Vladimir Danek 6d of the Czech Republic was third, Cristian Pop 6d of Romania fourth, Lucian Deaconu 5d of Romania and Jan Hora 5d of Czech Republic tied for fifth. In seventh place was Csaba Mero 6d of Hungary, eighth was a tie between Guo Juan 7d of the Netherlands and Cornel Burzo 6d of Romania. Tied for tenth were Radek Nechanicky 6d of the Czech Republic and Tibor Pocsai 6d of Hungary. The full results can be seen at http://panda-igs.joyjoy.net/English/toyota/toyota_cz.html POMSTRA FIRST IN LEKSAND OPEN: There were 106 participants in the Leksand Open in Sweden. Willemkoen Pomstra 5d of the Netherlands took first place with a perfect record of 5/5. Second and third were Stefan Budig 4 dan and Thomas Jipp 4 dan, both of Germany, with 4 wins. Fourth through eighth were Ralf Funke 3 dan of Germany, Harald Kroll 3 dan of Germany, Erik Kaper 4 dan of the Netherlands, Ulf Olsson 4 dan of Sweden, and Mikhail Nesterenko 4 dan of Russia. Pal Sannes 4 dan of Norway was ninth, and Ralf Hendel 3 dan of Germany tenth. CHINA CONTINUES WINNING STREAK IN CYBER 5X5: In what is becoming a clean sweep, China's Wang Lei 8p defeated Japan's Kobayashi Koichi 9p by resignation in game 4 of the China-Japan Cyber 5x5 Team Match played entirely on the Internet (IGS). The 240 move game gives China a 4-0 lead in the 5-game "good will" match that was established originally to help make up for the blank in international go activity caused by the SARS epidemic. Game records can be found at www.go4go.net and the fifth game (which has not been scheduled) will be carried live at www.nihonkiin.or.jp/pub/web_goweekly/nicchu/index-e.htm. - reported by Dennis Hardman. 2004 IRISH CONGRESS SET: The 2004 Irish Go Congress will be held in Dublin on March 5th through the 7th of 2004. Details can be found at http://ireland.european-go.org/ ASIAN GO NEWS IN BRIEF compiled from www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/news.html International: Nongshim - Chinese and Korean teams determined. Japan: Honinbo League - Cho Chikun eliminated by Mimura Tomoyasu. Japan: Agon Cup - Kato Masao and Cho U to play in final. Japan: Women's Strongest - 2nd round finished. Quarterfinals started. Japan: NEC Cup - Best 8 were decided. 2nd round on October 11. Japan: JAL HayaGo - Hane, Cho U, Kobayashi, and Yuhki go to semi-finals. Korea: Myeongin - Current standings include Cho Hunhyun 5-1, Lee (Yi) Sedol 4-1, Mok Jinseok 4-2 - reported by Dennis Hardman. GAME COMMENTARY: Yang Bonanza Chen Zude 9P is one of the best known Chinese professional go players. He was the first player in modern times to have a good result against Japanese pros, and has been a major figure on the Chinese go scene for many years. Today's game commentary is a demonstration game Chen played with Yilun Yang 7P at the Costen Open in Los Angeles, CA, on May 4, 2003. Yilun Yang provides the detailed commentary. BONUS FILES: The solutions to last week's Life and Death problems by Yilun Yang. To view the attached file(s), simply save the file to your computer and then open it 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 Moments in Go History: Horowitz Plays Oba Few people know that a key role in the development of go in the West was played by Stu Horowitz, co-director of the 2000 US Go Congress in Denver and an active AGA member. As the Nihon Kiin sought to support a growing Western go community in 1971, they realized that the Japanese pros who wanted to teach Westerners needed to learn English. Stu happened to be in Japan at the time studying go and was hired by the Nihon Kiin to teach a group of pros enough English so they could effectively teach the game in the West. His students included such players as Cho Chikun and Takemiya Masaki. The pros were apt students, Stu was a good teacher, and the rest, as they say, is history. - Bill Cobb YOUR MOVE: Readers Write DESPERATELY SEEKING LOCAL PLAYERS: "I'm a beginning go player who is trying to find other players," writes Paul Weissburg. "I have a few people that I play with, but they're all even less experienced than I am. If you have any info about players and games in the DC area, I would very much appreciate your sending it my way." CONTACT INFO for go clubs across the U.S. is available at http://www.usgo.org/usa/chapclub.asp HUNTING GO RESOURCES: "The Erie Go Club in Erie, PA meets every Thursday," writes Chuck Chromik. "Our club is very small and often we have people who ask about the game. We try to give general information, including downloaded printouts of the rules of go, but we're wondering if there are other publications that we could provide to prospective new players." CHECK OUT over 200 books and publications at http://www.usgo.org/resources/books.asp OTHER RESOURCES can be found at http://www.usgo.org/resources/index.asp THE TRAVELING GO BOARD: An American 7k in China By David Doshay I recently spent a week in China, where I was able to play in clubs and tea houses in Beijing and Shanghai. The locals were quite interested in the American trying to play Wei Qi and kibitzed throughout my games. Though I don't understand Mandarin or the local dialect, Shanghainese, I was able to glean much from the tone of voice. I don't think I played particularly well, but every now and then I was able to make a redeeming move that earned a grin or a nod. However, the observers were also plenty willing to point out better plays with loud interjections and jabs at the board. The difference in strength between myself and the average Chinese go enthusiast was a bit flustering. I tried to explain that I am about a 7-kyu, but in Beijing they may have thought that I meant 7-dan because they gave me white against a 5-dan. However, in Shanghai, an acquaintance explained that I was given White because as a visitor it would have been an insult to give me Black or a handicap. At the Shanghai Go Club, I played the man who had brought me there and then one of the most vocal and animated critics of my play asked if I would play a student from the school. I agreed and a small 8-year-old girl was carried in like a sack of rice and plopped down in the chair opposite me. She got Black, and although we did not have enough time to finish the game, I was able to avoid falling too far behind by the time I had to leave. I thought that she was stronger than me, but I was told that the folks watching thought that we were about equal. I asked how many full games a week she played and was told through the interpreter that she plays between 10 and 20 games a week and that she had been attending the school for about a year. Though it was sometimes a frustrating experience to play in a place where I could not really communicate with anyone, I still managed to learn quite a bit. But then, on a go board, I guess the moves speak for themselves. - edited by Su Mon Han GO CLASSIFIED WANTED: Reviewers for the following books: "How to Play Handicap Go" (by Yuan Zhou); "Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races" (by Richard Hunter); "The Nihon Ki-in Handbook of Handicap Go"; "501 Openign Problems" (Bozulich & van Ziejst); "A Scientific Introduction to Go" (Yang Yu-Chia); "Galactic Go, Vol 2" (Sangit Chatterjee & Yang Huiren). FREE COPIES in exchange for a 50-word review; email journal@usgo,org WANTED: Moving to the Spokane, Washington area for college, and want to get in touch with go players, especially any with connections to Whitworth College Sean R; weyounsix@hotmail.com WANTED: Anecdotes about how a particular strategy, go problem or set of moves may have surfaced in your life away from the go board. Recently, when discussing a particular go strategy or problem with a friend in the middle of a difficult life problem, I was surprised how easily I could relate the go problem as an analysis or analog of my friend's problem. Please email any anecdotes to ddinhofer@msn.com WANTED: Interested Go players from the Guam area to form Guam's first local go club for fun, teaching and tournaments. Please contact Ed at: edp96912@yahoo.com WANTED: Beginning players in Santa Clara, California. Tired of playing only on the computer, I'd like to meet up with an actual human sometime for evening/weekend games. Lenny: briandamage@att.net WANTED: Moving to Callao, Virginia soon and would like to get in touch with go players on the Northern Neck. Contact Bob at shinebob@verizon.net AVAILABLE: Lessons from an IGS 5d. 30k-1d welcome; visit http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/icarii First lesson free. WANTED: Players in Kodiak, Alaska. Contact Seth Minyard at Sethdid@hotmail.com or 907-486-5284 for more information about times, dates and locations. WANTED: Players in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Wayne Page, wdpage@pinn.net Got go stuff to sell, swap or want to buy? Do it here and reach more than 5,000 Go players worldwide every week at Go Classified! Send to us at journal@usgo.org CALENDAR OF EVENTS September 20: Durham, NC Third Annual Joe Shoenfield Memorial Marathon Go Tournament Paul Celmer pcelmer@earthlink.net September 20: Tacoma/Parkland, WA Tournament at Pacific Lutheran University Mike Malveaux 253-906-0095 tacomagofiend@yahoo.com http://www.hilltopgo.com/evrep/plufall2003/ September 21: Hoboken, NJ Hoboken Fall Tournament Larry Russ 201-216-5379 lruss@stevens-tech.edu http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~lruss/hoboken_spring_tournament.htm September 28: Amherst, MA Western Mass Fall Go Tournament David Dawidowicz 413-546-0095 ddawidow@student.umass.edu http://www.cookwood.com/personal/go/wmgt/2003fall.html October 10-13: Roundtop, NY Guo Juan Workshop Jean-Claude Chetrit zorglub@brooklyngoclub.org October 11 & 12: Toronto, CANADA 2003 Korean Cup Open Go Tournament June Ki Beck 416-733-9597 junekibeck@yahoo.com October 12: Boston, MA MGA Fall Handicap Tournament Zack Grossbart 617-497-1232 zack@grossbart.com October 17-19: Germantown, MD James Kerwin Workshop Gordon Fraser 301-540-2640 gordon@wui.com 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 GET LISTED & BOOST TURN-OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 5,000 readers every week! List your Go event/news In the E-Journal: email details to us at MAILTO:journal@usgo.org Ratings are on the web! Check the website; http://www.usgo.org for the full list. GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org AGA CONTACT LIST: For a full list of AGA officers, contacts & their email addresses, go to: http://www.usgo.org/org/index.asp#contactinfo 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 mailto:journal@usgo.org Chris Garlock, Coordinator Union Cities/Streetheat Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO 1925 K St NW, #410 Washington, DC 20006 202-857-3410 cgarlock@dclabor.org