AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association October 6, 2003 In This Edition: U.S. GO NEWS: Latest Ratings; Rosenblatt Tops Western MA Tourney; Homepage Nakayama; Youth Study Group Recruiting; Free SmartGo Released; Wilcox Releases Go Dojo; Software Reviewers Wanted; Happy Camper WORLD GO: Yamashita Ekes Out Win In Meijin Round 3; Cho Hunhyun Wins Korean Meijin Challenger's League; Nie Wins China Qiwant Cup; Suicide Is Painful; Rui Naiwei Goes For Three-Peat; Kobayashi Tames Young Lions; Japan Wins World Amateurs; Young Kim Wins Wanstead GAME COMMENTARY: Teamwork at the MGA YOUR MOVE: Readers Write HARD TIMES ON THE GOBAN GO CLASSIFIED CALENDAR OF EVENTS U.S. GO NEWS LATEST RATINGS! Updated ratings for tournaments reported through the end of September are now posted at http://www.usgo.org/ratings.asp The following events were included in this update: Rocky Mountain Open, Denver, CO, September 2003; Chinese Culture Day at PLU, Tacoma, WA, September 2003; Hoboken Fall Handicap Tournament, NJ, September 2003; Hoboken Kids Self-Paired Tournament, NJ, September 2003; Lancaster Go Club, PA, September 2003. If you played in a tournament that you think should have been included but is not in this list, please contact the tournament organizers and ask them to send us their data. Tournament data for rating should be submitted by e-mail to ratings@usgo.org. The next scheduled ratings update will be November 1. - Paul Matthews, Ratings Coordinator ROSENBLATT TOPS WESTERN MA TOURNEY: Gregory Rosenblatt 2k took top honors in the Fall Western Massachusetts Go Tournament, held September 28 in Amherst, MA. Thirty players turned out for the event, which was directed by Andreu Cabre. Winners: 2k and up: 1st. Gregory Rosenblatt; 2nd. Huan Yang; 3k-10k: 1st. Li Song; 2nd. Jeffrey Miller; 10k and down: 1st. Andrew Hall; 2nd. Daisuke Tanaka. HOMEPAGE NAKAYAMA: Nakayama Noriyuki, Japanese go writer and long-time supporter of U.S. go is featured in this week's Go Photo of the Week at http://www.usgo.org/ We welcome photos of go events for posting on the AGA's website. For details see http://www.usgo.org/photos/ YOUTH STUDY GROUP RECRUITING: The American Go Foundation is sponsoring another youth study group to begin this fall under Sensei James Kerwin 1P. There will be eight 2-hour sessions over a 16 week period, allowing time for study of life and death problems, professional games and to play games with other children and with another member of the study group. Games and instruction will be conducted on KGS. "We are looking for 4 young people 17 years or under and of approximate strength 6d, 3d, 1d and a strong kyu player," reports organizer None Redmond. The cost to the student will be $110; contact None at chinski@inreach.com FREE SMARTGO RELEASED: Anders Kierulf has just released "SmartGo:Viewer," the latest product in the SmartGo series. Viewer is free, and has most of the features as SmartGo:Board, except for the ability to save, print, export diagrams, or add to collection. "Viewer is the perfect tool for replaying games," says Kierulf. Check it out at http://www.smartgo.com/SGVSetup.exe or go to http://www.smartgo.com to learn more about SmartGo. WILCOX RELEASES GO DOJO: Bruce Wilcox, famous for his book "EZ-GO," is at it again. He's just released new go software called "Wilcox's Go Dojo: Contact Fights." "Contact happens often throughout a game and most players screw it up royally," Wilcox says. "One sees dan players making mistakes with rules a 20 kyu could master. Obviously there is a need for a thorough training on the subject and this is it!" The Dojo is a computerized interactive tutorial on fighting that targets four levels of play, identified in classic Wilcoxian as "Squirm with the Abysmals" (beginner to 20 kyu); "Commit with the Acolytes" (to 10 kyu); "Study with the Ascendents" (to 1 dan) and "Marvel with the Adepts" (to professional). Each level covers how to see the board and what rules to follow, with interactive tests and a printable crib sheet, as well as a built-in viewer that can display SGF games. Wilcox's Go Dojo: Contact Fights is available on CD (Windows only) for $15 plus $2 S&H (no S&H for orders delivered by email accounts accepting a 500kb zip file). Also available in PDF: 'EZ-GO Oriental Strategy in a Nutshell', an updated version of the original print book, available for $25 including S&H. For ordering details email brucewilcox@bigfoot.com SOFTWARE REVIEWERS WANTED: Go software: does it work? Which program is best for which player? Help E-Journal readers make the best move: review go software and get a $25 gift certificate at your favorite go vendor (use it to buy more software, equipment or old-fashioned but ever-popular books!). If you're interested, query us at journal@usgo.org and let us know which software you'd like to review. HAPPY CAMPER: Bonnie Liao got a big surprise when she met her son, Lionel Zhang, at the Philadelphia airport last summer. "When he saw me ... he hugged me and sobbed. I was taken aback a bit not expecting he could be so 'emotional' to see me," Ms Liao writes in a letter to James Chien and Jon Boley, administrator and director, respectively, at this year's American Go Association Go Camp at Mills College, CA June 28 - July 5. The unexpected tears made her wonder whether Lionel had not had a good time or had been homesick. But her worry about the tears was short-lived as Lionel shook his head when she asked "Were you unhappy?" Shortly, Lionel started telling his mother about some of the best moments he had ever had in his life. "By the time we got to our car in the airport parking lot, Lionel had already asked, 'Will next year's Go Camp be one-week long?'" Bonnie reports. "I think so," she told him. Lionel's response: "Why can't it be longer? I am going to the Go Camp every year from now on!" So what caused the tears in the airport? "I don't know," Lionel told his mom. "I felt very sad that I had to leave the Go Camp and I was very happy to see Mommy." "It was the first half that I would have never guessed," Bonnie says. She and husband Barry Zhang "thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done and thank AGA for all of its support, which have made this trip possible for Lionel. The 2003 AGA Go Camp is a memory that he will treasure forever!" Not only that, but Lionel's game has improved, too, his parents report. "He won one game on IGS last night." - edited by David E. Whiteside WORLD GO YAMASHITA EKES OUT WIN IN MEIJIN ROUND 3: In the third game of the 28th Japanese Meijin Title Match, the challenger Yamashita Keigo 9p defeated Yoda Norimoto 9p by 2.5 points to win his first game in the match. The next game is scheduled for October 15-16. You can play through all three games of the current match at http://gobase.org/ . CHO HUNHYUN WINS KOREAN MEIJIN CHALLENGER'S LEAGUE: Cho Hunhyun 9p won the challengers' league of the 34th Korean Myeongin (Meijin) tournament by defeating Yi (Lee) Sedol 9p on September 30th. The current title holder is Yi (Lee) Changho 9p. The title match is a best-of-five. You can download all the game records from the league at http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/kr/my/my.html . NIE WINS CHINA QIWANT CUP: Nie Weiping 9p has won the Wuxi Weifufang (China Qiwant) Cup by defeating Yu Bin 9d. In the previous round he defeated Chen Zude 9p. The AGA Journal included a commented game between Chen Zude and Yilun Yang in the September 15th issue. You can download the game records from the Wuxi Weifufang at http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/cn/cqw/cqw.html . SUICIDE IS PAINFUL: A very unusual incident occurred in the first round of the 15th Korean Kiseong tournament. Cho Hunhyun 9p was forced to lose a game because of an illegal play. You can see the game record at the time of the infraction at http://www.go4go.net/english/sgfview.jsp?id=3586 . Cho obviously intended to take the ko in the lower left corner when he made an illegal suicide play instead. Such a mistake is extremely rare in professional tournaments. RUI NAIWEI GOES FOR THREE-PEAT: For the third time, Rui Naiwei 9p will meet Cho Hyeyeon 4p in the title match of the Women's Kuksu in Korea. Rui was the winner the first two times. Rui defeated Cho in the preliminary rounds, but Cho came back for the title match by winning the losers' group. You can download the game records at http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/kr/fk/fk.html . The title match begins on October 18th. KOBAYASHI TAMES YOUNG LIONS: The young lions who have recently emerged at the top of Japanese pro tournament play received a setback when Kobayashi Koichi 9 dan, one of the veteran winners, won the Ryusei tournament by defeating Hane Naoki 9 dan. The game was quite close, but Hane made a mistake and Kobayashi was able to quickly force Hane to resign. Kobayashi also won this title last year. He has now won 57 titles altogether. This title game was the last pro game to be played in Japan under the old 5.5 komi. - reported by John Power on the Nihon Kiin's Home Page at http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/index-e.htm JAPAN WINS WORLD AMATEURS: The new World Amateur Baduk Championship, replacing the World Amateur Go Championship in Japan that was cancelled this past summer, was held in Incheon, Korea, from September 27th to October 3rd. Fifty-eight countries participated in six rounds and the top four players then played a knockout match. In the regular tournament, Korea won all six games, while Japan, the Netherlands, Ukraine, China, Russia, and Canada won five. In the knock out match, Japan's Hiraoka Satoshi beat Ukraine and then Kim Junghwan of Korea to win the championship. Kim was second, the Netherland's Emil Nijhuis beat Kmitrij Bogatshiy to take third. - from BGA News YOUNG KIM WINS WANSTEAD: Young Kim 5d of London won the Wanstead tournament, held in England on October 4th with 54 players. Five other players were also 4 for 4: Phil Beck 1d of Cambridge, Matthew Reid 2k of Cambridge, Erwin Bonsma 5k of Ipswich, Patrick Donovan 9k of Eastbourne, and Kay Dackombe 23k of Bromley. Several players got prizes for going 3 for 4: Li Shen 5d of London, Tony Atkins 3d of Bracknell, Tim Hunt 3d of Milton Keynes, Weed 1k of Billericay, James Aspden 1k of Oxford, Martin Solity 3k of Wanstead, Martin Harvey 3k of Chester, Steve Bailey 4k of West Surrey, Shaun Hearn 6k of Sleaford, Pablo Marco 8k from Spain, and Ken Dackombe 25k of Bromley. GAME COMMENTARY: Teamwork at the MGA Javier Gonzalez, 4k and Eva Casey, 4k take on Austin Frakt, 1k and Jeff Miller, 5k in today's game commentary, a Pair Go game at the Massachusetts Go Association on September 9, 2003. The commentary is by Liping Huang 4p This week's bonus file is a selection from "200 Endgame Problems" by Shirae Haruhiko 7 Dan, published by Slate & Shell and used by permission. Check out the book at http://www.slateandshell.com 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 YOUR MOVE: Readers Write GAMEBOY GO: "Actually there are at least two Hikaru no go titles available for the Gameboy in Japan," reports Jonathan Turner (GO ON THE XBOX? 9/29 EJ). "The first one came out fairly shortly after the Gameboy Advance. I have a copy, but play it very rarely as it can be quite slow on the highest difficulty setting, plus it isn't much of a challenge to strong kyu players. However I'd definitely recommend it to beginners. Hopefully Nintendo will see fit to release an English language version for those not fortunate enough to read Japanese. However in order to play the cartridge I would say Japanese isn't essential." SEE YOU IN ROCHESTER: "Have the dates for the Rochester Congress been set?" wonders Wayne Nelson. Yes: July 31 - August 7, 2004; get all the details at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.asp HARD TIMES ON THE GOBAN By Joel Turnipseed It was an ordinary enough night on IGS -- a close loss here, a sloppy win there -- capped by a lackadaisical and spiritless loss. I don't know, maybe I'd had two glasses of wine. It was late. But I felt like I had to get my games in that day (I have a schedule you know-a thousand games to shodan, or three games a day for a year). Before she signed-off, my opponent's last remark scrolled past the command line: "Maybe next time you'll try to win." It's been bugging me ever since. How could she know? Is a four kyu that much more sensitive to the spirit of the game than a five kyu? Was there a mismatch between a non-attentive fuseki and some string of clever tesujis that meant that I must really have been better? No. I think it was the knowledge, from being in the proper relation to the game, that I wasn't THERE. It was a statement of disgust, right? It had that ring as I repeated it in my head, in all caps: "MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU'LL TRY TO WIN." And that disgust comes from, I think, two places-a failure to take play seriously, and a concomitant failure to take myself seriously (or, a fear that I am not able to GET SERIOUS). While it's true that philosophers have never yet helped me to solve a problem, they have a great track record of making them a hell of a lot more interesting, so I put down my tea and reach for my Gadamer: "Play fulfills its purpose only if the player loses himself in play. Seriousness is not merely something that calls us away from play; rather, seriousness in playing is necessary to make the play wholly play. Someone who doesn't take the game seriously is a spoilsport." So there! Nothing worse than having a German Hermenueticist and a semi-anonymous Internet go player giving me a double raspberry. Now back to that old saying that's keeping me busy: it's fine enough, but if I'm going to take that as a benchmark, I had better start PLAYING and stop merely PLACING stones. GO CLASSIFIED WANTED: Professional go player and American Go Journal contributing editor James Kerwin is now accepting game records for a new E-Journal feature. Kerwin will review selected games online with both players and the game, with commentary, will then appear in the E-Journal. There is no cost to players, but at least one must be a member of the American Go Association. Please send .sgf game records to E-Journal Assistant Bill Cobb at wmscobb@comcast.net (10/6) WANTED: Go clubs or players on Maui; billandcorrine@comcast.net (10/6) WANTED: Go players in the greater Towson, Maryland area. We're a small club that meets weekly, but on various nights (usually Mon.). Contact Jim Pickett j.m.pickett@att.net (10/6) WANTED: Players of all strengths. Rumors of the Bayou Go club's demise have been greatly exaggerated. We meet Wednesdays at 7p at the PJ's Coffehouse (1532 Robert E Lee Blvd) near the University of New Orleans. Come one, come all ... we need players. Meisch.Robert@nola.sysco.com (10/6) WANTED: Santa Barbara, CA players; I'm currently a student at UCSB and I'm looking for a go club in the area. Pierre Tournier, pierre.tournier@colorado.edu (9/29) WANTED: Vetters for Milton Bradley's latest book, tentatively entitled "New Go Proverbs Illustrated". Familiarity with the Segoe classic "Go Proverbs Illustrated" and/or David Mitchell's "Go Proverbs" preferred, but not mandatory. Public recognition in acknowledgments plus free autographed copy on publication for successful completion. If interested, email Milt at bradleym@villagenet.com (9/29) WANTED: I would like to hook up with go players in the Sullivan County NY area. The nearest go club meeting in Woodstock NY with is a 2 hour drive from my house. Port Jervis or Middletown NY or the Honesdale Pa area would also be good. Ouida.Edington@ssa.gov (9/29) 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 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 October 18 & 19: San Francisco, CA Dote Sensei Memorial Fall Tournament Steve Burrall 916-688-2858 sburrall@comcast.net October 25: Tacoma, WA UPS Fall Tournament Tyler Sellon 253-759-6860 tsellon@ups.edu http://www.hilltopgo.com/evrep/upsfall2003/index.html October 25: Arlington, VA Pumpkin Classic Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net October 25: Piscataway, NJ Feng Yun Fall Tournaament Contact: GoLesson@yahoo.com October 26: Ottawa, Canada Japan-Canada Friendship Go Tournament Pre-registration must be received before 10/25 by phone or by e-mail; only the first 60 will be accepted, as facility space is limited : 613-722-0603; ab073@freenet.carleton.ca November 1 & 2: Rochester, NY Empty Sky Fall Tournament 2003 Gregory L Lefler 585-424-2269 glacticjoke@hotmail.com http://www.emptysky.org/tournament/ 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