AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: November 22, 2004
News from the American Go
Association
November 22, 2004
In
This Issue:
U.S. GO NEWS: Jie Li Faces Pro
In Seimitsu; Peng Tops Texas FourSeasons; Go++ V.5.0 Released; Double Yang;
American Go Titles Updated,Expanded; Deadline Looms For Redmond Cup; Ninja Go
Onscreen; FreeMemberships Offered; Probably Not Minnesota
WORLD GO NEWS: Redmond Not Fazed By Losing Streak;
Hane Three-PeatsIn The Okan; Lee Sedol To Meet Wang Xi In Samsung Cup Finals;
ZhangXuan Repeats In Chinese Women's Cup; Kansai Kiin’s Yuki Challenges ForFirst
Major; Goddard Wins Three Peaks
GAME
COMMENTARY: The 1-Pointer and The Shoulder Hit
BEGINNER’S MIND: Getting Somewhere
GO REVIEW: The Second Book of Go
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
ATTACHED FILE(S):
2004.11.22.Feng Yun Commentary.sgf; 2004.11.22.Nakayama-NS-13.pdf
U.S. GO NEWS
JIE LI FACES PRO IN SEIMITSU: Jie Li
9d faces Suzuki Ayumi 3p of Japanin the upcoming first round of the Seimitsu
Tournament, an online eventorganized by the Nihon Kiin. Suzuki will be a real
challenge for Li;she’s the reigning Strongest Woman titleholder in Japan,
although shelost in the second round of the current Strongest Woman tournament.
Itappears that the Nihon Kiin sees Jie Li, the current U.S. Open and IngCup
titleholder, as having won the status of a world amateur championas a result of
beating Cristian Pop 7d of Romania in the Seimitsuplayoffs (see 2004.11.08
Li-Pop Seimitsu Playoff.sgf, 11/11/04 EJ)
-
reported by Bill Cobb
PENG TOPS TEXAS FOUR SEASONS: Mike Peng 5d
took top honors in last month’s
Texas Winter Four Seasons Tournament, held
October 16 in Houston,Texas. In second place was Christopher Vu 12k; Justin
Chiang 13k tookthird and Robert Cordingley 3k was fourth. Ten players
participated inthe tournament.
GO++ V.5.0 RELEASED: Version 5.0 of Go++
has just been released, forthe first time in both Standard and Deluxe editions.
The winner ofnumerous international computer go tournaments is now offered in
adeluxe edition that includes customizable playing styles with fivelevels of
play from beginner to expert., a joseki dictionary,selectable fuseki and more.
Starting at $39.95; find out more athttp://www.goplusplus.com
DOUBLE
YANG: Yang Yilun 7P will offer two workshop in early 2005, onein Evanston,
Illinois and the other in Germantown, MD. Yang’s 6thAnnual Winter Workshop is
set for January 15-17 in Evanston, IL;contact Mark Rubenstein at 847-869-6020 or
mark@evanstongoclub.org. The10th Annual Maryland Yang Workshop will occur March
17-20 inGermantown, MD. Contact Gordon Fraser at 301-540-2640
orgordon@wui.net
AMERICAN GO TITLES UPDATED, EXPANDED: The AGA’s online
list of AmericanGo Titles has been updated and expanded athttp://www.usgo.org/usa/titles.asp
The listing is a work inprogress as we attempt to provide a definitive current
and historicalrecord of American go tournament title holders. The listings
aredivided into the following six areas: Professional Titles,
InvitationalTitles, National Titles, Youth Titles, Major Local Titles and
OtherLocal Titles. To help us make this a complete list of title winners,send
your additions to listmyevent@usgo.org
DEADLINE LOOMS FOR REDMOND CUP:
Young North American go players areinvited to join the eleventh Redmond Cup
Tournament, organized byMichael Redmond 9P and his family, the American Go
Association, the IngWei-Ch'i Foundation and the Internet Go Server (IGS). The
Junior leagueis for those under 12 and the Senior league for 12 and over
(butyounger than 18 as of August 1 2005). Competitors in the Senior Leaguemust
be playing at Dan strength, in the Junior 5 kyu or stronger andmust be residents
of the U.S., Canada or Mexico. Please send thefollowing information to
None Redmond at chinski@inreach.combefore January 1st 2005: name, address,
telephone #, date of birth,email address, AGA rating, citizenship and home go
club.
NINJA GO ONSCREEN: Go is apparently featured in another movie,
thistime a ninja flick starring Jennifer Garner and due out in January.Click on
http://www.elektramovie.com/shell.php?cc=US
and select theImage Gallery / Photo Gallery and keep your eyes open, as the go
boardflashes by pretty quickly. Thanks to sharp-eyed Gordon Ho for the
tip!
FREE MEMBERSHIPS OFFERED: There are still has a few free
AGAmemberships (or renewals) for new volunteers for key projects andcommittees,
reports American Go Association President Mike Lash. "I amlooking for people
with energy, time and a sincere willingness to stickwith tasks to the end," says
Lash. Areas available include marketingand promotion, tournament administration,
membership services, chapterservices, budget planning and fundraising. The offer
is open to bothnonmembers and current members (except for Officers and
Directors);email Lash at President@usgo.org
PROBABLY NOT MINNESOTA: Bob
Barber of Chicago was the first tocorrectly identify top player and teacher Yuan
Zhou as the teacher inlast week’s Homepage Photo Contest. Honorable mentions go
to DavidHawley, Gordon Ho, John R. Pinkerton, Jeffrey Chou (the high-schooleron
the middle board) & James Bonomo. The fellow in this week’sHomepage Photo
may be a bit harder to identify, but how about his club? Send in your best guess
and you could be this week’s Homepage PhotoContest Winner! Check it out at http://www.usgo.org
and email usat journal@usgo.org
WORLD GO
NEWS
REDMOND NOT FAZED BY LOSING STREAK: John Power reports on the
NihonKiin's home page that Michael Redmond 9p has now suffered his sixthloss in
a row since his summer break. The latest loss was on November4th in Preliminary
A of the 30th Kisei tournament against Awaji Shuzo9p. Such a losing streak is
unprecedented for Michael, but he says thathe is not unduly upset because he
understands the reasons for thelosses. Meanwhile, Michael continues to be very
well-received as acommentator on title-match games on TV and in the
newspapers.
HANE THREE-PEATS IN THE OKAN: Hane Naoki 9p defeated the
challengerYamashiro Hiroshi 9p by resignation to hold on to the Okan
(Crown)title in Japan for the third consecutive year. Yamashiro first won
thistitle in 1977, and has won it thirteen times altogether. Hane also wonit in
1999. The tournament is unusual in that it is limited to playerswho belong to
the Central Japan branch of the Nihon Kiin. Hane, who isin his thirties while
Yamashiro is in his forties, is also the currentKisei and holds the Tengen title
as well.
LEE SEDOL TO MEET WANG XI IN SAMSUNG CUP FINALS: The semi-finals
of theSamsung Cup are three game matches. In the first, Wang Xi 5p of
Chinadefeated Zhou Heyang 9p of China in two games, which not only got himinto
the finals, but also earned him a promotion to 8p under Chineseprofessional
promotion rules. If Wang wins the title, he will bepromoted to 9p. Wang is
barely twenty years old; for pictures andbiographical items seehttp://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?name=Wang
Xi . In theother semi-final match, Lee Sedol 9p of Korea came back to take
thethird game and the match from Gu Li 7p of China, who set a record for aspeedy
game by defeating Lee in about two hours in the second game: Leeresigned that
game after only 172 moves. For pictures of Lee and biomaterial, seehttp://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?name=Lee
Sedol . Thetitle match takes place in early December. The Samsung Cup, now in
itsninth year, is sponsored by an insurance company in Korea and is thelargest
international tournament in terms of the number ofparticipants--every
professional from Korea, Japan, and China, and evensome amateurs, can play in
the preliminary rounds.
ZHANG XUAN REPEATS IN CHINESE WOMEN'S CUP: Zhang
Xuan 8p and Zheng Yan2p were tied at 1 and 1 after the first two games of the
2nd JiangqiaoCup, but Xuan managed to win the decisive third game by a half
pointand held on to the title she won last year. You can download the gamesat http://igo-kisen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/kc.html
. Jianqiao is a privateuniversity supported by a wealthy individual in
Shanghai.
KANSAI KIIN’S YUKI CHALLENGES FOR FIRST MAJOR: John Power also
reportsthat Yuki Satoshi 9p, who is thirty-two and the shining hope of theKansai
Kiin, is making his first challenge for a major title, namely,the Kisei, having
defeated Yamashita Keigo 9p for the privilege. Thisis the first time a Kansai
Kiin player has appeared in one of the bigthree titles in Japan (Kisei, Meijin,
Honinbo) since Hashimoto Utaro9p, who lost the inaugural Kisei tournament to
Fujisawa Shuko in 1977.The most recent major title winner from the Kansai Kiin
was alsoHashimoto, who took the Honinbo title from Sakata Eio 9p in 1951.
Yukihas also challenged twice for the Gosei title (one of the top seven
inJapan), in 1997 and 2002, but without success. He has won threelightning go
titles: the Haya-Go in 1995, the Kakusei in 2003, and thefirst JAL Super Haya-Go
in 2004. For pictures and career highlights seehttp://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=57
.
GODDARD WINS THREE PEAKS: Making a welcome return to tournament go,Tony
Goddard 5d took first place at the Three Peaks tournament in GreatBritain
November 13th and 14th. There were about 48 participants at theMarton Arms in
beautiful North Yorkshire country. Youngsters WilliamBrooks 1k of Cambridge and
Jonathan Englefield 9k of High Wycombe wereamong players winning 4 of 5.
- reported by the BGA News
GAME COMMENTARY: The 1-Pointer and The Shoulder
Hit
Today’s game was played in the preliminary rounds
ofthe 2004 American Pro Ing Cup. Yang Yilun 7p took White in aone-pointer
against Feng Yun 9p, who provides the commentary fortoday’s game. These two met
again in the finals of the Cup in anotherone-pointer (that game was commented by
Feng Yun in the E-Journal forAugust 3, 2004).
Our bonus
file today is another installment ofNakayama Noriyuke’s “What’s Wrong With That
Move,” in this case anexploration of the pros and cons of the shoulder hit
against the 3-3.
To view the attached
.sgf file(s),simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an
.sgfreader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgfreaders can
get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen'shttp://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html
BEGINNER’S MIND: Getting Somewhere
by Aria von
Elbe
It was the fifth meeting of the new Pine Crest High
School Go Club when I realized we were actually getting somewhere. The previous meeting, I’d logged into gobase.org and we went
through beginner Life
and Death problems, which, you’ve got to give them credit, the members learned
fast. They really seemed to understand the two eye requirement for living groups
and I even had one of those eager know-it-alls who dared me to pull up a 4-dan
problem. And he only figured out the answer by process of elimination between
options A and B. There’s no way he could explain the moves afterwards, but then
again neither could I.
Still, despite everything I’ve been
trying to teach my “students,” I was most proud during that fifth meeting. I
decided it was time for them to learn how to play a real game, not just Capture
Go. But what do you do when you don’t have enough equipment for you club
and haven’t received the starter kit from the AGA yet? You tell your members to
boot up their computers and go to kiseido.com, the infamous KGS, one of the most
popular and graphically pleasing Go servers out there. Thankfully, my members
agreed, downloaded the client, signed up for accounts, and started playing 9x9
games like there was no tomorrow; even though there was and I know for fact that
more than a few of them were playing online during various classes the next
day.
But that’s not what made me proud, though of
course I
love the idea of others tuning the teachers out to play a game against a stranger
some halfway around the world. No, it was the way they paid attention to what I
was teaching them when they handed control over to me after their games, and the
way the used what I taught them in their second go-round, that made me
smile.
That, and when I got down to the Miami Go
Club meeting two days later and shared teaching stories with my sensei. Who
would
have ever thought that the man who taught me how to play would be sharing a laugh
with me over the precocious Life and Death “genius” in my club, a club he’ll get
to see first-hand this week. And with sensei coming to teach at my club, never
again will my students think I know the answer to every Life and Death problem.
Which I’m okay with, jus as long as they continue to play in class when they’re
not supposed to.
-16-year-old Aria von Elbe
is an 11th grader in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
GO REVIEW: The Second Book of Go
Reviewed by Peter
Whittaker
This was, after Volume II of Janice Kim’s Learn
to Play Go series, indeed my second Go book, recommended by a sales person at “het
Paard” in Amsterdam. It proved an excellent suggestion for a novice keen to
learn, because what had seemed simple now revealed significant complexity.
Eleven chapters cover the same ground as the 7 book Elementary Go Series,
although obviously not in as much depth. Thus, the beginner is made aware
of the existence of tesuji, joseki, and introduced to the concepts of shape and
ko strategy. Two additional chapters on counting liberties and capturing
races appear disproportionately long; however, if persisted with, they do provide
a sound basis for dealing with life and death situations. The book is aimed
at a similar level of experience as the previously mentioned Learn to Play Go –
Volume II; however, it’s more thorough approach is underscored by greater density
of text and diagrams. On the other hand, the book, first published in
1987and reprinted in 1998 with two added chapters, could be considered
old-fashioned versus the funky graphics, minimal text, and large diagrams of Kim’s book. Personally, I prefer Bozulich’s
comprehensive
style to Kim’s more simplistic manner; nevertheless, I can see that the latter
method will also have fans.
The lack of a Go club within
40 miles meant that before I started internet play, all of my early efforts were
high handicap games against the Many Faces of Go program; therefore, the20-page
chapter on handicap strategy was particularly helpful to a beginner. In
contrast, I found the first chapter on opening moves to be the weakest. To
devote only 12 pages to such an important facet of the game seems inadequate
(perhaps this explains my poor opening skills?). Of course, this criticism
is made in hindsight and from the perspective of several months of experience and
should not detract from the book’s intent: specifically, to make the novice
aware of the crucial aspects of the game that will require future
examination.
In conclusion, neither the title nor the
subtitle (“what you need to know after you’ve learned the rules” ) are
false advertising; this remains an ideal second book for all Go players and
provides the necessary stepping stone to more advanced
study. Furthermore, even at 18-kyu, I still find it worth rereading.
GO CLASSIFIED
FOR SALE: Go magazines
& books, including: Go Review (28 issues),Vol. 9, No. 4, April 1969 to Vol.
15, Winter 1977. $50 includesshipping. American Go Journal (24 issues), Vol. 9,
No. 1, Jan 1974 toVol. 13 No. 4/6, 1978. British Go Journal (31 issues), Spring
1969 toJan 1978. $40 includes shipping. Les Bases Techniques du Go, by Lim
YooJong & Herve Dicky, Jeulogic, Paris, 1974, 192 pages. $20
includesshipping. Go Introduction. 2-volume set by Nihon Ki-in, 1973. Each
book95 pages. I have three sets total, in French, German and Russian. $35for all
3 sets or $15 each set, includes shipping. Tesuji - HoninboEiju (Sakata),
translated by John Fairbairn, 1971, British Go Assn.First pub by Nihon Ki-in,
1962. 110 pages, 8.5x11. Spiral bound. $25includes shipping. Anton Ninno:
antoninno@yahoo.com
INSTRUCTION, TEACHERS:
- Cornel Burzo 6d is
giving lessons on both IGS and KGS using voicechatfor review every week day from
8A to 5P using skype (checkwww.skype.com) for
details email cornelburzo@yahoo.com (10/18)
GO PLAYERS WANTED:
AK: Juneau, Alaska ; stevekrall@yahoo.com (8/23)
AL: Birmingham or
Hoover: email goboard@bellsouth.net I'm about 5k; any level is welcome.
(9/6)
AZ: Phoenix, AGA 5d looking for go players; michaelscai@yahoo.com
(8/23)
FL: Tampa Bay; Looking for players within 30 minutes of Tampa Bay
tohelp create a club which might be located near
USF.rruiz002@tampabay.rr.com (9/27)
IL: Northern Illinois, Gurnee area.
Any rank, age, or shoe sizewelcome. Looking for friendly or teaching games.
Contact (15 kyu) Joeat nothing217@comcast.net (9/6)
IN: Bloomington: Want to
help start an AGA chapter? Contact me now at
sfcowling@bluemarble.net (11/08/04)
MA: Looking for players to meet on
the South Shore, possibly at ThomasCrane Library or Panera's Bread in Quincy.
E-mailAdam@polymathsblade.com
MD: Baltimore, at the Maryland Institute
College of Art. 7P Mondays, at
Cafe Doris (Mount Royal Ave) (10/18)
NH:
Hanover, Meets 2-5 PM Wed at Hopkins Center Cafeteria; efeustel@direcway.com
NEW! NV: Reno: The Reno Go Club ( http://www.renogo.org )
is looking for people interested in go. Email: info@renogo.org
NY:
Syracuse; The Central New York Go Club invites players who liveanywhere near
Utica, Geneva, Oswego, and Cortland to join them onMonday nights. Visit
the club's website at:http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cnygo/
SC:
Charleston/Lowcountry area. Total beginner looking forteaching and
friendly games. Contact Doug: dougsimpson@email.com
GOT GO STUFF TO SELL,
SWAP OR WANT TO BUY? Do it here and reach over7,000 Go players worldwide every
week at Go Classified! Listings arefree and run 4 weeks; send to us at
journal@usgo.org
CALENDAR OF
EVENTS
December 4: West Hartford, CT
CCC Winter Go
Tournament
Bill Fung 860-648-1527 chiwaifung@aol.com
December
5: Chicago, IL
Four More Years?! Tournament
Bob Barber
773-467-0423 komoku@earthlink.net
December 5: Seattle,
WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424
jon@seattlegocenter.org
http://www.seattlegocenter.org
December
5: Los Angeles, CA
Southern California Go Club Ratings
Tournament
Joe Cepiel 310-823-4670
chris.hayashida@prosum.com
December 5: Princeton, NJ
Princeton
Fall Ratings Self-Paired
Rick Mott 609-466-1602
rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu
December 11: Syracuse, NY
1st
Annual CNY Go Tournament
Anton Ninno 315-479-9073
antonninno@yahoo.com
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cnygo/
December
18: Arlington, VA
Winter Warmer
Allan Abramson 703-684-7676
mediate8@worldnet.att.net
This is a digest of events for the next
month only; for a completelisting see the Tournament Calendar on the AGA
website:http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp
For
the European Go Calendar see
http://www.european-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDate.htm
GET
LISTED & BOOST TURN OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over7,000 readers
every week! List your Go event/news In the E Journal:email details to us at
journal@usgo.org
Published by the American Go Association
Text
material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may be reproducedby any
recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTEthat commented game
record files MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed,or made available on the web
without the explicit written permission ofthe Editor of the E-Journal. Please
direct inquiries to journal@usgo.org
Articles appearing in the E-Journal
represent the opinions of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect the official
views of theAmerican Go Association.
To make name or address corrections,
notify us at the email addressbelow. Story suggestions, event announcements,
Letters to the Editorand other material are welcome, subject to editing for
clarity andspace, and should be directed to:
Editor: Chris
Garlock
journal@usgo.org