News from the American Go Association
December 25, 2006
Volume 7, #109
TEEN KUPON
TOPS BRER FOXX IN CHI
SMARTGO
2.4 RELEASED
IS YOUR '06 TOURNEY
LISTED?
NEW YOUTH GO
WEBSITE PLANNED
CHO U STILL
A CONTENDER
RUI NAIWEI IN
WOMEN'S KUKSU SEMIFINALS
CHONGQING
TEAM DOMINATES CHINESE A LEAGUE
MITCHISON
TOPS SCOTTISH BARLOW
GREAT
GO STUFF GOING, GOING...
FREE
GO WORLD OFFER
THE PLAYING LIFE:
Beginner's Lesson
YOUTH GO:
A Club Grows in La Costa
THE
TRAVELING BOARD: Autumn In Jeonju
GO
CLASSIFIED
TEEN KUPON
TOPS BRER FOXX IN CHI: High school student Austin Kupon 2d
took top honors in the December 9 Brer Foxx Memorial Tournament in
Chicago, Illinois. Two dozen players participated. "Kupon is
still in high school," reports TD Bob Barber, "we expect
great things of him. (Shodan Challenger Coordinator) Laura Kolb is
challenging herself to be shodan by next Congress. This is the second
time Herve Liotard is a winner; he took the money back to France to
buy his parents Christmas presents. And our heartiest congrats go to
Phil Wall, who won so that we wouldn't have to."
Winner's
Report: 1st Place Dan: KUPON, Austin 2d; 1st Place Low Kyu: KOLB,
Laura 2k; 2nd Place Low Kyu: WALL, Philip 4k; 1st Place Mid Kyu:
LIOTARD, Herve 9k.
SMARTGO 2.4 RELEASED: SmartGo 2.4 has just been released, "now with over 39,000 games, and numerous enhancements," says Anders Kierulf. "The most improved feature is Guess Next Move: It now tells you when you're close to the right move, or when your move is good but your timing is off. And it keeps track of how you're doing." Get $10 off the regular price through the end of the year: enter 'holiday' as your coupon at http://www.smartgo.com/en/guess.htm
IS YOUR '06 TOURNEY LISTED?: Make sure your tournament is reported in the 2006 American Go Yearbook, now in production! Click here -- http://www.usgo.org/news/ -- to review the current list of nearly 80 2006 tournaments, and also make sure we have photos of your event. Send reports and photos to us at journal@usgo.org
NEW YOUTH GO WEBSITE PLANNED: The American Go Association (AGA) and the American Go Foundation (AGF) are seeking volunteers to launch a new youth-oriented site, reports Youth Editor Paul Barchilon. "A team of at least five people is needed: graphic artist, web developer, editor and two teachers," says Barchilon. "Someone with cartooning skills would be ideal. There is a charming site for kids in Korea ( http://kidsbaduk.hanafos.com/contents/first_baduk.asp ), and the British Go Association has one as well ( http://www.britgo.org/junior/ )." Anyone who is interested in the project and would like to volunteer can contact Barchilon at journal.youth@usgo.org
CHO U STILL A CONTENDER: Despite losing two titles recently (the Oza earlier this month and the Meijin in November), Cho U 9P is still a serious contender for major titles in Japan. He currently holds the Gosei among the top seven titles, along with the Agon and the Ryusei, which is more than any other Japanese pro, although both Takao Shinji 9P and Yamashita Keigo 9P hold two of the top seven. Cho is in the Meijin league (to determine the next challenger for Takao Shinji) and has a 3-0 record in the seven round Honinbo League (also to determine the next challenger for Takao), which is matched only by Cho Sonjin 9P who is also 3-0. Cho lost to Yamashita in the third round of the Judan, and is in the next Tengen tournament, though he has yet to play a game. He lost out on being the challenger for the Kisei this time only on tie breaks, an impressive record in the top seven.
RUI NAIWEI IN WOMEN'S KUKSU SEMIFINALS: Rui Naiwei
9P, who currently holds all three Korean Women's titles--the
Myeongin, the Kuksu, and the Kisung, has reached the semifinals of
the 12th Women's Kuksu (National Champion) Tournament in Korea. She
is paired against Lee Youngsin 4P. Lee, who is just turning thirty
while Rui is in her forties, won this title in 1998, but has won no
other titles. Rui is scheduled to defend her Myeongin title against
Lee Dahyeoi 3P in January. Rui has won the Women's Kuksu four times,
the Women's Myeongin five times, and is the only winner of the
Women's Kisung, which just started in 2006.
CHONGQING
TEAM DOMINATES CHINESE A LEAGUE: The Chongqing team came out
on top of the highly popular traveling teams competition in China,
which has now completed its two-stage season. The League involves
twelve teams of four players, with some substitutions in some
matches, and the Chongqing team was basically Gu Li 9P, Yu Bin 9P,
Wang Xi 9P, and Wang Lei 5P, with a few appearances by Liu Jing 8P.
Out of eleven matches in each stage, they only lost one match in the
first stage, with one tie, and two in the second stage, with two
ties.
MITCHISON TOPS SCOTTISH BARLOW: Neil Mitchison 1k of Varese took top honors with a 4-0 record the Scottish Barlow Tournament in Edinburgh on December 16th. Thirty-five kyu players turned out. Neil McLean 1k of Elgin was second. The only other four-game winner was Lukasz Rudnicki of Edinburgh. The three top Scottish residents enter the Scottish championship match with current champion Robbie Miller of Edinburgh. These are John O'Donnell of Glasgow, Neil McLean, and Adam Heslop of Edinburgh.
GREAT GO STUFF GOING, GOING...: The bad news: all the copies of Graded Go Problem for Beginners have already been snapped up and we're out of Go World #100. The good news: we've still got copies of Cho Chikun's terrific "GO: A COMPLETE INTRODUCTION" at just $5 and plenty of the rest of our inventory of selected back issues of GO WORLD for only $3 each (or take advantage of our special offer of a complete set of 25 back issues for just $60!). Supplies definitely won't last long at these great prices, so click here now to order! http://www.usgo.org/usa/GoWorld.htm
FREE GO WORLD OFFER: Less than a week left to take advantage of our Year-end offer: join to renew your AGA membership during the month of December and you'll not only get the forthcoming 2006 American Go Yearbook - over 100 pages of the "best of" the E-Journal and a CD with every 2006 game commentary PLUS lots of bonus games AND two copies of Go World! Two terrific go resources AND a full year of the weekly Friday Games Edition: make a good move and act now at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.html
COMING UP FRIDAY: New E-Journal contributor Fan Hui 2P - the strongest ranked European player -- reviews his game against Motoki Noguchi 7D in the Paris Meijin tournament.
THE PLAYING LIFE:
Beginner's Lesson
by David Kobak
Some
months ago I submitted a request for go players in my area
(Southfield Michigan). I was delighted by the kind responses I
received so quickly. After mustering up some nerve I attended a
gathering at a local coffee shop. This go group centered around
beginners such as myself. After meeting some of the players and
observing a game in progress I was asked if I cared to play a
teaching game. I accepted, and was rapidly beaten by an 11-year-old,
then a 10-year-old. These girls were very polite and gracious
winners, especially to a 53 year old priest! I left this first
meeting of go players feeling like...I was beaten up by 10 and 11
year olds! I must thank those two young girls. I brought out my go
books and began reviewing. I played several games on my computer. I
felt inspired to study more and not feel disappointed. They told me
the only way to get better was to practice practice practice (sage
advice). Ladies, whoever you are, I owe you my thanks. The next time
we meet I hope to be a more worthy opponent. My first experience
playing go was a true treat.
Kobak can be reached at dkobakofm@gmail.com
YOUTH GO: A Club Grows in
La Costa
"What I
think was most important and most encouraging was that everyone was
having tons of fun," says 17-year-old Gil Lee, a senior at La
Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California. Like a growing
number of kids around the nation, Lee has started a go club at his
school, which first met last September, when 17 people showed up. "I
used the gigantic hanging board that two of my members made for me to
teach some basic connections and 9x9 demos for the first 30 minutes
or so. Surprisingly, it was quite successful! I didn't expect
everyone to be attentive, but they were for the entire lesson, and I
had many good questions. In school, they're all looking forward to
Fridays, and I had to make a sign-up sheet for hosting go club
meetings because too many guys wanted to host the next one at their
house, and it almost seemed like they were going to have a fight over
it. I'm very excited that this is working out so well and I'm happy
to see many members improving each week. The AGF equipment A FREE
CLASSROOM STARTER SET was perfect for our club. Some of the members
are asking me to teach them online, and I plan to have everyone sign
up on KGS."
On
Sundays Lee takes some of the stronger members with him to the North
County Go Club, and in October he took six of them to the Cotsen
Tournament in Los Angeles, which he reports was "A very
memorable experience, and we all had lots of fun during those two
days"
When the AGF
recently checked back in with Gil, he reported that "About 20
members show up on Friday go meetings regularly, and we have 28
members total. We don't play 7 straight hours of go, but mix in other
stuff... like Hacky Sack, Guitar Hero, some sports, and
whatever...But we do require members to complete three games per two
weeks; we have a round robin ladder play going on bimonthly. Anyway,
we have loads of fun, and I like how the club is going. Please be
sure to include my deepest appreciation to the AGA and the AGF --
I've gotten a lot of resources and tips just when I needed them, and
they encouraged me to have faith in what I've started at my high
school! I've managed to help five beginners into the 15-20k range and
two stronger members into the 11-13k range, while I currently play at
8-9k on KGS. I only regret I didn't know about Go earlier in my
life."
Between
writing college application essays, homework, and other commitments,
Lee has managed to make a website for his club. Check it out at:
http://www.lccgo.com/ His
future plans for the club include attracting more members and
ultimately hosting tournaments.
-Reported by Youth Editor Paul
Barchilon. Contact him at journal.youth@usgo.org
THE TRAVELING BOARD:
Autumn In Jeonju
by Eric Lui 7d
The
story goes that if you ask someone in Korea if they know how to play
baduk and they say "I know a little," they are 1-5 dan; if
they say "I know some," they are 5-7 dan; if the answer is
"I know a lot," then they're lying. This story illustrates
the humble culture in Korea, where go has its greatest popularity,
now played by some 12 million people. Even a random young man I
bumped into at the Seoul airport upon arriving for the Jeonju Baduk
Festival last month was a strong player. I had come to play for the
American Go Association as the official US representative in the 1st
Prime Minister's International Baduk Championship, which was part of
the Jeonju Baduk Festival, the Korean equivalent of the Go Congress.
Jeonju is the hometown of Lee Changho, still the strongest player in
the world. I was fortunate enough to get autographs from and pictures
with Lee Changho and Yoo Changhyuk, and received the 9th place prize
at the award ceremony from Mr. Seo Bongsoo, who recently made it to
the semi-final of the Samsung Cup.
I
met up with fellow-Americans Jon Boley 6d and Matthew Burrall 5d, who
were studying baduk in Seoul for a few months. Hanging out with them
was great, although having people stare at us constantly -- there
were a limited number of English-speakers at the event -- was a bit
unsettling.
The Prime
Minister Cup saw some early-round surprises, as Japan lost to the
Netherlands after missing an endgame atari. I drew the challenging
task of facing powerhouse Taiwan in the first round, and lost despite
having good chances. In the second round, jet lag caught up with me,
and I ran into a world of trouble against Finland. I was able to
create a semeai and luckily found myself ahead by one liberty. The
tournament concluded with China, Korea, and the Philippines taking
the top places; Yongfei Ge of Canada took 5th. When I asked Yongfei
about his secret to success, he said that his luggage got misplaced
at the airport so he wore the same outfit every day. Matthew, Jon,
and I took part in the Lightning Tournament, which featured 64
players and was open only to foreigners. I managed to make it to the
top 8, while the final was an interesting matchup between two Chinese
players.
The tournament
has long since ended, but memories remain as strong as ever. Beyond
the magnificent opening and closing ceremonies, the amazing cuisine,
and the spectacular sightseeing, it was particularly enjoyable to
watch Matthew die horribly in gote in a friendly Pair Go game. Even
more, it was an honor to participate in this championship in the
sheer beauty of autumn in Jeonju.
GO CLASSIFIED
Locate
go clubs worldwide at http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi
PLAYERS WANTED: Mansfield, OH: Attention go youngsters...I wish to start a go club in Mansfield; anyone who wishes to play please contact me at dragonmasterbre@yahoo.com (12/25)
FOR SALE: Collector's items. The original American Go Journal from vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1949) to vol. 8, no. 4 (Sept. 1961): all 29 issues in very good condition. Also the revived American Go Journal from the 1970s. The big journal from vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan. 1974) to vol. 11, no. 3 (May/June 1976), all 15 issues. The small journal from vol. 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1976) to vol. 14, nos. 5/6 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1979), all 16 issues. The Eastern Go Newsletter from no. 1 (May 1975) to no. 12 (April 1976). The Voice of the Go Movement from no. 1 (May 1976) to no. 6 (Oct. 1976). If interested in any of the above, contact Ted Drange, tmdrange@earthlink.net (12/25)
WANTED: Go players in the area of Noblesville, Indiana. Anyone
interested, email nerkel@gmail.com (12/25)
PLAYERS WANTED:
Bucks/Montgomery Counties, PA: Are there any go players in the Bucks
Montgomery area outside of Philadelphia? The Penn Go Society is a
little bit of a drive so I was thinking more local. Contact me at
tryot@aol.com
GO PLAYERS WANTED: Clifton Park, NY: Anyone interested, e-mail: nelsonbj149@yahoo.com or phone: 518-253-9706 (12/18)
WANTED: Volunteers to help run go panel/booth at upcoming AnimeNEXT anime convention, July 6 - 8, 2007, Meadowlands Exposition Center, NJ; www.Animenext.org For more information call 646-821-5588 or email Wessanenoctupus@aol.com (12/11)
FOR SALE: Go Review, complete set, all 164 issues from Jan. 1961 to Spring 1977. If interested, contact Ted Drange, tmdrange@earthlink.net (12/11)
FOR SALE: Complete go set; board 2 1/8 inch Agathis, shin-kayabowls, 8mm glass stones. Lightly used for ~10 games. Contact John atjmarti71@uiuc.edu if interested. (11/27)
BOARDS AVAILABLE: Custom-made go boards from master craftsman with 30 years experience. 9x9, 13x13, 19x19, single or double sided. You pick the species of wood, thickness and finish. Quotes from b1saltman@charter.net (11/27)
SELL IT, BUY IT OR TRADE IT HERE with over 9,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at journal@usgo.org
Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris
Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb
Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may be
reproduced
by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source.
PLEASE NOTE that
commented game record files MAY NOT BE published,
re-distributed, or
made available on the web without the explicit
written permission of the
Editor of the E-Journal. Please direct
inquiries to journal@usgo.org
Articles appearing in the E-Journal represent the opinions of
the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of
the
American Go Association.
American Go Association
P.O. Box 397
Old Chelsea
Station
New York, NY 10113-0397
American Go Association
P.O. Box 397
Old Chelsea
Station
New York, NY 10113-0397
American Go Association P.O. Box 397 Old Chelsea Station New York, NY 10113-0397