News from the American Go Association
August 28, 2006
Volume
7, #74
US
INVITED BACK TO HANG ZHOU, CHINA
12
MEET THE CHALLENGE
US
OPEN CROSSGRID POSTED
PENN
GO SOCIETY TOPS 1ST CLUB TEAM TOURNEY
GO
SEIGEN PIC TO SCREEN IN NYC
ONLINE
PANDANET CUP UNDERWAY
KO
GUENTAE WINS CHINA-KOREA T ENGEN
REPORT
FROM THE ISLE OF MAN
AMERICANS
LOSE, KOREANS WIN, JAPANESE DEVASTATED IN FIRST ROUND OF WORLD
OZA
GIVING THANKS
YOUR
MOVE: Of Milligods & Kilogods; Just Around The Corner; Go
CDs; Go Podcasts
THE TRAVELING
BOARD: Go in Northern California
GO
CLASSIFIED
US INVITED BACK TO HANG ZHOU, CHINA:
The AGA has received its second annual invitation for a team
tournament in Hang Zhou, China, reports AGA President Mike Lash. The
tournament is in late October and there are no eligibility criteria
except membership in the AGA. "Last year two teams attended and
thoroughly enjoyed it," says Lash. "The level of play is
quite high; most players are at least 6-7 dan." Players may play
individually instead of on a team, but there are limited spaces
available. Each person pays his or her own transportation costs to
and from the venue, and $50 per day for meals and hotel. "This
was very good value for accommodations," says Lash, who adds
that the playing venue is "walking distance to beautiful West
Lake and the weather this time of year is excellent. There is great
shopping for silk, garments, tea and plenty of the usual market items
also in walking distanc e." Serious expressions of interest -
space is limited and anyone interested needs to have a valid passport
and a visa soon -- may be directed to Lash at president@usgo.org
12
MEET THE CHALLENGE: Twelve of the 50 participants in the
2005-2006 Shodan Challenge officially achieved their goals before the
2006 Go Congress, report Coordinators Laura Kolb and Lee Huynh.
Reaching 1 dan: Matthew Bengston, Phil Britt, Chance Reimer, James
Wu; 5 kyu: Jonathan Hop, Lee Huynh, Laura Kolb, Daniel Poore; 10 kyu:
Calvin Clark, Terry McIntyre, Sean Reeves; 20 kyu: Nelson Herber. In
addition, the official ratings of many other participants showed
improvement. "Thanks to all who participated, and
congratulations on all their hard work," said Kolb and Huynh.
Stay tuned for more information on this coming year's Shodan
Challenge.
US OPEN CROSSGRID POSTED: Want to see how
friends and opponents fared in the 2006 US Open? The Congress web
page at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.html
now contains links to the complete US Open crossgrid, the Ing Cup
crossgrid and the winners list, as well as three photo slide shows.
PENN GO SOCIETY TOPS 1ST CLUB TEAM TOURNEY: The
first-ever Club Team Tournament at the US Go Congress drew 18 teams,
reports organizer and TD Hal Small. The next club team tournament at
next year's Congress will be open to any club, world-wide, that can
field at least one 3-member team.
WINNER'S
REPORT: First place: Penn Go Society (Matt Bengston 1d, Peter
Nassar 5k, Rachel Small 11k); Second place: Feng Yun Go Club (Jason
Gu 6d, Jack Yang 5d, Lionel Zhang 5d).
GO
SEIGEN PIC TO SCREEN IN NYC: Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang's
long-awaited biopic of Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan) -- The Go Master --
will hold its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, which
runs Sept. 29 - Oct. 15. "The Go Master is based on the
true-life story of the world's most renowned master of the ancient
Asian game of Go, Wu Qingyuan," reports indiewire.com "A
Chinese prodigy practicing a Japanese game, Wu's allegiances are torn
by the increasingly bellicose relations between the two countries.
Remaining in Japan in spite of the outbreak of war, and later, sucked
into a religious cult which tries to exploit his celebrity, Wu
(excellently played by Chang Chen) is the still center of the storm,
following his own inner notions of spiritual integrity and loyalty to
the discipline of his chosen vocation. Few filmmakers today can make
movies as visually elegant and psychologicall y astute as Tian
Zhuangzhuang." Festival schedule and ticket information will be
available online on Sunday, September 10th at
http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/nyff.htm
ONLINE
PANDANET CUP UNDERWAY: The 11th edition of the Worldwide Internet
Amateur Go Tournament -- the "PANDANET Cup" - is now
underway. Players can participate this year in either the Main
Championship or in smaller groups open to players within a specific
rank range (eg. 10 kyu - 5 kyu). Participation is free; check out the
details at http://www.pandanet.co.jp/event/iwag2006/e/
KO
GUENTAE WINS CHINA-KOREA TENGEN: Ko Guentae 5P of Korea has
defeated Gu Li 9P of China 3-2 in the match between the Chinese
Tianyuan and the Korean Chunwon title holders. Gu, currently the
number one player in China, won the first game by 7.5 points, but Ko
came back to take the next two by resignation and gain the
international title. Ko just turned twenty this year. Last year's
Chunwon and the international dual event title are the only titles he
has won so far. Ko also won his first round game in the World Oza
(see below), defeating Luo Xihe 9P of China by a mere half point. In
the tournament for this year's Korean Chunwon title Ko lost in the
first round to Heo Yeongho 5P back in June.
REPORT FROM
THE ISLE OF MAN: The annual Isle of Man go week is one of the
best-known go events in the British Isles, combining an attractive
vacation opportunity with the chance for a lot of go. There were 47
participants in the main tournament this year, with two players going
undefeated through the five rounds: Piers Shepperson 5d of London and
Ingrid Jendrzjewski 14k of Cambridge. Four-game winners were awarded
a wooden go stone and included Simon Billouet 3d and Anne Dicky 1k,
both from France, along with Edmund Stephen-Smith 3k of Epsom, Edwina
Lee 4k of Maidenhead, Ron Bell 5k of Reading, Wim Verstegen 5d from
the Netherlands, and Jenny Radcliffe 9k of Durham. The afternoon
tournament, with 33 players, was won by Matthew Cocke 5d of York, who
defeated William Brooks 2d of Cambridge in the final. There were
several other tournaments as well--and a sand castle competition won
by Charlotte Be xfield.
AMERICANS LOSE, KOREANS WIN,
JAPANESE DEVASTATED IN FIRST ROUND OF WORLD OZA: Only three of
the ten Japanese players in the 3rd Toyota Denso World Oza survived
the first round, and two of them were paired against the North
American representatives: Hane Naoki 9P of Japan defeated Feng Yun 9P
from the US while Cho Sonjin 9P of Japan beat MingJiu Jiang 7P from
the US by 3.5 points. The third Japanese winner was Cho U 9P over
Zhou Heyang 9P of China. The three European representatives also lost
in the first round: Guo Juan 5P from the Netherlands losing to Peng
Quan 7P of China, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P of Russia losing to Lee
Changho 9P of Korea, and Iliya Shikshina 6d of Russia losing by 4.5
points to Yang Shihai 8P representing Hong Kong. The Taiwanese
representative Zhou Junxun 9P defeated the South American rep Fernand
Aquilar 6d by 2.5 points. Four of the seven Chinese advanced to the
second round, including Chang Hao 9P, who was the runner-up in the
first two editions of this event, and Gu Li 9P. All seven of the
Koreans were winners, including Lee Sedol 9P, last time's winner, and
Lee Changho 9P, who won the first World Oza. The odds seem to favor a
three-peat by the Koreans. First prize is about $250,000 US and a new
Lexus.
GIVING THANKS: Many thanks and deep appreciation
to Andrew Okun of LA and Hugh Albright of PA for donating their
collections of Go Worlds and go books to the E-Journal; the materials
will be used as contest and Challenge prizes.
YOUR MOVE:
Readers Write
OF MILLIGODS & KILOGODS: "T. Mark Hall
wrote 'and Sakata has now become a milligod with over 1000 games'
(GoGod Updated & Expanded 7/31 EJ)" writes Richard Dolen. "I
think instead of 'milligod' he should have used 'kilogod' to suggest
one-thousandfold rather than one-one thousandth. This is the standard
scientific convention, with Latin for fractions and Greek for
multiples. So it would be megagod for one million games, and not
microgod which would imply one-millionth of a game. This is why the
unit of beauty is the millihelen, defined as the amount of beauty
necessary to launch one ship."
JUST AROUND THE CORNER:
"Please tell Paul Glenn, author of 'My First Tournament' (7/31
EJ), about the Arthur G. Lewis Go Club," writes reader Jonathan.
"The club is located in Wheaton MD, the same place that Paul
Glenn lives." Find go clubs across the US online at
http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi
GO
CDS: Responding to Luigi De Santis' question about CDs that explain
go, Mike Malveaux notes that "utopian lists a Windows CD-ROM in
their online catalogue at
https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?product=ETGAE&category=Ein"
though he warns "I have never used it personally so I don't know
how good it is, but the AGA calls it a 'lively animated introduction'
at http://www.usgo.org/resources/computer.html#teaches"
GO
PODCASTS: "I've been watching for podcasts about go,"
writes Anton Ninno. "There are a few recorded by beginning go
players, but I haven't found any done by professionals or strong
amateurs. Maybe someday." Anton suggests checking out Game
Master 4: The Game of Go at
http://www.podcastpickle.com/casts/11696/#
THE TRAVELING BOARD: Go in Northern California
By
Lawrence Ku
California is a haven for
go players, both young and old. In Northern California, there are go
tournaments almost every month. The San Francisco Go Club and Palo
Alto Go Club jointly host four Bay Area tournaments every year. In
January, the Jujo Cup attracts about 80 people, including a few
professional players and many top amateur players. In March and
September, the San Francisco Go Club hosts the Spring and Fall
Tournaments, each with at least forty participants. In July, there is
the Northern California Open, also with a playing field above forty
players, most of which are dan level. The Sacramento/Davis Go Club
also hosts four smaller tournaments, one in each quarter of the year;
their tournaments usually get about 20 players. The ING Goe
Foundation also supports two youth tournaments, as well as a high
school team tournament. The two youth tournaments (Jujo Youth and ING
Youth) each attract more than 100 young enthusiasts, and with many pr
izes, have become the two most popular tournaments. The Northern
California High School Go Tournament has attracted more than 10 teams
for the last two years, demonstrating that this is a very effective
way to promote go and go clubs in high school. The Bay Area also
offers a wide variety of teachers, who are professionals and high
ranking amateurs. Mingjiu Jiang 7P teaches actively in go classes
online and at workshops. Several high-ranking amateurs such as Joey
Hung and Joe Lee also call the Bay Area home. Besides teachers,
Northern California also has many dedicated volunteers who not only
organize and direct tournaments but also play teaching games
regularly, including Ernest Brown, Steve Burrall, Reid Augustin, and
Michael Bull. The Bay Area is home to more than a dozen go clubs,
including several large go clubs, such as the San Francisco Go Club,
the Sacramento/Davis Go Club, the Palo Alto Go Club, the San Jose Go
Club, and the Berkeley Go Club. The San Francisco Go Club - one of
the oldest clubs in the country -- is unique in that members can meet
every day of the week; The Berkeley Go Club meets Friday through
Sunday. In addition to city clubs, many high schools also have go
clubs. And more than 10 Chinese schools in the Bay Area offer
beginners' go classes to students every weekend. Given the Bay Area's
wide variety of go tournaments, teachers, and clubs, serious students
of the game may want to seriously consider relocating there.
Ku
is the E-Journal's West Coast correspondent
GO
CLASSIFIED
PLAYERS WANTED (Ft Myers FL): Seeking go
players of all levels in the Ft. Myers, FL area interested in
starting a go club. Contact me at 239-543-7823 or my yahoo email,
kentsecor@yahoo.com (8/28)
PLAYERS WANTED (Las Cruces NM): Go
in Las Cruces, New Mexico? Contact Peter Shotwell, who has just moved
there, at pshotwell@gmail.com (8/28)
FOR SALE: 1) Complete set
of old 4.5mm Japanese shell and slate go stones with some natural
yellowing and a few minor chips; $100 plus $10 shp. 2) Nice old
half-inch folding go board in original box. Wood unknown. $30 plus
$15 shp. DISCOUNT: Both items for $120 plus $20 shp. Pay by U.S.
postal money order. Inquire by private email to Anton Ninno at
antonninno@yahoo.com (8/21)
WANTED TO BUY: I am interested in
buying a copy of the 1982 movie "The Go Masters," original
title "Mikan no Taikyoku," with English subtitles. I think
there was a VHS-version released that included English subtitles;
pretty sure there was no DVD. Contact abc@glowwormpub.com
(8/21)
PLAYERS WANTED (Gallup NM): Looking for go players in
the Gallup, New Mexico area. There are a bunch of chess players but
they turn blank at the mention of our beloved game. Lee
Frankel-Goldwatermirage7i8@gmail.com (8/21)
SELL IT, BUY IT OR
TRADE IT HERE with over 8,000 go-players worldwide! Classified ads
are FREE and run for 4 weeks; email your ad to us now at
journal@usgo.org
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Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor:
Bill Cobb
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