News from the American Go Association

November 6, 2006
Volume 7, #95

LUI & KIM MAKE TOP 10 IN KOREAN TOURNEYS
LIU & LOCKHART RULE IN NYC IWAMOTO TOURNEY
YANG WORKSHOP ENERGIZES PARTICIPANTS
THE CHESS-GO CONTINUUM
KISEIDO OFFERS SALE ON GO EQUIPMENT
FENG YUN KIDS' WORKSHOP SET
US YOUTH GO CHAMPIONSHIP GEARING UP
GO STAMP SHOW NOT LICKED YET
TAKAO TAKES MEIJIN FROM CHO U
KOBAYASHI SATORU TO CHALLENGE FOR KISEI
YASHIRO HOLDS ONTO WOMEN'S HONINBO
YOUR MOVE: Finding Yang
CORRECTIONS: Lu Wang's Real Cotsen Loss; Wrong Year, Same Winner
THE TRAVELING BOARD: LA Go Clubs (Korean)
GO CLASSIFIED
CALENDAR

LUI & KIM MAKE TOP 10 IN KOREAN TOURNEYS: Eric Lui 7d and Dae Yol Kim 7d, the US representatives to a major new international amateur go event in Korea, finished in the top 10 in two of the event's tournaments. Lui finished 9th in the 1st Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championships (KPMC), held October 22-25 in Korea, while Dae Yol Kim 7d took 7th in the Korean Amateur Baduk Association (KABA) Cup, held during the same overall event. Dong Ha Woo 7d of Korea took first place in the KPMC and Young-Woon Park 5d of Korea won the KABA Cup. Other US players in the KABA Cup were Matthew Burrall 5d, who's been studying in Korea, who placed 21st (4-4), while Lester Waller 4k placed 51st (4-4). Players from 70 countries on five continents took part in the huge event, held in Jeonju City, considered the "Mecca of Baduk", and the hometown of Lee Chang Ho. The event was organized in large part to celeb rate KABA becoming an official member of the Korean Sports Association, which organizers say heralds a new era for go as a sport in Korea, where the game is already wildly popular among millions of players. Lui, 5-3, lost to Hsien-Hsu CHEN 7d (Taiwan), defeated Kare JANTUNEN 3d (Finland) and Alexandre AMARO DE SOUZA 5d (Brazil), lost to Satoshi HIRAOKA 8d (Japan), defeated Gert SCHNIDER 5d (Austria), Ondrej SILT 6d (Czech) and Felix VON ARNIM 6d (Germany), and lost the final round to tournament winner Dong Ha WOO 7d (Korea). Kim, 5-3, defeated Chong-Il RIM 5d (Korea), lost to 2nd-place winner Sang-Jun KIM 7d (Korea), beat Yong Gap OH 4d (Philippines), Chang-Hwa LEE 4d (Korea) and Moon-Duk HAN 7d (Korea), lost to tourney winner Young-Woon PARK 5d (Korea) and Dong-Geun KIM 6d (Korea), and defeated Ooi-Sung LEE 3d (Korea) in the final round. Complete results are at http://www.intgofed.org/events/kpmc/

LIU & LOCKHART RULE IN NYC IWAMOTO TOURNEY: Xiliang Liu 7d and Will Lockhart 2d took top honors on Sunday at the New York Go Center's Iwamoto Memorial Tournament, sponsored by Toyota North America. Saul Lapidus 1d, Yang Xu 2d, Benjamin Lockhart 2d, Edward Galliard 3k, Marshall Powers 5k, Thomas Fiorillo 19k, Goce Janceski 22k and Edric Huang 13k also won prizes. Directed by Paul Matthews, the field included 38 participants. The AccelRat pairing system used results from each round to pair players according to their actual strength. Matthews employed the "bonus overtime" system (also known as Fischer overtime), which was new to many participants. Each player began with only ten minutes, but earned twenty seconds for each move, so that players who finish quickly often wind up with twice as much time on their clock as when they began. The tournament was the first of a series of efforts to revive the club, w here several recent changes have occurred. Newly-elected NYGC President Paul Anderson told participants, "My friend Mr. Iwamoto intended this to be a place for go players from all cultures to come together, not only a place to play go, but a place of cultural understanding. We want to make Mr. Iwamoto's dream a reality."
- reported by Roy Laird 3k

YANG WORKSHOP ENERGIZES PARTICIPANTS: More than twenty go players participated in Yilun Yang 7P's workshop this past week in Lancaster, PA. The four-day session was sponsored by the Lancaster Go Club and directed by Chuck Robbins and Sam Zimmerman. Player strength ranged from 5d to double-digit kyus, providing Mr. Yang with an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to teach such mixed groups in a way that is both helpful and enjoyable to everyone. The workshop followed the usual daily pattern of three lectures with practice games and game analysis. Saturday evening was devoted to a series of simultaneous games between Mr. Yang and pairs of attendees. Participants were impressed that Mr. Yang remembered all the games, while the players had to make game records. In a change from past workshops, the homework problems were endgame problems this time rather than the usual life and death problems. Everyone departed energized and determined to study harder.
- reported by Bill Cobb 5k

THE CHESS-GO CONTINUUM: "Can a book on the game of Go interest chess players?" wonders Chess Life magazine. "'The Chess Artist' author J.C. Hallman makes a compelling case" in his look at "The Chess-Go Continuum" in the magazine's October issue (pp 38-39). Hallman uses Kawabata's "The Master of Go" as a prism through which to examine the links and parallels between the chess and go worlds. "Just as Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, in 'The Chess Players,' used faster chess pieces as a metaphor for British imperialism, so did the sealed move in The Master of Go, an emblem of Western chess, help to finish off the world of traditional Go," Hallman notes. Read the whole article online at http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/magazine_124_125.php

KISEIDO OFFERS SALE ON GO EQUIPMENT: Kiseido is having a special Christmas sale of high-quality go equipment. Prices have been drastically reduced for some selected boards, shell and slate stones and bowls by up to 50%. To see what is available and to order, go to http://www.kiseido.com/go_equipmentsale.htm

FENG YUN KIDS' WORKSHOP SET: Feng Yun 9P is organizing a holiday go workshop for kids at The Woodlands in Round Top, New York. The workshop will take place between Christmas and New Year's, beginning with registration at 11:30A on Tuesday December 26 and ending Friday, December 29 at noon. The program include go lectures, rate tournament games, playing and go-related events. Teaching games and a variety of intensive training will be provided during the camp period. Click here for more details: http://brooklyngoclub.org/gc/cgi-bin/disp_topic.iphtml?topic_id=323

US YOUTH GO CHAMPIONSHIP GEARING UP: Kids around the nation are getting excited about the chance to represent the US at the next World Youth Go Championships. The American Go Association has set the stage with new qualifying tournaments, which will be held in multiple locations from January to April 2007. There will be two age groups, under-12 and 12-17 inclusive. The winners from each qualifier (16 in total) will compete in person at the finals, which are scheduled for May at a venue to be decided. Winners of the regional events will have their expenses paid to the finals. Win or lose, there is another prize just for competing: the American Go Foundation will provide each finalist with a $400 scholarship to the AGA summer camp of their choice. In order to compete, kids must be AGA members by December of this year. AGA President Mike Lash calls the program "a major new initiative for the AGA as we establi sh, and support, a permanent, national program directed at bringing out the best in the go-playing youth population." So far, six chapters have volunteered to host a qualifier: Feng Yun's Go School in Piscataway NJ; the Univ. of PA Go Club in Philadelphia, PA; the Evanston Go Club in Chicago IL; the Boulder Kids Club in Boulder, CO, and the San Francisco Go Club in SF, CA. The Tacoma Go Club is joining forces with the Seattle Go center for the qualifier in WA. Two more host cities are still being sought, preferably in the southern states. Chapters willing to host an event should contact Nicole Casanta at nicole@seraphine.us

GO STAMP SHOW NOT LICKED YET: Les Lanphear III is once again exhibiting his thematic stamp exhibit "Go: Its Culture and History Throughout the Ages". Since it was last shown six new items showing the game of go have been added. This includes items from China, Macau, and North Korea. The exhibit can be seen in Brussels from November 16 to 20 at a show called Belgica 2006. The show will be at the International Convention and Exhibition Center Heysel. This exhibit - a different way of describing the game and history of go --has been shown since 1989 both nationally and internationally.

TAKAO TAKES MEIJIN FROM CHO U: Takao Shinji 9P and current Honinbo defeated Cho U 9P by 3.5 points in the decisive Game Five of the Meijin title match to take the title from Cho by a score of 4-2. Takao becomes just the sixth player in Japanese history to hold both the Honinbo and Meijin titles at the same time. The other six are Sakata Eio 9P, Rin Kaiho 9P, Ishida Yoshio 9P, Cho Chikun 9P, and Cho U 9P. Three of Takao's victories were by 0.5, 0.5, and 3.5 points, so the margin of victory was small, though the consequences are quite large. This is the second of the top seven titles for Takao. He won the Honinbo in 2005 and successfully defended it against Cho U last year. Cho still holds two of the top seven, the Oza and the Gosei. Cho is playing in the challengers' league of the Honinbo and may get a chance for a rematch for that title.

KOBAYASHI SATORU TO CHALLENGE FOR KISEI: Kobayashi Satoru 9P defeated Hane Naoki 9P in the playoff between the winners of the two challenger leagues in the Japanese Kisei to gain the opportunity to challenge Yamashita Keigo 9P for the title. Both Kobayashi and Hane are former holders of the Kisei title. The current title holder, Yamashita, first won this title in 2003 and then lost it to Hane in 2004. Yamashita took it back from Hane two years later. Kobayashi won the title in 1995 and lost it the next year to Cho Chikun 9P. Kobayashi then was the unsuccessful challenger for the next two years. Yamashita is in the finals to be the challenger for the Judan and is currently challenging for the Tengen against Kono Rin 9P. In the latter match, Yamashita has just lost the first game by 3.5 points.

YASHIRO HOLDS ONTO WOMEN'S HONINBO: Although Yashiro Kumiko 5P lost the first game of the title match to challenger Inori Yoko 5P by 3.5 points, she took the next three games to hold on to her Women's Honinbo title in Japan for a second year. Pictures and career highlights for Yashiro are at http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?name=Yashiro Kumiko . Yashiro also just won her first round game in the challengers' tournament for the Women's Kisei, defeating Kobayashi Izumi 6D, currently holder of the Strongest Woman title.

YOUR MOVE: Readers Write

FINDING YANG: "Is a game record of Yilun Yang 7P's game against Chang Hao 9P available?" wonders Jonathan Bresler. The game - which was played 10/29 at the Cotsen Open - is available online at http://www.usgo.org/news/ (on the right, under the photos), as are all the Cotsen Board 1 games.

CORRECTIONS

LU WANG'S REAL COTSEN LOSS: Lu Wang 8d did not play 2006 Cotsen Open winner J Jeong (Jong Il Jeong Upsets Li In Cotsen 10/30 EJ); the game Wang lost was to fifth place winner Soo Ihl Ha. We regret the error.

WRONG YEAR, SAME WINNER: We mistakenly reported the result of the 2005 Brussels, Belgium tournament - instead of 2006 -- in last Monday's E-Journal (Cho Seok-Bin On A Roll In Euro Tour 10/30 EJ). Cho Seok-Bin 7d, the Korean who lives in Germany, did win this year as well, but Jan Ramon 4d of Belgium took second, losing only to the third place player, Ng Say Goon 6d, who is also from Belgium. Ng lost only to Cho and to fourth place Ondrej Silt 6d of Czechia. Jan was not paired against Cho. For the complete 2006 results, see http://www.gofed.be/tournament/results/show.php?tournament=bxl-2006

THE TRAVELING BOARD: LA Go Clubs (Korean)
By Chris Garlock 2d
      Barreling down yet another LA freeway, Kang Hong Ku was at the wheel of my rental car, slipping in and out of traffic at seventy miles an hour. Trying to keep from visibly flinching every time Kang rode up on the tail of the car ahead, I made conversation with him while Chuck Robbins stretched out in the backseat, eyes squeezed shut and ears covered securely with his new noise-canceling Bose headphones.
       I was in LA to cover the October 28-29 Cotsen Open for the E-Journal and had come in early to check out the fabled LA go scene, after studying longtime local organizer - and former AGA Board member -- Larry Gross' helpful listing of some two dozen clubs. On Thursday, I'd gone to Gary Choi's Los Angeles Go Club, where I met Mr Choi and renewed my acquaintance with Jong Il Jeong 8d, the only player to defeat last year's Cotsen Open champion Jie Li 9d (and, as it would turn out, the eventual winner of the 2006 Open, but that's already been reported).
      The venerable LA Go Club, above a Korean bakery on Western Avenue in one of the city's ubiquitous strip malls, has been around for 20 years and is open daily from 10 in the morning until 10 in the evening. Choi, an AGA 6d who's been playing for nearly half a century, has managed the club for the last fifteen years. Though attendance has dropped in recent years - Choi says there are fewer Korean immigrants and more players online these days - Choi says he's not worried. "The game has lasted thousands of years, it'll survive." The 28-board club is a classic Korean club populated by chain-smoking old men, ash growing long on forgotten cigarettes dangling from their fingers as they hunch over the board. The walls and light fixtures of the club are yellowed with nicotine the same golden color as the California sun filtering through the blinds onto a few dusty plants on the windowsill and the go boards. Anyone's welcome to show up anytime and pla y all day for just $8 ($6 for 65 and older).
       After the LA Go Club, on my way to dinner with Larry Gross, I'd stopped by the California International Go Association, another Korean club not far away. The small office building on Hobart Boulevard was populated with mysterious-sounding tenants, and I climbed a malodorous stairway to find Suite #303 locked up tight as a drum with a small sign on the door now reading "New Morning Church." If this was still a go club, it had gone under very deep cover, indeed.
       Friday, I picked up Cotsen TD Chuck Robbins at the airport and we went looking for go clubs in Garden Grove, a small city just south of Los Angeles in Orange County. The first one, the Korea Baduk club, was long gone, an empty storefront in a strip mall with a few boxes gathering dust behind grimy windows. But a mile and a half down the road we found the Korean Go Club around back of yet another strip mall, two deserted rows of gleaming two-inch boards leading back to a somnolent figure stretched out on a couch that had seen better days. After his initial wariness was eased with the gift of a copy of the American Go Yearbook, Kang Hong Ku introduced himself and played a mercifully short game with my sleep-deprived associate who went down fighting. The club is open daily from 11A until midnight and, as with all the Korean clubs, is busiest on the weekends. An interesting side-note - and an anomaly for Korean go clubs -- is that this is a non-smoking go club. Playing fees are the standard $8/day.
      Our bona fides as go adventurers established, Kang sketched a rudimentary map to another go club and then - seeing the doubtful look on my face -- decided to take us there himself, commandeering my rental car for the 40-minute freeway slalom through bumper-to-bumper Friday afternoon traffic to the new Seoul Go Club in downtown LA. Another Korean strip mall, this one on Olympic Boulevard, another go club, this one just opened earlier this year and recently acquired by Jay Kim, a near-pro-level 6d who's run clubs in Chicago and in Cardena, CA. This was the busiest club of the three, with more than twenty intent players, some in their mid-twenties. "Go is not hard," Kim, who's been playing 35 years, said, "It's just a game."
       While Chuck took a nap in the back room - next to the mahjong players - I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and playing with Mr Kim, taking photos and watching two of the club's strongest players play game after game. Without exception, the club managers at all three Korean go clubs made a point of welcoming all players, although obviously their primary clientele are their Korean regulars. And while the smoking at two of the three clubs may be a deterrent for some players, the amazing strength of the players must be counted strongly in the club's favor. Most of the players are at least American shodans; also, be sure to take into account a 4-5 stone variance between American and Korean ranks (e.g. an American 2d is probably about 2-3 kyu - or 'gup' -- Korean).
       Three down, 23 to go. Next year, I'll have to stay at least a week.
       For an online listing on California go clubs, click on http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi?state=CA#listing
       Larry Gross -- le144@sbcglobal.net - maintains a list of LA-area go clubs.
       The three go clubs I visited: the Los Angeles Go Club, 740 S. Western Ave #210, Los Angeles, CA 90005, 213-386-5626 Open daily 11-11; contact Gary Choi; the Korean Go Club, 9738 Garden Grove Blvd, Suite #6, Garden Grove, CA 92944, 714-638-1528, open daily 11A-midnight; the Seoul Go Club, 2528 W. Olympic Bl. #209, Los Angeles, CA 90006, 213-252-2298;
open daily 10:30A-11P; contact Jay Kim.

GO CLASSIFIED
Locate go clubs worldwide at http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi

CLUB HOME WANTED: Imperial Beach, CA: Looking for a location to start a community club around the South Bay San Diego Area. Looking for people around same area to play. E-mail Josh Moore at goapprentice007@yahoo.com (11/6)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: In NC, around the Thomasville area. We currently hold a small meeting every Tuesday night at the Thomasville Library, 5-8 PM. About six members so far. Call (336) 474-7633 for more info, or email flaresolther@hotmail.com (11/6)

PLAYERS WANTED: Montgomery,AL looking for players in Montgomery, and Wetumpka, Alabama so I can start a Montgomery/Wetumpka go. e-mail kooler_2006@yahoo.com (11/6)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Go players in the Lake Tahoe (NV) area. Contact Fred Hopkins cfredhop@msn.com or call 916-548-8068 about forming a club. (10/6)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: Monument, CO: Looking for go players in the Monument, CO area. I know of no one that plays around here. Please contact me at go_player_137@yahoo.com. Any strength whatsoever. (10/2)

GO PLAYERS WANTED: SW Portland/Beaverton: Ages 10-18 who would be interested in starting a youth go club. Contact Andrew Peterson at tigerboy@integrity.com (10/2)

PLAYERS WANTED: Southfield, MI. I have been fascinated by go for years, am anxious to learn more. Looking for players in my area. Am probably a high kyu player, with no rating. Please respond to David at dkobakofm@gmail.com (10/2)

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

CALENDAR
Complete & up-to-date events listings online at http://www.usgo.org/usa/calendar.html

November 8, 2006: Tempe, AZ
Arizona Rating Tournament
W Gundberg wgundberg@telliercompanies.com 480.429.0300

November 11, 2006: Tacoma, WA
Tacoma Autumn Tournament
http://www.tacomagoclub.org/tournament
Mike Malveaux mikem@hilltopgo.com 253.906.0095
Gordon Castanza gcastanza@comcast.net 253.732.0874

November 11-12, 2006: San Francisco, CA
2006 Dote Memorial SF Go Club Fall tournament
November 11-12
Steve Burrall sburrall@comcast.net 916.688.2858
Steven.Burrall@kp.org

November 11, 2006: Anchorage, AK
1st Ak Baduk Tournament
Ms Oh eddieballgame@yahoo.com 207.244.2346
Baduk Club 207.868.3302

November 11, 2006: Tempe, AZ
Arizona Rating Tournament
W Gundberg wgundberg@telliercompanies.com 480.429.0300

November 11, 2006: Anchorage, AK
1st Alaska Baduk Tournament
correction to area code, is 907 not 207
Ms Oh eddieballgame@yahoo.com 907.244.2346
907.868.3302

November 12, 2006: Catonsville, MD
UMBC Go Club's Semi-Annual Tournament
First tournament at UMBC
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~benj1/
Todd Blatt todd3@umbc.edu 443.392.6822
John Hager hager2@umbc.edu 410.245.2049

November 12, 2006: Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor Fall Go Tournament
Jin Chen chenjin@umich.edu 313.643.2888

November 15, 2006: Tempe, AZ
Arizona Rating Tournament
W Gundberg wgundberg@telliercompanies.com 480.429.0300

November 18-19, 2006: College Park, MD
Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship
http://chapters.usgo.org/umd/MidAtlantic.html
Steve Mount go@outfoxing.com 301.405.6934
Ken Koester

November 18, 2006: Syracuse, NY
3rd Annual Fall Ratings Tournament
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/syracusegotournament/
Richard Moseson mosesons@earthlink.net 315.682.7720

November 18, 2006: Tempe, AZ
Arizona Go Rating Tournament
W Gundberg wgundberg@telliercompanies.com 480.429.0300

December 2, 2006: Hartford, CT
CCC Winter Go Tournament
Bill Fung cccgoclub@yahoo.com 860.906.7398

December 2, 2006: Denver, CO
Te wo Tsunaide '06
Pair Go Tournament
http://cyberpsychos.netonecom.net/PairGo
Jasmine Sailing jsailing@netonecom.net 303.388.4666

December 2, 2006: Piscataway, NJ
Feng Yun Go School monthly rated games (open to everyone)
Feng Yun Golesson@yahoo.com 973.992.5675

December 3, 2006: Seattle, WA
Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley jon@airsltd.com 206.545.1424

Published by the American Go Association
Managing Editor: Chris Garlock
Assistant Editor: Bill Cobb

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