American Go E-Journal » 2013 » January

Zhaonian Chen Wins Gotham Open as Tournament Go Returns to Big Apple

Saturday January 12, 2013

Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 7D (right) won the Gotham Go Tournament January 12, topping a capacity crowd that filled the Soho Room at the historic Hostelling International New York on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Chen’s 4-0 sweep earned him the $300 top prize and included a convincing win over Andy Liu 1P (left) in the second round. Liu took second place and Kim Dae Yol was third in the open section. The field included a healthy mix of new players and “old-timers” who were happy to see tournament go returning to the New York go scene after a multi-year drought. The tournament drew from as far away as Washington, with DC organizer Haskell Small 2D making the journey up to play, and as near as 106th Street, as former AGA President Roy Laird 3K walked over to join the festivities. The American Go E-Journal’s Chris Garlock and John Pinkerton broadcast top-board games (see links below) on KGS with live commentaries by Gansheng Shi 1P — who also did live audio commentary, which was very well-received by nearly 200 players — as well as Hugh Zhang.

Tournament organizer Peter Armenia — who even got a round in himself — pronounced himself “pleasantly surprised and very pleased” at the turnout, which included a half-dozen top-ranked players. “Thanks to everyone for coming out,” Armenia added, “we hope to make this a regular event, so stay tuned!” Matthew Hershberger directed the 4-round tournament.

Other section winners were: 3D-1D: Willis Huang 3D; 1K-4K: Todd Blatt 1K; 5K-9K: Gino Choung 5K; 10K+: Yuga Suzuki 12K. Look for complete results to be posted soon.

Round 1, Board 1: Chen-Kim
Round 1, Board 2: Lee-Hong
Round 2, Board 1: Liu-Chen
Round 3, Board 1: Lee-Chen
Round 3, Board 1 (Lee-Chen) Commentary by Gansheng Shi 1P
Round 3, Board 2: Liu-Creeks
Round 4, Board 1: Chen-Lockhart
Round 4, Board 2: Liu-Lee

photo by John Pinkerton

Categories: U.S./North America

Tourney/Event Updates: Live From Gotham; Berlekamp Confirmed for ACGA Spring Go Expo; Save $10 on Jujo Ing Cup Registration

Friday January 11, 2013

Live From Gotham: With 64 players — including six 7-dans –registered, this Saturday’s Gotham Go Tournament has maxed out, reports organizer Peter Armenia, “due to space and equipment limitations.” However, you can follow the top-board action live on KGS starting at 10a EST, as the E-Journal broadcasts games with commentary by pros and top players, including Gansheng Shi 1P, Justin Teng and Hugh Zhang. Players will be competing for cash prizes and books from Slate and Shell.

Berlekamp Confirmed for ACGA Spring Go Expo: Dr. Elwyn Berlekamp, co-author of ‘Mathematical Go’, has been confirmed as a featured speaker at the upcoming ACGA Spring Go Expo, which has now officially begun registration. More speakers and the expo schedule will be confirmed in the next couple weeks, reports organizer Cole Pruitt. “Because another event (the Penny Arcade Expo) will be held in Boston at the same time, March 23-24, hotel space is already filling up quickly, so we’re recommending that anyone interested in attending sign up now,” Pruitt urges.

Save $10 on Jujo Ing Cup Registration: Pre-register for the January 26 Jujo Ing Cup on-line for a $10 discount. The one-day, 4-round tournament is sponsored by Ing’s Goe Foundation of California and organized by the Bay Area Go Players Association. Forty players of all levels and ages from the Jiang Zhu Jiu Goe School in Shangahi are expected to attend, led by Yu Bin 9P, former Fujitsu Title holder and Jiang Zhu Jiu 9P, competing for $3000 in prizes.

Categories: U.S./North America

EuroGoTV: January 10th

Thursday January 10, 2013

Bergen Winter Cup: The Bergen Winter Cup played, from 01/05-06 in Bergen, Norway, was won by Antti Tormanen 6d, second was Heming Hanevik 1d, and third was Paal Sannes 4d… Torneo della Befana 2013: The Torneo della Befana 2013, played on 01/05 in Milano, Italy, was won by Francesco Marigo 4d, second was Isamu Oka 3k and third was Paolo Montrasio 1k… 463 Velika Gorica weekend-go-tournament: The 463 Velika Gorica weekend-go-tournament, played on the 01/05 in Velika Gorica, Croatia, was won by Mladen Smud 1k, second was Robert Jovicic 2k and third was Nikola Primetica 4k… La Carboneria: The La Carboneria, played on 12/29 in Sevilla, Spain, was won by Jose-Manuel Vega 2k, second was Fran Garcia 9k and third was Francisco Carretero 6k…
- adapted from EuroGoTV, which includes winner reports, crosstabs, game records and photos. Edited by Taylor Litteral

Categories: Europe

Players Sought for Brunei Friendship Cup Qualifiers

Thursday January 10, 2013

“This February, the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) is looking to renew its relations with Brunei, Malaysia, and Canada in a reinstallment of the Brunei Friendship Cup,” reports event organizer Andrew Huang 6d. “This tournament, aimed at go players in high school and younger, gives all players, regardless of strength, an opportunity to represent the United States in an international and friendly competition.” A qualification tournament to pick the national team will be held on February 9-10, with the Brunei Friendship Cup set to take place on February 16. Players of all ranks and pair go participants are needed. For more information and registration, please visit the AGHS site, to register go here.
- Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo from xinwengolife.wordpress.com.

Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth

USYGC Deadline Jan. 13

Wednesday January 9, 2013

There are just a few days left to register for the US Youth Go Championships, which will be held Jan. 19th on KGS. All AGA members who are under 18, and live in the US are eligible, and there will be prizes awarded every five ranks. The top winners in the under 12 and under 18 brackets will receive a free trip to the US Go Congress! Winners in all bands will receive a beautiful etched glass trophy, 2nd place in each bracket gets a Sai plushie. Everyone who enters will be eligible for AGF scholarships to either the AGA Go Camp or the US Go Congress, first come first served. The scholarships are worth $400 at camp, or $200 at congress. You may enter at a rank higher than your official AGA rank, but may not enter at a lower one. The registration deadline is Sunday, January 13th. To register, e-mail youth@usgo.org with your name, rank, birthday, AGA ID, KGS ID, and citizenship. - Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

Categories: U.S./North America,Youth

Myungwan Kim 9P to Comment Bailing Cup Live on Tygem This Weds & Fri

Tuesday January 8, 2013

The next in Tygem’s series of live world championship commentaries by Myungwan Kim 9P will be this Wednesday and Friday as Zhou Ruiyang 5P and Chen Yaoye 9P vie for the inaugural Bailing Cup, the go world’s newest international title. Game One of the best-of-five series will start at 5:30p Pacific Standard Time (8:30p EST) on Wednesday (9:30 a.m. in Shanghai, where the games will take place.) Game 2 will be two days later at the same time. Kim’s live commentary can be seen on Tygem’s World Server, which organizers promise “will not have any crowding problems.” Chen (right) is one of the strongest go players in the world and is currently number one in China. He plays very well in domestic tournaments but has not had success in world championship games, so this final will be a big chance for him to make his mark on the world stage. Chen showed his talent when he became pro at the age of ten and earned the rank of 9P at just 17. He is also in the finals of the Chunlan Cup, where he’ll play Lee Sedol for that title. Zhou (left), meanwhile, was number one in China for most of 2011 but like Chen has not yet won a world championship. Even though Chen has a slight edge over Zhou, this match will be an interesting for fans. They both are very strong and their styles are totally different. Chen’s game is conservative and defensive while Zhou’s style is aggressive and offensive, a match of sword against shield.
- reported by James Kim

Categories: Game Commentaries,U.S./North America,World

This Week’s Go Calendar: New York and San Diego

Monday January 7, 2013

January 12: New York, NY
Gotham Go Tournament
Peter Armenia peter@peterarmenia.com 919-416-3773

January 12: San Diego, CA
Second Annual San Diego Go Championship
Ted Terpstra ted.terpstra@gmail.com 619-384-3454

Get the latest go events information.

Categories: Calendar

China Fields Strong Players at N.A. Go Convention

Sunday January 6, 2013

The N.A. Go Convention next month is attracting players from as far away as China, reports organizer Edward Zhang. “At least half a dozen Chinese players with strengths equivalent to AGA 6 dan and higher have registered in the past week,” says Zhang. They include Ruxu Cao (right), who won third place in the 2011 World Mind Sports Games amateur division, and Zhiyao Li, Heilongjiang Province Youth Go champion in 2004 and 2007. Click here to see who’s coming. Team spirit is also a big part of the Convention, which uses a “team score” measure similar to the Cotsen Open’s, in which individual player wins contribute to their team’s overall score as they compete for a $1,000 team prize in addition to individual awards and prizes. “Players don’t need to be all strong players, and they just need to do well in their own divisions,” Zhang explains. Though most teams will likely be made up of players from the same area/city, that’s not required. “All you need to do now is to find seven players and get them pre-registered, “ added Zhang. “You can come up with a team name later.”

Categories: N.A. Go Convention,U.S./North America

Your Move/Readers Write: Programmers Advocating Go

Sunday January 6, 2013

“Recently I’ve discovered some information about programmers advocating go to their peers,” writes Steve Colburn, an IT professional and go organizer in Rochester, NY who’s also on the AGA website and EJ team. “The first one is a video from the Game Developers Conference in which Frank Lantz from the NYU Game Center gives a talk about Life and Death and Middle Pair: Go, Poker, and the Sublime (reported in the 10/30 EJ). The second part is part of the Clojure community. The head of the community Rich Hickey advocates the playing of go to people who code in this language. I know of a few active Clojure programmers (Eidogo and IGS programmers) who are all go players. At this year’s Clojure Conj, Zach Tellman gave a talk about Playing Go with Clojure right before the keynote. It’s great to hear go being publicized like this to our peers and those who do not know about go.”

Categories: YOUR MOVE: Readers Write

Ing Backs Out of USYGC

Saturday January 5, 2013

In a surprise move, the Ing Chang-Ki Goe Foundation, sponsors of the World Youth Goe Championships (WYGC), have decided to hold their own qualification process, instead of accepting the US Youth Champion as their representative to the WYGC. “After a long and serious consideration,” writes Executive Secretary Yang Yu-Chia, ”[we] would like to inform you that the selection process of World Youth Goe Championships in North America will be conducted by the Foundation and its liaison office in Menlo Park, California, with the hope that we can expand our influence of promotions for the youth there in the future.” No further reason was given. AGA President Andy Okun, in a formal response, stated that “The AGA’s practice is to support nearly all go activities in the US, regardless of who organizes them. For the most part, we welcome the Ing Foundation doing activities on its own. However, regarding international representation, this is one area where we do care who does what in the US. While the Ing Foundation is a private group, and may choose to invite whomever they like to their events, it should be made clear that if the Foundation selects an American player for the WYGC without AGA involvement and endorsement, that player cannot be called the US representative.” The AGA Board moved swiftly in approving a new set of prizes for the USYGC, which will still be held on Jan. 19th, and will select the AGA’s national champions. The winner of the top sections, in both age divisions, will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the US Go Congress. All other brackets will also still receive their national titles, as well as etched crystal trophies. Everyone who enters will also be eligible for AGF Scholarships to the AGA Go Camp, or the US Go Congress, first-come first-serve.. - Paul Barchilon, E.J. Youth Editor.

Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth

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