Many chess players who discover go seem to leave chess behind, but notable Swedish grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Person , the author of “Tiger’s Modern,” finds go to be a nice complement to his enjoyment of chess. Persson recently started blogging at “Chess at the Bag of Cats,” where he has set up a go section. He writes: “I started out with Go in the beginning of 2011 and, after a rapid rise to about 9kyu, I’ve been gaining around 4kyu a year since then. I can really recommend chess players to do this for a number of reasons. First, if you are too tactically inclined a player, then by playing Go you will be forced to think about things like ‘structure’ and ‘plans’. Secondly, if you work as a coach, reliving the struggle of being a beginner at a difficult game (like Chess – or Go) will definitely improve your understanding of those you are coaching. Thirdly, there are few things that let you appreciate the ‘nature’ of what you have learned as a chess player. Learning Go will make it obvious that you know stuff that transcends the chess board.” -Roy Laird, with thanks to Michael Bacon for sending the link.
American Go E-Journal » Main Page
Chess Grandmaster Recommends Go to Chess Players
Sunday May 19, 2013
Janice Kim Workshop June 28
Sunday May 19, 2013
Go is returning to Hollyhock Center, in British Columbia, after more than a decade. Janice Kim 3P will lead a workshop at the popular learning center June 28 through July 3. The Hollyhock website says “Hollyhock was founded in 1983, and is Canada’s leading centre for lifelong learning, but you can also think of us as a ‘refuge for your soul’, a place that allows you access to what matters, or simply time to rest, play and achieve wellness.” Kim promises to “Increase your go skill through interactive lectures, small and large group exercises, game practice and analysis,” as well as help players “Develop critical thinking skills and improve their confidence while exploring effective and positive real world decision-making.” An award-winning author and professional 3-dan, Kim brings decades of experience to her acclaimed workshops; in 1984 she won the World Youth Go Championship, took second place in the 1985 Fuji Women’s Korean Go Champion and in 2008 she placed 4th in the World Poker Tour Bellagio Five Diamond Classic. She’s also been a contributor to the American Go E-Journal, most recently contributing commentary at the 2012 Sport Accord World Mind Sports Games in Beijing. To learn more, and to register for the workshop, click here.
Maryland Open and NAMT Qualifier May 25 & 26
Sunday May 19, 2013
EuroGoTV Updates: Madrid, Amsterdam, Austria
Saturday May 18, 2013
The XVI Torneo de Madrid wrapped up on May 5 with Seok-Bin Cho 8d (left) in first, followed by Lluis Oh 6d and Pau Carles 3d. One week later, Cho defeated Lukas Kraemer 5d at the 2013 Amsterdam International while Merlijn Kuin 6d came in third. Finishing the same day (May 12) was the Grazer Go Turnier Styrian Masters in Graz, Austria. There, Viktor Lin 4d came in first with Lothar Spiegel 4d in second and Martin Unger 3d in third. For complete result tables and all the latest European go news, visit EuroGoTV.com. -Annalia Linnan, photo from Eurogotv.com
Garlock Notches First 50 Miles in 200-Mile UK Walk
Friday May 17, 2013
“Five days and 50 miles in, we’ve just come out of England’s Lake District, some of the most breathtakingly gorgeous scenery I’ve ever been through and certainly the toughest I’ve ever walked, hiked and rock-climbed,” reports EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock, who’s walking the 200-mile Coast-to-Coast with his wife Lisa (as reported in the EJ on May 6th) and raising funds for the American Go Foundation (AGF). “We’re enjoying the walk and working hard — still another 150 miles to go! — just like the folks at the AGF, who do so much for American go.” Click here to make a contribution to the AGF. Photo at left by Lisa Garlock: At Hayeswater Tarn, with the Lake District in the background. At right, by Chris Garlock: “Great pub, terrifically creative food, but where’s the go? Hopefully our friends in the BGA will attend to this.”
Four American Pros Coming to Congress
Wednesday May 15, 2013
Myungwan Kim 9P, Yilun Yang 7P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P, and Jennie Shen 2p have confirmed they will be teaching at the US Go Congress in Tacoma this year. Co-Director Chris Kirschner reports: “Pros from Korea, China, and both Kansai Ki-in and Nihon Ki-in in Japan will attend, but we aren’t sure of the names yet.” Korea also plans to send two additional pros to the Teacher Workshop. See the What’s Happening link on the Congress Website for more details and frequent updates.
New From Hinoki Press: “Theory and Practice” series by Russian Master
Sunday May 12, 2013
In Russia, they take their mind sports seriously. Case in point: the Russian Sports Federation’s (RSF) chess program has produced many of the world’s finest players. Similarly, the RSF’s go program has produced top Western 
professionals through their partnership with the Hankuk Kiwon, producing players such as Alexander Dinerchtein 3P (“breakfast” on KGS) and Svetlana Shikshina 3P, and continues to produce promising up-and-comers such as Ilya Shikshin 7D.
If asked to name their mentors, all would certainly mention Valery Shikshin, an Honored Trainer of the Russian Federation (and as you may gather, father of both Svetlana and Illya). Shikshin has been teaching and coaching Russian go for 25 years, and has developed a set of axioms and principles that he sets forth in this four-volume “Theory and Practice Series,” now available exclusively in the US through GoGameGuru. Volume 1, The Theory and Practice of Tsumego, 
includes more than 300 original life-and-death problems, many from Russian master games. Starting with the basic shapes, Shikshin takes the reader all the way through corner positions, side formations, and on into the intricacies of seki and ko. I found the chapter on seki to be uniquely systematic in its understanding of how these strangely symbiotic shapes arise.
While Volume 1 of “Theory and Practice” is a new approach to an area that has been widely studied, Volume 2 — “The Theory and Practice of Semeai“ — is surely unique in English. Here Shikshin takes the same systematic approach to capturing races, illustrating a few dozen basic principles with numerous problems and game examples. As in Volume 1, the principles are illustrated by hundreds of problems and examples, many from actual games. Two other volumes will complete the series in the next few months – The Theory and Practice of Shapes, and The Theory and Practice of Analysis. These materials helped to produce some great Western go masters – they are surely a worthy entry into the Western go canon.
- Roy Laird
OWL NAMT Deadline May 16
Saturday May 11, 2013
There are still seats open in next weekends tournament OWL: Resurrection. The sequel to last year’s Oscar Wilde Liberation tournament, which falls on the anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s release from Reading Gaol Prison. For the second year in a row, this tournament will give players a chance to earn points towards this year’s North American Masters Tournament at the US Go Congress in August. The 4-round tournament will take place on KGS in the AGA Tournament Room, on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19. Players must be eligible for NAMT and rated 4D+. Click here for tournament schedule and rules, and click here to register. Registration is free, and participation in the tournament guarantees at least some points to all players. The deadline is May 16th, at midnight. - Karoline Burrall. Photo: Oscar Wilde, who once said “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
