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October 30 Registration Deadline for World Student GO OZA

Friday October 28, 2011

Deadline for registering for the 10th World Student’s GO OZA Championship is this Sunday, October 30. The Student’s Oza takes place in Tokyo, Japan February 27 to March 2. Founded in 2003, the tournament is for students throughout the world, and is organized by students. University/college students under the age of 30 can participate in the preliminary rounds on Pandanet, which start on November 6. Click here to register “It was an exciting event and an enjoyable trip,” says Yue Zhang 7D from Ohio, who played in the 9th World Student’s GO OZA Championship. Click here for results  from the last event. The championship is organized and sponsored by the All-Japan Students GO Association, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Pandanet and the Nihon Ki-in.

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Categories: World,Youth
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High School Students Could Win Free Trip to Japan

Monday October 24, 2011

Japanese American high school students are invited to apply with the Japanese Consulate for a free trip to Japan.  “I would like to introduce an invitation program for Japanese-American students by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to you. This program invites Japanese-American students to Japan, and promotes mutual understanding between younger generations of both countries through 10 days stay in Japan,” Consul Yanagida of the Japanese Consulate in Denver, announced. Five students from all over the United States will be invited from March 9th to 20th, 2012. American high-school students whose ancestral origins are in Japan can apply to this program. For details, see the Consulate webpage.  Residents of any state can apply, but should do so to their local consulates, which are listed here.  The deadline is November 30th. - Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.

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Categories: U.S./North America,World,Youth
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Korean Pro Visits Mexico

Monday October 17, 2011

The Hankuk Kiwon (Korean Go Association) sent Chun Poong Jho 9P to Mexico this month, in honor of the XIII Iberoamerican Go Tournament. Chun has promoted go internationally for decades, and speaks several languages. Local organizer Siddhartha Avila reports: “Mr. Chun visited the Pipiolo Art School and was received by teachers, parents and students. During the day the kids presented a Mexican song performance, and we had a visit from the Public Education Zone Supervisor as well, who learned about the great benefits of teaching go in kindergarden and elementary schools.  We reported on our participation  in the AGHS School Team Tournament,  and we had the National Youth Go Tournament award ceremony, as well as a conference, lectures, and simultaneous games given by Mr. Chun to the children from first grade to sixth grade.  Mr. Chun  emphasized studying harder and said we should continue working to improve the playing level of Mexican youth, so that our top players can be invited to play at international youth tournaments. There was a rich cultural experience through a session of questions and answers about Korean and Mexican culture and of course about Baduk culture. Finally we wrapped up the event with a dinner at a typical Mexican restaurant with teachers, friends and family.” More pictures from the event are here. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo:  Chun Phoong Jho 9P inspiring youngsters in Mexico City.  Photo by Siddhartha Avila.
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2nd Bingsheng Cup Results: Park Jieun Wins

Saturday October 15, 2011

The 2nd Bingsheng Cup came and went this week and Park Jieun 9P chalked up another international win. The Bingsheng Cup is a competition for the strongest female go players worldwide. First held last year, the tournament takes place at Qionglong Mountain, Suzhou, China and is also called the Qionglong Cup by some people. China, Japan and Korea, of course, fielded strong teams. However, being a truly international competition, competitors from other regions were also able to qualify. North America was represented by the USA’s Feng Yun 9P, who runs the Feng Yun Go School in New Jersey (she won the North American qualifier tournament for the Bingshen by defeating Yinli Wang 6D; Cathy Li 1P lost to Feng Yun by forfeit in the final on September 28. ). Joanne Missingham 5P once again played for Oceania and Natalaia Kovaleva 5D for Europe. Unfortunately all three of these players were knocked out in the first round and Missingham wasn’t able to repeat her impressive feat from the 1st Bingsheng Cup. In last year’s tournament Missingham fought all the way to the final, only losing to Korea’s Park Jieun 9P. This year, Park eventually faced China’s Tang Yi 2P in the final on October 13, 2011, but once again Park was too strong.

Feng Yun 9P’s game is below. More games and photos are available in Go Game Guru’s 2nd Bingsheng Cup report.

[link]

- Jingning; based on her original article at Go Game Guru. Photos: Left; Yu Zhiying 2P (left) plays Feng Yun 9P. Right; Park Jieun 9P in the final.

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First Amateur Player Turns Pro Under New System

Sunday September 25, 2011

An otherwise normal game in the main tournament of the 39th Myeongin has become a sensation. This is because amateur go player, Cho Insun 7D, just turned pro under the Korean Baduk Association’s new points system. On September 20, 2011, Cho Insun began his Myeongin game with Park Jeonggeun 4P in more or less the usual way. However, he knew that if he won the game he would be allowed to turn professional. And so did everyone else. Despite the pressure and anticipation of others, Cho played an excellent game, grabbing a win as well as the points he needed to take his tally to the crucial number, 100. Under the new system, amateur players can accumulate points for performing well in the professional tournaments that allow amateurs to qualify and compete. Some examples of these are the LG Cup, the Samsung Cup and, of course, the Myeongin. Cho is the first player to reach 100 points under this system and become pro. Perhaps his story will inspire other aspiring amateurs worldwide? Congratulations Cho Insun 1P.

See Cho Insun’s game and join the discussion at Go Game Guru.

- Jingning; based on her original article at Go Game Guru. Photo: Cho Insun 1P.

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Piao Wenyao Wins 13th Ahan Tongshan Cup

Tuesday September 20, 2011

Piao Wenyao 9P won the 13th Ahan Tongshan Cup yesterday, defeating Chen Yaoye 9P in the final (on September 20, 2011). The Ahan Tongshan Cup is a rapid tournament in China, which is also sometimes referred to as the Agon Cup, because it shares a sponsor with the Japanese Agon-Kiriyama Cup. The time allowed for play is slightly unusual, with players receiving 30 seconds per move and 10 x 60 second byo yomi periods. The byo yomi can be used if  the players need more than 30 seconds on a particular move. Those who follow professional go may recall that Piao also won the 15th LG Cup, in February 2011.

- Jingning; based on her original article: Piao Wenyao defeats Chen Yaoye to win 13th Ahan Tongshan Cup on Go Game Guru. Photo: Piao Wenyao 9P reviews the final game.

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Kaya Go Server Aims at Online Audience

Monday September 19, 2011

Those who have attended Congresses will be familiar with seeing top board games computer projected onto a large screen, relayed to on-line audiences around the world. Many more people will have played on-line. A new go server aims at these online fans. The Kaya Go Server aims to improve accessibility, especially for newcomers, by making it simple to play in a web browser. There is also an emphasis on making community features readily available. For details there’s an interesting interview with Kaya’s lead developer, Gabriel Benmergui , a leading Argentine player, as well as comments in Finnish champion Anntii Törmänen’s blog and there’s also overall information on on-line go servers.
- Bob Gilman

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Registration Opens for New SportAccord World Mind Games Online Tournament

Sunday September 18, 2011

Want to win a free trip to the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing this December? Enter the brand-new SportAccord World Mind Games Online Tournament for your chance at the trip! Registration is now open for the tournament, which will be held on the Internet Go Server (IGS) under the auspices of SportAccord, supported by Samsung and Rado and organized by the International Go Federation and Pandanet. The winner of this all-amateur event will be invited to observe the first SportAccord World Mind Games (SAWMG), scheduled for December 8-17 in Beijing (RANKA online will present reports and up-to-date news from the venue on game results and other items). SportAccord will provide an SAWMG entry ticket, round-trip airfare, local transportation and accommodations. In addition, the Online Tournament winner will be presented with a medal during the SAWMG official banquet. Registrants must be amateurs and members of an association affiliated with the IGF (or recognized by such an association), must be able to communicate in English by email, and must play all tournament games on IGS. The tournament will run from early October to mid November. Click here for application information and forms.

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1st WBaduk Intercontinental Team Cup Recruiting Players

Sunday September 18, 2011

The first WBaduk Intercontinental Team Cup — another new online tournament — is now recruiting players from three continents, including the Americas. The Team Cup “is a last-man-standing tournament with five representatives from each participating continent,” Semi Lee of the Cyberkiwon Corps’ WBaduk Team tells the E-Journal. “Each player who wins continues to play opponents from the other two teams, alternating between them, until there are no more opponents left. The last surviving team wins the Cup!” Registration — open through the end of the month — is free, over $10,000 has been budgeted for the tournament and organizers are offering “special prizes.”

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Joanne Missingham Stands up for Gender Equality in Go

Wednesday September 7, 2011

Go player Joanne Missingham 5P, who plays professionally in Taiwan as Hei Jiajia, is protesting against discrimination in the professional go world. Missingham has been photographed (right) carrying a fan with the words ‘protest gender discrimination’ inscribed on it in Chinese calligraphy. The catalyst for this was the recent Qiandeng Cup. The Taiwanese Go Association decided not to pay female go players the match fee of 2000 Yuan, while the men still received payment for their games. All four of the women involved withdrew from the competition in protest and Joanne can be seen in the photo taking the ‘protest fan’ to games a week later.

You can join the discussion about Joanne Missingham’s protest at Go Game Guru.

- Jingning, based on her original article at Go Game Guru. Photo: Joanne Missingham 5P plays Ding Wei 9P.

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