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AGA News!
UPDATED 5/19/2008 11:55P (report news to journal@usgo.org) REDMOND TO PLAY FOR U.S. AT WMSG ANDY LIU & DAE HYUK KO ADVANCE IN KGS TOURNEY REDMOND CUP GETS UNDERWAY PASADENA BESTS SANTA MONICA IN TRAFFIC CUP 9 PROS CONFIRMED FOR U.S. GO CONGRESS BRISCOE TOPS ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPRING GO TOURNEY GO REPRESENTS AT CHI ANIME CONVENTION JENNIE SHEN WORKSHOP FILLING UP N.A. FUJITSU SELECTION CHALLENGED GO CALENDAR: Baltimore, Palo Alto & Newton JAPAN FIELDS ALL-STAR TEAM FOR WMSG TAKAO TAKES FIRST GAME IN HONINBO TITLE MATCH IYAMA YUTA VS. CHO U IN DAIWA CUP IYAMA HOLDING LEAD IN MEIJIN LEAGUE JIMMY CHA NOTCHES 5 WINS IN KOREAN TOURNEY WORLD AMATEUR PLAYER PROFILES: Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala GO PHOTO: Old Stones REDMOND TO PLAY FOR U.S. AT WMSG: Michael Redmond will play for the U.S. at the World Mind Sport Games in Beijing this October, reports American Go Association (AGA) President Michael Lash. The Nihon Kiin 9-dan professional from California accepted a special invitation by the AGA, Lash says. Although Redmond is not eligible to represent the U.S. in other international events -- an AGA policy requires that reps reside in the U.S. at least six months per year http://www.usgo.org/board/ApprovedDocuments/selectintlreps-final.pdf -- the AGA Board decided to make an exception in this case, AGA Board Chairman Roy Laird said. "Michael is a special case,” Laird said. “He learned his basic go here in America, then went to Japan and succeeded far beyond anyone else in the West. He is a well-known figure on the world go stage, 'the pro from America.' But as a US citizen, if he doesn't play for America (in the WMSG), he can't play at all. We felt that as a unique living example of the ideals the event will promote -- international exchange, excellence, discipline – Michael’s presence was essential." Redmond will compete under the same conditions as other team participants, including sharing the expense of participating. In other WMSG news, more than 70 donors have now contributed more than $14,000 to support the U.S. team. “Won't you help us reach $15,000?” asks Laird; click here http://www.usgo.org/agf/WMSGFund.html for details. ANDY LIU & DAE HYUK KO ADVANCE IN KGS TOURNEY: Andy Liu has defeated Cho SeokBin in the second round of the Suk B. Choi Invitational tourney on KGS. Dae Hyuk Ko also won his way through to the semi-final round, defeating Junfu Dai. “Both games were very exciting,” reports KGS’s Akane Negishi. “Because of the time zone, the Dae Hyuk Ko - Junfu Dai game got over 900 observers.” Click here http://www.gokgs.com/help/sukbchoi.html for the game files. Two more quarter-final games remain to be scheduled; stay tuned for details. REDMOND CUP GETS UNDERWAY: The Redmond Cup, the longest youth tournament in North America, got underway last Sunday online. The senior division has ten players, including five U.S. Youth Go Championship (USYGC) finalists -- William Zhou 7d, Jimmy Guo 6d, Ricky Zhao 6d, Cherry Shen 6d, and Lawrence Ku 6d -- who will also be playing this weekend in New Jersey for the chance to represent the US at the World Youth Go Championship (WYGC). In addition, two Canadians -- Gansheng Shi 6d and Patrick Lung 5d -- are also playing in the Redmond Cup, making it highly like that all the games will be very fierce battles. In the junior division, there are five USYGC finalists -- Calvin Sun 7d, Hugh Zhang 6d, Christopher Kiguchi 5d, Maverick Lin 4d, and Sudhir Vel 3d -- as well as Colorado USYGC regional winner Nathan Harwit 4K. These rising stars will battle it out for a chance to travel free to the US Go Congress this year in Portland, Oregon, where the two top players from each division will compete for the largest cash award of any youth tournament in the US. The standings can be seen online http://tigersmouth.org/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=33&thread_id=254 and will be updated periodically. - reported by Lawrence Ku PASADENA BESTS SANTA MONICA IN TRAFFIC CUP: Pasadena's Yu-Go Club team bested the Santa Monica Go Club team by one point in Southern California's first ever Traffic Cup on May 17. Held in the Reiyukai America Association offices in Pasadena, the two-round handicap contest included 2-0 performances by Pasadena's Gary Fresquez, 9k, and Luis Armendariz, 14k, and Santa Monica's Janek Klawe, 3k, while Santa Monica's David Dows, 1k, and Ryan Downing, 2d, each won their single games. Joe Walters, Luke Gordon and Alf Mikula also played for Pasadena, and Andrew Okun, Samantha Davis and Terry McIntyre for Santa Monica. It is hoped the inter-club team contest, put together by Walters, will be the start of a series of such match-ups between Southern California clubs. Other clubs interested in participating can get in touch with Walters or Okun at andy@okun.name Photo: Terry McIntyre v. Luis Armendariz; photo by Andrew Okun 9 PROS CONFIRMED FOR U.S. GO CONGRESS: Feng Yun 9P and James Kerwin 1P are the latest professional go players to confirm their attendance at this year’s U.S. Go Congress, bringing the total to nine. Feng Yun, the second woman to ever become a 9-dan pro, became a professional after 3 years of study and founded the first 9-dan school in North America, In New Jersey, where she resides. Kerwin, a student of Iwamoto Sensei since 1973, was the first American to achieve a professional ranking in the Nihon Kiin and has taught extensively throughout the the U.S. and Canada. Click here http://www.gocongress08.org/pros.php for the complete list and here http://www.gocongress08.org/ to register for the Congress. BRISCOE TOPS ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPRING GO TOURNEY: Andrew Briscoe 3d won the May 3 Rocky Mountain Spring Go Tournament. Players ranging in age from 11 to 71 played at Colorado Technical University in Colorado Springs, Colorado. With many go clubs now active along the front range of the Rocky Mountains, each is growing a group of youthful players who are challenging the old-timers at all levels. Winner’s report: Section A: 1st: Andrew Briscoe 3d, 2nd: David Weiss 3d; Section B: 1st: Brian Kenyon 1k, 2nd: Aeones DeVeyra 2k; Section C: 1st: Nathan Herwit 5k, 2nd: Albert Hwang 7k; Section D: 1st: Steve Ingham 9k, 2nd: Brad Edwards 14k. - reported by Jim Michali TD Springs Go Club. Photo clockwise: Eric Sears vs Brad Edwards, Nathan Herwit vs Amy Chen GO REPRESENTS AT CHI ANIME CONVENTION: The Evanston Go Club (EGC) again taught hundreds of people to play go over the May 17-18 weekend at Anime Central (ACEN), held at the Hyatt Recency O'Hare in Chicago, IL. "This is our favorite event of the year!" said EGC President Mark Rubenstein. "This is our fourth year at ACEN, and it's always a lot of fun. We teach mostly one-on-one, and we also do classroom-style events during the day. At the end of the day on Saturday we close with a 9x9 tournament. These kids are great, nearly all of them just learned to play go the same day, and they come to the tournament and have a blast! We would like to say a very special ‘Thank You!’ to Yellow Mountain for donating 50 go sets for us to give away." Check out more pictures by clicking here http://www.evanstongoclub.org and clicking the New Photos link at the bottom of the page. JENNIE SHEN WORKSHOP FILLING UP: “There are still a few openings for the Jennie Shen 2P workshop in Kalamazoo the weekend of June 27-29,” reports organizer Jason Preuss. The workshop will include lectures, game play and analysis, and a simul with Shen, a Chinese pro. Click here http://voltar.org/kgc/workshop/ for details or email Preuss at preuss@jasnetworks.net for more information. N.A. FUJITSU SELECTION CHALLENGED: Questions are being raised about the selection process for this year’s North American Fujitsu Qualifier. After Mingjiu Jiang 7P won the Qualifier in February, it was discovered that he should not have participated because of an AGA rule that limits players to representing the U.S. or North America in two international tournaments each year; he represented North America in the Ing Cup in April and – along with Jie Li 9d, will represent North America at the Toyota Denso World Oza Cup later this year. Fujitsu runner-up Jie Li 9d was set to take Jiang’s place but when concerns were raised by the Fujitsu’s organizers and sponsors, American Go Association Board Chairman Roy Laird reinstated Jiang as the U.S. representative to the Fujitsu, the oldest of the current international professional tournaments. Jiang lost in the first round to Japan's Kono Rin 9P. Li has challenged Laird’s decision based on the AGA’s 2-event rule and because Laird did not consult with the full AGA Board before acting. The Board met yesterday and after lengthy discussion issued a statement noting that Laird, “faced with a situation that he honestly and reasonably believed required urgent action… attempted to act in the best interest of the AGA when he reversed the disqualification of Mr. Jiang in the recent Fujitsu Qualifier.”The Board added that it “disapproves of the fact that Mr. Laird acted without attempting to consult with the whole Board first, and we trust that such unauthorized action will not happen again." Laird has apologized privately and publicly to both Li and the Board. Click here http://www.thegoblog.com/AGAletter.html for Jie Li’s Open Letter and here http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6282 for Laird’s response. CORRECTION: The photo beneath Lee ChangHo's last week was not Park YeongHoon but TaeGon Song (who is also a previous Chunwon title holder). Our apologies for the error and thanks to John Lee and Hwa-Seo Park for catching it. GO CALENDAR: Baltimore, Palo Alto & Newton May 24-25: Baltimore, MD: 35th Maryland Open World Mind Sport Qualifier Keith Arnold hlime81@comcast.net 410.788.3520 May 24: Palo Alto, CA: Bay Area Go Players Association Monthly AGA Ratings Tournament http://www.bayareago.org/download/2008-05-bag-tournament.pdf Steve Burrall sburrall@comcast.net 916.688.2858 May 24: Newton, MA: Boston Open (NAIM Qualifier) http://bostongo.org/ Ke Lu go.boston@yahoo.com 617.969.1959 JAPAN FIELDS ALL-STAR TEAM FOR WMSG: The Nihon Kiin and Kansai Kiin have put together an all-star team for the 2008 WMSG, reports Thomas Hsiang. “Twenty pros and four amateurs make up the team,” Hsiang tells the EJ. On the pro side, the players include twelve men -- Yamashita, Takao, Kono, Kobayashi (Satoru), Hane, Yoda, Hisosaka, Imamura, Mimura, Yamada, Sakai, Iyama – and eight women - - Umezawa, Suzuki (Ayumi), Aoki, Konishi, Koyama, Tsukuda, Yashiro, Manami. “This is a very young roster that includes three ‘seniors’ in Kobayashi, Yoda, and Umezawa, mixed with all of the current title holders of Japanese nationality,” adds Hsiang. “This shows that the Japanese are serious about trying to do well in WMSG.” The amateur players on the team are not yet known. TAKAO TAKES FIRST GAME IN HONINBO TITLE MATCH: Takao Shinji http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=214 9P defeated Hane Naoki http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=22 9P in the first game of their Honinbo http://senseis.xmp.net/?Honinbo title match by 3.5 points on May 14-15. Takao is hoping to extend his reign as Honinbo to a fourth straight year since he took the title from Cho U http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=19 9P in 2004. Cho got revenge by taking away Takao's Meijin http://senseis.xmp.net/?Meijin title last Fall. Takao also holds the Judan title, which he took from Cho Chikun http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=5 9P in three straight games earlier this year. Hane currently holds the Okan http://senseis.xmp.net/?OkanTournament title, from an event that is restricted to members of the Nagoya branch (central Japan) of the Nihon Kiin http://senseis.xmp.net/?NihonKiIn . He won the NHK Cup http://senseis.xmp.net/?NHKCup last year and was Kisei http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/pg_titlelist_detail.php?title=Kisei in 2004 and 2005. The second game in the Honinbo title match is scheduled for May 27-28. [pics of Takao at http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=214 ] IYAMA YUTA VS. CHO U IN DAIWA CUP: Iyama Yuta http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=379 7P, the twenty year old who set records as a teen, is matched against Cho U http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=19 9P, one of the top Japanese players who holds five national titles at the moment, in the Daiwa Cup Grand Championship http://igo-kisen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/dgc.html , which is played on the Internet. Iyama does hold the Shinjin O http://senseis.xmp.net/?ShinjinO (King of the New Stars) title, though he lost out in the preliminary rounds of this year's event. The second round of the Daiwa included a husband-wife match back in April: Kobayashi Izumi http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=84 6P, holder of the Daiwa Women's Cup title, played her husband Cho U. Cho won and then defeated Kono Rin http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=52 9P to reach the finals. [pics of Iyama at http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/player/htm/ki000385.htm ] [pics of Cho at http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=19 ] IYAMA HOLDING LEAD IN MEIJIN LEAGUE: Iyama Yuta http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=379 7P, at twenty the youngest member of the nine player Meijin League http://senseis.xmp.net/?MeijinLeague , is holding on to his slight lead as the eight game round robin match passes the halfway mark. Iyama now has a score of 4-1, and all the other players have lost at least two games. The only other player with four wins is Kobayashi Satoru http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=31 9P at 4-2, whom Iyama has yet to play. Iyama's other remaining opponents are Yoda Norimoto http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=6 9P and Cho Chikun http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=5 9P--a challenging list. Ko Iso http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=389 7P is only one year older than Iyama, but his record is now 2-3, so his chances are very slim. Several players have two losses. [pic of Iyama at http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/player/htm/ki000385.htm ] JIMMY CHA NOTCHES 5 WINS IN KOREAN TOURNEY: Jimmy Cha 4P kicked off the GG Auction Cup with a five-game winning streak before falling to Lee Minjin 5P, one of the top current Korean women pros. The Auction Cup http://gobase.org/games/kr/ggauction/ is a win-and-continue tournament between twelve Korean women pros and twelve senior (over-50) male pros. Last year the women were quite successful until the last senior, Cho Hunhyun http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=12 9P stepped in, defeating several female players before finally losing, and the women won the Cup's first edition. The first senior male up this year was Jimmy (Minsoo) Cha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Cha 4P, who for many years lived in California and was very active in US go before moving back to Korea a few years ago. Cha managed to defeat five of the women before losing by a mere half-point to Lee Minjin http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=353 5P, one of the top current Korean women pros. She won three games in a row to win the women's international team event, the Jeongganjang Cup http://senseis.xmp.net/?JeongganjangCup , in April and was in the finals of the women's Kuksu http://senseis.xmp.net/?WomensKuksu in March, losing 1-2 to Park Jieun http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=86 9P. She defeated Rui Naiwei http://www.gogameworld.com/gophp/playerinfo.php?id=85 9P to get into those finals. Park Yeongchan 3P is the next senior male in line to challenging Lee in the Auction Cup. [pic of Cha at http://gobase.org/studying/articles/LeeHongYeol/?episode=4 ] TARANU WINS ROMANIA CUP: Catalin Taranu 7d won the Cup of Romania tournament, held May 17-18 in Poiana Brasov. Dragos Bajenaru 6d took second and Lucian Corlan 3rd in the 18th edition of the country’s second main national tournament. Two dozen top players, qualified from semifinals, participated in the event, which started in 1991. The event’s first winner was Lucretiu Calota, but Cristian Pop 7d has won it five times. Taranu will represent Romania at the KPMC International Amateur Baduk Championships in Korea later this year. - reported by Marilena Bara, Romanian correspondent for the E-Journal WORLD AMATEUR PLAYER PROFILES: Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala Players from 70 countries and territories will compete in the 29th annual World Amateur Go Championship that start a week from today and run May 29-31 in Tokyo, Japan. The American Go E-Journal will once again provide full live coverage of the 8-round tournament, posting daily updates on the web and in the EJ, including news, features, photos and game records from the playing venue at the Nihon Ki-in. We’ve been profiling WAGC players and this week we’re pleased to introduce the players from Argentina, Ecuador and Guatemala. All profiles published thus far are online (link) - Chris Garlock ARGENTINA: Fernando Aguilar 7d is a 48-year-old civil engineer from Santa Fe who won the 2007 Iberoamerican Tournament. He's married with two children and also does social work related with habitat, especially with indigenous peoples. His favorite thing about go is that “It provides a sense of equilibrium” and he adds that "I hope that go-playing activities will serve as means for people understanding." ECUADOR: Sergio Quevedo 1k is a 21-year-old student from Quito who's been playing for two years. His favorite thing about go is that it's “magic.” GUATEMALA: Fifty-four year-old Hector Paiz Castillo 1k is a civil engineer who's completed many housing projects in Guatemala. He's married with five children and his hobbies include dancing. His favorite thing about go is its' “immense possibilities.” GO PHOTO: Old Stones: Former AGA President Phil Straus (r) and E-Journal editor Chris Garlock play go in an ancient Utah canyon last week. Photo by Joe Pacheck. Got go photos? Email them us at journal@usgo.org! YOUR MOVE: Readers Write WANT ADS WORK: " Please take down my advertisement in the E-Journal for sale of the collection of Go World journals," writes Ed, "They've successfully sold and your role in finding them a good home is really appreciated." | |
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