The North American Ing Masters
The North American Ing Masters (NAIM) is the North American continental championship. The tournament was originally called the North American Ing Cup, and featured a field of sixteen amateur players from Canada, Mexico and the United States. In 2007, the Ing Cup was merged with the North American Masters Tournament to become the NAIM. The current tournament format matches thirty-two of North America's strongest amateurs and professionals in a 5-round Swiss tournament to determine a champion. Sponsored by the Ing Foundation, this tournament is run each year at the US Go Congress and is one of North America's most heavily contested events.
Selection Process
The field of the North American Ing Masters is filled with professionals and amateurs from North American countries. Players are selected for the tournament in the following order:
- Players holding certification from the professional go organizations of Japan, Korea, China or Taiwan
- Players seeded from the previous year's tournament
- Players selected by the national go associations of Canadian, the United States and Mexico
- Mexico (one player)
- Canada (four players)
- the USA (remaining spots)
Professional go players must hold citizenship or permanent residency in Canada, the United States or Mexico and must have resided in North America for six of the twelve months prior to the start of each year's qualifying tournament cycle (January 1).
US amateurs must meet the same criteria as professionals and must also have been continuous full or youth membership of the AGA for the twelve months prior to the start of the qualifying tournament cycle.
Amateurs from Canada and Mexico are selected by the national go associations of their respective countries. Players must hold citizenship or permanent residency in Canada, the United States or Mexico and may be subject to other requirements set by their national go associations.
The AGA selects its amateur players based on a series of regional and Internet qualifying tournaments. Top-placing players in the event are awarded points based on both their placement within the tournament as well as the strength of the tournament field. A description of the points system may be found here.
Current Event
Qualifier tournaments have been settled in most of the country and are now being scheduled. See the tournament page for details.Past Champions
| Year | Location | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Rochester, NY | Charles Huh |
| 1992 | Salem, OR | Dae Yol Kim |
| 1993 | South Hadley, MA | Charles Huh |
| 1994 | Washington, DC | John Lee |
| 1995 | Seattle, WA | Thomas Hsiang |
| 1996 | Cleveland, OH | Jong Moon Lee |
| 1997 | Lancaster, PA | Keun Young Lee |
| 1998 | Sante Fe, NM | Jong Moon Lee |
| 1999 | San Francisco, CA | Jong Moon Lee |
| 2000 | Denver, CO | Thomas Hsiang |
| 2001 | York, PA | Ke Huang |
| 2002 | Chicago, IL | Jie Li |
| 2003 | Houston, TX | Joey Hung |
| 2004 | Rochester, NY | Jie Li |
| 2005 | Tacoma, WA | Jie Li |
| 2006 | Asheville, NC | Zhaonian (Michael) Chen |
| 2007 | York, PA | Mingjiu Jiang |
| 2008 | Portland, OR | Feng Yun |
| 2009 | Washington, DC | - |
Prior to 2007, the tournament was run as the North American Ing Cup and was open to a field of 16 amateur players.