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 permenant 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 permenant 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.
Eligibility requirements
For any player to participate as an American Professional in this tournament, the player must meet the following criteria:
- Be a certified professional from a recognized national Go Association,
- Hold membership in the AGA,
- Be a US citizen or a permanent resident, and
- Have physically resided in the United States for at least six of the last twelve calendar months.
For any player to participate as a non-professional in this tournament, the player must meet the following criteria:
- Hold full AGA membership,
- Be a US citizen or a permanent resident,
- Have been physically resident in the United States for at least six of the last twelve calendar months, and
- Played at least ten AGA-rated games in the prior year.
The AGA may ask players to present proof of any or all of the above criteria before the player begins to play in the Tournament and players shall cooperate with such requests in a timely manner.
Current Event
We are now soliciting bids from chapters interested in hosting qualifier tournaments for the 2010 North American Masters. We will sanction up to 8 qualification tournaments, with the expectation that there will be two in each region (East, West, and Central) and two on line tournaments. The bids must meet the qualification criteria specified on the application form (Click here). As the Ing foundation is no longer providing financial assistance, the former practice of providing funding to enhance the prize funds for qualification tournaments is no longer possible. Email tournaments@usgo.org for more information.
Qualifiers will compete in a 5 round tournament at the US Go Congress in Colorado Springs, July 31 through August 7. Qualification is based on points received by placing in these qualification events. The points available at each event depend on the average strength, and the number of participants. (Click here to see details of how the point system works.) Invitations to compete in the finals will go in the following order to: American Professionals, Seeded players (from high placement in the 2009 event), representatives of other countries (Canada 4, Mexico 1), any clear (untied) winner of a qualifier, and those receiving the highest point totals in the qualifiers.
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 | Zhi Yuan (Andy) Liu |
| 2010 | Colorado Springs, CO |
Prior to 2007, the tournament was run as the North American Ing Cup and was open to a field of 16 amateur players.