The US Championship
In various forms the AGA has held a national championship since 1959. The US Open currently acts as the championship tournament, and it is held annually. The US Open welcomes all comers, regardless of playing strength, age, gender or nationality, and is the largest tournament held in North America. The tournament is also used as the selection tournament to decide the AGA's representatives to the World Amateur Go Championship and the Korean Prime Minister's Cup.
The US Open was originally preceeded by the US Championship, which split into East Coast and West Coast tournaments; the winners would play to determine the national champion. When the US Go Congress became a national-scale event, the Open was held as a separate five-round tournament over the final weekend of the congress. In 1992, the US Open merged with the congress championship and became a six-round championship tournament stretching over the entire week.
History
| Year | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Takao Matsuda (assigned) |
|
| 1960 | CS Shen | |
| 1961 | CS Shen | |
| 1962 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1963 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1964 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1965 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1966 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1967 | Matsumoto | |
| 1968 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1969 | Young Kwon | |
| 1970 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1971 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1972 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1973 | Takao Matsuda | |
| 1974 | Takao Matsuda | more info |
| 1975 | Takao Matsuda | SGF |
| 1976 | Kyung Kim | more info |
| 1977 | Kyung Kim | more info |
| 1978 | Shin Kang | more info |
| 1979 | Kyung Kim | more info |
| 1980 | Kyung Kim | more info |
| 1981 | Charles Huh | more info |
| 1982 | Zhong Tai Yan | SGF, SGF |
| 1983 | Guk Suk Han | SGF |
| 1984 | Sang Mo Suh | |
| 1985 | Ho Suk Yi | |
| 1986 | Ji Young Yoo | more info |
| 1987 | Chuang Zhuan Yu | SGF, SGF |
| 1988 | Hong Soo Shin | SGF |
| 1989 | Paul Hu | more info |
| 1990 | Jung Ho Lim | more info |
| 1991 | Si Yeon Li | more info |
| 1992 | Woo Jin Kim | more info |
| 1993 | John Lee | |
| 1994 | Keun-Young Lee | more info |
| 1995 | Danning Jiang | more info |
| 1996 | Danning Jiang | SGF |
| 1997 | Thomas Hsiang | |
| 1998 | Jie Li | more info |
| 1999 | Danning Jiang | more info |
| 2000 | Ted Ning | more info |
| 2001 | Ge Yongfei | |
| 2002 | Jung Hoon Lee | more info |
| 2003 | Jie Li | more info |
| 2004 | Jie Li | more info |
| 2005 | Xuefen Lin | more info |
| 2006 | Andy Liu | more info |
| 2007 | Ge Yongfei | more info |
| 2008 | Myungwan Kim | more info |
| 2009 | Myungwan Kim | more info |
Special thanks to Andy Okun for providing historical details from back issues of the American Go Journal.