Welcome to the American Go Association

Registration Open for the 2021 North American Kyu Championships, Redmond Cup and AGA Girls Cup

Tuesday January 19, 2021

While the pandemic may have put a pause on many tournaments, the annual suite of AGA youth tournaments will remain in full swing for 2021. Registration is now open for the 8th North American Kyu Championships (NAKC), the 28th Redmond Cup, and the 4th AGA Girls Cup. For all three tournaments, competitors must reside in North America and be a member of the his or her country’s national Go organization.

The 8th North American Kyu Championships will be held on February 20th and is a four-round, one-day tournament on the KGS Go Server for North American kyu players under the age of 18. Top junior (under 13) and senior (13-17) players in each division can win personalized crystal trophies, and the junior and senior champions of the top division will be invited to play in the Redmond Cup, which traditionally requires one to have a dan-level rank to compete. Players who complete all rounds of the NAKC will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the 2021 US Go Congress (USGC) in Cleveland, Ohio courtesy of the American Go Foundation. If there is no in-person USGC in 2021 due to the pandemic, the scholarship will be transferrable to the next in-person USGC. Registration for the NAKC closes on February 14th, and interested competitors can read about the rules and additional details for more information.

The 28th Redmond Cup and 4th AGA Girls Cup are premier tournaments for North American youth under 18 and females under 16 respectively. Players must have an accredited rank of 1-dan or higher to participate in the Redmond Cup, and an accredited rank of 10-kyu or higher to participate in the AGA Girls Cup. The Redmond Cup features both a Junior (under 13) and a Senior (13-17) division, while the AGA Girls Cup will feature one division. Both tournaments are online preliminaries to determine two finalists in each division who will be invited to play in a best-of-three match at the 2021 US Go Congress. The American Go Foundation will cover all reasonable expenses for the finalists of both tournaments to travel to and compete at the 2021 USGC. If there is no in-person 2021 USGC, the Finals will be played at the following in-person USGC. Players who complete all rounds of either tournament will also be eligible for a $200 scholarship to the next in-person USGC. Registration for the Redmond Cup will close on March 10th, with competition starting on March 15th. Registration for the AGA Girls Cup will close on March 17th, with competition starting on March 22nd. Interested competitors can read about the rules for the Redmond Cup and rules for the AGA Girls Cup for more information.

— Story by Justin Teng; photo by Paul Barchilon, AGA Youth Coordinators

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America,Youth

Go Spotting roundup: Darwin, the NY Times, Buzzfeed, Cyberpunk 2077

Saturday January 16, 2021

David Matson and Peter Freedman report an article published in issue 94 of Nautilus on understanding evolution through the lens of games, called Playing Go with Darwin.

Roy Laird reports on Go’s puzzle appearance: “#120 across in the Dec 20th NYT crossword puzzle: “Piece in the game go” – five letters, I wonder what it could be?”

Michael Goerss found two references to weiqi in 1636: The China Venture by Eric Flint & Iver P. Cooper. “A character showing photographs in China (p. 188), ‘Here’s a print of you and your father playing weiqi.’ And in the epilogue (p. 426) while mentioning an omen in a letter, ‘This happened just as I was playing the board game Weiqi . . . with the Beijing minister of war.’

Goerss, along with reader Liam McFadden, also reported on the appearance of Go in the new video game Cyberpunk 2077. “Oddly enough, as you get further away from the board, the texture switches from showing a 19×19 board to a 10×10,” says McFadden. Goerss noticed this as well; “While the positions look like reasonable board positions, the board has ten lines. However, stones are placed midway between intersections, too, which would make the board 19×19. Maybe the graphics for a true 19×19 board were too hard?”

EJournal and Buzzfeed reader David Bogie reports on this list at Buzzfeed, book #28: “If you liked watching “The Queen’s Gambit”, you should read “The Girl Who Played Go”, by Shan Sa.”

-photos courtesy of Liam McFadden

Categories: Go Spotting,Main Page

Clossius launches Western Dan Challenge, prizes up to $1200

Saturday January 16, 2021

To encourage players to play on western Go servers and support the western Go community, Shawn Ray (Clossius) has launched the Western Dan Challenge. Sponsored by Ray, and as a result of various donations, the prize pool has steadily increased to $1200, with prizes being added for more divisions of the event. One sponsor, Aneok, has added prizes for players who choose to play exclusively on OGS. Three divisions overall include a dan division, a single digit kyu division, and a double digit kyu division, with a prize available for most ranked games played in February. Click here for Ray’s Youtube video on the event.

Rules:

Only games played in February will count
Must be a ranked game.
Must be on a western server like OGS or KGS
Must be on the same account. (Makes it easier to track)
Must not use AI. I will be having people check.
Minimum time settings of 1min 10sec x 5
Must use an overtime clock equivalent to the minimum time settings.
No Sudden Death
Only 19×19 games
Do not find flaws with the rules that defeat the spirit of the challenge.

Categories: Main Page,Other,U.S./North America

EJ seeks Assistant Game Editor

Friday January 15, 2021

The E-Journal is looking for a volunteer Assistant Game Editor to work with Bill Cobb, who’s assuming the duties of EJ Game Editor Myron Souris, who’s moving on to other projects. The weekly game commentaries by Guo Juan, Yuan Zhou, Kaz Furuyama, Gansheng Shi and Albert Yen – as well as life and death puzzles by Yilun Yang – have long been a favorite EJ feature. Anyone interested can email journal@usgo.org

“I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to outgoing EJ Game Editor Myron Souris,” said EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “Myron is an absolute joy to work with, and his eye for detail, superlative systems management and unending patience have been a constant inspiration.” Souris also worked closely with Garlock and Michael Redmond on Alpha to Zero and Garlock said that “Myron was the key to resolving many of the sticky technical and workflow challenges that came up on that project.”

Bill Cobb brings a tremendous amount of experience to the Game Editor position, thanks to his role as Slate and Shell publisher, and he’s also been part of the EJ team in various capacities over the years. “With such capable shoes to fill, we’re very fortunate to welcome Bill back to an active role on the team,” said Garlock.

Categories: Main Page,U.S./North America

Registration open for the 2021 Eastern Youth Open

Wednesday January 13, 2021

“The Eastern Youth Open (EYO) is a 4-round open youth tournament hosted by the New York Go Association (NYGA) for players of all levels under the age of 18. Having started in 2019, the EYO provides an opportunity for young players to play in a high-standard formal tournament. Due to the pandemic, this year’s tournament will be held virtually on the KGS Go Server,” says Stephanie Yin, President of the New York Go Association.

The top three players in each division will receive certificates and trophies. This year’s tournament will take place on Sunday, February 21st with registration closing on February 14th. For more information and to register, please visit the NYGA event page. In addition, the NYGA is hosting a 5-day Spring Intense Training Camp from Feb 15-19. Come have fun with excited Go peers and prepare for the tournament!