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Ye Sweeps WYGC Qualifier

Eight-year-old Aaron Ye 3d (at left) fought his way to victory in the Jr. Division qualifier for the World Youth Go Championships (WYGC), and will be going to Romania to represent the US in August.  The initial rounds were held online, with a live final at the BAGPA ratings tourney in Palo Alto, CA, on April 9th.  Ye faced serious competition throughout the event, and almost lost to Jeremy Chiu 1k (at right) who is just nine years old himself.

 Ye made a strong showing in this event last year, but lost in the finals.  He studies with Mingjiu Jiang 7P, and has worked very hard on his game this past year.  Chiu's AGA rank is lagging behind his ability, he is pushing 3d on KGS, and had a very strong performance in the recent School Teams Tourney, helping his team win first place.  In the semi-finals, Chiu knocked out Sammy Zhang 2d, while Ye defeated Luke Zhang 1d, setting the stage for a showdown between the pint-sized prodigies the following weekend.  Chiu got off to a strong start, and dominated the game, but an endgame error gave Ye the win at the last minute. Today's [sgf sgfUrl="http://www.usgo.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/USYGC-Finals-Jr.sgf" theme="full" href="http://www.usgo.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/USYGC-Finals-Jr.sgf" class="alignright"][/sgf] game commentary by Feng Yun 9P shows how both players could have improved their game.  The E-Journal is pleased to have Feng Yun on board for youth commentaries, and members can get game reviews like this in their e-mail box every week.  We are making today's commentary available to everyone, as an incentive to join the AGA.  Youth memberships are only $10, and get you great games like this, as well as guaranteeing you will be invited to events like the USYGC and the Redmond Cup.  To join, click here. -E-J Youth Editor Paul Barchilon.  Photos:  Aaron Ye at left, Jeremy Chiu at right.