Jeremy Chiu 8d and Andrew Huang 5d each finished 4-1 to lead a field of 78 players at the fifth
New England Go Open, held September 4–6 at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
With no player emerging undefeated from the five-round tournament, Chiu and Huang split the top two cash prizes evenly, taking home $400 each. Alisa Wu 7d placed third at 3-2, topping a four-player logjam at 37 MMS on SOS.
The story of the weekend was a pair of striking Board One upsets: two 5-dan players defeating opponents ranked 7-dan or higher in even games. Huang defeated Chiu in the third round, meaning his path to second place ran directly through the player who ultimately finished first. Yuxiao Wang 5d then defeated Wu in the fifth round. “I cannot remember seeing two upsets like these at a single event,” said organizer Trevor Morris.
Fourteen players won four games. Beyond Chiu and Huang, each four-game winner received $50: Ryan Horner 5k, Wyatt Ross 9k, Harvey Yu 3k, Robert Muschner 17k, Aris Tian 7k, Binyi Lu 14k, Andrew Perry 17k, Micah Steinberg 4k, Mateo Velikonja 1k, Yihuan Ma 15k, Yinjia Li 18k and Jason Qi 3k.
Cash was only part of the prize pool. Every player went home with two prizes—one from the Tier One table, featuring items valued at more than $50, and another from Tier Two. Tier One was anchored by Go boards and stones donated by Bill Saltman and Read Predmore, while Tier Two offered books, T-shirts and other Go merchandise. Players selected prizes in finishing order, and the tables remained open until the final player had made a choice.
The prize program was made possible by an unusually broad group of Go vendors and organizations. Sponsors, listed in order of the value of their donations, included Tsumego Dragon, Go Magic, 101weiqi, Online-Go.com, The European Go Journal, Tesuji.net, AYD, Fox Go Server, ZBaduk, Internet Go School, AwesomeBaduk, SmartGo, AI Sensei, BadukPop, BenKyo Baduk, Eric’s Go Shirts, BetterBaduk and Kifubara.
Several teachers also donated private lessons as prizes. Justin Teng contributed two 90-minute lessons; Michael Chen 1p donated three one-hour lessons; Yoonyoung Kim donated two one-hour lessons; and Chris Sagner donated two one-hour lessons. Shawn Ray, also known as Clossius, contributed four private lessons for double-digit-kyu players. In addition, Polgote founder Mateusz Surma pledged 10% of the value of any lesson booked by a New England Open player through September 20.
Several sponsors also provided free trials or membership codes to every player in attendance, which explains why the walls of the venue were covered with QR codes throughout the weekend.
“Our thanks to all the sponsors, the Hopkinton Center for the Arts and everyone who drove, flew, took the train or walked in for a long Labor Day weekend of Go,” Morris said.
Full standings and crosstabs
photos (top right):Top finishers at the awards table, from left: Alisa Wu 7d, third place; tournament director Trevor Morris; Jeremy Chiu 8d, first place; and Andrew Huang 5d, second place.
(bottom left): Four-game winners, from left: Ryan Horner 5k, Wyatt Ross 9k, Harvey Yu 3k, Robert Muschner 17k, Aris Tian 7k, Binyi Lu 14k, tournament director Trevor Morris, Andrew Perry 17k, Micah Steinberg 4k, Mateo Velikonja 1k, Yihuan Ma 15k and Yinjia Li 18k. Not pictured: Jason Qi 3k, who had already started his trip home.