Top Board
This year’s New England Open, which ran from Friday 2025-08-29 through Sunday 2025-08-31, was our biggest yet, with 77 players. The final standings came down to the narrowest of margins.
- Champion: Michael Chen (1p)
- 2nd: Alex Qi (1p), fresh off his World Youth Championship win just the week prior.
- 3rd: Ninghan Duan (7d)
Tournament winners:
Left to right: Trevor Morris (TD), Alex Qi (1p), Michael Chen (1p), Ninghan Duan (7d)
Michael edged out Alex on the slimmest of tie-breaks to claim the title. This year a $100 “pro bounty” was awarded to any amateur who beat a professional. In the final round, Ninghan gave Michael his only loss and was the sole player to claim the bounty. All three finished 4–1 and shared the $750 prize pool.
For the first time, each pro also received a $200 honorarium funded entirely by entry fees and catchment funds. In future years, we hope to partner with the AGA and NAGF to secure ongoing sponsorship for pro appearance fees at the New England Open and other major AGA tournaments.
Prizes for all
Aside from the top three, no dan players reached four wins, so the kyu field claimed the richest haul. Ten kyu players with four wins each received $50 plus two large and one small prize. Three-win players then claimed a large and a small prize, and in the final flurry nearly everyone got at least a small prize.
4-game winners:
Left to right: Zachary Dragsbaek (15k); Luca Bove (6k); Gus Heck (1k); Stephen Leone (3k); Chengxi Yu (11k); Trevor Morris (TD); Chia Chan (3k); Jim Conyngham (5k); Ian Johnson (14k); Ryan Horner (5k); Absent: Michael Kaiser (1k)
The complete final standings are here: https://wmgc.massgo.org/ne-open-2025/NEOpen2025_StandingsR5.html
Side Event and Community
Michael Chen’s Friday lecture and Terry Benson’s late-night Crazy Go session on Saturday are part of what makes the New England Open more than just another tournament.
More than a dozen new AGA members joined, and state championship organizers from across New England attended.
There were over a dozen double-digit kyu (DDK) players, thanks in part to the half-off entry fee. We were thrilled that only two games required more than a 2-stone handicap, at 3 and 4 stones each. This was the second tournament for Kendra Elliston (25k). She helped by stepping in for round 5 when we had an odd number of players.
Streaming and Photos
Thanks to BadukClub for partnering with Ryan on the streaming. All of the New England Open games are available on their Twitch channel. Watch the Round 4 showdown between Alex and Michael here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2554920801?collection=l33sZ7H3YBjDXg
Thanks to James McIlhargey for this 3-D image that showcases the beautiful new venue, the Hopkinton Arts Center: https://cloud-va.insta360.com/share/va/239H4O840N674I8r3177050112
Ryan designed our first-ever logo and had T-shirts printed:
Sponsors
More than twenty sponsors contributed merchandise, online memberships, and game reviews. Notable first-time sponsors for any North American tournament include Fox Go Server (VIP memberships) and 101weiqi (premium accounts). Our top sponsors also provided Go Magic courses, OGS memberships, and European Go Journal subscriptions. See the full list here: https://tinyurl.com/neopen-2025-sponsors . Stay tuned for a future blog post about all of the sponsors, and how we hope to promote them at the Boston 2026 Congress, too.
Thanks to Our Team
Huge appreciation to the volunteers who made it all run smoothly, including registration, streaming, logistics, and more. Special thanks to Ryan Horner for T-shirts, logo design, and streaming support.
Finally, a special thanks to my life partner, Martha Marteney. Players saw her throughout the weekend, running all of the logistics from setup to the Saturday evening pizza party to teardown. What they may not realize is that without her support the New England Open would never have launched 3 years ago, and would not have continued to grow by 10% year-over-year.
Next Year - Mark your calendars!
Trevor Morris, the TD, is co-director of the Boston 2026 Go Congress, taking place August 1–9, 2026. We’ve already booked the Hopkinton Arts Center for next year’s Labor Day weekend, Friday–Sunday, September 4–6, 2026. After a full week of Go in Boston, get ready to return to New England for this tournament just a month later.