The 2026 Massachusetts State Go Championship set a new attendance record with 79 players - up from last year's 65. Held January 31 - February 1 at Boston Latin School, the tournament drew players from 30-kyu to 7-dan across five rounds of AGA-rated play.
The Results
Alexander Qi (3p, NJ) - the strongest youth player in the known universe - won the tournament outright with a perfect 5-0 record.
Harley Huang (3d) earned the Massachusetts State Champion title - awarded to the highest-placing MA resident - with an impressive 4-1 record.
Two players went undefeated: Qi at the top and Harvy Yu (9k), who dominated the kyu ranks with his own 5-0 run.
Full standings, photos and results: wmgc.massgo.org/ma-state-2026
Sponsors
Thank you to our generous sponsors: Go Magic, OGS, 101weiqi, European Go Journal, ZBaduk, AI Sensei, BenKyo, Tsumego Dragon / Shawn Ray, AYD, SmartGo, AwesomeBaduk, BadukPop, and Internet Go School.
Teachers & lessons: Justin Teng, Michael Chen, polgote / Mateusz Surma, Yoonyoung Kim, and Chris Sagner.
That's 13 vendors and 5 teachers donating prizes to a weekend tournament. The Go community's generosity here is remarkable. Awarding these prizes at a closing ceremony works fine for 80 players, but it won't scale to Congress. So, we tried something new... the Prizes App.
The Prizes App
This was the debut of our custom prizes application, which awarded prizes based on player preferences. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, sponsors listed their prizes on the app. Players ranked the prizes they preferred. Prizes were then awarded via email, using a straightforward rank-choice algorithm.
The traditional approach to tournament prizes doesn't scale well to a tournament the size of Congress. Sponsors donate generously but have no idea if their prize reached someone who actually wanted it. Players win prizes they may never use. And the closing ceremony becomes a drawn-out logistics exercise.
Now, players browse sponsor offerings before the tournament, visit vendor sites to evaluate what they'd actually want, and rank their preferences. Sponsors get active engagement with players actively exploring their products. Every prize goes to someone who chose it.
At MA State, this meant 13 vendors got direct traffic from 79 players. The five teachers offering lessons informed all of the players that they are available for lessons. Every winner received something they actually wanted. The prize listings remain accessible indefinitely, extending sponsor visibility well beyond the tournament weekend.
We'll be using this app at the US Go Congress this summer, where we're working to streamline the awards ceremony while providing even more prizes than ever. MA State was our successful trial run.
Boston This Summer
The growth of MA State is a preview of what's coming. The 42nd US Go Congress lands in Boston July 25 - August 1, 2026 - returning to New England, ten years after the highly successful 2016 Congress. Co-directed by Trevor Morris and Audrey Wang, the week will feature the US Open, pro exhibitions, lectures, workshops, a youth program, and over $20,000 in prizes.
If MA State can draw 79 players to a weekend tournament, imagine what a week in Boston can do!
Learn more and register at gocongress.org.
The tournament was directed by Nick Bonner, with Jonathan Green handling registration and John Kerpan managing facilities. Trevor Morris thanks Nick for letting him use this tournament as a dry run for both the RegFox registration system and the prize allocation program.
Huge thanks to Josh Gum, author of the Prizes App.