Players compete at the 2025 Chicago Open, May 24-25, Evanston, IL. Photo by Gavin Wallace.
Evanston, Illinois - May 24-25, 2025: The Evanston Go Club’s 2025 Chicago Open, held over Memorial Day weekend, drew a record 123 players as the largest weekend Go tournament in North America.
Organizing director Albert Yen said the tournament’s success represented a joint effort.
“As an organizer, I feel like I am facilitating everyone’s efforts for the big tournament. As I have stressed every time, the Midwestern player base drives our event, and I am extremely grateful to lead it,” Yen said.
In seven AGA-rated rounds, Dohyup Kim 8D went undefeated to claim first place in the Open division, taking home a $600 prize. Invited by Evanston Go Club member Moon Ki Cho 6K, Kim made a 17-hour journey from Incheon, Korea to compete.
“I’ve traveled across Asia, Europe and the United States over the past 13 years and managed to win around 60 tournaments. However, I didn't do well in the 2022 Chicago Rapid, so I’m pretty happy about my performance this time,” he said.
Kim’s sharp and precise playstyle put him ahead of the pack. Out of all of his victories, he pointed to his game against runner-up Juanshu Lan 6D.
“In Round 6, my opponent was a very young player, so I let my guard down a bit and played quite quickly. He plays very well, despite his age,” he said. “As the game progressed, I realized I fell slightly behind, probably by around 1.5 points.”
But Kim remained calm.
“I've been putting even more effort into maintaining composure and a solid poker face during games,” he said. “I felt there were still plenty of opportunities to fight back. From that point on, I simply focused on finding the best possible moves.”
His games, streamed on the AGA Official YouTube channel (see Day 1 and Day 2), marked the first time Evanston Go Club featured national live streaming and reporting led by “Mr. E-Journal” Chris Garlock. The simultaneous coverage of three major tournaments across the country reflected the growing unity of the national Go community.
Dohyup Kim 8D (right) competes against Juanshu Lan 6D (left) in Round 6 of the 2025 Chicago Open at Holiday Inn Evanston-North Chicago, Evanston, IL. Photo by Caleb Hansen / Evanston Go Club.
Runner-up Juanshu Lan, 13, became the youngest Open division player in Evanston Go Club history. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Lan attended the Chicago Open for the first time.
“It’s summer break now, and I didn’t really have anything to do,” he said.
Lan remembered his game against Kim differently.
“It was pretty even until I started a fight and was annihilated. I got smoked so hard it was almost boring,” he said.
Despite this loss, Lan ended the weekend with a strong record of 5-2, clinching second place by SOS over Yihan Guo 6D in third and Tienchu Liu 8D in fourth. Last year’s undefeated champion Haoran Wang 7D placed fifth and Tianyuan Zhang 5D came in sixth.
The 2025 Chicago Open champions Tianyuan Zhang 5D, Haoran Wang 7D, Tienchu Liu 8D, Yihan Guo 6D, Juanshu Lan 6D, and Dohyup Kim 8D (left to right) celebrate victory with organizing director Albert Yen. Photo by Caleb Hansen / Evanston Go Club.
Beyond the spotlight of the Open champions, the Main division brought together newcomers and returning players of all levels.
Another rising youth star, Enzo Aozono-Araldi 2D, from Atlanta, made his Chicago Open debut. His ambitious fighting style kept his opponents on edge.
“There are so many people,” he said. “I like that I get to play seven-rated games since tournaments are normally shorter.”
He finished with five wins and took second place in the 1-2D division.
Enzo Aozono-Araldi 2D (left) and Kwan-Mo You 3D (right) smile for a photo together before their game. Photo by Tomomi Aozono.
Brian Kirby, another fresh face, returned to tournament play for the first time since 2022.
“For a while, I’ve had some personal things going on,” he said. “I think that Go has been a way to cope with that a little bit and maybe a distraction as well. Something to do that seems normal to me again.”
Though Kirby said that his style became “less sharp and less aggressive,” he enjoyed sharing his passion for the game with his sons.
“I'm having a great time,” he said. “[My kids] seem to be having fun too. They weren't really interested in Go, but they seem more interested after coming here and playing in the Youth Tournament.”
Children compete in the free Youth Tournament directed by Xinming Guo at the 2025 Chicago Open, Evanston, Ill. Photo by Caleb Hansen / Evanston Go Club.
For Kevin Fanning 15K, the event marked his third in-person tournament. Having played Go for nine months, he reflected on the learning process.
“I’m someone used to memorization systems, so I’ve had difficulty making progress,” he said.
Yet, Fanning shared how the game challenged him on a personal level.
“I’ve found the Go community incredibly welcoming,” he said. “There’s this idea that how you play Go is a reflection of how you approach problems in life. I saw my own conflict-avoidance tendencies in my style, and it gave me a new kind of awareness.”
Kevin Fanning 15K (left) faces Andy Wong 16K (right) in Round 2 of the 2025 Chicago Open. Photo by Tomomi Aozono.
The weekend offered more than competition.
Peter Leung 4K’s new puzzles, titled “Go Figure,” challenged players to guess the AI scores for tough professional positions. In a surprising turn, double-digit kyu player Ari Patin defied expectations to take first place, with Moon Ki Cho 5K and Stephanie Tan 3D finishing second and third, respectively.
After Saturday's games, Leung hosted a Trivia Night featuring questions on Go history and Japanese vocabulary. The evening received an exciting sponsorship from Downtown Evanston, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting events in the downtown district, which provided media exposure and $250 in prize sponsorships.
Trivia Night’s ultimate champion, Nathan Chan 1D, credited his win to deep involvement in the game.
“If you've been playing for more than 10 years, you probably have some knowledge,” Chan said. “Go is an elegant game, and a game where we can meet new people. I’ve attended almost all the tournaments in the past 10 years… it’s amazing to see how much it’s grown.”
Peter Leung (left) poses with the winners of the Go Figure challenge he hosted at the 2025 Chicago Open. Photo by Caleb Hansen / Evanston Go Club.
As the weekend closed, Outreach Director Jamie Tang 1K reflected on the bonds that the game fosters.
“Go can connect people from all backgrounds without relying on a mutual language,” Tang said. “I believe it's important during this time when we're trying to navigate many borders that once divided us, but now we have to figure out a way to use it to our advantage.”
Evanston Go Club thanks the continued support from American Yunguseng Dojang, Baduk Club, Hello Jasmine, Online Go Server, Pita Inn, and Yellow Mountain Imports. Online Go Server, the leading online Go server, provided over a hundred membership vouchers for players to deepen game reviews with AI analysis.
The 2025 Chicago Open players gather for a group photo at Holiday Inn Evanston-North Chicago, Evanston, Ill. Photo by Caleb Hansen / Evanston Go Club.
2025 Chicago Open Winners
Open Division
- Dohyup Kim 8D
- Juanshu Lan 6D
- Yihan Guo 6D
- Tienchu Liu 8D
- Haoran Wang 7D
- Tianyuan Zhang 5D
Main Division
3-4D: Xuyan Xiong 3D, Chenghao Wang 4D
1-2D: Dino Wang 2D, Enzo Aozono-Araldi 2D
1-2K: Gary Duane McIvor 2K, Son Nguyen 1K
3-4K: Caleb Barnett 3K, Zhuoang Tao 3K
5-6K: Bowen Yan 6K, Jaden Pan 5K
7-8K: Paul Canfield 7K, Gil Peled 8K
9-10K: Theodore James 10K, Matthew Wang 9K
11-12K: Evan Himes 12K, Alicia Seifrid 11K
13-14K: Benjamin Mason-Cleary 13K, Jonathan Bickel 14K
15-16K: Alex Ehrlich 15K, Robert Pociask 15K
17-18K: Connor Ham 18K, Bryce Ham 18K
Activity Winners
Trivia Night: Nathan Chan 1D, Tianyuan Zhang 5D
“Go Figure” puzzles: Stephanie Tan 3D, Moon Ki Cho 6K, Ari Patin 12K
Check out the full standings here and photo album here.
Organizing Team
- Aaron Czarnecki - Chief Artist
- Xinming Guo - Youth Director
- Mark Rubenstein - President, Tournament Director
- Qi-Mei Jamie Tang - Outreach Director
- Cheuk To Tsui - Tournament Support
- Albert Yen - Organizing Director, Tournament Director
Media Team
- Jason Cheng - Writing
- Zixuan Gao - Design
- Caleb Hansen - Photography
- Peter Leung - Trivia Night
- Kartik Saraf - Writing
- Stephanie Tan - Writing
About Evanston Go Club
The Evanston Go Club, co-founded by Mark Rubenstein and David Whiteside in 1996, is the largest American Go Association chapter in the Midwest. Our mission is to provide a place that is open to the public for people to play, learn, or just watch the game of Go. For more details, visit our website here.