20TH U.S. GO CONGRESS GETS UNDERWAY
Chris Garlock | Published on 8/1/2004
20TH U.S. GO CONGRESS GETS UNDERWAY: Coming from near and far, a record 428 attendees have packed into the RIT Conference Center in Rochester, New York for the 20th annual U.S. Go Congress. Fifteen professionals from Japan, Korea, China, the Netherlands and the U.S., as well as eighty-some youngsters are among the large and enthusiastic go crowd gathered for a week of playing, lectures, lessons and more, well-organized by Congress Director Greg Lefler, Assistant Director Lee Frankel-Goldwater and a bevy of helpful red-shirted staffers.
As in the last few years, we plan to publish special daily reports from the Go Congress, updating you on the biggest U.S. go event of the year. In addition to our usual reports on tournaments, professional lectures and more, we have two new features this year designed to get you even closer to the action: each edition will include a commentary on top games from the Congress, and we92re also posting photos of the Congress on the web, both at http://nate.rogue net.org/dpAlbum/path/Go_Congress and of course at the AGA92s website: http://www.usgo.o rg
The Congress E-Team includes Aria von Elbe, Joe Carl, Bill Saltman, Nathan Curtis and Laurie Crammond, assisting Managing Editor Chris Garlock and Assistant Editor Bill Cobb.
JIE LI OFF TO GOOD START IN U.S. OPEN: Defending U.S. Open Champ Jie Li got off to a good start in this year92s U.S. Open, defeating Lianzhou Yu on Board 1 in this morning92s first round. Li has won the Open the last two years running, and three times overall. On Board 2, Xuefen Lin beat I-Han Lui, while Yongfei Ge defeated Mozheng Guan on Board 3; Zhaonian Chen won against Thomas Hsiang on Board 4, Rui Wang beat Jong Hoon Lee on Board 5 and on Board 6 Joey Hung defeated Jin Chen. Eric Lui beat Jong Moon Lee on Board 7 and on Board 8 Yuan Zhou won against Richard Liang. The excitement in the strong players room was not limited to the stones on the board, when one of the tables collapsed in the middle of the round.
- reported by Joe Carl
GAME COMMENTARY: Yang v. Yang at the U.S. Go Congress
Today92s game commentary is from this morning92s AGA/ING Pro Tournament Finals first-round game between Yilun Yang, 7P and Huiren Yang, 1P. The 2004 AGA/ING Pro Tournament is sponsored by the American Go Association and the Ing Educational Foundation and is being held at the U.S. Go Congress in Rochester, New York. Four players 96 Yun Feng 9P, Yilun Yang 7P, Mingjiu Jiang 7P and Huiren Yang 1P 96 are playing three rounds this week for $6,000 in prizes.
Yilun Yang92s thorough commentary reveals that Huiren Yang92s problems begin as early as move 9, when he switches from a moyo strategy to make an inconsistent territorial move.
Jeff Shaevel is the Tournament Director; the Game Recorder is Sal Gionfriddo and Chris Garlock edited the game.
To view the attached sgf file(s), simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen‘s http://gobase.org /sgfeditors.html
BEGINNER92S MIND: Chaos, Pros & Shidogo with Maeda-sensei
By Aria von Elbe
I haven92t even been here at my first U.S. Go Congress a full 24 hours yet and I92m already having the time of my life. But then again it92s not like I can say I wasn92t expecting to... it is a whole week of go, after all. And chaos, can92t forget the chaos of getting to Rochester, getting to the hotel, getting checked-in, as well as trying to do, be a part of, and watch everything only to realize that nothing92s running on schedule. Apparently it92s like this every year, so I guess that92s not a bad thing.
Who cares about the chaos, though, when you can start your morning with a peek at Round 1 of the Pro Cup. To walk into that room and feel the intensity and energy of the pros as they play is just amazing. And to think that the very game I was watching was being broadcast live worldwide over KGS... wow, I92m at a loss for words.
The US Open matches were a little less, how to say this, high-level, but they were still fun, especially getting to see my go sensei versus my E-Journal editor. A match if I ever saw one. Mine however...well, let92s not go there shall we? I92m determined to win one game while I92m here, though. In the US Open, not in the Self Paired -- I92ve already won there. And after playing shidogo with Maeda-sensei, I92m sure I92ll get there too! I hope...
It92s invigorating to see so many women go players here, though we women are a 93hot commodity94 (to quote one Seattle friend who wishes to remain nameless) for partners in the Pair Go Tournament. Lots of kids too. And it92s great to see so many people having such a great time, but I wish you all could be here. I guess there92s always next year, right?
IN THE KNOW ABOUT GO: We92re happy to provide our full Member92s Edition to our non-member readers this week as a special promotion; we hope you enjoy the coverage, features and game commentaries. Reader and member support enable us to provide comprehensive weekly go news, reviews and more year-round and we hope you92ll consider joining today by clicking here now: http://www.usgo.o rg/org/application.asp
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