A few simple rules ... limitless possibilities

SmartGo is sponsoring the February and March qualifiers for the KGS 2013 Meijin tournament. Smallbird won the 2012 KGS Meijin inaugural effort, with some of the strongest players on the server competing for the final prize: $500 and a special icon. The 2013 KGS Meijin season has already started, with Alex12 winning the first spot in the qualifiers (finals will be held starting in November). SmartGo’s February round has 18 entrants thus far, with ranks up to 6 dan. The single-elimination tournament will take place February 16-17; see the tournament web page for more details.

 

The United States Youth Go Championships (USYGC), held Jan. 19th on KGS pulled in 63 players.  The withdrawal of the Ing Foundation from the event did not appear to have any effect on attendance.   Kids and teens competed in five different bands, with players ranging from 7 dan to the double digit kyus.  First place winners will be receiving crystal trophies in the mail, while second place winners will get a Sai plushie.  All players can also now claim $400 scholarships to the AGA Go Camp, or $200 scholarships to US Go Congress, on a first come first serve basis.  The scholarships are courtesy of the AGF, which helps bring dozens of young players to the Congress every year.   Dan level kids were also competing for entry into the four player finals, and the big prize of a free trip to the US Go Congress. Sixteen-year-old Calvin Sun 7d (at left) finished first in the qualifiers for the Senior Division (under 18) while ten-year-old Jeremy Chiu 5d (at right) placed first in the Junior (under 12).  The finals are double-elimination, and the first two rounds were held Jan. 20.  The finals for the Senior Division will continue over the next few weeks, while Jr. Division kids will square off in person in March, at the BAGPA ratings tourney in Menlo Park CA.  For full qualifier results, go here.   The senior finalists were Calvin Sun 7d, Albert Yen 6d,  Andrew Lu 6d, and Andrew Huang 6d; The Junior Division had only five players, and used double elimination from the start.  Jeremy Chiu 5d, and Aaron Ye 5d are the last two still standing. Winners Report: 1st place Sr. 1-4 dan: Jerry Shen 4d; 1st place Sr. 1-5 kyu: Larry Qu 1k; 1st place Jr, 1-5k: Eric Liu 5k; 1st place Sr. 6-10 kyu: Royce Chen 10k; 1st place Jr. 6-10 kyu: Tianyi Tina Li 10k; 1st place Sr. 11-15 kyu band: Henry Hathaway; 1st place Jr. 11-15 kyu band: Frederick Bao 13k; 1st place Sr. 16-30 kyu band: Sarah Amano 18k; 1st place Jr. 16-30 kyu band: Alex Kuang 23k.  The tournament was run by Paul Barchilon and Hugh Zhang. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

Lee Sedol 9P, the longtime #1-ranked player in Korea, has shocked the go world by announcing in a recent interview that he would “…definitely retire and move overseas within three years.”

Lee, 29 years old, is still at the top level of competition, and will probably be able to compete at that level for another four or five years. But the decorated pro says he wants to end his professional playing career at its height, rather than facing a possible decline.

“I’m going to quit while I’m still at the top,” said Lee in his recent interview, “I can still compete for a few more years, but what can I do after that? Competing and being at the top is an important part of who I am, as a fighter and a player.”

Lee has ambitious plans for his retirement as well, however, planning to teach and promote go abroad.

“I want to make go as popular as chess,” he explained.

For American players, at least, this may be good news – since Lee reportedly views the United States as the best place to expand the game.

The U.S. holds another appeal for Lee as well – his wife and young daughter have just moved to Canada for his daughter’s education.

Adapted from a report on Go Game Guru; please click for game records and more information. Edited by Ben Williams

Aiming to keep its winning streak alive, Canada put on a thrilling come-from-behind victory at the 5th US-Canada Youth Friendship Match, held this past Saturday on KGS and viewed live by over 200 go fans. Featuring the strongest amateur youth players in North America, the match seemed to be locked in for the US, as Albert Yen 6d, Andrew Lu 6d, and Aaron Ye 5d won the first three games. However, Canada came storming back, with wins by Jianing Gan 8d and Oliver Wolf 5d, leaving the top board of Calvin Sun 7d versus Bill Lin 8d to be the deciding game. In the end, Bill prevailed, bringing the Canadians back to a 3-3 split in wins and a victory with the top board tiebreak secured. Next, the North American team looks for a repeat victory over the European youth in the Transatlantic Match that will be played this coming spring. Full results can be seen here. -Story, and tournament, by Lawrence Ku

After almost seven hours of intense competition, Xuyu Xiang 7D (at left in photo) won the 2013 Phoenix Chinese Week (PCW) Go Open on February 10 in Phoenix, AZ. Held on the Chinese New Year’s Day at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix, this was the ninth year for the PCW Open. Eighteen go players ranging from 15k to 7D competed in four divisions “and celebrated the Year of the Snake,” reports organizer Quan Li. “We had some young kids as well as a senior player close to 70 years old.” The Open attracted many spectators, Li reports, and winners were presented with specially-designed medals featuring a ying-yang logo made of titanium. “Every player enjoyed the games and friendship with other players,” Li adds, “We will meet again in the Year of the Horse.”

Results: Xuyu Xiang 7D was undefeated to win 1st place in Division A (high dan); Jason Lin 5D won 2nd place.  Joshua Simmons 2D — also with straight wins – took 1st place in Division B (low dan & high kyu), Bill Gundberg 1k won 2nd place, Eric Lin 2D and Jeffrey Luo 2k shared 3rd place.  Jared Hogrefe 5k, Richard Hardy 5k and Demir Zoroglu 4k won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively in Division C (mid kyu).  Shane Edey, Denis Liu and Chiu Ly won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in Division D (low kyu), respectively.  Note that Denis and Chiu are 11-year-old kids.
photo: Xuyu Xiang (l) playing Jason Lin; photo by Quan Li

 

The North American Go Convention continues tonight as professional go players Myungwan Kim 9P and Joanne Missingham 6P (at right, playing Pair Go; click here for the game record) give lectures, play simuls or provide game reviews from 7-10p in Parsippany, NJ. The action shifts south tomorrow, moving to McLean, VA (8200 Greensboro Drive, Suite 900) and then to GMU in Arlington for the weekend (3351 Fairfax Dr.)

Results from the NAGC Days Inn Cup New York Metro Open: Open Division (6d and above): 1st: Ruxu Cao 7d; 2nd: Ruinan Wang 7d and Zeyu Xu 7d (tie). Expert Division (3d-5d): 1st: Zhihong Ma  4d; 2nd: Justin Ching 3d; 3rd: Willis Huang  3d. Proficient Division (1k-2d): 1st: Xinyu Zhou  1d; 2nd: David Glekel  2d; 3rd: Yunxiu Zhang  1k. Intermediate Division (12k-2k): 1st: Dan Ambrose 4k; 2nd: Barbara Huang 7k; 3rd: Bab Crites 12k. Novice Division (13k and below): 1st: Sarah Crites 28k; 2nd: Eric Weiss 17k; 3rd: James-Lee Meredith 18k. There were 33 players in the Dan and 1k Division, 16 players in the Kyu Division, for a total of 49 players. There were 17 players in the Blitz Go tournament, and eight in the Pair Go tournament.
Click here for the Dan Division Cross Tab and the Kyu Division Cross Tab. 
- Yue Zhang, Tournament Director; photo by Liang Yu

 

by Gabriel Benmergui

In my last column (The Spirit of Play: “What can I do to improve?” 12/31/2012 EJ) I discussed players who reach moderately high levels of play with little effort, especially regarding problem solving. Since those players often have a big effect on others, I think it would be valuable to delve deeper into the matter.

I find it damaging when I hear a strong player say “I got to X-Dan with little study. If you only play games and review you can get to X-Dan like me.” Such cases seem to prove that effort is a waste of time, but they’re really damaging because they discourage players from putting in the necessary work to improve.

The reality is that naturally strong players are quite rare. For each player that rather effortlessly reaches a moderately high level of play, there are thousands that do not. The “system” of just playing and reviewing simply doesn’t work for the vast majority of players. And despite their rapid improvement, these players are not really the clear success cases they seem; without proper effort they’re not going to reach the highest level they can achieve.

In the end, natural skill doesn’t really matter. It’s just not something you can control. What you can control is the effort and work you put into improving. Natural skill has a limit that effort does not have. We live in an age where one of the most renowned players of all time, Lee Changho 9P, fell extremely short in skill when compared to his teachers and his classmates, but through an immense amount of hard work Lee attained a place at the top of the world.

My Advice: For amateur players, go should first and foremost be about enjoyment. Do what pleases you most. However, if you want to improve, be ready to put some effort into it. Self-study, lessons, and reviewing your games will all help you get better. And when a naturally strong player crosses your path, learn what you can from them but ignore any advice that seems to offer an easy path to improvement. Slack training will never be better than proper study. But don’t take my word for it; here’s Lee Changho’s #1 tip to get stronger: “Solve life and death problems!”

Gabriel Benmergui lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentinian Champion in 2011 and 2012, he has studied go in Korea and now runs the Kaya.gs Go Server. Edited by Chris Garlock; photo by John Pinkerton

February 13-17: Arlington/Annandale, VA
North American Go Convention 2nd Half
Edward Zhang www.ngol.us@gmail.com 703-888-9240 407-810-4098

February 16: Columbus, OH
Tim Kington timkington@gmail.com 614-560-1708
Dajiang He dajiangh@gmail.com

Get the latest go events information.

GoGameGuru, the online go “hub” founded in 2010 by Australians David Ormerod, An Younggil 8P and Jingning Xue, started with a bang – literally. Ormerod and Xue were among the 469 passengers flying from Singapore to Sydney when one of the engines exploded four minutes into the flight. The captain was credited with averting what could have been one of the worst air disasters in history. In the wake of this narrow escape, Ormerod reassessed his life priorities, and dedicated himself to bringing go to the West, with the help of his two friends. “More than anything else, Western go needs a steady stream of new players,” Ormerod told the EJ. The result, GoGameGuru (GGG), is a rapidly-expanding nexus of useful information from the ground up, as well as premium services and products for everyone, especially new and intermediate players. A growing collection of essays such as “Thinking Big in Go” and “5 Tips for Dealing with Unexpected Moves” is available, along with problems, game analysis, extensive news coverage of important tournaments and events, and a weekly newsletter claiming more than 5,000 subscribers. GGG has a related Scoop.it account, where visitors and and specifically tailored search algorithms find and suggest related content, and account owners can easily distribute stuff and grow their communities of interest..

Part of GoGameGuru’s idea is to also operate a successful business. “If GGG can be financially viable, we’ll have more time and resources to introduce go to
more people,” says Ormerod. “If we achieve our goal, the market for go products and services will grow, making a better business environment for everyone.” Last summer, GGG established a partnership with Korea’s BadukTV, making 24/7 go TV available in the US. A subscription also includes access to translated lectures. More recently, GGG has opened an online store, featuring affordable and premium goods. All equipment ships for free, and to support American Go, and GGG will donate 10% of the proceeds from any sale to the AGA (when you use this link). When GGG says “premium,”  they’re not kidding – the finest board available will set you back a cool $100,000. Personally, I’m not sure I need to own that one (some more reasonable options also look very nice), but I’d love to play a game on it some time. Use this link to do your shopping and support the AGA at the same time!
- Roy Laird

The AGA has just launched its Pair Go Facebook page. Calling it “a work in progress,” Rachel Small is collecting Pair Go photos from over the years to include on the page, and encourages others to share their photos as well. She also plans to stream photos live from Pair Go events. “Like” it to get Pair Go news, and post on the wall to let others know if you’re looking for a partner. This is the first time that the AGA has made use of online social networking to promote go, and Small notes that it’s appropriate that Pair Go is leading the way, “as it is an inherently social variation of the game.” Photo: Rachel Small with her Panda Net staffer partner at the Pair Go Friendship Match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Edmont Hotel in November 2012; photo by Steve Colburn.

“There is a persistent problem with the thinking behind many go articles (The Spirit of Play: “I’m Stuck” 10/29/2012 EJ, for example),” writes Terry Benson. “Everyone eventually gets stuck at some level and can’t get higher. Their game might change, but it doesn’t get better. Whatever rank they are will be their high water mark. That’s go and that’s life. There are limits in our brains which we can test but not break.

“So anyone who plays only because they are ‘getting better’ sooner or later will stop playing. Hopefully, before they give up, they’ll realize that go is a great game with many types of puzzles to solve and a wonderful way to connect to other people. They’ll switch from ‘I have to get better’ to playing for the pure enjoyment of stones, wood, patterns, and the thrills of the contest.

“What we need in this country — and indeed in the world — are millions of people playing go the way millions play tennis or golf or run. Most of them will be duffers; 35 handicap golfers, 9-minute milers, and, in go, 25 kyus. And their level of play will seem horrid to ‘serious’ players. But they are playing and they should be encouraged to play simply for the joy of playing.  If they are having fun in the confusion of 25 kyu – leave them alone, especially if they’re kids! We know how often a won game gets away, even from stronger players. In some ways the game is even more fun at 25 kyu because literally anything can happen.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get better or trying to learn something new. There are levels of play that some people will find more satisfying than others. But improvement is a short term rationale. It’s far better to fall in love with the game.”

Benson, a 1-dan, has been playing go for 52 years and has served as president of the American Go Association, Managing Editor of the American Go Journal and is currently President of the American Go Foundation. He directed the video/webcast of the International Go Symposium 2012, where he gave a talk on promotion of the game. 

The North American Go Convention continues on Sunday, February 10. Cut-off time is 8:45A for the first round. “Drive safe” urges organizer Edward Zhang. Highlights include 3-4 rated games in the Open, awards for day-trippers 4-win trophies and 3-Win certificate), the Blitz Go Final, Pair Go Final and the Award Ceremony. Four pros are on hand: Myungwan Kim 9P, Joanne Missingham 6P, Andy Liu 1P and Stephanie Yin 1P. Click here for photos from Day One or here for more photos on Facebook.
Game records:
Round 1: zhaonian-chen-xuzeyu
Round 2: Cao-Ruxu-chen-zhaonian
Round 3:  wang-jun-chen-zhaonian
Round 4: zhaonian chen-wang ruinan

 

Are you enrolled in a go club at school? If so, this is your chance to challenge other go clubs from all over North America.  Registration is now open for the American Go Honor Society’s (AGHS) 14th annual School Team Tournament.  In March, go clubs from the United States, Canada, and Mexico will compete for $3,000 in prizes, with some for every club.  Which club will take home the glory of being North America’s strongest go club? Register from now to March 1st to take your shot at being the best. Gather your team mates and play in various divisions ranging from Novice to Varsity level. Teams must be composed of three people who are in high school or below and are all younger than 20. Each member of each team must be enrolled in the same school or learning institution, and each school/learning institution can enter a maximum of 3 teams for the tournament. For returning teams, there have been a few important changes in the rules this year: check them out and register on our website: Aghs.cc. The deadline to sign up is March 1st, and the tournament will be held on KGS on March 16 and 23, with rounds at 1 and 4 pm Eastern Time. - Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

The World Go League Invitational (New Go Server Launches With 10 Top Pros in $100,000 Invitational 12/15/2012 EJ) is underway. Sponsored by new go server go9dan.com, the contest seeks to determine the strongest go player in the world in a battle between the top five Korean pros and the top five Chinese pros. The World Pro Go League, the first quarterly league, commenced the last week of January and will end in March or April. Click here to see the the latest results and playing schedule and here for game records. To read comments see go9dan.com’s Facebook page.

Here are the results in the first five games; the first player is white and the winner is in bold: 1. Lee Sedol-Chen Yaoye; 2. Shi Yue-Lee Changho; 3. Park Junghwan-Xie He (note from go9dan.com: the “future authority of Korean Go” Park Junghwan won by time against one of the super-powers of China Xie He at move 84. We confirmed with Xie that it was not a technical problem. “The opening joseki feels good for white. After W’s move at 60, the game looks difficult for black.” said Lee Sedol); 4. Kong Jie-Park Younghoon; 5. Fan Tingyu-Kim Jisuk.

The North American Go Convention launched Friday night with welcoming speeches from organizers and professionals and simuls at the Days Inn Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey. Action continues Saturday with tournaments, lectures, simuls and more. Call 703-888-9240 or 407- 810-4098 for info. photos by Errol Missingham; collage by Chris Garlock

The AGA Board of Directors is seeking two new board members as current members Bob Barber and Daniel Smith take their departure.  Barber, a much-loved Chicago go organizer, is known for his creatively-named – and very well-run — tournaments and is a longtime AGA volunteer. “We owe Bob a huge debt of gratitude for his many years of dedicated work on behalf of the local and national go community,” said Board Chair Daniel Smith. Barber is leaving to focus on other new activities in his life and to provide an opportunity on the AGA board for someone with more current involvement in AGA activities. With more than a year left in Barber’s term, the Board has determined that its by-laws call for a special election; details will be forthcoming from AGA Elections Officer Arnold Eudell.  Smith, meanwhile, is leaving his Illinois home to take a tech job in California and is giving up his Central Region seat per the by-laws.  “In his short time on the board, Daniel has been diligent, thorough and creative and I’m confident he’ll remain involved in all we’re doing,” said AGA President Andy Okun.  Given the smaller amount of time remaining in Smith’s term, the board will appoint an interim board member pending this summer’s election.  Central region resident AGA members who are interested in filling this seat or chapter leaders with a recommendation should get in touch with Okun – president@usgo.org — or a board member as soon as possible.

New details have just been released on the Kansai-Kiin’s 3-week intensive go camp with Maeda Ryo 6P in Osaka this summer (Maeda Organizing 2013 Go Camp in Osaka 8/6/2012 EJ). It will be held at the Osaka University of Commerce from June 30 – July 20. Attendees will receive intensive training from Kansai-Kiin professionals, play against top amateur players and former inseis while they make friends and go sightseeing around historical cities like Kyoto, Nara, and Himeji. There are also some optional tours to Hiroshima and/or the Shusaku Memorial Museum in Innoshima. Register before February 28 and get a 5,000-yen discount. “Maeda is hoping — and excited — to show the best part of Japan and have great time with attendees!” reports Akane Negishi.
- photo: Maeda at the 2012 US Go Congress; photo by Chris Garlock

National Veteran Championship: The National Veteran Championship, played from 01/26-27 in Bucuresti, Romania, was won by Petru Oancea 4d, second was Lucretiu Calota 5d and third was Liviu Oprisan 4d… Cognifide Go Cup #1: The Cognifide Go Cup #1, played on 01/26 in Poznan, Poland, was won by Marek Kaminski 4d, second was Kamil Chwedyna 4d (right) and third was Marcin Majka 2d… Torneo citta` di Treviso: The Torneo citta` di Treviso, played on 01/27 in Treviso, Italy, was won by Stefano Babini 3k, second was Leonardo Giuliato 3k and third was Andrea Brancaccio 6k… 2013 Irish Championship League Kick Off: The 2013 Irish Championship League Kick Off, played from 01/26-27 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, was won by Roman Pszonka 3d, second was Claas Roever 2k and third was Noel Mitchell 2d… Dutch Female Championship: The Dutch Female Championship, played from 01/26-27 in Amstelveen, Netherlands, was won by Marika Kuin-Dubiel 2d (left), second was Marieke Overbeek 3k and third was Annemarie de Putter 2k… 2. Go turnir Filozofskog fakulteta: The 2. Go turnir Filozofskog fakulteta, played on 01/26  in Zagreb, Croatia, was won by Mladen Smud 1k, second was Nikola Primetica 4k and third was Drazen Odobasic 16k… Warszawska Liga Go #2: The Warszawska Liga Go #2, played on 01/22 in Warszawa, Poland, was won by Stanislaw Frejlak 4d, second was Blazej Madejski 2k and third was Andrzej Drzystek 3k… Dutch Championship: The Dutch Championship, played from 01/12-27  in Amstelveen, Netherlands, was won by Merlijn Kuin 6d and Zeno van Ditzhuijzen 5d,there will be a play off between them, and third was Frank Janssen 6d… Maidenhead: The Maidenhead, played on 01/19 n Maidenhead, United Kingdom, was won by Matthew Cocke 5d, second was Desmond Cann 4d and third was Baromi Kim 5d… Ukrainian Youth Go Championship: The Ukrainian Youth Go Championship, played from 01/19-20 in Rivne, Ukraine, was won by Valerii Krushelnytskyi 1d, second was Oleksandr Mishchuk 12k and third was Oleksandr Zarivniak 12k… Czech Youth Championship-U16 catagory: The Czech Youth Championship-U16 catagory, played from 01/19-20 n Praha, Czech Republic, was won by Samuel Havelka 2k, second was Vojtech Vasa 9k and third was Vojtech Tomek 10k… Czech Youth Championship – U20 catagory: The Czech Youth Championship – U20 catagory, played from 01/19-20 n Praha, Czech Republic, was won by Lukas Podpera 5d, second was Petr Kouba 2d and third was Frantisek Caha 5k… Czech Youth Championship – U12 catagory: The Czech Youth Championship – U12 catagory, played from 01/19-20 in Praha, Czech Republic, was won by Dita Vasova 15k, second was Michal Hrbek 18k and third was Leon Defer 20k… Winter Tournament: The Winter Tournament, played from 01/18-20 in Kosicka Bela, Slovakia, was won by Pavol Lisy 6d, second was Tamas Gerbner 4k and third was Stanislav Urbanik 7k… Jusandan 2013: The Jusandan 2013, played from 01/12-13 in Stockholm, Sweden, was won by Johan Berntsson 1d, second was Micael Svensson 1k and third was Klas Almroth 4d… Schoolkids Championship U16: The Schoolkids Championship U16, 01/12 in Budapest, Hungary, was won by Dominik Boviz 3d, second was Robert Csizmadia 2k and third was Attila Sebok 10k…  Schoolkids Championship U12: The Schoolkids Championship U12, played om 01/12 in Budapest, Hungary, was won by Bulcsu Fajszi 7k, second was David Matolcsi 7k and third was Botond Ekler Szabo 15k… Wintergo 2012: The Wintergo 2012, played from 12/27-01/31 n Overasselt, Netherlands, was won by Zeno van Ditzhuijzen 5d, second was Michiel Eijkhout 6d and third was Frank Janssen 6d… adapted from EuroGoTV, which includes winner reports, crosstabs, game records and photos. Edited by Taylor Litteral

Lee Sedol 9P defeated American pro Gansheng Shi 1P on February 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the 10-game series between the AGA-Europe pro team and Lee, sponsored by go9dan.com.

“In general I felt good about my game,” Shi — who took white in the game (at right) — tells the E-Journal. “I think I

download SGF file

played well and was able to hang on to until the late middle game where I forgot to make an important exchange that cost me the game.  I feel Lee Sedol is really strong and really punishes opponents for misplays and overplays. He was able to catch all of my mistakes and really profit from doing so. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience.”

In the next round, European pro Catalin Taranu will take black with 0.5 komi (W wins ties). Due to the Chinese and Korean New Year holiday this weekend, the series is expected to resume on the weekend of February 16th.

Plans for this weekend’s North American Go Convention are proceeding as a winter storm bears down on the region. “Our three professionals have arrived on-site and we’ve arranged for shuttle service from both Newark Penn Station and the Park & Ride in Parsippany-Troy Hills,” says NAGC Commissioner Edward Zhang (at right with Joanne Missingham and her parents, Nan-Ping and Errol). Click here for a short video overview about the NAGC.

Shuttle sign-up is strongly encouraged so the NAGC volunteers can plan accordingly and reduce wait time. Players may also stay at the Days Inn Hotel on Friday if they wish to avoid traveling on Saturday, when the storm is forecast to hit. “Keep in mind that there is a second chapter of the NAGC in DC from February 13-17, with same three Open, Blitz and Pair Go tournaments,” adds Convention Director Yue Zhang 7D.