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White: Choi Jeong 9P (Korea)
Black: Wang Chenxing 5P (China)

Commentary: Gansheng Shi 1P
Game editor: Myron Souris
Published in the January 21, 2020 edition of the American Go Journal

This game was the 1st of a best-of-3 in the Go Seigen Women’s Championships. Both are top players from their respective countries. As one side slowly grinds out an advantage, Gansheng gives the reader a better feel for the game’s flow and balance, until an all-or-nothing fight ends the game.

Already 7-dan at the age of 14, Gansheng Shi won the right to represent Canada at the 2008 World Youth Go Championships, where he competed in Guiyang China. In 2012 Shi fought well in the first AGA/Tygem professional certification tourney, earning promotion to Professional One Dan, along with Andy Liu 1P. Shi is now at the University of Toronto studying Immunology. The E-Journal is delighted to have him doing commentary, and we know our readers will enjoy his insights.

February 2: San Francisco, CA
2020 Jujo Tournament
Ernest Brown indagoe49@gmail.com 415-606-7641
Mike Bull bull@lmi.net 510-220-0760)

February 2: Seattle, WA
Seattle Monthly Ratings Tournament – February
Mike Malveaux programs@seattlego.org 206-545-1424

Get the latest go events information.

The Seattle Go Center recently honored Dennis Wheeler for his longtime dedication to teaching and sharing the game of go. Over 50 people came to the Seattle center on Saturday, Jan. 11, to share pizza, have a chat, play a game, and pose for pictures. Program Manager Mike Malveaux noted that Dennis helped Frank Fukuda at the Uwajimaya Wednesday outreach event for many years, and then took the lead in 2013. Dennis has also been teaching at festivals, such as Sakura-con, for over a decade. In addition, he has held the Saturday Manager position at the Seattle Go Center since 2012, where he particularly enjoys teaching children, and making newcomers feel welcome.

Dennis (right) at Sakura-Con 2017

Now, Dennis is dealing with chemotherapy, and needs to reduce his outside activities. He will still be coming to the Seattle Go Center on some Saturdays. He continues to use social media, such as Facebook.

The party included Dennis’s wife Vicki, their three daughters, and their partners, as well as neighbors who learned go from Dennis and many old friends from the Seattle Go Center.

Mike also noted the contributions that Dennis has made to the national go scene. He was one of the organizers of the 2005 Go Congress in Tacoma, and he has been a excellent game recorder for many national AGA tournaments, usually reporting on the first board.

Dennis Wheeler with family and friends at the Seattle Go Center

When he wrote about the party, Mike Malveaux noted: “My emotions are mixed — sadness that Dennis has to go through chemo, plus relief that he had some advance warning about it, and pride at Dennis’ contributions to American go, and pleasure that I’ve known him, because he’s really a great guy to spend time with.” Photos and report by Brian Allen

At its annual retreat on November 11, 2019, the AGA board of directors discussed several initiatives and their long-term priority of making go more mainstream. They passed motions to create a system for the AGA to provide limited financial support to develop/maintain tournaments, and established a scholarship fund to make the US Go Congress more affordable. They also discussed implementing an improved format for the North American Masters Tournament, held at Go Congress each year, based on feedback from strong players. Andy Okun also provided his President’s Report, including an update on work towards a North American Go Federation, which the board approved.

Seventy players came out for the first day of the first-ever Midwest Open held in Columbus, Ohio. “The open division is sporting a highly competitive field of 14 high-dan players in a show-down for the championship title,” said organizer Devin Fraze, who also serves as Central Region Representative on the AGA Board. Event sponsor BadukClub is streaming the top board with commentary by DanielML on the club’s Twitch channel. Round Three will begin at 9:30a (CST) on Sunday, with commentary by Yoonyoung Kim 8P at 1:30p CST.

The AGA-rated event brought together players from as far away as Texas, Colorado and California, as well as many of the midwestern states. Pairings in the main playing hall are being done with an innovative self-paired system created by Chicago Go organizer Mark Rubenstein, enabling participants to play more games with less waiting between matches.

Tune in to the AGA’s YouTube Channel at 6p EST today when Redmond’s Reviews Episode 17 with Chris Garlock and Michael Redmond 9p is released.

In this 93-minute episode, Michael reviews his Meijin tournament game with Takao Shinji 9P, which he calls his “best game of the year,” or as he also puts it, “my one half-decent game.” Most of the time, Redmond adds, “I seem to have the right idea” in this game, which features a lot of fighting. Takao held the Meijin title three years ago, dropped out of the league the next year, and the following year made the league’s final section. “He’s still at the top of the tournament scene in many ways,” Redmond says, noting that Takao is in the highest league of the Kisei tournament. A prodigy from an early age, Takao “played a thick, influence-oriented style, until he was confronted by Cho U,” whose territory-oriented style “inspired Takao to adapt his style and he does more fighting nowadays.” Chris and Michael also chat about what they were up to during their break from producing video commentaries, along with an update on their AlphaGo book-in-progress.

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The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries — some AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo and some of Redmond’s games — on January 23 and 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.

Video produced by Stephen Hu, Allen Moy, Chris Garlock and Andrew Jackson.

Do you have a need to watch high level go? Join us this Sunday January 19th at 3PM EST for the start of the third round. Follow your favorite local teams and players as they battle it out this season. Games can be found using the GoPanda2 client in the AGA City League rooms. Check the schedules for each league for detailed information for each game; A League, B League, C League, D League.

“The AGHS is hosting its Youth Go League which will start in February 2020,” says Promotion Head Sophia Wang, “Because playing games is crucial to improving quickly, the league offers young go players an opportunity to play more serious online games.”

There will be 4-5 rounds each month, paired by divisions using a ladder system such that players face others of similar strength. All youth ages 18 and under from the US, Canada, and Mexico are invited to participate in these friendly yet competitive matches. Prizes will be awarded. The registration deadline is 11:59 PM PST on January 26, 2020.

For rules and regulations, click here.
For registration, click here.

Tune in the AGA’s Twitch channel tonight at 7p EST for a livestream game commentary by Michael Redmond 9P with Chris Garlock. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams. “Hope this series never ends!” said psyopus syzygy. “Learn so much from Michael. Thank youuuuu!!”

Proseguono regolarmente i nostri incontri di studio e gioco.

L’appuntamento è per giovedì 16 gennaio alle ore 20:30 presso la birreria Keller in località Tre Olmi a Modena in strada Barchetta 411/A.

Trovate la posizione sulla cartina cliccando qui.

Ricordiamo che siamo sempre disponibili a spiegare il gioco a tutti gli interessati, sedetevi con noi e chiedete pure!

Come sempre fate cosa gradita lasciando un commento a questo post per segnalare la vostra presenza o meno. A giovedì!

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Published in the January 14, 2019 edition of the American Go E-Journal.

In this game commentary between 3 kyu players Kaz demonstrates how important good shape is to the long term strength of a group.

A longtime contributor to the American Go E-Journal, former insei Kazunari Furuyama has returned with his popular EJ column, now in sgf files and re-named “Lessons with Kaz”. Visit his website at http://kazsensei.com, including the advice column http://kazsensei.com/advice, and example problems http://kazsensei.com/problems. Kaz also has room for offline teaching, http://kazsensei.com/teaching/offline-lessons/.

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Black plays. Happy New Year!
Published in the January 14, 2020 edition of the American Go E-Journal.

Yilun Yang 7P is one of the most popular go teachers in the US. You can reach him at yly_go@yahoo.com.

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Black to play. Black has to attack White from the open area, which is the correct move?
Published in the January 14, 2020 edition of the American Go E-Journal.

Yilun Yang 7P is one of the most popular go teachers in the US. You can reach him at yly_go@yahoo.com.

January 18-19: Columbus, OH
Midwest Open
Devin Fraze info@gohio.org 614-705-9839

January 19: San Diego, CA
Yilun Yang (7P) Sunday Afternoon Go Class for all go players
Ted Terpstra ted.terpstra@gmail.com 619-384-3454

January 19: San Diego, CA
2020 SDGC / Yellow Mountain Imports Rating Tournament
Ted Terpstra ted.terpstra@gmail.com 619-384-3454

Get the latest go events information.

Registration is now open for the 36th annual U.S. Go Congress, which will be held August 1-9 at the YMCA camp near Estes Park, CO.  Click here for details on registering.

The main playing site is Assembly Hall in the center of camp, which is surrounded by many indoor and outdoor amenities, plus the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains.  “It’s the perfect setting for both players and non-players alike, an ideal vacation destination for the whole family!” say Congress organizers.

The camp is just outside Estes Park, just under two hours from Denver International Airport (DIA).  You can sign up for the airport shuttle during registration, or rent a car at the airport.  The Congress has plenty of rooms reserved on-site, or you can choose from many off-site locations (but act soon as summer fills up quickly).  Click here for detailed information about the Congress.

The Start Here tab on the Congress website allows you to register and sign up for lodging and meal plans, the banquet, and the day-off activities. 

“There are official tours to please almost everyone, from open-air trollies servicing Rocky Mountain National Park, ghost tours at the historic Stanley Hotel, cable-car rides to the top of Prospect mountain, and horseback riding,” says Congress Co-Director Eric Wainwright. “If any of these don’t fit the bill, there’s an abundance of informal tours and other activities as well.”  Click here to see the full list.

“We hope to make this the best congress yet!”

The New York Go Association kicked off the New Year with its first 2020 NYGA Monthly Tournament (NMT) on January 4. A field of 21 players participated their first go tournament of the year, with Alexander Qi 4D winning the open division by 2 SOS points in the tie breaker against Joel Kenny 4D, who defeated Alex in the final round. Afa Zhou 1D and Leo Martin 22K won Division 2 and 3 respectively, both with perfect 4-0 records.

Starting this month, the top eight players in the NMTs will earn NMT Points for the NYGA Grand Final Championship. Players who collected NMT points this month are Alexander Qi (20), Joel Kenny (16), Chen Yong (12), Micheal Fodera(10), Enyo Shirakata(8), Ozawa Toranosuke(6), Afa Zhou(2) and Andy Segal(1). For more information regarding NMP points and rules, click here https://www.ny-go.org/nyga-gf for more details.

• Felipo Jian, Tournament Director

South Korean Go icon Lee Sedol closed out his illustrious career last month in a three-game match with home-developed artificial intelligence (AI) program HanDol, according to a report by the Yonhap News Agency.

Lee, who turned pro at 12 and went on to capture 18 international and 32 domestic titles, defeated HanDol in the opener of the best-of-three match in Seoul, playing with a two-stone advantage. The second match was played without any handicap, and HanDol was victorious. In the decisive third game, HanDol, developed by South Korea’s NHN Entertainment Corp., took down the 36-year-old master after 181 stones in Lee’s final match, held in his hometown of Sinan, 400 kilometers south of Seoul.
“I should have done better early, and then the (final game) would have played out much like the first one,” Lee said. “To be honest, I don’t think HanDol is particularly strong when playing with an advantage. I think some of the younger players would have beaten HanDol.”

Looking back on his career, Lee said, “I’ve enjoyed this ride. In the past, I used to say, ‘Baduk is my life,'” he said. “But now, I think there’s more to my life than baduk. I take away a lot of fun memories. Even though I lost today, I was happy to have played a good match.”

Note: This post has been updated to clarify the game sequence.

After a brief break for the holidays, Michael Redmond 9P and Chris Garlock return with their latest AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo game commentary.

The game features a ponnuki* near the center of the board,” and Redmond says that “nowadays with people getting new ideas from AI’s, a lot of the old ideas — the old values, you might say — about things like ponnukis or josekis have been questioned. So in this game we get to see how an AI handles a ponnuki.” After that, Redmond warns, “things get very tactical, there’s a lot of calculating, a lot of groups and you have to figure out what’s alive and what’s dead; there’s a lot to figure out.”

The commentary was originally streamed live on Twitch, which gave viewers a chance to interact with Redmond and Garlock, who will be live-streaming more game commentaries — some AlphaGo vs. AlphaGo and some of Redmond’s games — on January 16, 23 and 30 on the AGA’s Twitch channel. Follow the AGA’s Twitch channel and get notified of live streams.

* Capturing a single stone, leaving a diamond shape. According to the proverb, “A ponnuki is worth thirty points” Sensei’s Library

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The AGA has been working to help those who run our tournaments across the country. A new mailing list has been created to help both veteran and new directors with the goal of creating a sounding board for issues and questions that might arise throughout the year. If you are or would like to become a tournament director, please consider joining the TD Support mailing list. Discussions will be most useful with a good blend of both veteran tournament directors and fresh perspectives from new TDs. The mailing list will also be a great place for TDs to ask questions and share experiences.

We have updated our information to help you join these lists to connect with TDs and Chapter leaders. Full Mailing List information can be found on the left menu bar of the USGO website.

“Over 70 players from across North America competed intensely in the AGHS’s annual Young Lions Tournament, which took place over the past month,” says AGHS Promotion Head Sophia Wang, “There was impressive participation, including several high-dan competitors and many new players joining the Go community.” Frederick Bao, who won first place at the 2019 US Open as well as multiple recent tournaments, emerged victorious as the champion of the 2019 Young Lions Tournament after being undefeated in the highly competitive open division. Zhixiang Lou followed closely as second place and Ruihan Cao took third.

Winners’ Report: Open Division 1st: Frederick Bao, 2nd: Zhixiang Lou, 3rd: Ruihan Cao; Division A 1st: Toranosuke Ozawa, 2nd: Sophie Lin, 3rd: Chase Lin; Division B 1st: Steve Zhang, 2nd: Kyle Fenimore, 3rd: Samantha Soo; Division C 1st: Jason Yang, 2nd: Stephanie Tan, 3rd: Juanshu Lan; Division D 1st: Zhiyong Huang, 2nd: Joshua Wong, 3rd: Allen Tan; Division E 1st: Shinyan Hu, 2nd: Christina Wang, 3rd: Ethan Tu; Division F 1st: Zhihan William Huang, 2nd: Noah Carrafa, 3rd: Enzo Aozono-Araldi -Lionel Zhang, EJ Youth Correspondant