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All four pairs at the top table of Thursday evening’s North American Pair Go Championship were youth attendees. Tina Li 3D and Aaron Ye 7D (below left with Hajin Lee 4P) ultimately prevailed, defeating Sophia Wang 4D and Jeremy Chiu 7D in the final game by 2.5 points. As the winning pair, Li and Ye will represent the United States at the 30th International Amateur Pair Go Championship in Tokyo, Japan this December. “We got off to a smooth start,” reports TD Todd Heidenreich, who was able to get the games going by 7:30. “With a larger tournament field of 112 players this year, we only had three boards that needed handicaps.” 

Top table results:
1st place: Tina Li 3d and Aaron Ye 7d
2nd place: Sophia Wang 4d and Jeremy Chiu 7d
3rd place: Melissa Cao 4d and Alan Huang 7d
4th place: Katherine Xie 1d and Willis Huang 6d

-report/photos by Hajin Lee

Congress Tournament Schedule: Friday 7/19
9:00a: US Open, round 5; US Open Masters Division, round 6
1:00p: Senior Tournament, round 5
3:00p: Women’s Tournament, round 4
9:00p: Self-Paired Tournament ends – get those results turned in!

Women’s Tournament
Yacen Xie 5d, Lenka Dankova 4k, and Hung-Yao Chang 15k are undefeated with one round to go in this year’s Women’s Tournament with three wins each. The multinational field includes players from Japan, the Czech Republic (Dankova), and Mexico – 12-year-old Paola Ortega 10k is part of a team from Mexico sponsored by the AGF.

-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief

Japanese pro Eiko Nyu 2P is leading the 2019 Masters tournament with a 5-0 record going into the last two rounds on Friday. Eric Lui, Mark Lee and Zhongfan Jian are all 4-1. Rounds 6 and 7 will be broadcast live on OGS and the AGA’s Twitch stream Friday; Round 6 starting at 10a EDT and Round 7 at 8p EDT (and streamed live in the Great Hall), with commentary by Yilun Yang 7p and Jennie Shen 2P, hosted by Julie Burrall 1d, Samantha Fede 5k, Tyler Oyakawa 5d and Nick Sibicki 4d. Complete tourney results posted here. U.S. Open results here.

U.S. Open Round 4 in the Great Hall Thursday, July 18; photo by Chris Garlock

One Color Knights Move Go

US Go Congress Tournament Schedule: Thursday 7/18
9:00a: US Open, round 4; US Open Masters Division, round 5
1:00p: Senior Tournament, round 4
3:00p: Women’s Tournament, round 3
7:00p: Pair Go

Crazy Go!
“Crazy Go was its usual laughter and insanity” reports Terry Benson, who directs the “tournament” every year. “Well over 100 congress attendees ‘played,’ but watching was at least as common.” Benson also reports that a new variant was created this year by three of the kids: One Color Knights Move Go (right), played between two players and a third to record the game and referee.

-photos by Terry Benson
-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief

Maximo and Charles Boley play U.S. Go on a board shaped like the United States

This year’s Die Hard tournament at the U.S. Go Congress had 96 players, “exactly one more than last year,” reports TD Andy Olsen. “Let’s try to break 100 next year.”

Upper section of the Die Hard tournament. photo by Andy Olsen

Xiaocheng Hu 6d won the top section with a perfect 4-0. Billy Maier 3k also scored a perfect 4-0. Full results will be posted soon here.

download SGF file

White: Albert Yen, 7D
Black: Xie Kai Kun, 7D
June 4, 2019, in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
Comments by Albert Yen, 7D
Game editors: Kiren Polara, Myron Souris

Albert Yen’s next commentary here is from his 6th round win against New Zealand’s Xie Kai Kun. Albert gives us another peek at how games can develop from his favorite pincer opening. For the game moves, Albert also includes LeelaZero’s (AI) winrates.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Haskell “Hal” Small – organizer of the very first US Go Congress in 1985 – plays Vladimir Danek in the Senior Tournament.

US Go Congress Tournament Schedule: Wednesday 7/17
9:00a: Die Hard Tournament
That’s all for today, folks!

Senior Tournament
One of the youngest annual Go Congress tournaments, and quickly becoming one of the most popular, is reserved for players 55 and older. Now in its fourth year, the Senior Tournament is a favorite of long-time congress attendees and is directed this year by Eva Casey, herself a returning player and current Tournament Coordinator for the Massachusetts Go Association. “[In the next round] three of the Senior Tournament games will be between 3-0 contestants,” reports Casey. The six undefeated players so far are Frank Brown 5k, Jim Conyngham 4k, Bart Jacob 3k, Paul Magretts 2k, Moon Oh 1d, and David Cho 5d. Tune in for more results as the Senior Tournament progresses!

–photos by Eva Casey
-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief

Senior Tournament players Rich Brown and Stefen Kurz are descending the staircase. Mark Nahabedian is playing Bart Lipofsky. Wanda Metcalf has a proprietary arm on Mark.

And then there were two. Four-game winners, that is. Japanese pro Eiko Nyu notched a comfortable win over Aaron Ye 6d on Board 1 in the fourth round of the 2019 U.S. Masters on Tuesday, while Eric Lui eked out a 1.5 win over Alan Huang. Complete Masters results here, and U.S. Open results here. Check out the video of Mingjiu Jiang’s commentary on the Nyu-Ye game on the AGA Twitch stream here. Round 5 will be broadcast starting at 10a EDT on Thursday.
– report by Chris Garlock, photo by Todd Heidenreich

The 2019 Teacher’s Workshop concluded its third day at this year’s U.S. Go Congress on Tuesday afternoon. Attendees had been taught the Mizuma Method in the previous two sessions, and were given the opportunity to try their newfound teaching skills on actual beginners who had never played go before. “Teaching this way was way more fun than I imagined it could be!” said attendee Terri Schurter. Everyone agreed that this approach was very effective and lots of fun for both teacher and student. Several attendees will receive $200 stipends as first-time attendees of a teacher’s workshop. The AGA is grateful to the Iwamoto North American Foundation for Go for subsidizing this workshop. “Special thanks to Toshifumi Mizuma, Tajiri Yuto and Tomotaka Urasoe for sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with us!” said Mark Rubenstein.

After a several-year hiatus, afternoon soccer has returned! A large group of players ranging in age from kids to adults gathered Monday afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather and share in some physical competition. “It’s important to exercise the muscles, give the mind a break, and get some fresh air”, says Terry Benson, who provided the equipment.

-photos by Terry Benson
-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief

US Go Congress Tournament Schedule: Tuesday 7/16
9:00a: US Open, round 3; US Open Masters Division, round 4
1:00p: Senior Tournament, round 3
7:00p: Crazy Go!

13×13 Tournament
Players gathered to duke it out on not-quite-as-tiny boards Monday evening to produce 10 table winners. Playoffs will continue throughout the week to produce the overall 13×13 champion.
Table winners: Dallas Amunrud 18k, Phil Marshall 12k, Mario Espinoza 7k, Sarah Crites 6k, Paul Margetts 2k, Jonathan Crew 2k, Chen Cong 1d, Mingjian Li 2d, Kunxuan Li 4d, James Sedgwick 6d.

-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief

Local San Diego Go players turned out in force for the San Diego Go Club’s Summer Handicap Tournament. Twenty-seven go players, including ten youth, turned out for the 3-round event, which took place in the San Diego Chess Club in Balboa Park on Sunday, July 7. “The perfect 72-degree and sunny summer day did not discourage anyone from participating,” reports club president Ted Terpstra. “A fried chicken lunch was served to all attending.”

This was the first handicapped tournament for dan players in San Diego in several years so the couple of 6-dan players were severely challenged. Dan Avira 3d prevailed over Bo Luan 6d in the game that decided first and second in the 8-player dan section. “Dan is moving to Irvine, California and will be missed at the normal Tuesday night go gathering,” said Terpstra. Christophe Humbert 3d, with a 2-1 record, edged Tyler Oyakawa 6d by a tie-breaker to take third place.
Paul Margetts 2k won the 8-player single-digit kyu title with a perfect 3-0 score. Arunas Rudvalis 6k edged out teenage-newcomer to San Diego Seth Babauta by a tiebreaker for second place.

Dr. George Spellman, Jr 22k finished 3-0 in the double-digit kyu field. He was followed by the President of the San Diego Chess Club, David Saponara 24k and Jolina Jian who both went 2-1.
The San Diego Go Club will be hosting the Second Annual California State Go Championship on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. There will be over $1,000 in prize money over several sections. The winner of the Open section will be crowned the 2019 California Go Champion. Calvin Sun 1P is the defending champion and first on the permanent plaque. 

Western VP: Chris Kirschner
Central VP: Devin Fraze
Eastern VP: Dan Ritter
– reported by Arnold Eudell

download SGF file

Commentary: Yuan Zhou 7d
Game editors: Bill Cobb, Myron Souris
Published in the July 16, 2019 edition of the American Go E-Journal.

In this no-komi game between a 1 dan and a 2 dan, Yuan Zhou shows the effect of strategics mistakes, which are the bane of existence for most amateur players.

Yuan Zhou 7 dan is one of the strongest players in the US. He has won many titles. Zhou is also a popular teacher, lecturer, and author. He lives in Germantown, MD, and can be reached at yuan.zhou@zhouyuan.com . This commentary is typical for Zhou, who has published several books, including such thorough commentaries of pro games at Slate & Shell (www.slateandshell.com).];

Yongfei Ge 7d, who beat Mark Lee Sunday night in the U.S. Masters tournament, fell to Eric Lui 1P on Monday morning on Board 1. That leaves just Lui, Aaron Ye 7d and Japanese pro Nyu Eiko as the only undefeated players so far. The Round 3 game drew another huge Twitch audience, averaging over 9,300 viewers and generating 140,000 unique views. Ryan Li 1p again provided the commentary, hosted by E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock. Stephen Hu produced the stream. Round 4 will be broadcast Tuesday morning starting at 10a EDT on the AGA Twitch stream. Latest Masters results are posted here; latest U.S. Open ratings are posted here.
– photo by Todd Heidenreich

Age: 28

Lives in: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Home Club: Madison Go Club

Years playing go: Since freshman year of high school

Favorite thing about go: “Moments of inspiration, complicated problems. Sometimes I’m very lucky and I can think out a 40 move sequence and my opponent acts exactly how I want them to and I somehow kill a whole group and change the entire board from being even to 100 points in my favor.” This is Adam’s first Go Congress.
– Samantha Fede

US Go Congress Tournament Schedule: Monday 7/15
9:00a: US Open, round 2; US Open Masters Division, round 3
1:00p: Senior Tournament, round 2
3:00p: Women’s Tournament, round 2
7:00p: 13×13 Tournament

Lightning Tournament
Over 60 players filled the main playing area Sunday night and stones flew from bowls to the board with lightning speed, players raced the clocks and fought to make it to the endgame with enough time to play with a semblance of reason. Expect a new rule next year from TD Keith Arnold: “If both clocks are out you both lose!” Playoffs will continue throughout the week.
Table winners: Taiga Takahashi 25k Tanya Perez Lopez 18k Brad Caber 13k, Ken Schatten 7k, Teus Tsai 6k, Billy Maier 3k, Ben Gunby 2k, Jerry Jaffe 1d, Cong Chen 1d, Daichi Takahashi 5d, Tyler Oyakawa 5d, Shixing Li 5d.

-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief; photo by Chris Garlock

In a dramatic game that drew over 90,000 views on the AGA’s Twitch stream — and an average of over 7,400 viewers — Yongfei Ge (left) edged out Mark Lee by 1.5 points in Round 2 of the Masters Tournament at the 2019 U.S. Go Congress on Sunday night. Lee, whose U.S. tournament record is 75-5, was heavily favored in the championship, and had come from behind to win his first-round game against Jeremy Chiu. But he got in trouble again in his game against Ge, with a floating eyeless group that seemed to have nowhere to run. Lee fought back steadily, saving half the group and catching up slowly but surely, however, Ge kept the pressure on just as steadily and in the end Lee came up just short. Ryan Li 1P, who provided the game commentary with host Julie Burrall, said that Lee’s upset opens up the field, potentially making this year’s Masters one of the most interesting yet. Round 3 is Monday at 10a EDT, with live commentary on the AGA’s Twitch stream.
2-0 winners: Eric Lui, Yongfei Ge, Aaron Ye, An Chen and Nyu Eiko.
– report/photos by Chris Garlock

The New York City team swept all three games against the Greater Washington team in the finals at the US Go Congress on Saturday. Ryan Li 1p def Tim Song 1p on Board 1, Hanchen Zhang 1p def Eric Lui 1p on Board 2, Stephanie Yin 1p def Yuan Zhou 7d on Board 3. New York City and Greater Washington were playing each other in the finals for the second year and for the second consecutive year New York City shut out Greater Washington, which has been in the finals for five of the seven years of the tournament. The full results for this tournament can be found on the Pandanet site . Game records are linked above.

• Steve Colburn (TD) and New York City: Hanchen Zhang, Ryan Li, Stephanie Yin
• Greater Washington Team: Eric Lui, Tim Song, Yuan Zhou

US Go Congress Tournament Schedule: Sunday 7/14
9:00a: US Open, round 1; US Open Masters Division, round 1 & 2
1:00p: Self-paired tournament begins; Senior Tournament, round 1
3:00p: Women’s Tournament, round 1
7:00p: US Open Masters, round 1; Lightning Tournament

9×9 Tournament
Players met on tiny fields of battle to kick off the 35th US Go Congress with the 9×9 tournament Sunday night following opening ceremonies. Games were competitive with 30 dan level players and 46 kyu and wraped up close to 11:00 pm. “Table winners will be paired up throughout the next couple of days until we’ve crowned the kyu and dan quarter board champions,” says TD Pete Schumer.

-report by Karoline Li, Tournaments Bureau Chief