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AGHS Pair-Go Tournament: Sunday, 1/15/2023.

First round: 4 pm EST (1 pm PST). 
Second round: 7 pm EST (4 pm PST).
Registration deadline: Saturday, 1/7/2023 at 11:59 PST.

Rules and regulations
There are no restrictions on pair eligibility. You may pair up with anyone regardless of age and gender.

If you already have a partner, please register using this form. 
If you are looking for a partner, please register using this form.

The North American Online League (NAOL) begins play on January 24th (North American Online League to launch beta season in January 12/23/22 EJ). Players will be grouped by skill level in groups of six and play a round-robin of weekly games. All games will be played even with AGA rules, 45 minutes base time and 3×30 byo-yomi. 

This first season is a “beta” limited to 96 players while the registration, pairing, and rating interfaces between AGA, CGA, OGS, and the new Leago software are being put into production. If interested in joining the beta, send a note to naol@usgo.org with your name, AGA or CGA ID, and your current rank. All games will be rated and ratings will be published. Season 2 in March and April will be open to all registrants from the US, Canada, and now Mexico. Registrants must be a current member of the go association in the country in which they reside.

Registration information will be sent in the next two weeks with priority given to those who have been members of the existing Canadian or Massachusetts leagues. “The enthusiasm we are seeing for the new league is exciting.” reports AGA President Gurujeet Khalsa. “We are already looking beyond the beta and ahead to Season 2 with full participation across North America.”

There is now a NAOL group on OGS, for more information.

Logo design by Cami Levek.

By Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister

Group photo at the Toronto Go Spectacular

Those looking for evidence that in-person go events can still attract a crowd need look no further than the Toronto Go Spectacular, held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) from December 28 to 30. Organized by the North American Go Federation and sponsored by Deep Mind, the event attracted nearly 200 players and included youth, novice, Open and professional tournaments.

“It was a fantastic event and a real pleasure working with the Canadian team,” said American Go Association president Gurujeet Khalsa. “We are excited to be exploring more possibilities with them for North American cooperation.” “We’ve been talking about hosting a North American go event in Canada for many years,” added Canadian Go Association president James Sedgwick. “I was very pleased the stars finally aligned and we were able to make it happen.  The event was all I could have hoped for, and we are especially grateful to all the American participants who made the effort to attend and make this a truly North American event.”

The E-Journal team arrived bright and early for the invitational youth and pro events on Wednesday, December 28. Because only a few competitors were expected, this was the calm before the storm. Sixteen youth players — eight players under sixteen years old and eight players under twelve — arrived from throughout the US and Canada to contest two age group championships. They played a marathon knockout of two out of three matches that lasted for the entire event.

Also arriving on Wednesday were the four professionals battling for the 1st North American Professional Championship, with a $6,000 first prize at stake. Drawing for the initial pairings for the one-round semifinal, Alex Qi 1P of New Jersey drew his teacher Ryan Li 3P of New York, while Andy Liu 1P, also of New York, drew Henry Yu, a Canadian student living in Hamilton, who is certified 2p in Taipei.

The E-Journal broadcast Board One on OGS, where Ryan Li notched a steady and solid win over Alex Qi. At least that was the assessment of In-seong Hwang, one of the two guest teachers, in a lecture that evening. So there was great surprise when AI analysis revealed that Qi had actually held the advantage for most of the game. Meanwhile, on Board Two, Henry Yu made a comeback to win a close game with Andy Liu. (Game records: Semifinal Board One, Semifinal Board Two.)

The other main event began on Thursday, December 29, with the start of the six-round open event, as well as a novice tournament for beginners. When everyone had checked in, there were 184 players participating in the many events. Nick Prince kept check-in and pairings running smoothly with his Leago pairing software, and players could easily find their places either on the huge screen in the playing hall or on their phones.

Meanwhile the kids continued to play in the invitational room, and the North American Pro Championship continued. In the championship round, semifinalists Li and Yu would play a three-game final match to determine first and second place, and Liu and Qi would play a best-of-three match for third place. In the first games, Li defeated Yu, and Qi defeated Liu. (Game records: Final Game One, Third Place Playoff Game One.)

Open players were able to have their games reviewed by guest teachers In-seong Hwang 8d and Mateusz Surma 2p, who also offered his excellent series of kyu level go problems for sale. Food was provided onsite by by the JCCC, saving the players time during the busy event.

The huge and beautiful space of the The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre was filled with the joyful noise of children, including a contingent decked out in identical blue sweatshirts from the New York Institute of Go, along with three other large groups from Canadian go schools. The largest was Gofun Studio, but We-Go Club and the students of Ms. Mu Miao were also well represented.

The final day, Friday, December 30, brought the crucial games in all the Spectacular’s events. In the morning, in the Pro Championship, Henry Yu evened the final, defeating Ryan Li by resignation, while Alex Qi defeated Andy Liu a second time to secure third place. (Game records: Final Game Two, Final Game Three, Third Place Playoff Game Two.)

Up to this point in the Pro Championship, White had won every game on Board One. “Invincible gote” seemed to be the motto, with pros choosing White every time they had a choice. For the final round on Board One, Ryan Li won the nigiri and, following the pattern, took White. In a very entertaining game, he managed to fend off Henry Yu’s relentless attacks to win a final capturing race. In-seong Hwang’s post-game review produced a riot of laughter from the crowd, particularly from the good natured Henry Yu, who laughed the loudest. Hwang’s lectures were broadcast on the AGA Twitch channel.

U12 tournament report: Waterloo youth Crane Kuo 3d came in as the favorite. Fighting hard to challenge him were Albert Tang 2d and David Fang 2d. They played a tight match with two of three games decided by less than two points, but in the end Tang earned the right to challenge Kuo. In the final match, Kuo won 2-0 with solid wins in both games. “We have played friendly games before and I won a fair percentage of them,” said Tang. “But in this match I had no chance at all. It seems Crane has taken a leap upwards in his playing level, it will be interesting to see what he can do from here.”

U16 tournament report: This event featured four strong 5d players who were expected to be fighting for the title. On one side of the bracket Shengda Tan 5d (a student from Montreal) sailed smoothly through to the final. He has been dominating play in the Canadian league the last couple of sessions, so this strong result was not a surprise. But on the other side of the bracket another Vancouver youth Ben Gong entering as 3d/4d knocked off both Derek Zhou 5d and Yuxin Fu 5d. However in the final Ben Gong could not take down Tan. They played two long and hard-fought games, but in the end the title went 2-0 to Shengda Tan.

Novice tournament report: 41 novice players from 25k-10k competed in a five-round one-day novice tournament. Although the level of play might not have attained that of the other events, the passion to compete was clearly no less, and the joy after victories on the (mostly) young faces was a pleasure to behold.

Open tournament report: The sixth round of the open was the last to finish. 124 players took part, with a very strong field of 25 competing in the championship group for the $1,000 first prize. In the end a tiebreaker was needed between Ivan Lo, Remi Campagnie, and Brady Zhang (a past North American representative in the Globis Cup who has recently started his studies at the University of Toronto), the three top players who finished 5-1; the tiebreaker went in Ivan Lo’s favor, and he took home the title. USA stars Albert Yen and Zhaonian Michael Chen both scored respectable 4-2 results, but couldn’t quite recover from early losses to put themselves in contention. (Selected game records from the Open: Round 2 Board 3, Round 4 Board 2, Round 5 Board 1, Round 6 Board 1.)

The closing ceremonies were hosted by Canadian Go Association President James Sedgwick, with the assistance of Irene Sha, Nick Prince, Sedgwick’s daughter Alice and niece Veronika Keras. American Go Association President Gurujeet Khalsa and NAGF President Andy Okun joined Sedgwick and Prince in awarding trophies, medals and gifts to the winners.

If the Spectacular becomes an annual event, whoever takes the torch from James, Irene, and their team truly will have a tough act to follow.

NOTE: The Open report has been updated; there were no players undefeated after five rounds.

[See image gallery at www.usgo.org]

Includes reporting by James Sedgwick. Photos courtesy Keith Arnold, Yunshi Li, Edward Zhang, Cyril Maurice, Shirlie Zhu, Nick Prince, Irene Sha, and multiple parents.

Guo provides a game review with several important lessons:
– choose the right playing direction
– avoid playing bad sente
– learn the simple AI variation for a 3-3 invasion
– learn the variations for side invasions

Game Editor: Tim Hoel

Guo Juan 5P is a popular go teacher based in Amsterdam. Her online go school features a Spaced Repetition System with over 13,000 custom-made problems covering specific subjects plus short focused lectures that explain WHY. And there is a new feature that lets you make and upload your own problems into the SRS. Try it for two weeks for free. www.internetgoschool.com.

Download SGF File

The Guang Yu Cup Go Tournament, held at the San Francisco Go Club in Japantown on December 31st, 2022, “was a vibrant and exciting event,” reports SFGC presideny Matthew Barcus. The tournament was sponsored by the family of Guang Yu in honor of his life contributions to the go community. All participants received event T-shirts, and winners of each division were awarded cash prizes and bottles of wine. “Delicious Japanese bentos were provided by local restaurant Akari and boba drinks from Yi Fang added to the festive atmosphere, despite heavy rain,” says Barcus.
Division 1 winners included Chao Xie 7D in 1st Place, Linden Chiu 4D in 2nd Place, and Zilong Mao 4D in 3rd Place. Division 2 winners included Max Zhang in 1st Place, Jonathan Ketner in 2nd Place, and Tao Li in 3rd Place. Division 3 saw Andrew Xie in 1st Place, Liam Liu in 2nd Place, and Taylor Sutton in 3rd Place.
“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the participants who made the Guang Yu Cup Go Tournament a success and a fun way to finish the year,” says Barcus.

The American go community is always eager for reports of local tournaments, mentions of go for our Go Spotting column, new tools or study resources, and any go-related news.
Please submit to us at journal@usgo.org.
We try to acknowledge submissions within 24 hours; if you haven’t heard back from us in that time, feel free to re-send or ping us again.

Letters to the editor can also be sent to journal@usgo.org; please include “Letter to the editor” in the subject line. Letters are subject to editing for length and clarity.

Yilun Yang 7P has been creating original annual problems based on the digits of the New Year for many years now. Yang is one of the most popular go teachers in the US. His original tsume-go problems are a regular feature in the Member’s Edition of the American Go E-Journal. You can reach him at yly_go@yahoo.com.

Join the AGA now and receive the weekly E-Journal with members-only extras such as game files with professional commentary. Plus: participate in local and national tournaments, the national rating system, and attend the annual US Go Congress –- the largest go event in North America.

Look for the solution next week. Happy New Year!

Download SGF File

Pictured in the two-player shot: Left: Ty Bowen, 9kyu, right Zaquarie Mendenhall, 4 kyu. Group photo from left to right: Ty Bowen, Killian King (29 kyu), Forest Ferris (15 kyu), Zaquarie Mendenhall, Arleigh Des Jardin (28kyu). 

In August of 2021 the Grande Ronde Go Club in Oregon took a trip to the Alvord Desert in Southern Oregon, a vast, dry lake bed, to get away from the hustle and bustle and play some go, reports Ty Bowen.

“We are excited to announce the return of the Pair-Go event, our biggest event!” says AGHS President Jenny Li, “Players across the globe of all ages and gender are allowed to participate, and there will be no restrictions on who you can partner up with. The tournament will be held on Sunday, January 15th, 2023 and will consist of 2 rounds held at 1pm and 4pm PST on KGS. The registration deadline is Saturday, January 7th, 2023 at 11:59 PST.”

If you already have a partner, please register using this form. 
If you are looking for a partner, please register using this form.

Players will be paired up based on rank. Only one person needs to fill out the registration form for each pair. Please email Aghsregister@gmail.com if your registration status changes (e.g. found a partner or need a partner).

For more information on rules and regulations, please read this document: 

White appears to have plenty of eye-space, but also has weak points.

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

Download SGF File

Kevin Yang 1P won the 2022 China – North America Youth New Pro Tournament by defeating Alexander Qi 1P in the final round. The 2022 China – North America Youth New Pro Tournament was hosted and organized by the Chinese Weiqi Association as part of the 2022 Youth Weiqi Forum.

A total of four professional players under the age of 16 were invited to the tournament – Kevin Yang and Alexander Qi from North America, and Haozhe Yang 1P and Youjia Deng 1P from China. The players competed in a single-elimination tournament over five days between December 11 and 15, 2022. The matches were played online on Yike Go Server, with an online proctoring system.

Final results:
Winner: Kevin Yang 1P
Runner-up: Alexander Qi 1P
3rd place: Haozhe Yang 1P
4th place: Youjia Deng 1P

Under the banner of the North American Go Federation (NAGF) a new online league is launching in January. North American Online League (NAOL) playwill be a benefit open to American and Canadian members of the AGA or CGA. The league is built upon the successful models that have been run by the Massachusetts Go Association (MGA) and the CGA. “We are thrilled to offer a new venue for passionate go players of the AGA and CGA to play competitive games without traveling,” says NAGF Executive Director Hajin Lee.  

The NAOL will run two-month seasons with five weekly games in each season played in round-robin groups of six. Milan Mladenovic, who currently runs the MGA league, will be the Director of the NAOL. Games will be played on OGS and integrated with the AGA and CGA membership systems through Leago, a league management software system developed under a grant from the Iwamoto North American Foundation (INAF). “The NAOL coming into existence is sure to be the start of a great year for the go community,” says Akita Noek of OGS. “The OGS team is proud to be part of it and look forward to the many seasons to come!” 

“We are very happy with the partnership and support received from OGS and Leago to make this happen” says AGA President Gurujeet Khalsa. “It will also allow us to give our members an online rating to parallel the one from face-to-face games.” CGA President James Sedgwick adds that “We’re very pleased to be joining our American friends to create a joint league with a larger player base, modernized playing infrastructure, and important additions like commentaries from high level players”.

The initial January-February season will be a beta version while testing and refining the software interfaces. It will be limited to 96 players with priority given to current CGA and MGA league members. To join the wait list to be added to the initial season, send an email to naol@usgo.org with your name, location and either AGA or CGA membership ID. The March-April season will be open to all current members.

Eight students competed last weekend for a chance to travel to Japan in February to represent North America in the 21st World Student Go Championship.

“The final game between Jiehui Kwa and Lambert Li was incredibly close,” says Joel Kenny. “Neither player was ever more than a couple points ahead of the other during the entire game. Eventually, Li managed to win by 3.5 points and win the qualification tournament.”

The final game can be viewed here.

“Thank you to all the players who competed in the tournament this weekend, and best of luck to Li in Japan!” says Kenny.

Registration ends Friday December 23rd. Make sure all of your team is signed up and has a current AGA or CGA membership. Read through the rules on the Pandanet League site to learn of the new qualifications. Send the registration link  to your team to have them sign up. If there are any questions contact the TD for more information.

To attack White, Black must use the inside stones properly.

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

Download SGF File

Two lectures by Yanagisawa Satoshi  6p, sponsored by the Iwamoto North American Foundation and Nihon Kiin, are now available on Youtube. The first, “Ko Threat for Dan players”, discusses how to make ko threats bigger before using them. The second, on “AI joseki“, discusses a popular AI joseki frequently seen in modern games.

The 2023 South Central Go Tournament will be held February 18 and 19, 2023 in person in the Dallas area. This will be the 8th annual running of this tournament. (The 2021 and 2022 tournaments were held online because of the pandemic.) There will be an Open Section and a Handicap Section, with three rounds on Saturday and two on Sunday. The Texas resident placing best in the Open Section will become the Texas State Champion. Registration for the tournament is open now at GoClubs.org. All AGA members wishing to participate are welcome.

By Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister

The month began with the 4th Bled International Go Masters event in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) on December 1-3. The undefeated winner was a Japanese visitor, a Mr. Takahashi. Second was Mr. Merrissert of France on five wins.

On December 20, challenger Honda Sachiko 4d defeated Kitani Reiko 6d to take a one game lead in the Ladies’ Hon’inbo title. (Game record available here.)

Sakata Eio continues his domination of the smaller titles with a victory over Hashimoto Utarō in the Ōza title on December 14, winning the 3 game series 2-1. (Game record available here.)

Ōhira Shūzō 9d (author of the Ishi Press Classic Appreciating Famous Games) defeated Yamabe Toshirō 9d for the right to challenge Sakata in the Nihon Ki’in Championship. The first game was held on December 20-21. Sakata won by resignation. (Game record available here.)

[See image gallery at www.usgo.org]

Photos courtesy of Go Review, game records from SmartGoOne.

Registration ends Friday December 23rd. Time is running out to register your team. The TD should be reaching out this week to some teams if there are issues. League announcements will not be announced until after registration is completed. Read through the rules on the Pandanet League site to learn of the new qualifications. Send the registration link  to your team to have them sign up. If there are any questions contact the TD for more information.

Top left; All the players in the King Cup; top right: prize winners in the Beginners section; bottom right: prize winners in the Handicap section; bottom left: prize winners in the Open Section; middle left: the Youngest Player.

Over eighty go players gathered in San Diego on the weekend after Thanksgiving to contest the 5-round 2022 King Cup – California State Go Championship. The Open section had sixteen strong players including an 8-dan, two 7-dans, and eight 6-dans. All games were played at the comfortable San Diego Chess Club (2020 American Chess Club of the Year) in Balboa Park. The state tournament was hosted by the San Diego Go Club for the 5th year.

The result was a split decision: Lambert Li 6-dan, won the tournament with an unblemished 5-0 record and Yifan Qu 6-dan, was crowned the 2022 California State Go Champion as the highest scoring California resident  (San Diego, CA) in the Open, with a 4-1 record (winning on a tie breaker over Alvin Huang 4-dan of Lake Forest, CA).

In the 58-player Handicap section, Xinran Gao 2-dan, won the dan section (16-players) with a 4-1 record over Chunwei Shi 2-dan, and Jake Kim 1-dan on a tiebreaker.

In the single-digit kyu handicap section, Alexander Lo 2-kyu, had a perfect weekend at 5-0. Both Sheldon Li 7-kyu, and Russell Bernhardt 5-kyu, finished 4-1 along with two others and attained their places by tie breaker.

The double-digit kyu handicap section had two brothers, Lorence Tsai 12-kyu and TsungYu Tsai 11-kyu, finish with 4-1 records. Bob Zhao 10-kyu was third in the section.

There were also nine players in the Beginners tournament of the King Cup. Ryan Lin 35-Kyu won with a record of 5-0. Go professional Hai Li 5P, was the tournament director for the beginners and analyzed their games as part of their education. SDGC has a tradition of honoring with a trophy the youngest player to compete. This year it was a 5-year-old girl.

Each day all of the participants were treated to a free pizza lunch. It took 30 pizzas a day to feed the group.

The tournament saw many new members joining the AGA or renewing their memberships. SDGC now has 108 AGA members. San Diego Go Club president Enrique Garcia said that it was encouraging to see support for the tournament by go players from all over the state. Several players came down to San Diego from the San Francisco Bay area and Fresno.

The SDGC thanked tournament sponsors for their generous support, including the Bi Family, Rubio’s Coastal Grill, Yellow Mountain Imports, State Farm Insurance, and the San Diego Chess Club.

The next major event to be sponsored by the San Diego Go Club will be the 12th annual San Diego Go Championship in the spring of 2023, date TBD.

photos by Jackson Hranek and Enrique Garcia; reporting by Ted Terpstra