The American Go E-Journal 

August 8, 2000 

U.S. Congress Special Edition 



The E-Journal is publishing daily this week from the 
annual U.S. Go Congress in Denver, Colorado.  



In This Issue:
- PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING
- BY THE NUMBERS
- SCOREBOARD: Ing Cup; U.S. Open (Open Section); Self-Paired; 
Lightning Tournament.



PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING

"It's hard to say if a move is good or bad," Janice Kim, 
professional 1-Dan said in a lecture Monday.  "The question is 
whether it's a vital point."

"One of the principles of Go is minimalism," Kim continued, "Try 
to play the minimum number of stones." 

"Never try to kill a group," Kim cautioned, "unless you see the 
sequence.  Otherwise you can ruin a favorable position."

"Once you find it more important to play your best game than it 
is to win, you'll find yourself winning more games."  



BY THE NUMBERS

- 151: Games played (so far) in the Self-Paired Tournament
- 78: Number of people who played in the Lightning Tournament Monday night
- 390: Games played in the Lightning Go Tournament
- 2: Total hours to complete the Lightning Go Tournament
- 235: Games played in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open 



SCOREBOARD 


U.S. Open (Open Section)

Undefeated after 2 Rounds: 
Thomas Hsiang, 7D;     Edward Kim, 7D;   
Ted Ning, 7D;          Ned Phipps, 7D. 


Self-Paired Tournament

Arizona's Martin Lebl continues to dominate the Self-Paired, now 
leading in six of the divisions (he's now taken over the lead in 
The Philanthropist, in addition to the Champion, Sensei, Straight 
Shooter, Hurricane and Dedicated divisions).

While David Frankel is still leading the Giant Killer division, 
Lebl is pressing hard there, too, just two games behind. 

John Rodman has taken over the lead in the Grasshopper, and 
Jeff Horn now leads the Keith Arnold, Nathaniel Curran has 
taken the lead in the Faithful and Eva Casey is ahead in 
The Optimist division. 

The Self-Paired is one of the most popular events at the Congress: 
people can be seen playing rated games throughout the day and 
until late in the evening. 

The divisions are: Champion (most wins over losses); the Hurricane 
(most wins); Giant Killer (the Kyu player who defeats the most Dan 
players); the Keith Arnold (the Dan player who defeats the most Kyu 
players); Grasshopper (greatest rating increase); Straight Shooter 
(most victories against players of consecutive ranks); Dedicated 
(most games); Sensei (most games against weaker players); Faithful 
(smallest rating change); Philanthropist (most losses); Optimist 
(largest rating decrease).  



LIGHTNING TOURNAMENT

(First Round Table Winners)
J.P. Rodman, 7K;       Eric Wiens, 22K;        Jackie Yuan, 19K; 
Peter Schumer, 3K;     Jim Fienup, 2K;         Stefan Holmes, 10K; 
Matthew Burrall, 4K;   Ken Koester, 3D;        Ned Phipps, 7D; 
Duane Burns, 1D;       Piers Shepperson, 4D;   Jin Chien, 1D; 
Richard Liang, 3D.