AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association October 10, 2000 In This Edition: - CALENDAR OF EVENTS - YOUR MOVE: Readers Write: The Missing "D" In 9-Dan; NNGS Graph How-To - GO NEWS: Fall Journal Preview - ONLINE GO: Yahoo - SCOREBOARD: Boston, MA - AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.) October 15: Hoboken, NJ Hoboken Fall Tournament Larry Russ (201) 216-5379; lruss@stevens-tech.edu October 21: Newark, DE Delaware Fall Tournament Dick Hugh (302) 366-1824; rmhugh@conectiv.net October 21-22: El Segundo, CA 2000 Cotsen Open & Handicap AGTC Tournament Larry Gross (310) 837-1855; le144@earthlink.net October 21-22: Portland, OR Portland Fall Go Tournament Robert O'Malley (541) 738-1690; omalley@oce.orst.edu October 28-29: Flushing, NY 2000 Eastern Open Chendao Lin (212) 826-3440; (212) 826-9908 cdlin5@yahoo.com October 28: Arlington, VA Pumpkin Classic Allan Abramson (703) 684-7676; mediate@mnsinc.com October 28-29: Houston, TX 2000 Texas Open & AGTC Tournament Mike Peng (281) 228-4233; pmpeng@swbell.net November 3-6:, Lancaster, PA Yilun Yang Workshop Chuck Robbins (717) 203-9100; crobbins@wareunl.com November 4: Chicago, IL Nader's Nadare Bob Barber (773) 467-0423; igo@uic.edu November 12: New York City, NY International Friendship match, featuring a tour group from Japan and four professionals -- Ms. Y. Shinkai 5-Dan, Ms. Ogawa Tomoko 6-Dan, Ms. K. Furucho, and Ms. Ko, China's first female 9-Dan, now living in Japan. NY Go Center, 323 E 52nd St.; 212-223-0342 November 18: Iwamoto Memorial Tournament (not AGA rated) All levels welcome. A strong top section is expected. NY Go Center, 323 E 52nd St.; 212-223-0342 UPCOMING/ABROAD (see WWW.USGO.ORG for details) - October 14: Wanstead (England); alison@acjamj,demon.co.co - October 15; Apeldoorn (Netherlands); Kees Pulles; 055-522-4614; - October 15-16: Lyon (France); Marie-Claire Chaine, 04-78-42-28-20; marie.chaine@wanadoo.fr - October 29: Wessex (England) Simon_Shiu@hp.com - October 29-30: Avignon (France); Pierre Peronnet, 04-90-87-70-34 Or Serge Noppen: Nops@club-internet.fr - October 28/29: Brussels (Belgium) - November: Round Top, New York: Guo Juan Workshop www.brooklyngoclub.org Jean-Claude Chetrit jc@BrooklynGoClub.org - August 4-12, 2001: Baltimore, MD: U.S. GO CONGRESS Keith Arnold hlime@clark.net NOTE: this listing is not all-inclusive, featuring only upcoming tournaments in the next month or events which require early registration. For a complete U.S. listings, go to http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.html For the European Go Calendar see http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/go/tourn.html YOUR MOVE: Readers Write THE MISSING "D" IN 9-DAN "Thanks for listing our tournament in the E-Journal," writes Houston's Mike Peng. "It's good to know that Michael Redmond has been promoted to 9 dan. There was a typo on his name as 'Remond'." NNGS GRAPH HOW-TO Responding to Terri Schuter's column last week, Joyce writes "You say that it is possible to see a graph of the players progress on NNGS: How?" Terri responds: "Go to the NNGS web site: http://nngs.cosmic.org then look for the link "check your NNGS ratings graph" and plug in the handle of the player you want to check on." GO NEWS FALL JOURNAL PREVIEW The Fall issue of the American Go Journal is in production now and will be on its way to subscribers soon. Meanwhile, here's a preview of what's in the issue... Janice Kim's "Life in B League" "One of the nice things about writing this column is that I can mention books that I'm planning to write and not actually have to write them. This issue I can spin into life my Go autobiography, "A Stone Fell On My Head." I'm particularly proud of the avant-garde nature of this Go opus, as although I will continue the trend of including those games which have been most instrumental to my growth as a Go player, it will break new ground in its single-minded exploration of all the myriad ways (well, in some cases, there was only one way, but I found it, by gum) one can lose." (look for the entire column in the forthcoming issue of The American Go Journal) ONLINE GO: Yahoo by Terri Schurter The Yahoo Go area offers six different playing rooms. One for beginners, another (called "The Hippo Swamp") is "social" and there are advanced and intermediate rooms as well. Each room has a listing of players, a text area for comments (which all players in the room can see), and a listing of tables. Players create tables and wait for opponents to join them. You can create your own table or join an existing table to either play or to observe. Tables can be created as 9x9, 13x13, or 19x19 boards. Although 9x9 and 13x13 games are played on other servers, you see more of these smaller-sized games on Yahoo, which makes Yahoo an excellent place for beginners to find a 9x9 game without having to beg for one. An unusual "feature" -- and a flaw, in my opinion -- is that when a player loses his connection another player can sit down and continue to play the game in the player's absence. A message says that one should relinquish the seat to the player if he returns, but by that time a number of moves may already have been made. The only benefit I can imagine is that players with a mentoring relationship could change seats as an exercise to even out the game after the weaker player falls behind. Yahoo is the only server on which one can do this. Compounding this feature's drawbacks, Yahoo does not allow takebacks. While some may regard the inability to undo moves as motivation for careful play, or an introduction to the realities of tournament play, the inability to undo makes it impossible to correct the occasional inevitable mouse slip or loss of connection. The lack of an undo command also makes teaching difficult on Yahoo because variations must be verbalized rather than played out. Strong players may be able to imagine the moves being discussed, but weaker players need to see them on the board. Another problem with Yahoo for the serious player is the inability to save games for review. In spite of its technical shortcomings, however, Yahoo has a large and loyal following. There are many strong players on Yahoo, and Sensei Nakayama has been seen playing there, and has recommended in the pro newsletter that other pros visit as well. For casual games, not meant to be reviewed, Yahoo is great. It is especially good for beginners and those looking for games on small boards. There is a pleasant social atmosphere, which is enhanced by the fact that players are able to stand up and change seats at a table without the table disappearing (as it will on the Zone). This makes it easy to keep a small group of players socializing over a series of games played by a number of players taking turns at a single table. Terri Schurter has been playing Go online since 1995. Her Go club, Wings Across Calm Waters, is a "virtual" chapter of the AGA. Wings meets week-nights on the Zone from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Eastern Time. Terri plays under the name goddess_of_go. SCOREBOARD: Boston, MA MGA Tourney: October 8, Boston, MA TD: Don Wiener; 26 players from 16k to 5d; 1st place went to Michael Vaughn, 4k, with a 4-0 record; 2nd was David Mallon, 4d, with 3-1; 3rd was Won Kim, 5d, also with 3-1. GET LISTED & BOOST TURN-OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 1,300 readers coast-to-coast every week! List your Go event/news In the E-Journal: email details to us at journal@usgo.org Ratings are on the web! Check the website (www.usgo.org) for the full list. GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to ratings@usgo.org AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST: President; Roy Laird: president@usgo.org Eastern VP; ChenDao Lin: vp-eastern@usgo.org Central VP; Jeff Shaevel: vp-central@usgo.org Western VP; Larry Gross: vp-western@usgo.org Treasurer; Ulo Tamm: treasurer@usgo.org Membership Secretary; John Goon: membership@usgo.org Chapters Coordinator; Bill Cobb: chapters@usgo.org Tournament Coordinator; Mike Bull: tournaments@usgo.org Education Coordinator; None Redmond: education@usgo.org Congress Liaison Officer; Chris Kirschner: cngrsliaison@usgo.org AGA website; Gordon Fraser and Chuck Robbins: webmaster@usgo.org American Go Foundation; Terry Benson: terrybenson@delphi.com AGA Librarian; Craig Hutchinson: archives@usgo.org Published by the American Go Association Material published in " AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL" may be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. To make name or address corrections – notify us at the email address below. Story suggestions, event announcements and other material are welcome and should be directed to: Editor: Chris Garlock email: journal@usgo.org Voice: 202-289-7174 Fax: 202-371-0168