AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association January 22, 2001 In This Edition: - CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Latest listings! - SCOREBOARD: NoVa Winter Warmer - GO NEWS: Winter Go Journal On The Way; More Free Go E-Journals - YOUR TURN: READERS WRITE: Fun in Any Language - ONLINE GO: Turn-Based Go - AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.) January 27; Chicago, IL Winter Tournament and Kid's Go Camp Reunion Bob Barber; (773) 467-0423; igo@uic.edu February 4: New Orleans, LA Self-paired tournament (The Bayou Go Club's first tournament) 9AM at the Genghis Khan Restaurant. David Dinhofer; (504) 626-1138; ddinhofer@cs.com February 10/11: Charlotte, NC 2001 Carolinas Open Wayne Hansen (704) 536-4805 whanson319@aol.com February 17-18: Princeton, NJ 2001 New Jersey Open Rick Mott (609) 466-1602 rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu March 24-25: Raleigh, NC Spring 2001 Go Tournament Joe Berry (919) 787-4358 gggc@nc.rr.com 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 SCOREBOARD: NoVa Winter Warmer January 20: NOVA Winter Warmer Arlington VA 24 players (including Gabriel Frenkel, playing his first tournament game at the age of 75: He won) High dan: 1st: Keith ARNOLD, 5D, 3-1; 2nd: Yuan ZHOU, 8D, 3-1 1D-1K: 1st: Ching Chuan YEH, 1K, 4-0 2K-4K: 1st: Gordon FRASER, 2K, 3-1; 2nd: Paul CELMER, 2K, 3-1 6K-8K: 1st: Peter ARMENIA, 6K, 3-1; 2nd: Bill COBB, 6 K, 3-1 Lower Kyu: 1st: Nick ROSEN, 12K, 4-0; 2nd: Hiroshi TOYODA, 10 K, 2-2. Next NOVA tournament is March 31, the Cherry Blossom! GO NEWS Winter Go Journal On The Way The good news is that the Winter edition of the American Go Journal is now on it's way to subscribers (if you're not already signed up for the print edition, you can do so by joining the AGA, which you can do easily at www.usgo.org). It's another 40-page issue full of go news, instruction and review: look for it in your mailbox soon! The bad news is that there are several errors in the Journal: on the Contents page, Yuan Zhou's name is missing the "o" and on page 12 the photo caption misspells Melanie Gui Arnold's name. We apologize for the errors. More Free Go E-Journals New E-Journal subscriber Paolo Montrasio reports that "I'm also in the business of free go e-journals. Together with other three guys I'm editing a PDF go magazine. It's in Italian language, but if it happens that some go players in the US can read Italian, perhaps they'll enjoy reading it to practice the language and know what's going on in the Italian go world. You can download it for free at www.easytogo.org Get the first two issues from http://easy-to-go.tripod.com/numero002/ETGn002.pdf and http://easy-to-go.tripod.com/numero001/ETGn001.pdf YOUR TURN: READERS WRITE Fun in Any Language "I always prefer to be asked for a game," writes Keith Ammann. "If asking me in your first language doesn't work, I'd rather you tried a second or third than simply hit me with a match request. No one has to know English to request a game. One only has to know one word of English: 'game?' Some other ways of asking are: xia ba? juego? jeu? spielen? igra?" "Perhaps a Japanese or Korean speaker would care to share a shorthand way of requesting a game in his own language. You can make an educated guess at which language to use by viewing the other player's stats, which you should do anyway before matching someone, to get a sense of his preferences." ONLINE GO: Turn-Based Go by Terri Schurter Real time go servers are not the only means of playing Go on the Internet. In addition to KGS, NNGS, the Zone, Yahoo, and IGS there is now IYT, "It's Your Turn". IYT is a turn-based server offering a different experience from any of the "real time" Go servers. Turn-based servers such as IYT are more like playing go via email, but the server takes care of the logistics. When you make a move in IYT, the server e-mails your opponent informing him that it is his turn to play. Steve Rich -- who plays on KGS as Buck -- has been playing on the IYT server for several months, and has enthusiastically filled me in on the details so I can share them with eJournal readers. Steve has found that turn-based go fits his schedule best, and now plays most of his go there. Turn-based go is ideal for those who can't find a large block of time to log on to a server, enabling you to play even if you can only find a few minutes at a time to focus your attention on a game. Because it is impossible to search for players on IYT based on their strength, Steve has founded the IYT Go Guild to help players get to know each other, and to find appropriate pairings with proper handicaps. The Guild now has 21 members ranging from beginners to stronger players. They are launching their first IYT Go Tournament and are planning an IYT Teaching Ladder. The six-week-old Guild is growing through word of mouth as current members inform their opponents of the guild's existence. The IYT Go Guild has a discussion list and a web page: http://www.itsyourturn.com/ http://finance.baylor.edu/rich/go/iyt_go.html There are some problems with IYT. The server currently scores most game incorrectly, IYT does not create an sgf file for the game, and the lettering scheme is different from the one traditionally used because the IYT server uses the letter "i" (as does Yahoo.) In spite of these problems, IYT looks as if it should meet the needs of many Go players who can't find the time for traditional server play. Give IYT a try, broaden your go-playing experiences, spend more time with a game over shorter intervals, and view the board from a fresh perspective each time you revisit it. For that alone, IYT deserves attention. Terri Schurter has been playing Go online since 1995. Her Go club, Wings Across Calm Waters [http://www.wingsgoclub.org], is a "virtual" chapter of the AGA. Wings meets week-nights on the Zone from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Eastern Time, and on Wednesday nights at 8P on KGS. Terri plays under the name goddess_of_go. The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the American Go Association. Easy Money Send us a 150-word review of a go book or go software and - upon acceptance -- we'll give you a $25 gift certificate to the go vendor of your choice. Tell us what you liked - or didn't like - and how it helped (or didn 't help) your game. Include the book's title, publisher, cost, your name and email address. Choose any book you like, from brand-new publications to old stand-bys that you keep going back to. 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 MAILTO: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 MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST: President; Roy Laird: mailto:president@usgo.org Eastern VP; ChenDao Lin: mailto:vp-eastern@usgo.org Central VP; Jeff Shaevel: mailto:vp-central@usgo.org Western VP; Larry Gross: mailto:vp-western@usgo.org Treasurer; Ulo Tamm: mailto:treasurer@usgo.org Membership Secretary; John Goon: mailto:membership@usgo.org Chapters Coordinator; Bill Cobb: mailto:chapters@usgo.org Tournament Coordinator; Mike Bull: mailto:tournaments@usgo.org Education Coordinator; None Redmond: mailto:education@usgo.org Congress Liaison Officer; Chris Kirschner: mailto:cngrsliaison@usgo.org AGA website; Gordon Fraser and Chuck Robbins: mailto:webmaster@usgo.org American Go Foundation; Terry Benson: mailto: mailto:terrybenson@eudoramail.com AGA Librarian; Craig Hutchinson: mailto: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, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome - subject to editing for clarity and space -- and should be directed to: Editor: Chris Garlock email: journal@usgo.org Voice: 202-289-7174 Fax: 202-371-0168