AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association July 26, 2001 Special U.S. Go Congress Edition: - Congress News - Pro-Am Pair Go - The Russians are Here! - SCOREBOARD: Ing Cup (Final); Pair Go Tournament; Youth Pair Go Tournament; Self-Paired Tournament Update; Die Hard Tournament (Final) - Professionally Speaking: Michael Redmond Congress News Wednesday is the traditional "day off" at the annual U.S. Go Congress. While most of the Congress attendees headed off on various day trips -- including Baltimore's Inner Harbor or a tour of nearby Gettsyburg guided by Keith Arnold -- 74 stayed for another tradition: the Die Hard Tournament, a fast 4-rounder for those who just can't get enough go the rest of the week (see below for a winner's report). Pro-Am Pair Go Ming-jiu Jiang (pro 7D, U.S.) and Polly Pohl (ama 3k) teamed up Thursday afternoon against H. Kim (pro 2D, Korea) and Sam Zimmerman (ama 4k) in a pro-amateur Pair Go game Thursday afternoon. The game was commented simulaneously by Myung Wan Kim, Korean pro 6D. Play was halted several times to give the audience a chance to "guess the next move," choosing from among several possibilities offered by Mr. Kim. Those who chose correctly were rewarded with prizes. The Russians are Here! As usual, a number of foreign countries are represented at the Go Congress -- including Germany, France and of course, Japan, Korea and China -- but this year Russia is especially well-represented, with 6 players attending. Ing Cup (Final) With his fourth straight win in Wednesday night's final round, Ke Huang won this year's Ing Cup Championship. Pair Go Tournament The team of Debbie Siemon and Thomas Hsiang took top honors in this year's Pair Go Tournament and will be representing the U.S. at the International Pair Go Tournament later this year. Youth Pair Go Tournament With 52 participants, this year's Youth Pair Go event set a new record on Tuesday afternoon. Twenty-six children paired with 26 adults of the opposite gender -- including three professional players -- to team up for an afternoon of competition and cooperation. Leading the dan division was the unbeaten team of Jin Chen and professional J. Hyun Lee (with a combined average strength of 6D!), while second place went to a pair of 3-dans, Curtis Tang and Wan Yu Chen. In the kyu division the winners were Misha Koslov and Karen Gold, with a combined strength of 1K. "It's so wonderful to see children learning to cooperate while having fun," said AGA Youth Coordinator None Redmond. The event was directed by Jeff Shaevel. Self-Paired Tournament Update Even with the U.S. Open taking up mornings, lectures and pro events afternoons and evenings, competition in the popular Self-Paired Tournament continues to be fierce, as Congress attendees manage to play rated games morning, noon and night (347 games so far). The current standings (as of Thursday night): Champion: Michael Schwartz; Giant Killer: David Frankel; Sensei, Hurricane, Kyu Killer: Horst Sudhoff; Philanthropist, traight Shooter, Dedicated: Martin Lebl; Grasshopper: Kikuo Endo; Faithful: Austin Cha; Optimist: Wang Zi. Die Hard Tournament (Final) 74 players; TD: Chuck Robbins High dan: James Chien, 6d; Low dan: Dina Bourdakova, 3d; High kyu: Roy Laird, 4k; low kyu: Mark Rubenstein, 8k; Special mention: Ilia Chikchine, 2d; Lon Atkins, 14k. Professionally Speaking: Michael Redmond "I get the feeling that g is becoming more prominent in the U.S." Michael Redmond, U.S.-born professional 9D told the E-Journal tonight. "More and more people know about the game; it's been in movies and books and it's clearly more widely known. The annual Go Congresses are always a lot of fun. They didn't exist when I went toJapan to study go; it's great that they're around now for the kids who are playing today. " "But we still need more active go players," Redmond said, "we just need to teach beginners. It's not easy but it's the only way. "