AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association January 28, 2002 In This Edition: - CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Latest listings - GO NEWS: Enhanced E-Journal Includes Commented Game File; Redmond Book to Be Translated; Ascheim Public Go Lesson #17: Bob Myers; "Beautiful Mind" Continues to Generate Interest in Go; Yang Confirmed for Go Congress; Hoboken Schedules 5-Week Handi Tourney - YOUR MOVE: Readers Write: Finding Go World; Go Links - GO REVIEW: Opening Theory Made Easy - ONLINE GO: Another Look at KGS - AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.) February 2: Chicago, IL Don't Drive Angry Robert Barber 773-467-0423 igo@uic.edu February 2-3: Lancaster, PA Pennsylvania Open Sam Zimmerman 717-892-1249 szimmerman@wareunl.com February 3: Seattle, WA Monthly Ratings Tournament Jon Boley 206-545-1424 go@seattlego.org February 23-24: Princeton, NJ New Jersey Open (**NEW SITE**) Rick Mott 609-466-1602 rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu March 7-10: Gaithersburg, MD 7th Annual Winter Workshop with Yilun Yang, 7 dan Limited space, pre-registration required; Gordon Fraser gordon@wui.net or 240-498-0235 ABROAD: February 23/24, Barcelona, Spain: Torneig De Go De Barcelona - Go Seigen Tournament; toyotatour.barcelona@european-go.org or http://idd0086e.eresmas.net/gobcn/tour/angles/anunci.html 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 GO NEWS Enhanced E-Journal Includes Commented Game File Attached to this week's edition of the American E-Journal is a fully-commented game file of the December 1 game between Jie Li (6d amateur) and Zhu Jiu Jiang (9P) which Jie won by resignation, going on to win the Toyota Denso Oza West. "An amateur can be as strong as a professional even at the top level," Jie Li told the American Go Journal (AGJ), where this game originally appeared (in the current Fall 2001-Winter 2002 issue). Jie began playing wei-chi at the age of ten in Nanjing, China and took fifth place in the China Youth Wei-chi Championship in 1992. He moved to the U.S. in 1998, is a student at De Anza College in San Jose, CA and plays and teaches Go as well as contributing game commentaries to the AGJ. The inclusion of a commented game file in the E-Journal is an exciting new development in this young publication. Not only is it easier to review games in this format, but we can include more commentary than there's space for in the Journal. We hope this new feature will help you better understand and enjoy the game; please let us know at journal@usgo.org Future games will be distributed only with the Member's Edition of the E-Journal; join the AGA today at www.usgo.org To view the attached game record (Toyota 2001 Oza Jie-ZhuJiu Jiang.sgf), simply save the file to your computer and then open it using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen's http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html Redmond Book to Be Translated Slate & Shell has acquired the rights to publish a translation of Michael Redmond's first book, a detailed study of the basic principles of attack and defense based on an award-winning series he did on national TV in Japan. The book will be called "ABC's of Attack and Defense." Keep an eye on www.slateandshell.com for availability. Ascheim Public Go Lesson #17: Bob Myers Ms. Feng Yun (9P, China) will play a handicap game against Bob Myers at 8P this Wednesday, January 30 on the IGS. A lifetime member of the Massachusetts Go Association, Bob Myers (IGS rtmyers 2k*, AGA 2d) started playing go and first met Skip in the early 1970s when the MGA was playing in the Harvard Science Center. Their friendship and go rivalry (often playing even games) continued till the late 80's at when Bob left for Japan. While in Japan, Bob spent a lot of time in smoky local go clubs, and took lessons from Kataoka 9P. Bob returned to the US three years ago and founded the Intelligent Go Foundation (http://www.intelligentgo.org/), a non?profit organization which promotes Computer Go through tournament sponsorship and other activities. "Beautiful Mind" Continues to Generate Interest in Go "In Raleigh, a local club meets at the Games Galore store on Glenwood Avenue weekly," the News & Observer in Raleigh, NC reported last Thursday, picking up Alyson Ward's article on go, originally published in the Dallas-Forth Worth Star-Telegram (as reported last week) and syndicated nationwide by Knight Ridder Newspapers. "Owner Chris Killmeyer, who has played for eight years, says half a dozen to a dozen players, mostly men, gather every Tuesday night. The game, he says, attracts, "logical, thinking, strategic people." The article talks about the game's presence in the movie "A Beautiful Mind", and provides a brief overview. Local club organizers might want to consider a putting out news release using the "Beautiful Mind" Go tie-in to generate exposure for the local Go club. The story also features a nice sidebar on "Go in Movies and TV" You read it in the Ejournal first! Yang Confirmed for Go Congress "Twenty of us here in Chicago just finished a four day workshop with Yang Yilun 7P," reports Chicagoan Bob Barber. "I would advise those who didn't attend to leave town. In addition to all the fabulous things Mr. Yang told us about Go, he also confirmed that he WILL attend the 18th US Go Congress in Chicago in August." Hoboken Schedules 5-Week Handi Tourney The Hoboken Go Club is holding an AGA-rated 5 round full-handicap tournament that will take place on Monday nights at the regular Hoboken Go Club meetings. The rounds are scheduled to be played on the five successive Monday evenings from February 4 to March 4. Time controls are 60 minutes basic time and 4 20-second byo-yomi periods (or longer by agreement). The entry fee is $20, and overall prizes will be awarded. Registration deadline was this past Saturday, January 26; send an email to lruss@stevens-tech.edu to inquire about late registration. YOUR MOVE: Readers Write Finding Go World "Thanks for your free e-mail journal," writes Mike. "I would also be interested in Go World, or similar journal - I used to be a subscriber via ISHI Press, a few years ago. I would love back issues." Go World is published by Kiseido; 2255 29th St., Suite 4; Santa Monica, CA 90405. email: sales@kiseido.com Web: http://www.kiseido.com $28 per year. Go Links "Do you know the address of the Austrian Go Association?" wonders new subscriber Thomas Weitz. Check out the European Go Federation's "Links to Go Associations, clubs and players in Europe" at http://egf.posluh.hr/ The website features links to Go organizations in Europe from Austria to Yugoslavia and everywhere in between. GO REVIEW: Opening Theory Made Easy by Otake Hideo 9P Ishi Press; $12 U.S. Reviewed by Marc Willhite I traded chess for go in May of this year. I played in my first tournament here in Colorado the first weekend of November and managed to score three out of four points, which put me in the 10-12 kyu range. Although this elementary masterpiece is "officially" out-of-print, I was able to track down a copy from the British Go Association website [http://66.39.78.200/bgabooks/bgaprices.html]. Presented in three loosely assembled sections with the headings, "Fuseki Fundamentals," "Good Shape," and "Strategy," Otake brings his twenty principles to life with very basic, easy-to-read diagrams and commentary that is clear and understandable for the beginner. His discussions on extensions and pincers as well as dealing with invasions gave me insights I'd been searching for since I started playing the game. He not only explains which moves are fundamentally sound, but why. You'll be introduced to concepts such as "family feuds," "pushing the cart from behind," and also shown the power of a ponnuki and building "box-like" moyos. Otake's main objective is for the reader to commit these principles to memory like proverbs so they become second nature and are ready to use when you encounter similar situations in your own games. What's more, there is a sharp wit lurking deep in many passages which makes the book a real pleasure to read. If your experience with this book is anything like mine, you'll be playing the opening with a new sense of understanding and confidence, keys to playing a better game of go. (Marc receives a $25 gift certificate at Kiseido for this review. 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, too!) ONLINE GO: Another Look at KGS by Terri Schurter If you have not been to KGS recently it might be time to take another look. You'll find the server software and a direct link via your browser at http://kgs.kiseido.com Since I first reviewed KGS, attendance is way up, and could be said to have achieved critical mass. In fact, it might be wrong to characterize KGS as a small server anymore. On a recent Sunday morning when no special events were taking place I found 100 users logged on. The rating system now strives to echo that of the AGA, and uses a number of anchors (who play regularly in AGA tournaments) to achieve this consistency. A feature of the latest client enhances the social dynamics of KGS by allowing the user to upload a picture for each server identity. The uploaded image not only displays in the user's information, but also appears when a game is being played. Currently the stringent file specifications make it a bit difficult for those who are inexperienced in graphics software to take advantage of this feature, but William Shubert, the author of KGS, informs me that the next version of java promises to eliminate this problem. Recent enhancements to the already excellent editing facilities deserve mention. Not only can you review and edit games played on the KGS server, you can now upload any sgf game record and review it online. The record can contain multiple variations and traditional markings such as letters, squares, triangles, etc. The sever can also be set to show the next move "sgf style", which allows comments to refer to the first move in any of the variations. These improvements hold tremendous value for anyone who wants to teach an individual or to lead a group discussion. The Wings Go Club has used this feature to hold game reviews of league games in the weekly meetings, including games played on other servers. The fact that the uploaded games needn't originate on KGS makes the server more welcoming to players whose server preferences lie elsewhere. Now you can play your game on IGS, NNGS, the Zone, or on any server with the ability to save your game. You can then meet on KGS to review it with editing facilities that allow for full (and foolproof) preservation of comments within variations. The applicability of the editing facilities of KGS to teaching has not gone unnoticed by the pros. At least three pros are currently offering lessons on KGS. Terri Schurter -- onlinego@usgo.org -- has been playing go online since 1995. Her club, Wings Across Calm Waters [http://www.wingsgoclub.org], is a "virtual" chapter of the AGA. Wings meets week-nights on the Zone from 8-10P EST, and on Wednesday nights at 8P on KGS. Terri plays under the name goddess_of_go. Past columns are archived at http://www.britgo.org/gopcres/agaart/index.html The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the American Go Association. Everyone's A Critic 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, too!. 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. Also, be sure to indicate what level player is best served by the material. GET LISTED & BOOST TURN-OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 2,500 readers coast-to-coast every week! List your Go event/news In the E-Journal: email details to us atMAILTO: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; Mike Peng: 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 Recording Secretary: Susan Weir: mailto:weirdoll@provide.net 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: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: 202-857-3410 Fax: 202-857-3420