AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association February 25, 2002 In This Edition: - CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Latest listings - GAME COMMENTARY: Yuan Zhou on 2k Game - SCOREBOARD: Princeton, NJ; Davis/Sacramento, CA - GO NEWS: AGA Members to Vote on Major Changes; In Memoriam: Takao Matsuda; Go Fun for Kids at Summer Go Camp; Ranking Certificate Study Committee Forms; Go Filmography Updated - GO REVIEW: Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go - AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.) March 2: Concord, NC Carolinas Open Go Tournament Wayne Hansen 704-536-4805 whansen319@yahoo.com March 3: Seattle, WA Monthly Ratings Tournament Jon Boley 206-545-1424 go@seattlego.org March 7-10: Gaithersburg, MD 7th Annual Winter Workshop with Yilun Yang, 7 dan Gordon Fraser 240-498-0235 gordon@wui.net March 16: Ann Arbor, MI Is It Spring Yet? Susan Weir 734-663-1675 susan@weirdolls.com March 17: Ridgefield Park, NJ Radio Seoul and KTV Andreas Hauenstein 201-398-1887 andreas@brooklyngoclub.org March 23-24: San Francisco, WA San Francisco Go Club Spring Tournament Steve Burrall 916-685-1504 sburrall@attbi.com March 23: Arlington, VA Cherry Blossom Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.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 GAME COMMENTARY: Yuan Zhou on 2k Game "W26 is meaningless for White--and it's a thank you move," says Yuan Zhou, 7d in today's game commentary on a game between Dave Fruchtennicht and Olarn Nateharn, both 2k. "White should play elsewhere at this point, leaving Black's corner open for invasion later," continues Zhou, whose laser-sharp comments pinpoint critical points in the game. A special bonus of this commentary is a comment by Jim Kerwin, 1p, who writes the popular "Kerwin's Close-Up" column in the American Go Journal, where this game commentary originally appeared (in the current Fall '01- Winter '02 issue). To view the attached game record (02.25.02 AGJ Kyu Game, Fall-01, Winter-02.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 We're pleased to offer this enhanced edition of the EJournal to our members; to get the Member's Edition with attached game records, join the AGA at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.html SCOREBOARD: Princeton, NJ; Davis/Sacramento, CA February 23/24: Princeton, NJ New Jersey Open, organized by the Princeton Go Society TDs: Rick Mott, Paul Matthews 76 players; 5 rounds; Prize fund: more than $1000 New Jersey State Championship: 1st: Huang Ke 8d; 2nd: Lui I-Han 8d; 3rd: Zhou Yansong 6d; 4th: Carson Tu 7d. 5-Game Winners: Gregory Bomash 5k. 4-Game Winners: Joseph Hammerman 1k; Michael Hutchings 1k; Joseph Maia 2k; Michael Basaman 4k; Leonard Baum 5k; Dave Nager 13k; Horatio Blumenfeld 16k; Jane Clark 26k. February 16; Davis-Sacramento, CA Organized by the Davis-Sacramento Go Club Spring Tournament 15 players; four rounds Upper division (5d-2k) 1st: Willard Haynes 1k; 2nd: Matthew Burrall 1d; 3rd: Peter Kent 1d. Lower division (3k-9k) 1st: John Low 3k; 2nd: Karoline Burrall 18k; 3rd: Linda Brown 19k. GO NEWS AGA Members to Vote on Major Changes Members of the American Go Association will soon have a chance to vote on changes that would fundamentally alter the nature of the AGA. Among the many proposed changes is a shift to an elected Board of Directors that will appoint the President and delegate authority as it deems appropriate. At present, four officers -- the President and three regional Vice-Presidents -- are elected by weighted vote of AGA Chapters. A self-perpetuating Board of Directors was created when the AGA first incorporated in 1993, with a powerful role on paper but in practice the Board has played a very minor role in the affairs of the AGA. Under the current system, the President has extensive control over the AGA's day-to-day operations. The bylaws changes are the result of two years of work by the Governance Commission, a blue-ribbon panel appointed by President Roy Laird - and headed by John Goon -- to review the AGA's Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. The Commission includes three former AGA Presidents, several sitting officers, and the special expertise of a lawyer and an experienced non-profit organization administrator. The Commission's report has been reviewed by the AGA's Executive Committee, a group of twenty key AGA officers and organizers. Ballots will be sent to members by the end of March. Only current members are eligible to vote; make your voice heard by joining or renewing at www.usgo.org To view the entire report, go to www.usgo.org/governance. Comments are welcome at president@usgo.org. "AGA members should be very grateful to Chairman John Goon and to the Governance Commission members who spent many hours poring over the details to produce these recommendations," says President Laird. "Especially Terry Assael, Mike Lash, Terry Benson and Chris Kirschner. Keith Arnold, John Stephenson and David Dinhofer also provided able and wise guidance that enabled the Commission to complete its mission." In Memoriam: Takao Matsuda Bob McCallister reports that US Champion Takao Matsuda from Takao has just died. Matsuda was a beloved and highly influential Go teacher and will be missed by friends and students alike. Look for a fuller report next week. Go Fun for Kids at Summer Go Camp Time is running out for youngsters to sign up for this year's Summer Go Camp. Organizers have once again assembled a magnificent staff, numerous attractions and prepared a great program that balances the Go study with social and physical activities, including several outdoor adventures. Go online to learn more and to sign up at http://www.usgo.org/gocamp/index.html Adults can participate by sponsoring a local child, or by contributing to the Go Camp Scholarship fund. Email Camp Administrator Peter Rzepecki at AGAGoCamp@aol.com Ranking Certificate Study Committee Forms At last year's Go Congress, an ad hoc group met to discuss the possibility of developing a program for the AGA to grant ranking certificates. A working committee is now being formed to develop a proposal for consideration by the executive committee at the Congress this year. Not everyone thinks we should have a ranking system like that used in Asian countries, and proponents of the idea are not talking about changing the existing rating system used to pair tournaments, as ranks are quite separate. The group does want to hear all sides of this issue, so if you are interested in this issue, please join them and help explore the concept and related questions, including how such a system would be created and managed, and how it would relate to other systems, including the AGA's rating system. Contact: Chris Kirschner, chrisk1@earthlink.net or 206-579-8071 Go Filmography Updated "The Internet Go Filmography has been updated," reports Gionata Soletti. The comprehensive listing of Go sightings in film and television can be found at http://www.european-go.org/archives/filmography.htm GO REVIEW: Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go by Toshiro Kageyama Kiseido K28 Reviewed by Rodrigo Alonso Perez The Japanese word for "fundamentals" is kiso. Luckily for go trivia, part of the kanji for kiso is a slight variation of the character for igo, with the particle ishi (stone) added at the bottom. This "founding stone" reflects nicely the idea of fundamentals in any activity; from karate to cooking and from baseball to Go. A fundamental is a basic rule for performance, distilled from the experience of generations, whose dismissal leads to poor results. Kageyama's book follows the fundamentals of good exposition; full of witty remarks about life and the competitive go scene, it stays focused on its basic purpose: To convince readers of ANY rank that faithfulness to Go fundamentals can only enhance their enjoyment of the game. Instead of endless sequences of joseki, Kageyama teaches how to profit from correct joseki study. He clarifies the essence of thickness, sente and good shape and finds time to enlighten us with wisdom regarding tesuji, life and death problems and yose guidelines. As a final gift, he explains how to beat a Meijin. I can only make mine the author's advice: "If you want to get stronger, read this book." GET LISTED & BOOST TURN-OUT! Got an upcoming event? 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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; Mike Peng: 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 Recording Secretary: Susan Weir: susan@weirdolls.com Chapters Coordinator; Bill Cobb: chapters@usgo.org Tournament Coordinator; Mike Bull: tournaments@usgo.org Youth 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@eudoramail.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, 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