AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association March 4, 2002 In This Edition: - CALENDAR OF EVENTS: Latest listings - GAME COMMENTARY: 1976 N.A. Honinbo: Matsuda v. Hsiang - SCOREBOARD: Concord, NC - GO NEWS: Amoebas & Elephants, Oh My!; Go Camp Scholarships Funds Sought - GO REVIEW: GoReview: Kan-zufu - Online Go: Games Galore - AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.) 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 23-24: San Francisco, CA San Francisco Go Club Spring Tournament Steve Burrall 916-685-1504 sburrall@attbi.com March 23: Arlington, VA Cherry Blossom 2002 Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net March 31: Ridgefield Park, NJ Radio Seoul and KTV Andreas Hauenstein 201-398-1887 andreas@brooklyngoclub.org April 6: Raleigh, NC Games Galore Go Club 2002 Spring Tournament Joe Berry 919-787-4358 gggc@nc.rr.com April 7: Seattle, WA Monthly Ratings Tournament Jon Boley 206-545-1424 go@seattlego.org 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: 1976 N.A. Honinbo: Matsuda v. Hsiang Today's commented game is a special tribute to Takao Matsuda, the beloved and highly influential Go teacher and US Champion who recently passed away. Matsuda's 1976 North American Honinbo game against Thomas Hsiang was played in pre-Internet Go days and moves had to be relayed via phone from the New York City Go Club to the San Francisco Go Club. "B21 is not simply an invasion," notes Matsuda in his commentary, "but has strategic implications. This play indicates a formidable opponent." We are honored to present this game in memory of a true champion. In recognition of Mr. Matsuda's tireless efforts to spread the game of Go, we are distributing this game to all of our E-Journal subscribers, member and non-member alike. If you enjoy the game we urge you to consider joining the AGA, which is proud to carry on Matsuda-sensei's dedication to Go. To receive the Member's Edition with attached game records, join the AGA at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.html We are also indebted to AGA Membership Secretary John Goon for finding and transcribing the game. To view the attached game record (03.04.02 1976 NA Honinbo.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 SCOREBOARD: Concord, NC March 2: Concord, NC Carolinas Open Go Tournament 1st Division: Yoshiteru SUZUKI, 4D, 4-0; Frank SALANTRIE, 2D, 3-1 2nd Division: Peter ARMENIA, 4K, 3-1; Adam BRIDGES, 5k, 3-1 3rd Division: Fred ARGENIO, 9K, 3-1; Will DALAND, 11K, 3-1; Thomas MCCARTHY, 15K, 3-1; Steve MANNING, 21K, 3-1. GO NEWS Amoebas & Elephants, Oh My! "When you arrange the pieces one way you get an amoeba, when you arrange them another way you get an elephant," The Princeton Packet quoted Princeton Go Society organizer Rick Mott as saying in a recent story. Rick was actually trying to explain that Go has the kind of same elegant complexity derived from simple rules that governs genetics. "Simply by rearranging four kinds of amino acid base pairs, we get amoebas and elephants from the same mechanism," Mott tells the E-Journal. "Similarly, all the strategic complexity in Go comes from a single rule of capture." Out-of-context quotes aside, Rick generated tremendous news coverage of the recent New Jersey Open by sending a three-page press release to area newspapers and public TV networks. "As a result, five publications contacted me to cover the event," reports Mott. "We received front-page coverage in the Trenton Times, the Princeton campus newspaper (also front page) and one of the two Princeton town papers. The other Princeton paper and the Newark Star-Ledger -- the 18th largest daily in the country with a circulation of about 407,000 -- are planning to do articles as well. For a copy of Rick's press release, email him at rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu Summer Go Camp Scholarships Funds Sought Financial help helps keep Summer Go Camp fees low and allows more kids to attend: talk to your local go club and sponsor a local youngster, or just make a contribution. Even small donations can make a big difference. Tax deductible donations should go to the American Go Foundation at AGF attn Mary Laird, 211 W 106th St, 3C, NY, NY 10025 Meanwhile the Go Camp organizing Committee is accepting applications from young Go players. Don't miss this great opportunity; there isn't much time left. A magnificent staff, numerous attractions and great program balancing the study of Go with social and physical activities awaits. For more information visit: http://www.usgo.org/gocamp/index.html or write to Peter Rzepecki, the camp administrator: AGAGoCamp@aol.com GoReview: Kan-zufu Published in Japan under the auspices of Maeda, 9p Reviewed by Douglas M. Auclair The Kan-zufu is a classic Chinese book of life and death problems used to school Go students seeking professional rank. It has the original Chinese introductory text and a translation into Japanese. Following that are the problems: two to a page with hints in Japanese, and the answers to those problems immediately on the reverse side. Of all my problem books, this is the one I turn to most often. Sometimes I get the solution in a flash, sometimes it takes weeks of struggle to find the answer. I never turn the page, though, until I'm sure I'm correct. Nothing beats the feeling of my solution being vindicated. However, on rare occasions, I receive a shock that my solution was wrong; obviously wrong as the answer shows (usually my attempt reversed the order of correct play, giving the opponent the vital point). At any rate, when I study the problems, I feel a sense of wonder and gravity, as if I'm participating with the Go sages in their study. As the Kan-zufu text is in Japanese, some readers may be put off. I found, on the other hand, the hints a little too helpful exposing the theme of the problem at hand. Readers of the American Go Journal may recall an article by Janice Kim, 1P, which mentioned an encounter over this book on her daily commute, how she would study a problem, sometimes for days. This echoes the story in The Treasure Chest Enigma by Nakayama Noriyuki, 7p, of Suzuki's sensei scolding an insei: "Don't get a stone from the bowl until you know where to play!" I've found studying the Kan-zufu has given me an edge killing or saving a group against my peers on the go board. Although not currently listed by any of the vendors, I've found that they are often willing to find ways to procure a copy of rare books. Online Go: Games Galore The Games Galore Go Club, a chapter of the American Go Association has its web page at http://home.nc.rr.com/jberry02/gggc/index.html . The logo of the club features violet, orange, and black lettering on a Go board with wood grain and stones. The gray kanji on white background is a bit overwhelming and could be lower in contrast to offer less competition with the content. The page offers a "no frames" option in consideration for viewers who prefer not to view frames. The main page announces the Games Galore Go Club 2002 Spring Tournament on April, 6. At the bottom of the main page are offered a number of products through Café Press. These products bear graphics of the Games Galore club. A page with directions makes the club easy to find. There is a "members page" which lists AGA members of the club, and offers an option for them to link to a personal home page. Only one of the members so far has taken advantage of this. There is a ladder page listing six active players and many more inactive players with points used to determine handicap. There is a detailed explanation of the ladder page at an adjoining link. It's a nice idea, but in need of updating. The page has been unchanged since December of 2000 and the AGA ratings on the page are current as of 1999. The club history page is also in need of updating. A long list of tournaments ends with the latest in 1998. A "books" page offers links to major Go vendors. A "links" page offers links in such categories as Go On The Internet, Go Associations, Go Books, Computer Go Software, Major Go Products, and Miscellaneous Go Links. Overall, the Games Galore Club Home Page is attractive and well organized, but a few of its pages are in need of attention to make the information current. This is the second in a series of articles examining web pages of some of the chapters of the American Go Association. If you have a chapter page that you are proud of, and would like to have covered, please email me at onlinego@usgo.org with the name of your club and the url of your page. 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. 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.orgi 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