October 27, 2003
In This Edition:
FENG YUN TO TEACH AT PRINCETON CLUB:
The Princeton Go Club is replacing half their Wednesday
night meetings with lessons with Feng Yun 9P.
The club will offer two classes this year, a 4-lesson class this fall and
a 7-lesson class in the spring, reports organizer Rick Mott.
Fall classes begin November 5. For schedule and cost information, email
Lilian Wong at wongmw@princeton.edu
HOUSTON FALL TOURNEY:
The 2003 Houston Go Club Fall Tournament will be held
November 15 & 16 in Houston, Texas and includes a 5-Round Open (for 5 dan
or stronger) and a 7-Round Handicap section. Pre-registration is not
necessary: the first round kicks off on 9:45 am on Saturday, Nov. 15 at
St. Catherine's Montessori School, 2510 Westridge in Houston. The event
is sponsored by the Houston Go Club: http://www.houstongoclub.org
CONTROVERSY OVER AGA OUSTER CONTINUES:
The controversy over the October 16 ousting of AGA President
Chris Kirschner by a narrow majority of the AGA Board of Directors
continued over the last week, as more concerned go players weighed in with their
thoughts and opinions. "The AGA is facing the most serious crisis in its
history," argued an open letter by a group of long-time AGA volunteers and
supporters that included past AGA Presidents Roy Laird and
Phil Straus, AGA Policy and Governance Committee Chair
Keith Arnold, AGA Professional Liaison Thomas Hsiang,
East Region Director-Elect Allan Abramson and nine others. Terming
the recent Board actions "ethically improper, and contrary to the spirit of open
and accountable Board behavior," the group called on AGA chapters to petition
the Board "to suspend or reverse its decisions in this matter, until chapter
leaders and the membership have an opportunity to provide their input. An open and
participatory system, with appropriate checks and balances, is the essence of a
healthy operational evolution. Clearly, we are not yet there. We need to get the
balance of power right." In a personal statement, Acting Chair
Robert O'Malley justified Kirschner's dismissal by
citing "14 months (of) a rising level of tension and displeasure among Board
members at Kirschner's management style and ability to take direction." Outgoing
Board member John Stephenson, in his own open letter, also
cited "Kirschner's lack of management skill, chronic and stubbornly poor
operational judgment and lapses in taking Board counsel in areas where his
understanding and experience were almost nonexistent." Both O'Malley and
Stephenson cited Kirschner's refusal to quash the
E-Journal's coverage earlier this year of the report on the 2003 NAMT controversy as
definitive proof of his "unsuitability" as President. The report was
commissioned by the AGA Board, which had posted it publicly on the AGA website.
Another development in the ongoing controversy occurred last Thursday when
Governance Committee Chair Keith Arnold disclosed that the Board had failed to
have candidates for AGA President complete required paperwork prior to the Board
vote replacing Kirschner with Deedee Eckles. "The ramifications
of this are minor, but significant," Arnold, a lawyer, said. "Since Ms. Eckles
had not met the qualifications of a candidate at the time of the vote, the vote was
improper." Apparently Acting Chair Robert O'Malley has received assurances by
AGA Compliance Officer Michael Brockbank that the oversight does
not pose a problem, although at press-time the E-Journal had not been able to
reach either O'Malley or Brockbank for clarification. The revelations capped a
week of rising concern as AGA chapters and members continued to seek explanations
for the current crisis.
NEW CLUB STARTS IN SCHAUMBURG, IL:
The brand-new Schaumburg Go Club, which started meeting
October 16, promises go/weiqi/baduk sessions for all levels every Thursday
from 6-9P at the Barnes & Noble coffee shop, 590 East Golf Road in
Schaumburg, IL. "It's free but please bring your own go set if you have
it!" report organizers. For more details go to
http://thereader.sytes.net/schaumburg-go/index.html
OTO TOPS SF DOTE MEMORIAL TOURNEY:
Robert Oto 3d placed first in the dan division at the
San Francisco Go Club Dote Memorial Tournament Oct 18 - 19. Steve Burrall
was the Tournament Director; 30 players attended. The complete results:
Dan division: 1st, Robert Oto 3d; 2nd, Adam Miller 1d;
3rd, Brian Leahy 2d. Upper Kyu division: 1st, Lawrence Ku 6k,
2nd, Owen Carver 7k; 3rd, Herb Doughty 3k;
Lower Kyu division tie for 1st Karoline Burrall 15k and Jacky Chong 12k;
3rd Craig Helfgott 8k. Dote Memorial trophy: Robert Oto 3d
for best performance throughout the year.
YOUNG GUNS FACE OFF IN NJ:
The Feng Yun October Ratings Tournament in Piscataway, NJ last
weekend "once more brought together two forces in the Northeast go world - the
young guns from Rochester and the even
younger guns from the Feng Yun Go School,"
reports Steve Bretherick. "Plans for a formal team tournament
didn't work out, but we manually paired the first two rounds to include match-ups
between each of the 17 Rochester players and a player from New Jersey. Rochester's
beginners Amy Huang and Eugenia Huang came through
with 2 wins each but overall New Jersey defended its home court advantage 24-10.
Plans for a return match haven't been made yet - maybe at the US Open?" The
October 25 event drew 67 players and was organized by Feng Yun and directed by
Steve Bretherick. Complete results: 3-game winners: HU, Michael; HU, Erh-Wen;
WANG, Jonathan, CHEN, Gang; MA, Hongguang; SHANG, Kevin; LI, Anton; HUANG, Amy
2-game winners: LEFLER, Greg; CHEN, Mawshien; GU, Jiangtao; GU, Jason;
FRENCH, Ernest; SU, Pichuan; NAZIF, Zaher; WANG, Yuan Yuan; ZOBEL, Julie; FENG, Yuchen;
XU, Yang; XIAO, Ziran; HUA, Nelson; ZHAO, Zhongxia; WANG, Andrew; YAN, Jasmine;
XUE, James; XIA, Daniel; TIAN, Ximeng; ZHANG, Peter; WU, Dustin; HUANG, Eugenia;
MOLE, Edward; DUAN, Michael Junhao; ZHU, Sherry.
ROBBINS WINS THE PUMPKIN:
Chuck Robbins 3d took top honors in last Saturday's
NOVA Pumpkin Classic, with a 3-0 result that included a win over
Yuan Zhou, 8d. As usual, Allan Abramson organized
and directed the event, in which 34 players participated. Winners had their choice
of seasonally appropriate pumpkins or gourds. Other first place winners included
Chris Garlock 2d, 3-1; Joe Maia 2k, 3-1;
Sam Zimmerman 4k, 3-1; John Gipson 8k, 3-1;
Max Peterson, 12k, 4-0 (promoted to 10k); Keiju Takehara, 30k, 3-1
(promoted to 28k). Second place winners: Yuan Zhou, 8d, 3-1;
Ray Hunley, 1d, 3-1; Alan Perrin, 2k, 2-2;
Arnold Eudell, 4k, 2-2; Raymond Yeh, 7k, 3-1;
Eoghan Barry, 15k, 2-2; Mike Stevens, 23k, 2-2.
RETURN OF PURPLEHEART:
We neglected to include the URL for the purpleheart go board
reviewed in last week's E-Journal: you can
see it at http://homepage.mac.com/bogiesan/PhotoAlbum11.html
PHOTO OF THE WEEK:
Don't forget to check out the Go Photo of the Week at the AGA's homepage:
http://www.usgo.org/ PLUS: go a go
license plate? Send us a photo for a fun new contest! Check it out at
http://www.usgo.org/photos/
KERWIN ON STUDYING THE PROS:
In Sung-Hwa Hon's novel "First Kyu," the character
Nak gives his prized Wu (Go Seigen) game-record books, with commentary in
Japanese, to his friend Wook. "In Japanese! I don't know how to read
Japanese." "I don't either. You don't have to read the commentary-or
rather you should never read the commentary-in game-record books. If you do,
you will at best become a robot of the person who wrote the commentary. You
just replay the games and come up with your own interpretations. So it
doesn't matter if it's written in Japanese, or Spanish. . . ." What's
the best way to review games? Is it true you should avoid the commentary?
It depends on your purpose, says James Kerwin, professional 1-Dan.
Simply reading the moves and commentary together can be enjoyable in its own right.
But, if you want to improve, you need to engage more. First, play through the moves
once. Then, try to replay the game from memory. Each time you don't remember the
pro's move, try to figure it out on your own. Once you have your move, look at the
pro's move. If it's different than yours, ask yourself why. Was the pro's move in
a bigger area of the board? Was it tactically better? Was a defensive move
necessary? When you finish, replay the game, again and again, using the same
process. After you know the entire game, then look at the commentary. Maybe it
will say a move in the game was merely one option and one of your ideas is also
correct. Or, maybe the pro's move was the only move. Either way, you've engaged
the game and you'll get the most improvement from your review.
- John Pinkerton
YODA WINS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE MEIJIN:
Defending his title for the 4th time in a row, Yoda Norimoto 9p,
playing Black against Yamashita Keigo 9p, won the fifth game of
the best of seven Meijin title match by resignation on October 22nd
in Yamanashi, Japan. Yoda, who holds the record for the youngest professional player
to win a place in the Meijin league (in 1984 at the age of 18), dominated the title
match by losing only one game to Yamashita. The Meijin is one of the top three
professional money tournaments in Japan and, with this win, Yoda continues as one
of the most successful Japanese professionals on the scene. Game records can be
found at http://www.go4go.net.
YUKAWA OFF TO GOOD START IN KANSAI KIIN:
On October 23rd, Yukawa Mitsuhisa 9p won the first
game of a three game match against Sakai Hideyuki 5p in the
47th edition of the Kansai Kiin 1st Place tournament. Yukawa, who
played Black, won by resignation in this championship tournament of the
Kansai Kiin which is the
go association of Japan's Kansai district. Sakai Hideyuki was one of
Japan's strongest amateur players, and was one of the first to be awarded an
amateur 8 dan ranking. In 2000, he won the World Amateur Go Championship. In a
rare move the following year, the Kansai Kiin accepted 28 year old Sakai as a
professional with an initial rank of 5p. (Most professionals begin their careers
at a much younger age.) The next game is to be played on November 8th.
reported by Dennis Hardman
CHINESE TEAM LEADS IN NONG SHIM CUP:
Wang Lei 8p of China defeated both Cho U 9p
of Japan and Hong Minpyo 3p of Korea to finish out the first
phase of the Nong Shim Cup "ring" tournament hosted in
Beijing, China October 22 - 25. The Nong Shim Cup is a three country event started
in 1999 that uses five representatives from each of the participating countries:
China, Korea, and Japan. The winning player continues to play opponents of
alternating countries until all opponents are exhausted. When a player loses,
the next player of that country takes his place in line. Korea has dominated this
tournament since its inception. The second of three phases will be played starting
on November 12th in Pusan, South Korea. More information about this tournament can
be found at www.gobase.org.
reported by Dennis Hardman
OTHER ASIAN GO NEWS IN BRIEF
(compiled from http://www.kyoto.zaq.ne.jp/momoyama/news/news.html)
GALCHENKO TOPS EURO PANDA-NET:
The latest tournament in European Toyota PandaNet Tour was held in
Kosice, Slovakia, October 11th and 12th with 51 players participating. Three players
ended on top with 4 out of 5 wins: Mikhaylo Galchenko 5 dan of the
Ukraine, Dragos Bajaneru 6 dan of Romania, and Radek Nechanicky
6 dan of Czechia, and placed in that order. Czech 3 dan Ivan Kostka
was a giant killer again, this time taking down Emil Nijhuis, who
was just back from taking third place in the World Baduk Championships.
from BGA News at http://www.britgo.org/news/index.html
THE CANADIAN PLEDGE:
The Canadian Go Association is
currently running a special pledge drive to raise money for go projects in Canada.
For details see http://www.go canada.org/
This week's bonus file is an opening problem selected from "Five Hundred and One Opening Problems (Mastering the Basics, Volume 1)" by Richard Bozulich. The book is available from http://www.kiseido.com
GET game commentaries and problem files PLUS get the E-Journal's go news, reviews and columns 24 hours earlier! Sign up for the Games Edition today at http://elecmail.com/r.html?c=248326&r=247864&t=46044451&l=1&d=84901205&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp&g=0&f=84901222 and start receiving your game files next week!
I travel to Japan every year to draw caricatures at sight seeing locations in Tokyo and Yokohama. Hoshinoko Productions, located in Shakujii koen, a wonderful town on the Seibu Ikebukuro train line, arranges my visa and provides me with an apartment. This year, I wanted to play go in my free time and eventually, I found an igo salon. Although the tables were occupied with older adults playing igo, a Japanese gentleman basically said to me, "I am sorry. But based on your weak rank and weakness, you can not play here." I emailed some of my friends at the Empty Sky Go Club back home in Rochester and the whole club became concerned for me. We concluded that maybe I had found an igo salon that older, local players enjoy and perhaps many members did not know enough English to be comfortable talking to me. My good friend Bill Hewitt gave me the address of the Nihon Kiin Tokyo headquarters, where my experience was quite different.
At the Nihon Kiin, it costs 1,000 yen to play as much igo as you want in a day. You are given a card that looks like an old-fashioned library book card. The top of the card has six "cartoon balloon" shapes where your starting rank, and its progress over time, are recorded. Cards are saved for two months. After your card is filled out, you sit on a bench and wait to be assigned an opponent.
"Bippy-san..." I heard in English. "You play this lady. You play black. Even game." "Onagaishimasu," (Have a good game!) we said to each other and bowed (yes... just like in the "Hikaru No Go" anime series. I am a fan.). I was very nervous but excited, playing my first Japanese opponent. About 300 moves later, we both passed. She won, and proceeded to gesture and talk about the game's progress, trying to teach me how to make better shapes. I missed some of her instruction, but I told her I was happy to play with her. One of the unwritten rules of go is to be grateful for the game experience, no matter what the outcome, right? "Domo arigato gozaimasu," I told her as I bowed. She smiled.
As soon as I handed back my card, it was then marked with her name stamp (hanko). I sat for only one minute on the bench. Then I heard,"Bippy-san, play this next lady. Even game. You play white." It was startling to see how efficiently Nihon Kiin found my next opponent. Our game had a few casual observers, as word had gotten out that a visiting American was "in the house." My opponent won, but again tried to show me how to play better next time.
The Nihon Kiin sells many go books, accessories, charms, and of course, go newspapers. The green tea tastes fine. And they were willing to take a humble beginner from America and put me in their system, which I will remember forever. I look forward to a return visit. For go fans traveling to Japan, I think it would be a good idea to get as strong as you can in your hometown, learn as much go as you can, have someone "scope out" some salons in advance, and of course, have fun.
Edited by Ben Alkov. Dave Boyer is a cartoonist and digital photographer. He has been learning go for a year or so. You can e-mail him at Bippy@mac.com Check out Hoshinoko Productions at http://www.hoshinoko.co.jp
FOR SALE: 7mm glass stones & half-inch folding board, both Japanese. $45, plus shp. Will sell separately. Anton Ninno, Syracuse, NY: antonninno@yahoo.com (10/20)
WANTED: Hackensack, NJ area go players of moderate to high
strength willing to do a demonstration some time later in the school year.
milkyway_locomotive@yahoo.com (10/20/)
WANTED: Ever have that deja vu feeling about a go move or situation when you were caught in the middle of an important moment in your life or just found yourself daydreaming about go when you are doing something ordinary? Please tell me about it. I need more anecdotes for a project on how a go strategy, problem or set of moves may surface in life away from the go board. Email David Dinhofer at ddinhofer@msn.com (10/13)
WANTED: Look for go/weiqi/baduk players in the Schaumburg IL area who can teach a beginner (like me) or maybe hold regular sessions in Barnes and Noble, Schaumburg Library or Caribou coffee. I'll help in forming a club in the area. Email asian_dude@yahoo.com (10/13)
WANTED: Professional go player and American Go Journal contributing editor James Kerwin is now accepting game records for a new E-Journal feature. Kerwin will review selected games online with both players and the game, with commentary, will then appear in the E-Journal. There is no cost to players, but at least one must be a member of the American Go Association. Please send .sgf game records to E-Journal Assistant Bill Cobb at wmscobb@comcast.net (10/6)
WANTED: Go clubs or players on Maui; billandcorrine@comcast.net (10/6)
WANTED: Go players in the greater Towson, Maryland area. We're a small club that meets weekly, but on various nights (usually Mon.). Contact Jim Pickett j.m.pickett@att.net (10/6)
WANTED: Players of all strengths. Rumors of the Bayou Go club's demise have been greatly exaggerated. We meet Wednesdays at 7p at the PJ's Coffehouse (1532 Robert E Lee Blvd) near the University of New Orleans. Come one, come all ... we need players. Meisch.Robert@nola.sysco.com (10/6)
Got go stuff to sell, swap or want to buy? Do it here and reach more than 5,000 Go players worldwide every week at Go Classified! Send to us at journal@usgo.org
November 1 & 2: Portland, OR
Portland Open Go Tournament
Glenn Peters 503-743-4919 glenn@aenigma.com
Robert O'Malley (Open Division) 541-929-5468 omalley@coas.oregonstate.edu
November 15 & 16, 2003: College Park, MD
15th Mid-Atlantic Regional Go Championship
Ken Koester 412-267-0487 kkoester@riva.net
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~smount/MidAtlantic.html
November 15 & 16: Houston, TX
2003 Houston Go Club Fall Tournament
Mike Peng 281-228-4233 pmpeng@swbell.net
January 17-19, 2004: Evanston, IL
James Kerwin Workshop
Mark Rubenstein 847-869-6020 mark@easyaspi.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
GET LISTED & BOOST TURN-OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 5,000 readers 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; http://www.usgo.org for the full list.
GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org
AGA CONTACT LIST:
For a full list of AGA officers, contacts & their email addresses, go
to: http://www.usgo.org/org/index.asp#contactinfo
Published by the American Go Association
Text material published in "AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL" may be reproduced by
any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that attached
files, including game records, MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made
available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of
the Journal.
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
mailto:journal@usgo.org