November 24, 2003
In This Edition:
ZHANG MOST IMPROVED IN PRINCETON:
Sandwiched between the Mid-Atlantic
and the Korean tournaments, the Princeton Fall Self-Paired had a low
turnout of 15 players, but they played 28 rated games and added five
new members to the AGA. Most improved was Peter Zhang, who won four
straight games and had his rating jump nearly three stones. Ron Elroy
also had a 4/0 record. Lionel Zhang won four games, losing only when
he gave 9 stones to Alex Pak, one of a pioneering group of three
high-school players from the newly formed Horace Mann go club in New
York. The USCF has an active Scholastics program; can Scholastic Go
be on the way? Stay tuned.
- reported by Rick Mott
GO WORLD DEBUTS IN E-JOURNAL:
We're very pleased to announce a new
collaboration between the American Go E-Journal and Go World
magazine. Today game commentary is an exciting game from the title
match in the First Toyota & Denso Cup between Lee Ch'ang-ho 9p and
Chang Hao 9p. The thorough game commentary by Kobayashi Satoru 9p
was translated by John Power and is taken from Go World #98 with
permission of the publisher, Kiseido. Readers who miss having a
print quarterly Journal should check out this excellent go magazine,
available from http://www.kiseido.com . It contains news and
instructional material, as well as commented pro games.
2003 YEARBOOK IN PROGRESS:
We're pleased to report that the 2003
American Go Yearbook is now in production. The selection of the
"best of" the weekly E-Journal includes nearly 100 pages of game
commentaries and instructional material, popular columns, reviews,
a full 2003 Go Congress report and a complete collection of Editor
Chris Garlock's Go Player's Guide to Japan,
both with never-before published photos. The Yearbook will also include
a CD with all of the year's E-Journal content, organized for
easy use and reference. The Yearbook is free for AGA members so if you've
been thinking about joining, now's the time!
ING FUNDS BACK ON TRACK?
Reports of the demise of the Ing Foundation
grant may be greatly exaggerated, according to AGA Ing Committee
Chair George Zhou. "I have been in touch with
the Foundation," Zhou told the E-Journal. "They asked for a
formal request, but they didn't mention any worries or problems. Now
that we've sent the request, I'm hoping for a positive response."
Since 1993, the Foundation has provided the AGA with substantial grants intended to spread go, especially among American children, and to introduce American players to the "SST Laws of Wei Ch'i" invented by the Foundation's creator, Ing Chang-ki. These funds have supported many projects, including the North American Masters Tournament, the North American Ing Cup, the Redmond Cup, the AGA Summer Go Camp, a scholarship fund for children to attend the US Go Congress, the purchase and development of equipment and supplies for teachers, and many other uses. To learn more about the Foundation go to http://www.usgo.org/ingfoundation/index.html.
No funds have been received this year, for reasons that remain unclear. Last year, the Foundation warned that due to economic conditions, some reduction in funding might be unavoidable. However, the European Go Federation continues to receive report at the full level, so sources close to the Foundation are optimistic that the AGA's Ing-funded programs will also receive continued support. "Something similar happened in 1994," said past President Roy Laird. "We had a little trouble working out the proper application procedure, but with the Foundation's help, we got everything straightened out. They have always shown tremendous good will toward the AGA and American Go. For the past several years, everything has been as smooth as a clamshell stone."
BOARD MEETING POSTPONED, RECALL CALLED OFF:
The upcoming American Go
Association board meeting, originally scheduled for December 4, has
been postponed until December 18. Sources tell the E-Journal that the
meeting has been delayed while the Board works out the process for
replacing recently resigned members David Dinhofer and Chendao Lin,
both of whom had more than a year remaining in their terms. Meanwhile,
the effort to recall the four Board members who voted to oust former
President Chris Kirschner has been called off. Although recall
petitions with new language had been filed to replace the earlier
petitions that had been declared non-legal, with the resignations of
Dinhofer and Chendao and the impending departure of John Stephenson
(whose term expires on 12/31), the chapter reps felt "the point had
been largely made (and) the recall was no longer compelling," reports
AGA Secretary Susan Weir.
SORRY, ETHAN:
Sharp-eyed readers may have been confused by the result
of the Zytta-EthanBaldrige game published in the 11/17 E-Journal.
Although the game record said that Black resigns, in fact it was
White who resigned (while it was Black's move; hence the confusion)
after concluding the ko was unwinnable. We apologize for the
confusion.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK:
What's this week's homepage photo theme? Be the
first to tell and you could be next week's Homepage Photo Contest
winner! Check it out at http://www.usgo.org/ Email us at
journal@usgo.org
HANE TIES IT UP IN 29TH TENGEN:
Hane Naoki 9p, the defending title
holder, played Black and defeated challenger Yamashita Keigo 9p by
4.5 points in game two of the 29th Tengen. This best-of-five title
match is now tied 1:1. Game 3 will be held on November 27th in
Nagasaki, Japan. Hane and Yamashita will continue to have plenty
of face time after the Tengen match when they meet again for the
28th Kisei - the first game of which is to be played in Seattle on
January 15th and 16th. Then it will be Yamashita's turn to defend
his title. According to igo-kisen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/news.html, the
win-loss record between these two young Japanese stars is Hane 2
and Yamashita 8. Game records for the Tengen matches can be found
at http://www.go4go.net
- reported by Dennis Hardman
SAKAI WINS 47TH KANSAI KIIN 1ST PLACE TOURNEY:
Sakai Hideyuki 5p
defeated Yukawa Mitsuhisa 9p in the 3rd game of the
47th Kansai Kiin First Place Tournament
to win overall with a score of 2:1. Sakai played White to win this
best-of-three match by resignation. Thirty-one year old Sakai has
been a professional for just over 2 years and was one of the few
amateur players to ever be accepted into the professional ranks
without first having to pass through a formal apprenticeship at a
young age.
- reported by Dennis Hardman
WON SEONGJIN LEADS IN NONG SHIM:
The second phase of 5th CJK Nong
Shim Cup Ring Contest comes to an end with Won SeongJin 5p of
Korea pulling off three consecutive wins. He defeated Hu Yaoyu
7p of China and Ryu Shikun 9p of Japan in games 9 and game 10
respectively. The remaining players thus far are: for the Chinese
team: Gu Li 7p; for the Japanese team: Rin Kaiho 9p and Kato Masao
9p; and for the Korean team: Won SeongJin 5p and Yi (Lee) Ch'ang-ho
9p. The final phase of this event will begin in February in Shanghai, China.
Yi has dominated Chang in past encounters, holding a 17-4 lead, but results in the year preceding this game have been more even at 2-3. Yi is the main reason Chang has never won a world title, despite having been the top Chinese player for many years.
This week's bonus files are the solutions for last week's original tsume-go problems from Yilun Yang.
Don't miss another great game commentary PLUS be sure to get the 2003 American Go Yearbook with every 2003 E-Journal and game commentary! Join the AGA today at http://elecmail.com/r.html?c=258730&r=258217&t=46044451&l=1&d=84945490&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp&g=0&f=84945495 and get the weekly game commentaries and problem files PLUS the E-Journal's go news, reviews and columns.
PDFs PDQ:
"As I understand it the new E-Journal replacement for the
paper AGA Journal can't have articles like the ones by Nakayama
that I translated for the paper Journal because of impossibility of
putting them into SGF format," writes Bob McGuigan. "What about
PDFs? They can be sent as attachments and could even include
photographs."
EDITOR'S NOTE: As E-Journal readers saw in last week's edition, we've now added PDFs to our repertoire and look forward to working with Bob, a longtime Journal contributor, to bring more of his wonderful material to our readers.
Although more and more English-language go books are published each year, the numbers of English language go texts still pale in comparison to the numbers of such texts in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
One classic text which is not available in English is the Segoe Tesuji Dictionary. Written by Segoe Kensaku, and co-written by Go Seigen (who was a student of Segoe at the beginning of his career), it is currently published in three volumes. The Segoe Tesuji Dictionary is arranged like a tsumego collection. There are 25 sections spread over the three volumes, each dealing with a particular type of tesuji (such as hane, oki, oiotoshi, etc.) that is critical in the solution of the problems presented. Each problem is accompanied by a short text (in Japanese of course) that briefly describes the problem and a hint about the correct solution. Each diagram shows the problem arranged on one-half of a go board. The correct solutions are located in the second half of each book, and again each solution is accompanied by a short paragraph of explanation. The problems are categorized as 'A', 'B', or 'C', denoting the difficulty of the problem. 'A' problems often have solutions that span multiple diagrams. To facilitate reading the questions and the answers, the book has not only one, but two bookmark ribbons that are frequently bound into the spine of Japanese books.
My own Japanese reading ability is limited, but I have no problem deciphering the meaning of much of the text. The format of this book is such that it is possible to learn from the problems themselves without necessarily being able to read the text. A few minutes of browsing should familiarize the reader with the kanji for 'white first' and 'black first'. Each section face page includes two diagrams demonstrating the type of tesuji highlighted in the section, so you don't have to know how to read Japanese to know the contents of each section. These factors make the Segoe Tesuji Dictionary somewhat more useful to non-Japanese readers compared to another standard Japanese tesuji reference, the Fujisawa Tesuji Dictionary. In the Fusijsawa Dictionary, much of the content is in the form of explanatory text accompanying the diagrams. Not understanding the text seems to me to lose more of the content of the Fujisawa work compared to the Segoe work.
I highly recommend the Segoe Tesuji Dictionary, even if you do not read any Japanese.
ISBN numbers: Vol.1 4-416-70300-7; Vol.2 4-416-70301-5; Vol.3 4-416-70302-3
[The E-Journal welcomes user reviews of go books, equipment and software; reviewers receive go vendor gift certificates. Email us at journal@usgo.org]
Yankees manager Yogi Berra used to say "When you come to a fork in the road.... Take it." This came to mind the day that I lost five straight games at the recent Empty Sky tournament in Rochester, New York. What do I do now? I wondered. Am I THAT weak? How much more time can I invest in trying to learn go? And the big one: Can I hack it? After all, I'm 48 years old and never heard of go until three years ago.
To take the new fork in the road on my Go journey, I talked with fellow members of the Empty Sky tournament. I was surprised to find that many of our stronger members lost some games too but I wondered how often someone posts a 0-5 result. "Many times!" other club members assured me, including a dan player who revealed that he lost a "bunch of games" at a Go Congress.
The moral support was encouraging. "Let's get stronger together. Let's play more Go!" Eugenia Huang e-mailed me enthusiastically. After the fourth round, Ed Brannin coached me about an opening move that was more aggressive than what I usually play. I had brought a Japanese goban to the tournament from home and everyone used it between games to discuss strategies. The goban had been a gift from Miss Tomoko Sasaki-san on one of my trips to Japan and had been in her family for over fifty years; what an encouraging gesture!
I enjoy many of the people that I meet in the go world and some have become new friends. I've been able to use my humble experience in professional photography and caricature to capture go players and some tournament and club action. I lost all my games at the Rochester tournament and it is almost certainly not in my future to be a pro, but I have demonstrated go to curious people wherever I travel. I do want to get stronger and play more go, so I took the fork in the road toward more go: see you at the Go Congress in Rochester, New York in 2004!
Check out Bippy's photos, caricatures and the Empty Sky Go Club at http://www.bippies.com
WANTED: Look for Go players in the Greensboro / Winston Salem Triad area who can teach a beginner (like me) or maybe hold regular sessions in local establishment. I'll help in forming a club in the area. krandall@mindspring.com (11/10/)
WANTED: A good copy of the movie "The Go Masters." rlaflecheMD@etfsinc.com (11/10)
AVAILABLE: Feel like you have been stuck at your current rank forever? Perhaps you need some lessons from a 5 dan. I will give you one free evaluation lesson, just choose what you want. http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/icarii for details (11/10)
FOR SALE: 10mm agate stones and marble bowls. Both are Chinese, but the stones are rounded on both sides unlike the typical Chinese stones that are flat on one side. Used twice. James Johnston Boise, ID; Alkora_Tokyo@hotmail.com (10/27)
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)
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
December 6: Denver, CO
Rocky Mountain Winter Go Tournament
Ulo Tamm 303-466-2865 utamm@worldnet.att.net
December 13: Cleveland Kyu Tourney/Seminar
Care Momus, 491 Brown Street, Akron OH
Joe Carl 330-493-1663 jcarl@neo.rr.com
December 20: Arlington, VA
NOVA Holiday Helper Tournament
Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net
January 3 & 4, 2004: San Francisco, CA
12th Jujo Jiang Goe Tournament
Michael Bull bull@lmi.net
ernest@goedharma.com
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
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