December 9, 2003
In This Edition:
UPDATED RATINGS POSTED ONLINE:
Updated ratings for tournaments
reported through the end of November are now posted at
http://www.usgo.org/ratings.asp.
The following events were included in this update: September
Ratings Tournament, Seattle, WA, September 2003; Seattle Go Center Anniversary Tournament, WA, September 2003;
October Ratings Tournament, Seattle Go Center, WA, October 2003;
Empty Sky Fall Tournament, Rochester, NY, November 2003; Portland Open,
Reed College, OR, November 2003; November Ratings Tournament,
Seattle Go Center, WA, November 2003; Davis/Sacramento Quarterly,
CA, November 2003; Hobgoblin's Go Tournament, Lancaster, PA,
November 2003; Mid-Atlantic Regional, UMD College Park, MD,
November 2003; Houston Fall Open & Handicap, TX, November 2003;
Princeton Fall Ratings Tournament, NJ, November 2003.
If you played in a tournament that you think should have been included but is not in this list, please contact the tournament organizers and ask them to send us their data. The next scheduled ratings update will be January 1. Tournament data for rating should be submitted by e-mail to ratings@usgo.org
3-WAY TIE FOR TOPS IN CHI:
Sorin Gherman, Xin Zhao and Jiang Lu
tied for top honors in the December 6 "Up on the Rooftop" tournament
in Chicago, IL. "Newly promoted 8 dan Sorin Gherman seemed unfazed
by the extra stone given to all," reports TD Bob Barber. "Proving
the old adage that it takes a Romanian to beat a Romanian, only
Bogdan Dobrescu was successful against him. For the first time
(and we hope not the last), author and E-Journal columnist Joel
Turnipseed joined us from Minnesota for both the tournament and
the pizza party. We did have to order a couple of extra pitchers
of beer."
Forty-six players participated; TD Bob Barber was ably assisted
by Al Mishlove. The full winner's report:
1ST PLACE DAN: Three way tie: GHERMAN, Sorin, 8d, 3-1; ZHAO, Xin, 4d, 3-1; LU, Jiang, 2d, 3-1;
1ST PLACE LOW KYU: TURNIPSEED, Joel, 5k, 4-0; 2nd Place Low
Kyu: OLY, James, 8k, 3-1;
1ST PLACE MID KYU: Two way tie: ROHDE, David, 13k, 4-0; HU, Shengxiong, 17k, 4-0; 2nd Place Mid Kyu: O'DAY,
Mike, 17k, 3-1;
1st Place Low Kyu: WANG, Ryan, 24k, 4-0; 2ND PLACE
LOW KYU: BARTH, Douglas, 21k, 5-1; 3rd Place Low Kyu: KADAKIA,
Tania, 21k, 3-1.
YUAN ZHOU DC REDUX:
Last week's Yuan Zhou teaching event at the
Greater Washington Go Club, which was cancelled by snow, has been
rescheduled for this coming Friday, Dec. 12th, reports Haskell
Small. The event is set for 8:30P in the basement of the Cedar Lane
Unitarian Church, 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda. Bring game records to
participate ($5), or observe for free. "Don't have a game? Come
early; official opening time is 7P to play and record a game!"
Info: Haskell Small; haskellsmall@starpower.net
ING GRANT BACK ON TRACK:
Ending speculation that the Ing grant or
the Ing Foundation itself were in jeopardy, the Ing Foundation has
transmitted a payment of $40,000 to the AGA account. The funds
cover this year's ING Invitational, Redmond Cup and youth fees at
the 2003 Congress, as well as three ING tournaments held by clubs
in Oregon, New York and California. The AGA has now reinstated the
ING Grant Tournament Program as well as the Youth Mini-Grant Program.
WHAT'S WRONG RETURNS:
With this issue we're pleased to resurrect a
popular series from the old print Journal in PDF format: "What's
Wrong with that Move?" by Nakayama Noriuki 7p, translated by Robert
McGuigan. The PDF can be read and printed using Adobe's Acrobat
Reader, which can be downloaded free from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
BOLEY ELECTED AGA BOARD CHAIR:
Jon Boley, Western AGA Vice President,
was elected Acting Chairman of the American Go Association Board of
Directors at a special Board meeting last Monday night, following
the resignation the previous week of Acting Chairman (and Western
Director) Robert O'Malley. Added to the previous resignations of
Central Director David Dinhofer and Eastern Director Chendao Lin,
O'Malley's resignation leaves three vacancies on the 7-member Board.
Although AGA bylaws call for vacancies to be filled by appointment
for the remainder of the term, debate has erupted over whether to
hold early elections instead, and this is certain to be a major
topic of discussion at the next regularly-scheduled Board meeting
on December 18. Meanwhile, the Board has asked Election Committee
Chair Sam Zimmerman to solicit recommendations for directors:
nominations can be sent to him at szimmerman@wareunl.com and should
be accompanied by a short blurb stating why the nominee would would
be a good director. Another top agenda item is a proposal to form a
standing Leadership Development Committee to identify and develop
leadership for the AGA.
REGISTER NOW FOR GAINESVILLE TOURNEY:
Registration deadline for the
January 31 3-Board Team Tournament in Gainesville, FL is January 10,
2004. The tournament will be held at the University of Florida in
Gainesville, Florida. Info: Devin Casadey; igoclubuf@yahoo.com
http://plaza.ufl.edu/lavigne/
ROBBINS WINS PHOTO QUIZ:
Chuck Robbins won last week's Photo Quiz
by being the first to identify Teddy Feldman, the first Western
woman to reach shodan outside of Asia (she received an amateur
shodan diploma from the Nihon Ki-in in 1962!). Chuck also correctly
identified Teddy's opponent, Wanda Metcalf, 4K, of Massachusetts.
Honorable mentions: Bill Saltman, Robert Barber, Peter Schumer,
Joanne Phipps and Bob McGuigan. THIS WEEK'S PHOTO QUIZ: Who's the
pro in this week's AGA homepage photo? Send your answers to us at
journal@usgo.org
CHO U BECOMES 51ST OZA:
By the narrowest of margins (0.5 points),
Cho U 9p played Black to squeak by O Meien 9p to win game four of
the best-of-five 51st Oza championship, thereby winning the entire
match 3:1. Cho is having a very good year: He defeated Kato Masao
9p in mid-2003 to become the second youngest Honinbo ever, he is
now engaged to Women's Honinbo Kobayashi Izumi 5p, and in November,
he defeated Yoda Norimoto 9p to win the winner's bracket of the
42nd Judan challenger tournament. (Interestingly, Cho's Oza rival,
O Meien, is in the running in the loser's bracket and could end up
playing Cho to determine the challenger for the Judan.) Cho U's
performance this year continues to propel him forward as one of
the most dominant go players in recent years. Game records for the
Oza can be found at www.go4go.net.
- reported by Dennis Hardman
YAMASHITA EVENS IT UP AGAINST HANE:
In what has become an exciting
back-and-forth title match, challenger Yamashita Keigo 9p, playing
White, garnered a resignation from current title holder, Hane Naoki
9p in the fourth game of the 29th Tengen championship. The series
is now tied up at 2:2 with the next game, to played in Tokushima,
Japan on December 18th, deciding it all. Hane has held the Tengen
title since 2001 when he won the title from Ryu Shikun 9p. The
Tengen title was established in 1976 to replace the Nihon Ki-in
championships. It is decided by a match between a challenger, who
is determined from a large knockout tournament that starts with
about 40 players, and the title holder from the previous year. Game
replays can be found at gobase.org.
- reported by Dennis Hardman
GU LI TO MEET CHANG HAO IN 9TH NEC CUP:
In the semi-finals of the
9th Chinese NEC Cup, Gu Li 7p (Black) defeated Wang Lei 7p by
resignation, and Chang Hao 9p (White) knocked out Xie He 5p by
resignation, thus allowing Li and Hao to advance to the final
match. They will play in February of 2004 for one of China's most
lucrative and prestigious tournaments. The NEC Cup is a very fast
format (30 seconds per move plus 10 minutes thinking time) that is
conducive to public or televised games. Game records can be found
at http://www.go4go.com.
- reported by Dennis Hardman
TARANU WINS 1st EUROPEAN MASTERS TOURNAMENT:
The first European Masters Tournament was held last weekend, inviting eight of
Europe's top players to compete for places in professional Asian
championships, such as the Fujitsu and the LG Cup. Catalin Taranu
5p (Romania, Nihon-Kiin) and Alexandre Dinerchtein 1p (Russia,
http://www.baduk.or.kr/) played an exciting final match. The
tournament was held in memoriam of Hans Pietsch, who died
tragically in Guatemala earlier this year, a victim of an armed robbery.
Complete results: 1st: Catalin Taranu 5p (Romania, winner of
the European Fujitsu Finals 2003); 2nd: Alexandre Dinerchtein 1p
(Russia, European Champion 2003) ; 3rd: Svetlana Shikshina 1p
(Russia); 4th: Franz-Joseph Dikhut 6d (Germany, honorary
replacement for Hans Pietsch); 5th: Guo Juan 5p (Netherlands,
winner of Ing Memorial 2003); 6th: Cristian Pop 6d (Romania,
winner of Ing Memorial 2003); 7th: Csaba Merö 6d (Hungary, winner
of Ing Memorial 2003); 8th: Radek Nechanicky 6d (Czechia, winner
of the European Toyota Pandanet Tour 2003)
- from the European Go Culture Centre site, reported by Ethan Baldridge
Editor's Note: Yes; copies of the Yearbook, which is free for AGA members, are available for $30 each, plus postage. The American Go Yearbook includes a selection of the "best of" the weekly E-Journal, 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 2003 Yearbook will also include a CD with all of the year's E-Journal content, organized for easy use and reference.
WHAT THE HECK?
"While I always look forward to reading my ejournal,
I have a small complaint about the latest issue," writes Jean
DeMaiffe. "Joel Turnipseed's column uses some generally taboo
language that I believe to be entirely unnecessary, including
"hell of a lot else" and "damn, is it getting scary." While "hell"
and "damn" are not horrifically taboo words, we set an example for
the young people in our community, and I believe that courtesy is
one of the virtues we should model for them."
Editor's Note: While we certainly do not wish to offend our readers we generally give our contributors leeway to express themselves. We'd be interested to hear from other readers on this issue.
This week we're also featuring Yilun Yang's latest set of tsumego (life and death) problems, ranging in difficulty from beginner to intermediate and advanced. Look for the solutions next week!
Finally, this week's bonus attachment is an old friend. We're very pleased to resurrect a popular series from the old print Journal in PDF format: "What's Wrong with that Move?" by Nakayama Noriuki 7p, translated by Robert McGuigan. The PDF can be read and printed using Adobe's Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Give yourself (or your favorite go player) the gift that keeps on giving every week! Join the AGA today at http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp and get the weekly game commentaries and problem files PLUS the E-Journal's go news, reviews and columns AND the brand-new 2003 American Go Yearbook!
EJ: What's the AGF all about?
TB: We were founded to provide a way for US players to donate to
help spread the game. We look for people who want to teach go in
their communities, and we help them get equipment, materials, and
support. We're especially interested in bringing go into the
schools. People who want to foster this kind of activity
contribute, and take the donation off their taxes. Some people use
matching programs at work to double the impact of their dollars.
EJ: How is the AGF connected to the AGA?
TB: They are totally separate. The AGF is a tax-deductible 501(c)3
charitable Foundation with its own Board of Directors and a mission
limited to the educational and cultural aspects of go. People who
give us money can deduct the contribution from their taxes. The
AGA is a membership organization which promotes all aspects of go.
But we work closely together, and most people involved in the AGF
are also active in the AGA, so they may seem more connected than
they really are.
EJ: What has the AGF been up to lately?
TB: Last year we gave away more money and resources than ever.
Fortunately, we also received more donations than ever, but gifts
are not keeping pace with the growing need. We printed 20,000
more copies of The Way to Go, Karl Baker's great introductory book.
For last year's US Go Camp, we provided $3000 to cover professional
fees and over $2000 in scholarship help. Most of that came from
earmarked donations but we had to use general funds as well. We
ordered the production of 600 inexpensive laminated boards (13x13
and 9x9) and just received 200 Ing starter sets, 300 sets of modest
quality stones and 2000 inexpensive cardboard sets. Over $12,000 in
equipment! We bought copies of Yasuda's book on teaching go in
institutions and sent one to every American teacher who asked.
More copies are available, by the way!
EJ: So what's next?
TB: On the money side, the AGA has kindly agreed to distribute a
fundraising appeal on our behalf, which will be going out soon.
We've been getting more and more donations for programs like our Go
Camp scholarship program, so we want to make sure everyone knows
about what we're doing. We think the new website will publicize
the educational support we can provide and greatly expand the
number of kids in school programs. Dozens of teachers may apply for
funds and equipment, but we think the American Go community will
back us with their dollars. We also hope players will check out
the new web pages, and contact us with questions, suggestions,
offers of help, and donations.
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)
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 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 10, 2004: Salem, OR
5th Annual Salem Winter Go Tourney
levenick@willamette.edu
January 17-19, 2004: Evanston, IL
James Kerwin Workshop
Mark Rubenstein 847-869-6020 mark@easyaspi.com
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