This annual tournament was sponsored by Lloyd Eric Cotsen (pronounced KOH-tzen) and the Ing Goe Foundation. A big thank you to them, and to Larry Gross (organizer), Chuck Robbins (tournament director), Yi-Lun Yang (7-dan pro), the Sheraton Gateway Hotel LAX (ultra- convenient venue), and of course the AGA.
The Open section of the tournament, for players 6-dan and stronger, helps determine the U.S. representative to the Fujitsu Cup. Jie Li won the Open section, to nobody's astonishment. (I don't know if lack of U.S. citizenship will be the same issue in the Fujitsu that it was in the Toyota Denso Oza tournament.)
The Handicap section of the tournament had several divisions -- 1st Dan, 2nd Dan, 3rd Dan, 1st Kyu, 2nd Kyu, 3rd Kyu, and 4th Kyu. The labels are a little misleading: 1st Dan refers to a range of dan rankings (5d - 6d). Similarly, the 2nd Kyu Division included players from 5k through 8k. Prizes and plaques were available for the top few finishers in each Division.
There were almost half a dozen of us from the Seattle Go Center, but we weren't competitive for the prize awarded to the club with best representation: the Chinese Go Club (from Los Angeles, I believe) outnumbered us about four to one (and several of them were strong). But I was surprised and happy to win second place in my division (and a bunch of loot).
There were also prizes for solving tsume-go problems, judged by Yi-Lun Yang 7p; and a $1000 check for the go club with the strongest representation (measured by number of participants and number of wins). All in all, there were a lot of prizes.
116 players competed, including a small handful from Europe. Chuck Robbins was flown in from the east coast to be Tournament Director (bringing a selection of books from his company, Slate and Shell, for sale and for prizes). He did an excellent job as TD, attesting to his years of experience with large tournaments. There was a glitch with the pairing for the first round, because of a large number of late registrants, but the players tolerated the small delay in good cheer.
And why wouldn't we be cheerful? There was free food, coffee and soft drinks, and a ton of friendly folks with whom to play Go while we waited, not to mention the trio of roving masseuses who provided skilful free neckrubs on request. And the lunch buffet was free too. Having a wealthy patron to provide such amenities certainly helps create a jovial tournament atmosphere.
The tournament used equipment from the Ing Foundation, and the Ing rules and counting. The komi was 8, with Black winning ties (in other words, equivalent to 7.5). The Ing ko rules were in effect, but they didn't come up in any of my games (luckily for me, since I don't understand them well).
The Open players got 60 minutes per game, plus 5 byo-yomi periods of 45 seconds. The Handicap players got 40 minutes per game, with the same 5 overtime periods of 45 seconds. There were a few problems with the Ing clocks, which mostly seem to have been caused by players setting the byo-time before setting the main time. Apparently, if you set the byo-yomi parameters first, they get cleared from the microchip when you then set the "basic" time period.
We played 3 games on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday, for 5 games total. This is a good number and pace of games, and decent time limits -- not too exhausting, yet a quite satisfying bit of Go.
After the tournament prizes were given out and the entry fees were refunded, Mr. Yang played a game over the internet. An assistant displayed the game on a large magnetic board for the spectators. Mr. Yang took Black against Yigang Hua 8p, and won by about 5 points, after a couple of spectacular ko fights.
All in all, the tournament was superb. The location was within walking distance of the Los Angeles International Airport, which made it quite easy to fly in for the weekend. The large number of players meant that everyone had opponents within a low handicap (my first 4 games were even; my final game was at a 2-stone handicap). The price was right (free!), and the generous amenities pleased everyone. There were plenty of prizes, so almost everyone had a shot at winning something; and the top prizes in the Open section were lucrative enough to attract very strong players. Plus, it was nice to have a friendly pro like Mr. Yang on hand. Kudos to Mr. Cotsen, Mr. Robbins, and Mr. Larry Gross, who organized the whole thing!
At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, I have to admit I'm looking forward to the 2003 tournament. -- Mike Malveaux (2002-04-30)
The rest of this is a photo of the (rather gruesome-looking) invitation to the tournament, and photos I took at the tournament.
Below -- Seattle and Corvallis players competing (sometimes with each
other... ironic to travel 2000 miles, only to play someone from back
home) and reviewing. I'm sorry about the picture quality; still
learning my way around this digital camera (and I suspect the batteries
were past their prime).
The banner wall has tournament postings -- rules, standings, and the
tsume-go competition problems. Below are the trophies, and some
Slate and Shell books
for sale (and for prizes).
"To the victors go the spoils" -- a book, a check,
and an attractive chunk of acrylic.
Taking second place (4 wins and 1 loss -- to Alan Mark 6k,
who took first place) in my division was surprising, but
made me even happier than I already was. My goal for next
year is to compete in the next strongest division, with
the 3k's and 2k's. (Yang's joseki book will come in handy! :-)
Somewhere in there, amateur superstar
Jie Li (on the left,
in his trademark denim jacket -- that's quite a trophy
he got for winning the Open section) found time for an after-tournament
game.
At first, I assumed this was a teaching game, but I see that some of the hoshi points are bare. So if it's a high handicap game, they aren't using the traditional placements. I also see a number of White captives. So for all I know, the player on the right may be very strong.
The players later told me that Mr. Li had won.
Several children played in the tournament. A few won prizes --
some for beating the adults in their division, and some for
correctly answering the tsume-go problems (judged by Mr. Yang);
in some cases, they won for their tournament play and
for their tsume-go answers. Ah, the brilliance of youth.
The next-to-final event was the refunding of the entrance fees
(you rock, Mr. Cotsen!). While that was going
on, the final event started: a go game over the internet,
with Yang Yi-lun, 7-dan professional (seated at the laptop
computer), taking Black against Yigang Hua, 8-dan professional.
An assistant looked over Mr. Yang's shoulder and copied the
game on the large magnetic demonstration board for the spectators.
Mr. Yang seemed to me to be trailing for much of the middle game,
but he won a dramatic ko fight, securing a large center territory,
and went on to win (I think by 4 or 5 points).
In the last three pictures, tournament sponsor Eric Cotsen is
standing on the left or looking over Mr. Yang's shoulder, watching
intently -- reminding me of a Tokugawa-era daimyo enjoying a
castle game.
Actually, the real final event was Yang Yi-lun's analysis
of the game he had just won. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for
that. But here are pictures of the demonstration board, at various
stages during the game.
Well, somehow I didn't end up with as many pictures as I thought I had. I guess I was too busy playing and talking. :-)
Can't wait till next year.
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