AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association
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January 20, 2003
In This Edition:
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SCOREBOARD: San Francisco, CA; Arlington, VA; Salem, OR
GAME COMMENTARY: The Daring Dragon
GO NEWS: Lee Dethrones Cha In Fujitsu Upset; AGA Membership Up For 7th Straight
Month; Hikaru No Go Collectibles GO CLUBS: PGC Now PGA; Feng Yun Event Photos;
Free Bowls To A Good Home LESSONS OF A GAME RECORDER THE EMPTY BOARD: The Power
of the Wall GO REVIEW: The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go GO CLASSIFIED AGA
CONTACT LIST
CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.)
March 1-2: Princeton, NJ
New Jersey Open
Rick Mott 609-466-1602 rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu
March 22: Arlington, VA
Cherry Blossom
Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net
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://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042346&u=http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.html&g=0&f=-1
For the European Go Calendar see
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042347&u=http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/go/tourn.html&g=0&f=-1
YOUR MOVE
"My favorite Palm OS program for Go game recording is PilotGOne," writes Scott
Ellis in response to a query last week from Marc Willhite. "It allows you record
your games, browse previous games, explore variations and more. It stores the
games in the industry standard SGF format in notepad records, which can be
copied to/from files through your sync program. Best of all, it's free." More
information at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042338&u=http://minas.ithil.org/pilotgone/pilotgone.html&g=0&f=-1
"The Many Faces of Go Palm Joseki Library is also a great resource for Palm/PDA
users, although not for recording games," Ellis adds. The full version is $20;
download a free trial that allows you to explore 3?3 josekis at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042343&u=http://www.smart%3fgames.com/PalmOS.html&g=0&f=-1
SCOREBOARD: San Francisco, CA; Arlington, VA; Salem, OR
San Francisco, CA: January 4-5
11th Jujo Jiang GOE Tournament
Open section: 1st: Jiang, Zhu-jiu (Jujo); 2nd: Jiang, Ming Jiu; 3rd: Hung, Joey;
4th: Chen, Wei-Yu; 5th: Hong, Seung; 6th: Chien, James; 7th: Bull, Michael; 8th:
Xu, Patrick; 9th: Yao, Jin; 10th: Kemper, Lance; 11th: Phipps, Ned; 12th: Wang,
Justin.
Handicap section: 1st: Tang, Curtis 4d; 2nd: Wang, Xunfeng, 5d; 3rd: Van, Kiet
Chanh 3d; 4th: Shi, Gina 4d; 5th: Burrall, Steven, 4d; 6th: Hao, Jerry 3d; 7th:
Min, Hong-yu 5d; 8th: Harris, Mark, 4d; 9th: Phipps, Joanne, 3d; 10th: Chen, Wan
Yu 3d; 11th: Fotland, David 3d; 12th: Zucker, Joshua 3d; 13th: Brown, Ernest 3d;
14th:Kass, Michael 5d.
2d-1d: 1st: Tsai, Tiffany, 2d; 2nd (2-way tie): Elchert, Ken 2d & Shiah, Samuel,
2d; 4th: Tang, Isaac 1d; 5th: Mang, Josef 1d
1k-4k: 1st: Marvit, Dave 3k; 2nd: Tang, Stephen 3k; 3rd: Oto, Robert 1k
5k-10k: 1st: Shen, Hao 6k; 2nd: Sonnenblick, Eddie 10k; 3rd: Zhang, Tony 9k
11k & up: 1st: Liu, Kevin 11k; 2nd: Shieh, Ray 29k; 3rd: Lim, James 13k
Arlington, VA: January 11
NOVA Winter Warmer Go Tournament
20 players
Organizer: ALLAN ABRAMSON
DANS: 1ST: Brian KLEINER, 4d, 3-1; 2nd: Hal SMALL, 3d, 2-2
1-4 KYUS: 1st: Ray HUNLEY, 1k, 3-1; 2nd: Sam ZIMMERMAN, 4k, 2-2 6 KYUS: Kathy
QIU, 6k, 4-0 (promoted to 5k); 2nd: Raymond YEH, 6 K, 3-1,
7-10 KYUS: 1st: Seth HOFFMAN, 9k, 3-1; 2nd: Louise INGRAM, 8k, 2-2 11-14 KYUS:
1st: Todd HEIDENREICH, 14k, 3-1 15 AND UNDER KYUS: 1st: Greg MCCALL, 17k, 4-0
(promoted to 15k)
Salem, OR: January 11
5th Salem Winter Handicap
32 players, inc. 8 youth players, youngest age 9
3 rounds, Ing Sponsored,
DAN: Three way tie for first (all 2-1): Jun, ByungSu, 6d; Hakala, Ben 1d; Letts,
Peter, 1d SINGLE KYU: Three way tie for first (all 3-0): Shelley, Christopher
1k; Wahl, Ed, 7k; Riehl, Dave, 7k DOUBLE KYU: Tie for first (3-0): French,
Aaron, 21k; Davis, Caleb (14) 27k; Three way tie for third (2-1): Bliss, Chris,
15k; Hodge, Trevor 17k; Klymak, Jody, 18k; Gaty, Cynthia, 26k
GAME COMMENTARY: The Daring Dragon
We'll have the exciting Fujitsu final between Jimmy Cha and John Lee for Games
Edition subscribers next week but in the meantime regular E-Journal contributor
Yuan Zhou takes a look at his first-round game with Ted Ning. Ning is the USA
representative for the 2003 World Amateur Go Championship and one of the
strongest players in the United States, while Zhou, a former Shanghai champion,
now teaches and writes about go in the U.S. In today's dramatic game, Zhou dares
Ning to kill his big white dragon.
To receive the weekly Games Edition, sign up today at
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GO NEWS
LEE DETHRONES CHA IN FUJITSU UPSET
In a stunning upset, John J-S Lee defeated Jimmy Cha in yesterday's North
American Fujitsu. The 6-dan amateur forced the defending champion, a 4-dan
professional, to resign after just 153 moves; the exciting game, with comments
by Lee, will appear in next week's E-Journal. Lee, who also defeated Eric Lui
and Hui Ren Yang, will represent North America in the international Fujitsu
tournament later this year.
Jimmy Cha, who has won the North American Fujitsu more times than anyone else,
took second, defeating Lianzhou Yu and Thomas Hsiang before losing to Lee in the
final. Lianzhou Yu came in third (winning a coin-toss tie-break with Thomas
Hsiang), winning over June Ki Beck and Yuan Zhou and posting his only loss
against Jimmy Cha. In fourth place was Thomas Hsiang, who beat both June Ki Beck
and and Hui Ren Yang and losing to Jimmy Cha. Hui Ren Yang was fifth, with a win
against Yuan Zhou and losses against John Lee and Thomas Hsiang. Coming in sixth
was June Ki Beck, who defeated Eric Lui and lost to Thomas Hsiang and and
Lianzhou Yu. Yuan Zhou was seventh, winning against Eric Lui and posting losses
to both Hui Ren Yang and Lianzhou Yu. In eighth place was Eric Lui, who lost to
John Lee, Yuan Zhou and June Ki Beck.
AGA MEMBERSHIP UP FOR 7TH STRAIGHT MONTH
Membership in the American Go Association continued to break new ground in
December, increasing for a record seventh consecutive month. Although the 1634
total membership edged up just slightly from November, the 33 new members
continued a healthy growth trend that could well put the AGA over 1,700 members
this year.
HIKARU NO GO COLLECTIBLES
"People into unusual go collectibles might be interested in this," reports Joel
Sanet. "Anime Castle is offering figures of seven of the characters from Hikaru
no Go." Check it out at www.animecastle.com/hikarunogofigures.html
GO CLUBS
PGC Now PGA: The Pittsburgh Go Club is now the Pittsburgh Go Association and has
an updated website with current meeting location and time info at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042341&u=http://www.pittsburghgo.com/&g=0&f=-1
FENG YUN EVENT PHOTOS: Lots of photos from the Feng Yun doubleheader on January
11 are now posted at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042339&u=http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fengyun/FY_Go_Center/FYGT.htm&g=0&f=-1
FREE BOWLS TO A GOOD HOME: The Fun Coast Go Club is offering empty Ing Bowls,
quantity four (two sets) for any club in need of replacing broken or damaged
bowls. These are in good condition and all mechanisms work fine. We have placed
our stones in "traditional" bowls and offer these for cost of shipping only.
email g.u@juno.com
LESSONS OF A GAME RECORDER
By Chris Garlock, 2d
My moves are like a river, deep, powerful and flowing inexorably to the sea of
victory. Except they're not mine. The next best thing to being a 6-dan is to
record a top-level game at an event like last weekend's Fujitsu. On Saturday, it
meant giving up playing in the amateur Fujitsu but the opportunity to immerse
myself in good play was just too good to pass up.
Three exhausting games later, here's what I think I learned: never be sure about
anything. The difference between a top-level amateur and the rest of us is that
the entire board is constantly in play. Virtually no position is settled and
sente is king as they search for opportunities to play away. As I tried to
follow the games I recorded, I found it nearly impossible to count and assess
the balance of territory and power, as both shifted dramatically, often from one
move to the next. Even areas that seemed to be sure territory could not be
counted on because huge kos would erupt and then it was open season on any and
everything.
These guys may put their pants on one leg at a time just like you and me but as
far as I'm concerned they're living, breathing go gods. That they walk among us
is a gift we don't appreciate nearly enough. On the most fundamental level,
John, Jimmy, Thomas, Lianzhou, Hui Ren, Yuan, June Ki and Eric are all
tremendous human beings, as humble as they are strong and generous to a fault.
Saturday night, after nearly twelve grueling hours of take-no-prisoners battle
on the board, I watched almost the entire gang of Fujitsu competitors continuing
to analyze games in a swirl of languages, and Sunday afternoon as soon as Jimmy
Cha resigned he and John Lee launched into an hour-long blow-by-blow analysis of
the game, playing out variations so rapidly that the stones seems to literally
fly on and off the board. Every player this weekend behaved the way I'd like to
but so often struggle with: truly magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat and
always committed to finding the best move. I! f a touch of that grace and
commitment rubs off on me it'll repay me a hundred times over for my time last
weekend.
THE EMPTY BOARD: The Power of the Wall
by William Cobb
Language shapes the way we perceive the world, and nothing has a bigger impact
in this regard than metaphors. This is as true in go as it is in love, politics,
and war. A striking example of this is a metaphor that James Kerwin often uses.
In discussing styles of play, he likes to speak of "the power game".
Kerwin is referring to the phenomenon often called "thickness". This, of course,
is a group of stones that do not have a base on the edge but are well connected
and face an open area in the center of the board. This sort of pattern is
usually achieved by allowing/encouraging your opponent to take territory on the
edge while you take "influence" toward the center. The resulting structure of
your stones is often called a "wall". Kerwin wants to call this "wall" "power".
What difference does it make?
How do we choose metaphors? A "wall" is a strong structure, nearly invulnerable
to attack, but this is a static image. It is easy to think of a wall as the side
for a building--of territory. However, that attitude is universally condemned by
strong players: "don't use thickness to make territory."
What happens if we refer to this structure as "power"? This is a dynamic term.
Power is something you use to act more effectively, more assertively, and that's
the point: use thickness to attack. With "power" you easily think about pounding
on the other player's positions, exploiting weaknesses, and invading more deeply
because you have such powerful back-up. This attitude makes for much more
efficient and much more exciting go.
So, quit building walls, go for POWER.
GO REVIEW: The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go
Ma Xiaochun, 9P
Yutopian Enterprises, $16
Reviewed by Andrew Cseh
Ma's interesting book explores the resemblance between warfare and go tactics
and strategies, based on the ancient Sanshiliu Ji [The Thirty-six Stratagems].
The stratagems, structured in six sets of six schemes each, are illustrated in
the same number of brilliantly selected and commented games. Briefly explaining
the meaning of the military stratagem, Ma continues by presenting a selected
game that illustrates a similar go tactic, accompanied of course by thorough
strategic and tactical analysis and explanation. Although the traditional maxims
of go cover the tactics and strategies of the game, this book succeeds in
bringing a completely unique and new approach that might be closer to our
thinking and is one of the most entertaining go books I have read. In addition
to learning a lot, it's also a real pleasure to read.
GO CLASSIFIED
AVAILABLE: The Fun Coast Go Club is offering empty Ing Bowls, quantity four (4)
(two sets) for any club in need of replacing broken or damaged bowls. These are
in good condition and all mechanisms work fine. We have placed our stones in
"traditional" bowls and offer these for cost of shipping only. email
g.u@juno.com
FOR SALE: Sets of old "Go World" magazines: 1-48 and 1-15; 17-25; 50-56 and
individual copies #22, #40, #43, and #51. Check them out at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042340&u=http://www.eskimo.com/~dobe/Dobe_ForSale_GO_Worlds01.htm&g=0&f=-1
Or email dobe.doinat@verizon.net
FOR SALE: Refrigerator Go sets for displaying (or playing) the game on the large
laminated board attached to the metallic surface (for example, a refrigerator -
see http://www.promptpublishing.com); $45 from Michal Lebl, storyspyder@aol.com
FOR SALE: Go boards made of 2.5" mahogany or pine, about 17X19", with 19X19 grid
(cut with small saw, not drawn) and a 9X9 or 13X13 grid on the back. Sanded and
waxed, without feet. $260 ea or $170 ea for 10 or more.
Jim Thomas; waldomesa@cybermesa.com
WANTED: Go players in the West Lafayette, Indiana/Purdue area; e-mail Chris
Kubica at ckubica@insightbb.com
WANTED: Copy of the go novel "First Kyu."
Mark Lybrand; maryesme@shore.net
WANTED: MasterGo Team volunteer to enter data into a player biography database.
No pay but get your name on the MasterGo website and, possibly, get a free copy
of the program. Charles G. Robbins, crobbins@ctipc.com
WANTED: "All About Life and Death, Volume 1," by Cho Chikun; "The Breakthrough
to Shodan," by Naoki Miyamoto. John Pinkerton, john.pinkerton@watsonwyatt.com
WANTED: Issues of 'Go World' from the past couple of years. Prefer someone who
has several issues to offer. sfragman@netvision.net.il
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
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://gm12.com/r.html?c=169706&r=169308&t=88498618&l=1&d=61042344&u=http://www.usgo.org&g=0&f=-1
for the full list.
GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org
AGA CONTACT LIST:
President: Chris Kirschner: president@usgo.org
Secretary Susan Weir: Secretary@usgo.org
Treasurer Ben Bernstein: Treasurer@usgo.org
VP - Communications: Chris Garlock Journal@usgo.org
Archivist Craig Hutchinson: Archives@usgo.org
Chapter Management: Paul Celmer chapterservices@usgo.org
Nicole Casanta: Chapters@usgo.org
Community Outreach: John Goon Outreach@usgo.org
Congress Liaison: Judy Debel Congress@usgo.org
Education Coordinator: Lee Ann Bowie Education@usgo.org
Equipment Distribution: Paul Celmer Equipment@usgo.org
HR & Recruitment: Terry Assael Hr@usgo.org
Membership Services: John Goon membership@usgo.org
Policy & Governance: Keith Arnold Governance@usgo.org
Professional Players' Representative: Zhu-jiu (Jujo) Jiang
Professionals@usgo.org
Ranking Issues: Jeff Shaevel Rank@usgo.org
Ratings Coordinator: Paul Matthews Ratings@usgo.org
Tournament Coordinator: Chuck Robbins Tournaments@usgo.org
Tournament Regulations: Duane Burns Regulations@usgo.org
Webmaster: Roy Laird: webmaster@usgo.org
Youth Coordinator: Non？Redmond youth@usgo.org
American Go Foundation: Terry Benson terrybenson@nyc.rr.com Database Manager:
Sam Zimmerman database@usgo.org AGA Board of Directors Dave Weimer (Chair):
weimer@lafollette.wisc.edu Chen-dao Lin: cdlin5@yahoo.com John Stephenson:
Jcs@wingsgoclub.org
David Dinhofer: David.dinhofer@alum.mit.edu
Harold Lloyd: Hlloyd@core.com
Bob O'Malley: omalley@coas.oregonstate.edu
Jon Boley: Jon@airsltd.com
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
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