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AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association

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June 30, 2003

In This Edition:
U.S. GO NEWS: Zhou Edges Arnold In VA Open; Viz Signs Hikaru English Rights; AGA's Lucky 13; Latest Ratings; Top 10 Reasons To Attend The 2003 US Go Congress; AGA To Consider Komi Increase, Direct Elections; MasterGo Tops 21,000 Pro Games WORLD GO NEWS: Cho Takes Lead In Honinbo; Yamada Eliminates Kobayashi In Judan; Korea Cup Winding Up; Latest Chinese Pro Rankings; 3 Share Top Honors In Warsaw MOMENTS IN GO HISTORY: Invincible Shusaku GAME COMMENTARY: An Early Look at a Future Star? GO ONLINE: All A-Board
GO CLASSIFIED
SCOREBOARD: Austin, TX
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

U.S. GO NEWS

ZHOU EDGES ARNOLD IN VA OPEN: The VA Open tournament attracted 35 players on June 28th. Yuan Zhou, AGA 7 dan, edged out Keith Arnold, AGA 5 dan, to win the special go afghan as overall champion. Arnold defeated Zhou in the first round, but Zhou pulled out a tie-break victory by defeating Mark Lass, AGA 3 dan, with six stones in the final round. A special guest was Hao KeQiang 3 dan of Beijing, China. Mr. Hao was editor of Weiqi World for some years and also the manager of the Chinese National Pro Team.

VIZ SIGNS LLC HIKARU ENGLISH RIGHTS: Viz LLC, a San-Francisco-based vendor of anime and manga, has acquired the English language rights to the Hikaru No Go manga (graphic novels) and anime (animated videos) that have captured the imagination of thousands of new go players in Japan. The first English versions of the anime and manga should appear later this year, according to AGA President Chris Kirschner. "This is a great opportunity to introduce go to the American public, and we're going to work together toward that goal," Kirschner said. Some organizers believe that the release of the Hikaru series in English could spur many more American young people's interest in go. The "fansubs" that have been available on the Internet have already inspired many new young players. Commercial products will reach an even wider audience. According to the conventions of the "fansub" world, distribution and use of unauthorized translations of manga and anime should cease when acquisition!
of the license is announced, so it is likely that "fansub" versions of the series will soon be hard to find. For those unfamiliar with the story, Hikaru No Go is a coming-of-age story set in modern Japan. Brash young Hikaru discovers an old go board in his grandfather's attic. Like a genie in a bottle, the spirit of a great player has been trapped inside for decades. When Hikaru lets him out, he is eager to continue his search for the perfect move - "the move of God." Eventually, Hikaru is drawn inexorably into this quest. Praised for its high production values, the Hikaru series has single-handedly revived interest in go in Japan. According to sources there, until recently most Japanese young people thought of go as "something grandfather plays", with no relevance to them. Now however, teachers are flooding the Japan Go Association with requests for demonstrations in their schools. "It's the biggest thing since Pokemon," they say.
- reported by Roy Laird

AGA'S LUCKY 13: Membership increased again in June for the 13th straight month. At a record 1,734 members, the AGA has grown by over 200 members since June, 2002. There were slight increases across the board, from full members to sponsors, sustainers, life and youth members.

LATEST AGA RATINGS: Updated ratings for tournaments reported through the end of June will be posted online [http://www.usgo.org/ratings.asp] by tomorrow, July 1. The following events were included in this update: April Rating Tournament, Seattle Go Center, WA, April; Western Massachusetts Go Tournament, Amherst, MA, April; Corvallis Spring Go Tournament, OR, May; May Rating Tournament, Seattle Go Center, WA; Iwamoto Youth Tournament, Seattle Go Center, WA, May; Davis/Sacramento Tournament, CA, May; June Rating Tournament, Seattle Go Center, WA; Lancaster Self Paired Tournament, PA, June; Chicago Summer Handicap, IL, June; Austin, TX, June. 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. Tournament data for rating should be submitted by e-mail to ratings@usgo.org. The next scheduled ratings update will be August 1.

TOP 10 REASONS TO ATTEND THE 2003 US GO CONGRESS: #10: The US Open. Start each day with championship play! Hundreds of go players compete in North American's biggest tournament, a six round Swiss-McMahon tournament with one round every morning. At 90 minutes per player, it has the longest time limits of any North American tournament. The Congress runs August 2-10 in Houston, TX. More details at: http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727122&u=http://www.houstongoclub.org/USGC2003/intro.html&g=0&f=84727137

AGA TO CONSIDER KOMI INCREASE, DIRECT ELECTIONS: Several significant changes in American go will be considered at the American Go Association's upcoming National Chapter Assembly on August 8 in Houston, TX. Of most direct interest to go players is the question of whether to increase komi. Recently, the Japanese and Korean national go organizations adopted 6.5 komi as standard and the Chinese associations changed to 7.5. This was done after detailed analysis of game results showed that at 5.5 komi, black has a small but clear statistical advantage. Also under consideration is a proposal to elect the AGA Board of Directors by direct member voting, replacing the present system of Chapter Representative voting. Another proposal on the agenda would make all Board members at-large, rather than the current geographically-based system.

MASTERGO TOPS 21,000 PRO GAMES: The latest version of the MasterGo go software contains over 21,000 professional games and several new features making it easier to enter search patterns. MasterGo has large numbers of games from the top three go-playing countries, - Japan, Korea, and China, and there are also games from North America and Taiwan. Included are most of the major title games from Japan since 1941, the major title games from Korea since 1985, and the major title games from China since the mid 1980's. In addition to the titles there are many tournament games. The earliest game is from 1927 and the latest game is from 2003. A new regular feature of each future release will be at least a couple of hundred games of masters like Honinbo Shuwa, Honinbo Jowa, Honinbo Shuho, Honinbo Shusaku, Honinbo Shuei, Honinbo Shusai, and others, expanding range to the beginning of the 1800's.


WORLD GO NEWS

CHO TAKES LEAD IN HONINBO: The young challenger Cho U 8 dan has defeated Kato Kensei (Masao) Honinbo to take a 3-2 lead in the Honinbo title match in Japan. Cho won by 5.5 points with White to take the lead in the best of 7 match for the first time. You can see the game record at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727125&u=http://www.mainichi.co.jp/life/hobby/igo03/05/index.html&g=0&f=84727137 .

YAMADA ELIMINATES KOBAYASHI IN JUDAN: Yamada Kimio 8 Dan has defeated Kobayashi Izumi 5 Dan in the losers' bracket of the challenger round of the Judan tournament in Japan. Yamada, who lost his first game to Cho Chikun 9 Dan, won by resignation playing Black. Kobayashi is the first woman to play in the challenger round of this tournament. She lost her first game to O Meien 9 Dan and is eliminated by this second loss.

KOREA CUP WINDING UP: The Korea Cup, a knock-out tournament among younger Korean pros, is nearing its end. Park Yeonghun 4 Dan won five games early on before falling to Cheon Seuien 2 Dan, and Lee Yeongku 2 Dan won four. Cho Hyeyeon 3 Dan is on the hot seat now, having just won her second game, defeating Park Jeongsang 3 Dan. Those who win more than one game are matched at the end in a three round final.

LATEST CHINESE PRO RANKINGS: The Chinese Go Association has announced its latest rankings of Chinese pros: The top five are Chang Hao 9 Dan, Ma Xiaochun 9 Dan, Zhou Heyang 9 Dan, Wang Lei 8 Dan, and Gu Li 7 Dan. The next five in the ranking order are Kong Jie 6 Dan, Hu Yaoyu 7 Dan, Yu Bin 9 Dan, Peng Quan 5 Dan, and Luo Xihe 9 Dan.
- reported by GoGameWorld.com

3 SHARE TOP HONORS IN WARSAW: Sixty-three players, mostly local, took part in the Polish Toyota-PandaNet Tour event in Warsaw. The top three beat each other to win 4/5: Mykhailo Galchenko (5 dan Ukraine), Tibor Pocsai (6 dan Hungary) and Ion Florescu (6 dan Romania). On 3/5 was the top local player Leszek Soldan (6 dan) as well as the Czech Republic's Radek Nechanicky and Vladimir Danek.
- reported by the British Go Association News

MOMENTS IN GO HISTORY: Invincible Shusaku
Shusaku is generally regarded as the greatest player of the period of the four go houses, when go was a governmentally supported activity in Japan, from 1600-1868. His games are still seen as important study for any serious player (and happily an excellent collection with commentaries is available: Invincible: The Games of Shusaku, ed. John Power, Kiseido). Shusaku laid the foundations for modern opening theory, and most players know his favorite opening pattern with Black, called Shusaku's Opening (see the attached SGF file). He also, at the age of 17, played what is commonly called the most famous move in the history of go, the "ear reddening move", which we presented in the March 17, 2003 issue of the E-Journal. In the famous "Castle Games", played periodically before the Shogun for 250 years, Shusaku was never defeated, winning nineteen games-a record no one else even came close to. His thirty game match against Ota Yuzo, his strongest opponent, marked the end of the gol! den age of go in Japan. The amazing thing is that Shusaku did all this despite dying in 1862 at the age of 33 of cholera.
- William Cobb

GAME COMMENTARY: An Early Look at a Future Star?

Today's game commentary is from the final game of the 2003 French Youth Championship. Guo Juan, who already introduced us to Antoine Fenech in another game commentary, now brings us Thomas Hubert, a new presence in the world of go. "He's been playing go seriously since last year," Guo reports, adding that Thomas "has good spirit, and is improving very fast. I believe he will be one of the top French players soon." Guo notes that Thomas, who is studying with her, used to "play a bit too sweetly, but now he is becoming a big killer."

Today's bonus problem files are an endgame problem by Yoshinori Kano 9 dan, originally published in Go Review XI, 4 (April 1971), and Shusaku's Opening (see Moments in Go History, above)

THE BEST DEAL IN GO: 52 weeks of up-to-date go news, reviews, original columns PLUS game commentaries and problems for just $20 a year! Sign up today for the Games Edition at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727130&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp&g=0&f=84727137 and start receiving your game files next week!

GO ONLINE: All A-Board
By Roy Laird

A full size go board features a 19x19 grid measuring 45.45 cm by 42.42 cm. Smaller sizes are becoming increasingly common, especially 13x13 and 9x9, for quicker games. The term "small board" also has another meaning. I remember asking a friend to bring a "small board" to a go party at my home. He brought a small magnetic set! (We'll talk about magnetic sets in another column.)

Full size boards come in two basic varieties. Most common are "table boards," intended for use on a table, though not necessarily a dining table, which can be too high, as players do not have the best overview of the board. Coffee tables, on the other hand, are too low, and players must lean forward to reach the top of the board with their stones. The ideal height is somewhere in the middle. Table boards come in various thicknesses, up to 2" or more, but it's worth bearing in mind that the added height will make the board even harder to view properly on a high table. Card tables are too wide -- it's hard to reach the center of the board. The best solution is a narrow dining table with shortened legs.

The other major category is the "floor board," the ultimate goban, between five and eight inches of beautiful solid wood standing on carved legs. Shindou Hikaru discovered a table board in his grandfather's attic, and look at the trouble that caused! Floor boards are made according to rigorous specifications. Legs are carved in the shape of a lotus blossom, to encourage silent contemplation of the game. On the underside, the maker usually carves out the center in a certain way to enhance the sound.

Any wood can be used to make a board, but some woods are better than others. Connoisseurs look for light color and fine grain -- 200-300 lines or more across the surface. The right texture is also important -- hardwoods can give the stones a harsh sound. The best wood for go board is kaya, an ornamental evergreen also known as "Japanese nutmeg," though it does not grow only in Japan. A magnificent "Japanese nutmeg" dominates the front yard at the Frank Lloyd Wright museum in Chicago. Kaya trees are plentiful in Japan, but the ones that make the best go boards are more than 500 years old, so very few new genuine kaya boards, especially one-piece boards, are made these days. Instead, board makers use Alaskan spruce and other similar, sometimes misleadingly termed "shin-kaya" or "new kaya." Katsura, a round-leaved deciduous hardwood, is most commonly used for fine boards. It is lighter and a bit softer than other hardwoods, with a fine grain. Katsura's cousin the gingk! o biloba, better-known as a controversial memory supplement, is also used for boards sometimes.

Wooden boards do not require much in the way of maintenance. Ishi Press offers special camellia oil polish at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727123&u=http://www.ishigames.com/gomisc.htm,&g=0&f=84727137 but don't polish the top too much. You don't want reflected highlights to distract you during play. If you have an old board you want to refinish, you can get special wax from Samarkand at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727127&u=http://www.samarkand.net/Web_store/web_store.cgi%3fpage=RW1A.html%26cart_id=2796844_24975.&g=0&f=84727137 Treat a high quality board as you would any fine wood -- out of the sun, away from strong heat, adequately hydrated -- and it will last for centuries. That's why the best table boards are so thick. Every generation or two, the grid wears away and the top must be sanded and refinished.

If you're ever actually seen a floor board, you know why the best ones sell for $20,000 and more. But these days, you don't have to go that high. You can own a beautiful floor board for the cost of a good digital camera. Samarkand and Yutopian offer very serviceable floor boards starting at under $300. I have owned one of Samarkand's "pre-dinged" items for years, and I love it. On a narrow coffee table, it's the perfect height. They are a "Go Online Best Buy."

A fine go board is worth protecting. Samarkand sells a plexiglas cube that turns your best table or floor board into a stylish conversation piece. See http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727126&u=http://www.samarkand.net/Web_store/web_store.cgi%3fpage=C1AF.html%26cart_id=8591530_27481&g=0&f=84727137 for details. Keep a favorite game laid out, and explain to your friends that you've been studying . . .

To learn more about fine equipment, see The Go Player's Almanac 2001 Chapter 13 (pp. 142-157), or visit
http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727128&u=http://www.samarkand.net/equipment.html&g=0&f=84727137 or http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727124&u=http://www.kiseido.com/go_equipment.htm.&g=0&f=84727137 The Yutopian site has some interesting material concerning the history of the game and its equipment, at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727135&u=http://www.yutopian.com/go/misc/gohistory.html&g=0&f=84727137


GO CLASSIFIED

FOR SALE: Very high quality old go board: check out photos at http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727121&u=http://mycgiserver.com/~suyuri/&g=0&f=84727137
Redmaxima@aol.com (6/16)

WANTED: Gifted, dedicated volunteers to help with exciting, ground-breaking html E-Journal project. (6/9) Chris Garlock, journal@usgo.org

WANTED: Will trade go lessons for English lessons; Philadelphia (36th & Powelton Ave): Dayong Yu, yuxiao1970@hotmail.com (6/2)


GO PLAYERS

BAYTOWN, TX: Looking for people in the area to start up a go club in the Houston Bay Area, since the Houston Club is a little too far away. gilgamesh@binary-fusion.com (6/23)

LAS VEGAS, NV: Trying to drum up club interest here: contact Ray Kukol at rkukol@lvcm.com (6/16)

NANTUCKET, MA. Eager 9-kyu who will be on Nantucket all summer is looking for other eager players who might be there for a few face-to-face games. Please contact Andy at aokun@glowwormpub.com (6/2)

IOWA: I am a go player stuck in Ames, Iowa with apparently no other go players. Anyone out there want to play? Email: Kirk Moloney at kmoloney@mchsi.com (6/2)

ALABAMA: amateur Go player looking for someone to play with locally in the Birmingham area. Email Ro at lasro@earthlink.net (6/2)


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


SCOREBOARD: Austin, TX

Austin, TX
24 players
TD: Russ Williams, ably assisted by Jeff Shaevel and Jim Conyngham, plus one emergency phone call to Chuck Robbins. Dan band: 1st: Zhang, Yue 3D; 2nd: Zhu, Yi 6D and Lin, Kohan 1D (tie) Upper Kyu band: 1st: Williams, Russ 5K; 2nd: Eaton, Joe 7K Lower Kyu band: 1st: Montoya, David 11K; 2nd: Mills, Anderson 12K and Eisenbarth, Marc 14K (tie)


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

July 5-6: Orlando, FL
1st Annual Florida State Go Championships
Brian J. Olive 407-595-8405 oliveb@ocps.k12.fl.us

July 12: Shaker Heights, OH
4 Round AGA Rated Tournament
Harold Lloyd 216-382-0752 hlloyd@core.com

July 12,19,26: Piscataway NJ
AGA rated games
GoLesson@yahoo.com

July 13: Boston, MA
MGA Summer Handicap Tournament
(Skip Ascheim Memorial)
Don Wiener 617-734-6316 donwiener@earthlink.net

July 19/20: San Francisco, CA
Northern California Open Tournament
Danny Swarzman 415-221-7194 ncal@stowlake.com

July 19: Arlington, VA
NOVA Congress Tune-Up
Allan Abramson 703-684-7676 mediate8@worldnet.att.net

July 19-August 2: St. Petersburg, Russia
47th European Go Congress
egc2003@mail.wplus.net

August 2-10: Houston, TX
U.S. GO CONGRESS http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727122&u=http://www.houstongoclub.org/USGC2003/intro.html&g=0&f=84727137


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://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727133&u=http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.html&g=0&f=84727137
For the European Go Calendar see http://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727134&u=http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/go/tourn.html&g=0&f=84727137

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://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727129&u=http://www.usgo.org&g=0&f=84727137 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://gm14.com/r.html?c=213390&r=212958&t=88498618&l=1&d=84727131&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/index.asp#contactinfo&g=0&f=84727137

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
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