AMERICAN GO E-JOURNAL: News from the American Go Association
December 2, 2002
This month, join the AGA and take 5% off Go books, equipment and software at
Samarkand! Samarkand offers a range of fine products for Go enthusiasts of every
caliber and taste. "Every item we carry is reviewed by a group of dedicated Go
players," promises owner Janice Kim, dan professional, "and we don't carry it
unless it passes the key 'hey, can I get one of these?' test."
Check out what's available -- including the new Deluxe Club Board, veneered by a
new Korean process called 'Kaya Shell' -- at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393733&u=http://www.samarkand.net/&g=0&f=50393740
Get your discount by joining the AGA at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393735&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp&g=0&f=50393740
and when you order from the good folks at Samarkand, just let them know you've
joined and are eligible for the new member discount!
In This Edition:
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SCOREBOARD: New York, NY
GO NEWS: Yuan Zhou at GWGC; Kerwin in MD; No Hikaru no Go
THE GO PLAYER'S GUIDE TO JAPAN: The Ojima Collection; Big Moves at Iwami No
Kami; Komi at the Kansai Ki-in WHY WE PLAY: Ronald Doctors ONLINE GO: DashBaduk
GO CLASSIFIED AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST
CALENDAR OF EVENTS (U.S.)
December 7: Princeton, NJ
Fall Ratings Self Paired Tournament
Rick Mott 609-466-1602 rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu
January 18 - 20: Evanston, IL
4th Annual Winter Workshop
(This year with Guo Juan 5P)
Mark Rubenstein 847-869-6020 mark@easyaspi.com
FOREIGN
December 6-8: Sevilla, Spain
3rd Spain Open
spain@european-go.org
December 5-8: Milano, Italy
5th Italian Go Congress
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393731&u=http://www.figg.org/tornei/2002/gs/register.html&g=0&f=50393740
December 28-31: London, England
London Open
Geoff Kaniuk geoff@kaniuk.demon.co.uk
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393729&u=http://www.britgo.org/tournaments/london/&g=0&f=50393740
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=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393736&u=http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.html&g=0&f=50393740
For the European Go Calendar see
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393738&u=http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/go/tourn.html&g=0&f=50393740
SCOREBOARD: New York, NY
November 9-10: New York, NY
Metropolitan New York Tournament
52 players
Sponsor: New York Go Center; Organizer: Max Nakano; Director: Chuck Robbins
Top Section: 1-6d (18 Players): 1st: $1000; ZHOU, Xun 3d; 2nd: $500; CHEN,
Zhaonian 3d; 3rd: $250; LIU, Andy 4d
Middle Division: 1-9k (21 Players): 1st: $500; JIANG, Shiwen 3k; 2nd: $250;
CHEN, Wei 1k; 3rd: $125 IRL, Conny 5k.
Bottom Division: 10-35k (13 Players): 1st: $400; BARNETT, David 12k; 2nd: $200;
BRAZIE, Aaron Alexander 10k; 3rd: $100; SIMMONS, Joshua 19k.
GAME COMMENTARY: An Interesting Move
"Black starts with a interesting move," says Yuan Zhou, amateur 7d, in today's
game commentary on Zhou's game with Joey Hung, 7d for third place in the 2002
North American Ing Cup. Hung's highly unorthodox first move kicks off a game in
which the lead switches back and forth several times and includes a dramatic
life and death problem in the middle game.
To receive the weekly game commentaries, please sign up for the Games Edition by
joining the AGA at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393735&u=http://www.usgo.org/org/application.asp&g=0&f=50393740
GO NEWS
Yuan Zhou at GWGC
Yuan Zhou, 7-dan will do game analysis at the Greater Washington Go Club on
Friday December 13th, at 8:30P in the basement of the Cedar Lane Unitarian
Church, 9601 Cedar Lane, reports organizer Hal Small. In the first hour, Zhou
will review three games, 20 minutes per game at a cost of only $6 per game. Both
players (if present) of each game can participate and split the cost. The club
will cover the additional costs. Players not having their game reviewed can
watch for free. Participants must bring game records, or can come early (7P) and
play and record a game then.
"For the 2nd hour we are trying a new idea," says Small. "Yuan will give a
full-length review of a game played between myself, 3 dan, and another dan
player. It will be open for observation and (limited) questions at no charge.
See how us 'strong' guys make just as bad moves as kyu players! This time, I am
personally covering Yuan's costs for this portion of the event. If this idea
proves popular, we will continue it with the club supporting it, inviting
different dan-level players to participate, with minimal charges for the
participants and observers."
Reserve your space now: first come, first serve! Take advantage of this
opportunity to garner the experience of this seasoned player at a very
reasonable cost. Note also that the sessions will be video taped as part of the
club's new video library. Tapes (2 hours each) can be rented for $4 for a week,
or purchased for $8.
- Haskell (Hal) Small; haskellsmall@starpower.net 202-244-4764
Kerwin in MD
Jim Kerwin, professional 1-dan will be giving a workshop in Germantown, MD on
the weekend of January 31 to February 2 starting at 7P on Friday night and
concluding around 5P on Sunday. As usual, there will be a theme for the entire
workshop, this time on attacking and defending.
James Kerwin was the first American to become a professional go player, and has
been holding workshops all over the US for many years. The format will be a
combination of lectures and game analysis. Kerwin will provide commented .sgf
files of the games from the workshop to all participants and all workshop
participants will be eligible to send in one game after the workshop for a free
game analysis.
To reserve your space, send a check for $180 to Gordon Fraser at 20505 Anndyke
Way, Germantown, MD 20874, and an email message to gordon@wui.net. Please
include your email address, phone number and rank.
A special room rate has been arranged at a motel close to the workshop site.
Reserve your spot early as the workshop will be strictly limited to 16 players.
No Hikaru no Go
The Associated Press reported last week that Viz Communications is bringing out
a U.S. version of the Shonen Jump manga, a monthly anthology series. Manga
comics are hugely popular in Japan, where they're an astounding 40% of all
printed material, and have been an underground phenomena in the U.S. in recent
years.
Unfortunately, authoritative Japanese sources tell the E-Journal that the Hikaru
no Go manga is not among the storylines to be published in the new U.S. version
of Shonen Jump. Fans eager to see Hikaru included in future editions may want to
contact Viz at
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393737&u=http://www.viz.com/&g=0&f=50393740
THE GO PLAYER'S GUIDE TO JAPAN: The Ojima Collection; Big Moves at Iwami No
Kami; Komi at the Kansai Ki-in
NOTE: In this special series, E-Journal editor Chris Garlock reports on his go
experiences, adventures and observations during a recent trip to Japan. Comments
and suggestions -- especially from readers who live or travel in Japan - are
most welcome.
The Ojima Collection
Koji Ojima screws up his face thoughtfully, smoke wreathing up from his
cigarette. "Over two thousand," he says finally. "Maybe more than 3,000,
including books."
Ojima's "Go Ku Raku" go club in Sasayama contains Ojima's extensive collection
of go-related objects, including bowls, cups, sculpture, prints, scrolls and
unusual finds like a metal yatate, a strange-looking ancient pen and ink case. A
short drive into the countryside outside Osaka, the town of Sasayama is a
pastoral scene of rice and soybean fields (the black soybeans are a
highly-prized local specialty). The town of 40,000 has about 200 Go players,
fifty of whom are active, according to Mr. Ojima. A dozen or so show up daily at
his club and, like go players everywhere, they seem utterly oblivious to their
surroundings, intent on their games while the walls are filled with Ojima's
amazing go art collection.
Ojima's collection started thirty years ago with the innocent purchase of a
go-themed scroll on a trip to China, and "just sort of grew" from there. A giant
wood carving of go players sits in a window not far from postage stamps
featuring yet more go players. A ship carved from an elephant's tusk turns out
to have tiny go players hunched over a board on the deck. On a table is a stack
of go prints several inches thick. The go here is almost as thick as the
cigarette smoke and most of the objects have a thin film of smoky dust. When I
step into the bright sunlight outside it feels as though I've emerged from
another era. Strings of drying persimmons glow orange in the sun.
Big Moves at Iwami No Kami
In 1609, two Osaka-area village chiefs settled a land dispute the old-fashioned
way: by playing a game of go, an event commemorated at the Iwami No Kami shrine
in Kaibara, a small town just up the road from Sasayama. Iwami No Kami, chief of
Nii, was a weaker player than Kuge Suragamo Kami, chief of Kuge, but Iwami came
up with a winning plan. The game was played outside, with the players shielded
from the sun by servants holding umbrellas. One of Iwami's servants was a strong
go player and he guided Iwami to victory by using a tiny hole in the umbrella to
reveal the best moves.
Over 400 years later, as the sun drops behind the once disputed Mount Ishido,
six of us play a game of rengo on the shrine's giant outdoor goban, a 5' by 5'
stone board with 2" wooden go stones. The local team fields Hakusei Honjo, Yasuo
Harada and Shieji Toshiyama; the visitors are Shunichi Hyodo, Harumi Takechi and
myself. When things get complicated, Honjo-san brings over the umbrella and
poses with it poised above me, as Hyodo-san (who I've dubbed Kurosawa-san)
videotapes the action.
A maple tree blazes crimson in the sunset as the mountain's shadow creeps over
the black and white patterns on the huge board. In the end, like an oldtime
baseball game, this ancient contest is called because of darkness and we clear
the board in the last few lingering shreds of twilight. Later, after an evening
of food and song at his home, Honjo-san presents me with a signed and dated pair
of the oversize stones which now sit half a world away on the goban in my study.
Komi at the Kansai Ki-in
At the Kansai Ki-in in Osaka, I get a tour, lunch and a lesson on komi. The new
6.5 komi in Japan is being phased in gradually because of ongoing tournaments
pre-dating the change. According to Ryuji Ieda, 8p President of the Kansai
Professional Player's Association and Ryo Maeda, 6p, professionals agree that
6.5 is a fairer komi but that 7.5 (as in China) is too much, although, they say,
maybe in another decade or so, further developments in understanding the game
could change this. They're very curious about whether the AGA plans to increase
komi as well and my description of the passed-stone rule winds up being more
confusing than helpful, possibly because it probably has nothing to do with komi
(although I'm not sure and make a note to make sure smarter people at the AGA
follow up on this).
The Kansai Ki-in boasts 118 professionals, including 14 women and Daisuke
Murakawa, an 11-year-old from Hyogo prefecture who's the second-youngest
Japanese pro (by just two months) since child prodigy Cho Chikun in 1968. The
Kansai Ki-in has 86 chartered branches throughout the region, and nearly 300
members in the downtown Osaka headquarters overlooking the Tosaborigawa River.
More than fifty players a day show up to play at the Kansai Ki-in, which is open
six days a week from noon to 9P (closed Sunday). Lessons are held twice a day
and Sunday morning, thanks to the "Hikaru no Go effect", more than 100 kids show
up for a special kid's class.
It's quiet in the pro playing room on the seventh floor of the Kansai Ki-in, but
it's an intense quiet. One of the eight players is swaying back and forth
hypnotically while his opponent ceaselessly runs his hands through his hair and
mumbles softly to himself. The rest sit nearly immobile, cross-legged on
low-backed chairs with pillows on tatami mats before thick 6-inch kaya gobans
(there's another, Western-style playing area with tables and chairs next door).
These are tournament games and clocks tick away the seconds mercilessly while
the white noise of the air system hisses over the quiet sighs and mumbles at the
boards.
Three floors down, students in a beginner's class follow along on their own
boards as the teacher demonstrates on the big board in front. Outside the sun
beckons invitingly but is ignored as the black and white stones fall in
identical patterns.
In the coffee shop next to the playing area on the Kansai Ki-in's first floor,
pro player President Ryuji Ieda is pessimistic about the state of go in Japan.
"If things continue as they are, I doubt there will be progress for Japanese
go," he says. "Japan is not as strong as we used to be and there is not as much
interest among young people," he says, adding that interest among the general
population is down, too, despite the popularity of Hikaru no Go. Maeda-san stirs
his coffee and says quietly that he's a bit more optimistic, citing the hundreds
of kids turning out every week for the Sunday classes. "Five years ago, there
were just four or five students," he says.
My Guide to Go: Shunichi Hyodo
Shunichi (not Susumu, as reported in last week's E-Journal) Hyodo was my
indefatigable guide and host for the second leg of my recent trip to Japan. My
inexcusable error gives me a welcome chance to expand on Shunichi's incredible
generosity and kindness to this first-time visitor. Regular U.S. Go Congress
attendees will remember Shunichi well: he's organized and led the Japanese tour
group for years and we spent a pleasant evening in his home in Kakogawa looking
through his well-organized Congress scrapbooks and reviewing his videotape from
this year's Congress in Chicago. It is a rare privilege to be invited for a
"home stay" with a Japanese family, as space is extremely tight. Shunichi not
only welcomed me into the warm and cozy home he shares with his wife and son,
but arranged for me to stay with fellow-Congress attendee Harumi Takechi in
Kawanishi, providing a comforting touch of home and home-cooked meals in a visit
where so much was strange and new. As Shunichi wrote m! e upon my return last
week, the reason he took the time and effort to help me explore his country is
because he loves go and therefore simply loves anyone who loves go. I don't know
how I missed him all these years but I'm proud to call Shunichi Hyodo a good
friend now. If I could be half as generous, or a quarter as good a go player,
I'd be a happy man indeed.
WHY WE PLAY: Ronald Doctors
I first heard about go during a job interview. One of my interviewers asked if I
played and I told him that I had heard of the game (almost true!) but I had not
had the pleasure of meeting anyone to teach me. I got the job but the
interviewer, who was the owner of the business, never actually taught me,
preferring, I think, that I work on projects that were financially rewarding.
About three years later a newspaper article here in Santa Barbara (CA) mentioned
an 11-year-old go player named Michael Redmond who was close to becoming the
best player in the U.S. and who would soon be going to Japan to learn to become
a master go player. I remembered my old boss mentioning the game, called up the
Redmonds and his father immediately invited me to come to the house to play.
Michael became my tutor and in a few short weeks helped me to go from a 9 x 9
board to a full size board. He played at lighting speed even when playing
against his father and friends, building what seemed to me extremely complex
multi-ko situations where he always came out ahead.
That was many years ago and Michael has of course progressed to a 9-dan
professional while I have managed to gain only a little more strength. My main
regret in life is that I did not learn go as a child・o many wasted years!
Why do YOU play this beautiful, frustrating game? What brought you to the game
and what keeps you playing? Tell us in 200 words or less and if we publish the
results in the E-Journal we'll give you a $25 gift certificate to a Go vendor.
ONLINE GO: DashBaduk
by Michael Turk
I recently returned to Korea to renew some friendships I made at the 1st
International Baduk Conference last year. While I was there, I met with one of
the members of the "meet and greet team", who has since graduated from her
degree in Baduk studies. She works for Baduk TV as a producer of an Amateur Game
show and Beginners Lessons. I mentioned that I had lost contact with CyberBaduk
and discovered that the place to go now is to DashBaduk at:
http://gm12.com/r.html?c=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393730&u=http://www.dashn.com/english/index.htm&g=0&f=50393740
This website is easy to navigate around and fairly user-friendly. If you join
up, you can download an English-language client to use the DashBaduk Go Server.
You can also use their Life and Death program which provides timed life and
death problems from 18k to 7d in difficulty. The web site also contains a wealth
of other information for you to explore. The ranks on the DashBaduk Go Server
start at 18k and you get the usual starred (*) rating once you have played 10
games. I should point out that the ranks are somewhat stronger than AGA ranks,
(but I am not sure how much). The first time you load and install some of the
pages and utilities can take some time, but after that things start up quite
smoothly.
When I played, there were very few English-language players - three from the
USA, two from Australia and two from Europe. There is an English-speaking Sysop,
a Korean 5D - and he invited me to have a 9-stone teaching game. By the way, if
you play 10 games to get your * rating and you are one of the first fifty
English-speaking players in November or December, you can apply to have some
free lessons from either a professional player (if you are 8k* on the system or
stronger) or from a Korean 5D* (if weaker than 8k*) and that is certainly a good
incentive to try the system. As we say in Australia "Have a go!".
- Turk is a member of the Wings Internet Go Club and Sydney Go Club
(Australian 10k).
GO CLASSIFIED
FOR SALE: "Modern Joseki and Fuseki" vols 1 and 2; "The Middle Game of Go" vol 1
by Sakata, (G1, G3, G5). All hardcover and all signed by the master at the
second Go Congress. Ray Kukol, rkukol@lvcm.com
FOR SALE: Go reproductions (see www. kiseido.com--Go and Art for details) can
now be ordered directly by telephone and can be paid for in the USA by checks.
Contact Peter Shotwell at (212) 874-2913.
FOR SALE: Play Go in your holiday! 10% off for all Go players at
www.shafston.com jamaica (the owner, Frank Lohmann, is 13k on KGS; players name:
shafston)
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: for a forthcoming book, a program or suggestions to convert .sgf files
from GoWrite to Quark. Also wanted, a way to recover GoWrite diagrams that have
turned to red Xs in a Word document. Peter Shotwell; Shotwell@nyc.rr.com
WANTED: Human Resources Coordinator for the American Go Association.
Help write & edit job descriptions, assist the AGA to seek & screen volunteers,
& guide energetic volunteers into satisfying positions. Email
chrisk.aga@attbi.com. Or call 206-579-8071 between 7:30A and 11:30P Pacific
time.
WANTED: Software program to convert .UGF files to .SGF files. Contact Fred at
g.u@juno.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 4,000 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=159158&r=158845&t=88498618&l=1&d=50393734&u=http://www.usgo.org&g=0&f=50393740
for the full list.
GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to
MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org
AGA OFFICER CONTACT LIST:
President; Roy Laird: mailto:president@usgo.org
Eastern VP; ChenDao Lin: mailto:vp-eastern@usgo.org
Central VP; Mike Peng: mailto:vp-central@usgo.org
Western VP; Larry Gross: mailto:vp-western@usgo.org
Treasurer; Ben Bernstein; mailto:treasurer@usgo.org
Membership Secretary; John Goon: mailto:membership@usgo.org Recording Secretary:
Susan Weir: mailto: susan@weirdolls.com
Chapters Coordinator; Bill Cobb: mailto:chapterservices@usgo.org
Tournament Coordinator; Mike Bull: mailto:tournaments@usgo.org
Youth Coordinator; None Redmond: mailto:education@usgo.org
Congress Liaison Officer; Chris Kirschner: mailto:cngrsliaison@usgo.org
AGA Webmaster; Roy Laird: mailto:webmaster@usgo.org
American Go Foundation; Terry Benson: mailto: terrybenson@nyc.rr.com AGA
Librarian; Craig Hutchinson: mailto:archives@usgo.org
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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