American Go E-Journal
May 31, 2017
Due to the excitement surrounding the recent AlphaGo - Ke Jie match and the Memorial Day weekend, the Directors of the 2017 US Go Congress - San Diego have decided to extend the end of the early-bird Congress registration from June 1 to…
May 30, 2017
Following a 10-year long tradition, the Evanston Go Club recently introduced go and taught to new players for more than twenty hours over two days at Anime Central in Rosemont, Illinois, reports club president Mark Rubenstein. Begun in…
May 29, 2017
Zhaonian Chen 7d (left) won the Maryland Open last weekend, going undefeated -- including wins over pros Eric Lui and Calvin Sun (right) -- in the 2- day, 5-round tournament in Baltimore Maryland. The 44th edition of the tournament…
May 29, 2017
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal Iyama extends lead in Honinbo title match: The second game of the 72nd Honinbo title match was held at the Kumagai Family Residence in Oda City, Shimane Prefecture, on May 23 and 24.…
May 27, 2017
AlphaGo is retiring. DeepMind's Demis Hassabis and David Silver made the stunning announcement as the Future of Go Summit wrapped up in Wuzhen, China, saying that the match against world #1 Ke Jie represented “the highest possible…
May 27, 2017
Chapters of the American Go Association held watch parties across the country for the historic AlphaGo-Ke Jie match this week. Here are a couple of reports and photos. At the Seattle Go Center (right) , 30 people came for Nick Sibicky's…
May 27, 2017
AlphaGo completed its sweep of world number one professional Ke Jie 9P on Saturday, winning the third and final game of their match by resignation. Ke called it "one of the greatest matches that I’ve had." The game once again showcased…
May 27, 2017
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal Kono starts well in Kisei S League: Kono Rin 9P, the previous Kisei challenger, made a good start in the 42nd Kisei S League. In a game played on May 11, Kono (W) beat Murakawa…
May 26, 2017
by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal Iyama makes good start in Honinbo defense: Iyama Yuta, or Honinbo Monyu, to give him the title he assumed when he qualified as Honorary Honinbo last year, made a good start in the…
May 26, 2017
Incumbent Eastern, Western and Central board members Diego Pierrottet, Chris Kirschner and Martin Lebl have been nominated to retain their seats. Nominations, including self-nominations, may be made by full members for the region in…
May 26, 2017
"Playing games like this will give us new ideas about how to play," said Gu Li 9P, after playing in the AlphaGo-Pair Go and commentating on the Team Go event. "It felt like four painters working together on a shared canvas," added…
May 25, 2017
"The Surrounding Game" is coming to a theater near you! The documentary team has just announced a summer lineup of screenings in major cities across the US and Europe. The screening tour includes stops in: Toronto (6/10), San Francisco…
May 25, 2017
Despite 100 moves that "were the best anyone’s ever played against the Master version," world number 1 Ke Jie 9P was forced to resign Game 2 of his match against AlphaGo on Thursday in Wuzhen, China, clinching the best-of-3 series for…
May 24, 2017
by Andy Okun, reporting from the 'Future of Go' summit in Wuzhen, China The version of AlphaGo that defeated Ke Jie 9p in the first round of the three game challenge match yesterday was trained entirely on the self- play games of…
May 23, 2017
AlphaGo-Ke Jie viewing parties continue this week at the National Go Center in Washington DC (Center opens at 7p Wednesday; match at 10:30pm EDT); the Seattle Go Center will be open late again Wednesday night as well (schedule is on…
May 23, 2017
Excerpted and adapted from a report in The New York Times “Last year, (AlphaGo) was still quite humanlike when it played,” said Ke Jie 9P after the first match against the go-playing AI Tuesday. “But this year, it became like a god of…
May 23, 2017
In an exciting game played out to the last dame, the latest version of AlphaGo defeated Ke Jie 9P by half a point on Tuesday in the first round of a 3-game match in Wuzhen, China, part of the Future of Go Summit . The Summit features…
May 21, 2017
by Dr. Roy Laird A fabulous feast of “food for thought,” the International Conference on Mind Sports in Camaguey, Cuba came to a successful close on May 5 after affording some 70 participants a chance to get to know enthusiasts of other…
May 21, 2017
American go clubs across the country are making plans to watch the upcoming AlphaGo-Ke Jie match. AGA chapters that hold an AlphaGo viewing party are eligible for $100 of (non-alcohol) expenses from the AGA's chapter rewards points pool…
May 21, 2017
Michael Redmond 9p & Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal provide commentary and analysis of the forty-eighth game of Master (AlphaGo). In this game, Master plays white against Park Junghwan 9p. "Up to move 24, this game is identical to…
May 20, 2017
DeepMind has released the schedule for the upcoming Future of Go Summit , featuring an updated AlphaGo in several formats, including pair go, team go, and a 1:1 match with the world’s number one player Ke Jie. The action begins…
May 20, 2017
Michael Redmond 9p & Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal provide commentary and analysis of the forty-seventh game of Master (AlphaGo). In this game, Master plays black against Tan Xiao 7p. "Tan Xiao was rated the top Chinese player…
May 19, 2017
Andrew Jackson and Michael Wanek are back with another video update on this year's US Go Congress, th is time with Congress directors Les Lanphear and Ted Terpstra. Lanphear and Terpstra talk about some of the highlights of this year's…
May 18, 2017
Over 30 players have already registered for the 44th annual Maryland Open , coming up May 27-28. Registered players so far include two pros, reports organizer Keith Arnold. There are prizes in all sections in the two-day event and…
May 17, 2017
A Grand Slam tournament is the top level tournament in the European Go Federation's Grand Prix , and the only level for which special pre-qualification conditions exist. The first such of 2017 took place in Berlin, starting on the 28th…
May 17, 2017
"Gu Zihao was born in 1998, and won the Limin Cup (youth) International tournament in 2015," says Michael Redmond 9p in this video commentary , hosted by Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal, of the thirty-sixth game of Master (AlphaGo).…
May 17, 2017
Next week's face off between Ke Jie 9p and DeepMind's updated AlphaGo software promises to be more than a long-awaited grudge match ("One small bleep for a computer, one giant push for mankind," commented AGA President Andy Okun). It…
May 14, 2017
"In this game from 1670 Honinbo Dosaku plays White against Yasui Chitetsu, his major rival in the Yasui house," says Michael Redmond 9p in this video commentary , hosted by Chris Garlock of the AGA E-Journal. "In this game I will…
May 14, 2017
The annual Nihon Ki-in Summer Go Camp is an intensive training program for non-Japanese go players who want to raise their level of play. This year's Camp will be held in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo August 25-September 6. "Besides many…
May 13, 2017
"Chen became the youngest player to promote to 9P at 17 when he was awarded with the rank for being a finalist in two world tournaments in 2006," says Michael Redmond 9p in this video commentary , hosted by Chris Garlock of the AGA…