American Go E-Journal
April 30, 2018
Streaming giant Twitch.tv’s all-day livestream about go attracted nearly 20,000 viewers last Saturday. “Being able to introduce so many people to the game in such a unique way was a thrill,” said Hajin Lee, the former professional…
April 29, 2018
The World Amateur Go Championship returns to Tokyo this week, after a nine-year hiatus. Sixty three players from around the globe will compete in the 39 th edition – known as the Gurunavi Cup – World Amateur Go Championship -- May 4-7…
April 28, 2018
Mark Rubenstein and Bob Barber are preparing to do their second presentation about go at PechaKucha. Pecha-wha? PechaKucha was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in…
April 28, 2018
Perennial champion Eric Zhang won the North Carolina Annual Spring tournament on Sunday, April 22nd, topping a field of 38. "It was a beautiful sunny day on the UNC campus in Chapel Hill," reports organizer Bob Bacon, "and after four…
April 28, 2018
Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal's Chris Garlock, for Episode 11 of Redmond's Reviews. In this game, Michael plays against Numadate Sakiya 6p. On the line for Redmond in this game was a seat in the C League on the road…
April 26, 2018
By William Cobb In the classical age of go, players would spend several hours or more playing a game. Ever wonder why they did that? What could they have been thinking about? Here’s an experiment for you: Go onto one of the turn based…
April 25, 2018
This Saturday April 28 , The Surrounding Game documentary and Open Study Room are teaming up with Twitch.tv to host what Will Lockhart -- with some justifiable hyperbole -- calls "the biggest introduction to Go in history!" Twitch is…
April 25, 2018
Twenty-nine players -- including the TD who played two out of four games to maintain parity -- participated in the Massachusetts Go Association's 2018 Don Wiener Memorial Tournament on April 15 at the Boylston Chess Club in Cambridge…
April 25, 2018
Janice on time limits: “More thought-provoking pieces in the E-journal, thank you!” writes Janice Kim. “Many people believe that their Go playing improves given a longer time limit ( The Empty Board: Philosophical Reflections on Go #2…
April 18, 2018
Stephanie Yin and Ryan Li have just launched NYIG_Go , the New York Institute of Go’s YouTube Channel. “The channel will feature videos of the rules of the game, common mistakes, fuseki strategy and more,” says Yin. They also hope to…
April 18, 2018
Ratings matter: "I disagree with Bill ( The Empty Board: Philosophical Reflections on Go #2 4/17 EJ) ," writes Rick Mott. "After running tournaments for almost 30 years, I think 90+% of tournament players are motivated not by prizes,…
April 17, 2018
by William Cobb Except for the 90 minutes basic time of games in the US Open at the Congress, almost all official games in US tournaments have a basic time of 45 minutes. Why? Well, it makes it possible to have four rounds in a day. But…
April 17, 2018
The Penn Go Society will host the first annual Pennsylvania State Go Championship on Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th, 2018. Part of the AGA's new state championships, the event features five rounds spanning two days, with…
April 17, 2018
Zhao Zhixun 7D topped the 'Not so taxing' go tournament, held on April 14th and 15th in Austin, Texas. A total of 26 players participated ranging from 7D to 24K. Players traveled from Dallas, Houston, Edinberg, Tx and other points…
April 17, 2018
by John Power, special Japan correspondent for the E-Journal Yamashita Keigo becomes Honinbo challenger: Yamashita Keigo 9P turns 40 on September 6 this year, but he is still a member of a small top group that functions in Iyama Yuta’s…
April 16, 2018
A beautiful day of sunshine and summer-like temperatures pierced the erratic spring weather in Washington DC for the 58th annual Sakura Matsuri street festival last Saturday. Over 20 volunteers from the National Go Center came out to…
April 16, 2018
World rankings? "Janice Kim’s interesting reflections on ranks made good reading," writes Bill Saltman. “What might also make good reading would be the first-ever (to my knowledge) chart which correlated amateur from 30 kyu to 9 dan,…
April 16, 2018
by John Power, special Japan correspondent for the E-Journal Chunlan Cup starts: The Chunlan Cup is a Chinese international tournament held every two years and sponsored by the Chunlan Group, which started out manufacturing electrical…
April 14, 2018
After opening registration on March 31st, the attendee count for the 34th U.S. Go Congress , to be held this July in Williamsburg, Virginia, has steadily climbed. "We marched past 100 like a fife and drum brigade!" said Gary Smith, the…
April 14, 2018
The cherry blossoms were in full bloom in the nation’s capitol as Eric Lui 1P swept the annual Cherry Blossom Festival tournament 4-0 at the National Go Center on April 7. Lui continued his undefeated streak in tournaments at the NGC in…
April 14, 2018
Michael Redmond 9p, hosted by the AGA E-Journal's Chris Garlock, reviews the eighth game of the new AlphaGo Zero vs. Master series. "Zero just doesn't care about its opponent's moyo," says Redmond. "It can do anything inside the…
April 13, 2018
Join Chris Garlock and Michael Redmond 9p for Episode 10 of Redmond's Reviews. In this game, Michael plays against Mizokami 9p in the Kisei - First Tournament. "Mizokami is a very tenacious, steady player who I've had no success against…
April 13, 2018
2017 AGF Teacher of the Year Wenguang Wang hosted a “Learn to Play Go” event for over 120 kids at Sedgwick Elementary's annual Discovery Day, on March 27th, in Cupertino, CA. "Like previous years, the school invited many presenters to…
April 12, 2018
Three youth from North America are being invited to Japan, for international friendship matches and the Japanese Go Congress. The sponsors of the trip, Life Sports, are paying all expenses while in Japan, with a small stipend for…
April 10, 2018
With registration for the 2018 US Go Congress in Williamsburg, VA now open, the Congress team has just released a companion app for either iOS or Android devices. The app complements the information found on the Congress website with…
April 9, 2018
by Janice Kim 3P When I was a student at the Korean Baduk Academy, I was firmly ensconced in the "B League" at 6 "gup", or "kyu". The way the ranking system worked is that a 6 kyu would give a 5 kyu only three points of komi for White,…
April 8, 2018
Nominations for the American Go Foundation’s Teacher of the Year award are due by May 13th. Presented each year at the U.S. Go Congress, the award recognizes an outstanding American teacher. The winner will receive an all expenses…
April 7, 2018
Are you a member of the Rotary Club in US or Canada? If so, would you be interested in playing go with other Rotarians for international friendship? A new group, Go Playing Friendship of Rotarians or GPFR, has been formed and…
April 7, 2018
Tehran go club? Does anyone know of any go club activity in Tehran, Iran? Email Phil@Strausphoto.com
April 3, 2018
by William Cobb “Go is like life.” It’s a common claim---and true. But go is also like death. Every game comes to an end and every player eventually plays their last game. Is that a bad thing? With individual games, even if you lost,…