Monday July 16, 2018
Tennis courts are available at this year’s US Go Congress and EJ Managing Editor Chris Garlock welcomes players of all levels for
early-morning and afternoon sessions during the Congress (email him at journal@usgo.org to coordinate). While there is, sadly, no ping pong, there is an excellent soccer field available if someone wants to coordinate the usual 4:30pm games; email journal@usgo.org if you’re interested!
photo: preparing for the 2022 World Cup; photo by Phil Straus
Wednesday July 11, 2018
The American Go E-Journal has a few openings on its 2018 US Go Congress team. Anyone interested in helping 
record/broadcast top-board games at the US Open/Masters should email journal@usgo.org. Prior experience is useful but not absolutely necessary. You must be available either mornings (Sun-Sat) or evenings (Sunday, Monday, or Friday). “We also need a couple recorders for the Pandanet City League Finals at 3pm on Saturday (July 21) afternoon,” says E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “This is a great chance to get an up—close look at top-board games at a major tournament and be a part of the team bringing this event to the world.”
photo: Board 1 at the 2016 US Go Congress
Wednesday July 11, 2018
Facebook’s OpenGo, which defeated top-30 professional players 14-0 before its debut in May, will join forces with humanity in 
an Andy+OpenGo vs. Ryan+OpenGo Pair Go Match at the upcoming U.S. Go Congress. Liu and Li will be competing for a substantial $3000 prize. American players will be familiar with both players, who have provided spectacular matches at major North American tournaments and U.S. Go 
Congresses for years, even before they became professionals and distinguished themselves in international tournaments. This event will provide a fascinating window into how each of them adapts to playing alongside OpenGo. The match will take place at the Go Congress on Tuesday, July 24th, at 7 PM in the Commonwealth auditorium in the Sadler Center. There will be plenty of seats available. The match will be covered by a commentary team of Chris Garlock partnered with a to-be-determined pro.
Monday July 9, 2018
Ted Terpstra has been named the American Go Foundation’s Teacher of the Year in recognition of his work with children in the San Diego, CA area. Terpstra has been actively coordinating programs for kids, in as many as six different locations, for several years. “There is great joy in teaching someone to play go, especially a youth,” says Terpstra, “and there is no greater reward in teaching the game than to see the enthusiasm of a student as he or she learns and finally becomes better than the teacher.” Terpstra’s most recent program, held for the sixth year, was at the Jing Institute of Chinese Martial Arts and Culture, where members of the San Diego Go Club came to teach go to the summer day campers. “Thirty youngsters, from kindergarten to sixth-grade, listened attentively as I explained the game,” said Terpstra. “They then grabbed boards and stones to spread out over the floor to play. Several of the students had attended the go class in previous summers and helped the new players learn the game. Hikaru No Go books had already been read by many of the students, as the American Go Foundation had provided them to the school several years ago.” Terpstra has also run programs at a K-12 school, a high school, a Chinese language school, and a public library.
Terpstra is coordinating the Go Teachers’ Workshop at the 2018 U.S. Go Congress in Williamsburg, Virgina in July. Prospective go teachers can be certified by the American Go Association if they attend eight-hours of instruction at the Congress. Several go professionals as well as other seasoned go teachers have agreed to teach the classes. Sign-up for the Workshop can be done at Congress registration on July 21. Terpstra will also hold a special session entitled “How I Started Teaching Go,” on July 23rd, at 4 pm, which will be open to everyone. -Paul Barchilon, EJ Youth Editor. Photos by Ted Terpstra: Top: Terpstra teaching 4th graders how to play; Bottom: Go Class at the 2018 Jing Martial Arts School Summer Camp
Sunday July 1, 2018
At the 2018 US Go Congress coming up later this month in Williamsburg, Virginia there are new social features to help attendees
get to know one another and to share their Congress experiences. These are built into the free Congress mobile app for iOS and Android devices. One feature is an ‘Attendees’ page where everyone coming can have a short biography and a picture published.
To get listed just send an email to Gurujeet Khalsa — gurujeet.khalsa@
Congress starts on July 21, so if you have still not registered you should do so now here.
Thursday June 28, 2018
The Pandanet AGA City League finished its regular season play recently. Each team fought tough opponents this season. This season saw eight professionals play this year, four of them being AGA Professionals. The finals for the A League will be played in three weeks at the US Go Congress. The College of William & Mary will host Greater Washington vs New York City on Saturday July 21st at 3PM. The games will be broadcast in the AGA City League Room LIVE.
The winners of the league are:
A League:
Third: Canwa Vancouver 1
Fourth: New Jersey
Fifth: Edmonton
B League:
Winner: Ottawa
Second: Toronto 1
Third: Toronto 2
Fourth: Canwa Vancouver 3
C League:
Winner: Boston 3
Second: N Corvallis
Congratulations to all of the teams that played this year.
Tuesday June 26, 2018
If you’re thinking about attending this year’s U.S. Go Congress, register before this Sunday and save $50. The registration late fee
increases $50 on Sunday, July 1st. The biggest U.S. go event of the year includes the U.S. Open, a six-day tournament of epic proportions, the U.S. Masters, where top players compete for $12,000 in prizes, lectures, game reviews, and simuls from American and Asian professionals, youth activities and tournaments including the Redmond Cup, a host of tournaments including the U.S. Women’s tournament, Seniors (55+), 9×9, 13×13, Die Hard, and more!
Plus: great evening activities including Crazy Go and Pair Go, teachers workshops, the first-ever Congress workshop to train Tournament Directors, all in a gorgeous location on the campus of America’s second-oldest institute of higher learning, next to Colonial Williamsburg, one of the most-visited tourist destinations on the East Coast. “Make memories that will last the rest of your life!” say Congress organizers Nate Eagle and Diego Pierrottet.
Sunday June 24, 2018
Eric Lui 1P swept the annual Congress Tune-up tournament 4-0 Saturday at the National Go Center. Eric’s undefeated streak in NGC tournaments now extends for over a year, and the local crowd is rooting for him in the prestigious Open Masters next month at the US Go Congress in Williamsburg VA. Justin Teng (6D) and Qingbo Zhang (5d) tied for second in the high Dan
division.
Darren Bias (1K) went undefeated at 4-0 to win the 1K-3D division. Haskell (Hal) Small (2D) finished second but was only awarded his NGC t-shirt prize if the self-described “non t-shirt person” agreed to pose in it for a picture (right); Congress organizers wanted to be sure it got worn at least once. “If you see Hal at Congress this year, encourage him to wear his shirt proudly,” said TD Gurujeet Khalsa.
There was a three way tie for first in the 4K-9K division with Mike Lash (4K), Eli Ferster (6K), and Tevis Tsai (6K) taking home the honors. In the 10K-20K division, John Christensen (13K) made a strong undefeated showing, while second place was tied between Jack de la Beaujardiere (10K), Noah Mullinax (11K), and Joshua Johnson (14K).
“There was a lot of excitement among the crowd for the upcoming Congress” reports Khalsa. “We learned our lesson last year not to tamper with tradition when we renamed this tournament the Summer Sizzler only to have our air-conditioning fail in the middle of a huge heat wave. This year we got refocused on getting ready for Congress with the old name and all went well.”
Congress is less than a month away, so if you haven’t registered yet, you can still do so here. Also download the free Congress mobile app where you can see the bios of Eric Lui and other pros coming this year, and lots more.
photo by Betsy Small
Thursday June 14, 2018
The 23rd Pandanet Cup, an internet world amateur go tournament, is now accepting registration. Players will be divided into five classes, depending on their strengths. In the preliminary round of the tournament, players play self-paired games with 
others in the same class from anywhere in the world. For advancement into the final round, the players’ scores are compared with others in the same geographic regions: Asia and Oceania, the Americas, or Europe and Africa. The scoring in based on the number of wins and the winning percentage. Regional winners advance to the final round where single eliminations are held until each class produces a champion. Generous prizes are provided to winners in all classes.
Free registration for the tournament starts immediately and ends on July 17. Click here for details.
Tuesday June 12, 2018
Rengo/Pair Go events are consistently popular at the Seattle Go Center, and last Saturday was no exception. Twenty-eight
players — fourteen teams of two — competed in the “Rengo with Pie and Coffee” tournament on June 9, organized by Pair Go stalwart Bill Thompson, who brought the fancy pies (strawberry-rhubarb, coconut, wild cherry, and apple), directed the tournament, and even played in it.
The event was run with the International Pair Go Association rules, but with no restrictions to team composition. Thompson used a spreadsheet from longtime Pair Go tournament director Todd Heidenreich to calculate the teams’ handicaps and komi, averaging the individual ratings of the team members.
Time limits were 45 minutes absolute (no byo-yomi). The players at Table 1 had competitive spirt — one of their games finished with 9 seconds on 
the clock for Black, and 6 seconds left for White; and another of their games ended in a tie.
Undefeated after two rounds:
Table 1: Lusha Zhou (9k) and Tzu-Jen Chan (3d) (in back).
Table 2: Yulissa Wu Lu (10k) and Lucas Wu Lu (9k) (front center).
Table 3: Hotaka Ozaki (3k) (at far left) and Abigail Chen (20k) (front far right).
Table 4: Joshua Yang (11k) and Shirley Yang (30k) (not pictured).
More pictures will be posted soon on the SeattleGo website.
– report/photos by Mike Malveaux, Seattle Go Center Programs Manager