American Go E-Journal
February 27, 2021
by Fred Baldwin William Cobb’s reflections on taking time to think about Go moves ( Empty Board , 2/17) prompted me to, well, think. I share his feelings about “speed” or “blitz” Go. If you enjoy it, fine, but it’s not my thing and…
February 21, 2021
“‘Blitz’ Go is not appealing to me,” Michael Ryan writes in agreement with Bill Cobb ( Empty Board 2/17) . “I have always thought that speed chess and blitz Go are regressive activities, encouraging some of the least thoughtful aspects…
August 4, 2020
“Is the photo a very young Ishida Yoshio?” wonders Shai Simonson, in response to our recent 50 years aGO stumper: Who’s pictured in the photo at left? Hints were that he attended a U.S. Go Congress and wrote an Ishi Press book.…
August 3, 2020
Chumley's ID's: All these IDs are 'probably'" writes Terry Benson in response to a request for photo ID's in our July 28 report on the closing of Chumley's, the former West Village speakeasy where the American Go Association was founded…
June 30, 2020
"If Patience and Fortitude, the two lions guarding the New York Public Library, are wearing masks as an example to the public," writes Terry Benson (in response to Your Move/Readers Write: Strict observance of masking and other sanitary…
June 29, 2020
“Peter Armenia is missing the point in his comments about Roger Schrag’s letter ,” writes Steve Burrall. “I don’t doubt that he is correct about that particular photo depicting relatively low-risk conditions based on details he…
June 28, 2020
“I am very disappointed by the E-Journal article "Gotham Go back in action," writes Roger Schrag. “The article includes a photo of two people playing go ‘safely’; one player is wearing a mask incorrectly with their mouth and nose…
June 26, 2020
“Add my applause to the AGA statement on injustice ,” writes Steven Burrall. “Even though Go players are a very nice bunch of people and perhaps need to hear the message less than members of most organizations, I think it is a great…
June 22, 2020
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The letters below have been edited from correspondence sent to the E-Journal in response to the recently-published "Statement on Injustice from the AGA Code of Conduct Committee." This note is in response to…
June 19, 2020
“It's not so helpful to suggest folks tune into a Twitch broadcast ‘tonight’ when the E-Journal comes out many hours after said broadcast has finished,” writes Rick Rubenstein. “Perhaps you should get into the habit of announcing these…
January 1, 2020
Gray power: "Being 67 years old and still enjoying competing in tournaments, I was happy to hear that Haskell Small won the NGC Winter Warmer tournament," writes Eric Osman. " It’s great to show that we older folks can still give the…
December 15, 2019
Columbus discovers Go: "Devin Fraze can teach you how to play Go in about two minutes." That's the lead in the "It’s always Go time for enthusiast of ancient game" report last month in ThisWeek Community News, about the Columbus Go Club…
June 29, 2019
Remembering the No Exit Go Club: “When I got married in 1980, my wife and I found an apartment in Rogers Park,” writes Bob Barber ( Your Move/Readers Write: No Exit update? 6/26/19) . “I had no idea that this was THE neighborhood where…
June 26, 2019
No Exit update? "I played at the No Exit club a few times many years ago, but had no idea it was gone ( Go Spotting: Remembering the No Exit ) " writes Dewey Cornell. "Perhaps someone could add a few sentences of explanation for readers…
June 24, 2019
By Mark Rubenstein Why do we play this game? Some might say it’s just for fun, but I believe it goes deeper than that. I think many of us have discovered that Go is more than a game; it's a space where we can experiment with a way…
February 5, 2019
by Terry Benson In an Op-Ed in The New York Times on Wednesday Jan 30th , columnist Thomas Friedman noted the success of AlphaGo and correctly reported on AlphaZero learning from itself in declaring that the word for the year should be…
October 31, 2018
Yin to rep N.A. at Qionglong Mountain Bingshend Cup: Stephanie Yin, 1p won the recent qualifier for the Qionglong Mountain Bingshend Cup against Wan Chen, 5d and will represent North America at the event. Go set source? "I was wondering…
September 22, 2018
"In response to Bill Cobb’s message of the importance to play moves out of our comfort zone ( The Empty Board: Philosophical Reflections on Go #10 9/19 EJ), " writes Eric Osman, "I offer the following: A 7d player on kgs alerted me to…
September 17, 2018
Where to score a scoresheet: In response to Glen Hart's query about "Where to score a scoresheet?" , Jim Hurley sent this link where he's posted some printable game recording files. How many Nakayama? “I’m wondering how can I find out…
September 16, 2018
Avoiding grammatical confusion: “While the style sheet ( Your Move/Readers Write: Go or go? 8/20 EJ) may be consistent and logical,” writes former EJ editor Terry Benson, “the reason I continue to capitalize Go and have (most of the…
August 21, 2018
How many Nakayama? “I’m wondering how can I find out how many books Nakayama Noriyuki wrote in Japanese,” writes Kent Olsen. “I would like to start a Go Fund Me page to get some of them translated.” Poughkeepsie go players wanted: “I…
August 20, 2018
“Thank you for all your hard work at Congress,” writes Bob Barber. “Although I don’t play anymore (much), I like to keep up with my pals and the world of Go. Speaking of which, I noticed in a recent New Yorker (July 23, page 47), this:…
July 19, 2018
Treat women players equally: "If you have to qualify a sentence with 'I hope it's not sexist to say...', just don't say it at all," writes Seth Yoder ( 7/18 Power Report, Nannami Nao wins Senko Cup ). "That qualification is akin to…
May 7, 2018
More on go and why we compete: "I have read Janice Kim's and William Cobb's words with great interest," writes Tony Collman. "While looking for something else, I serendipitously came across words from the Chinese philosopher Chuang Tsu…
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
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 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 7, 2018
Tehran go club? Does anyone know of any go club activity in Tehran, Iran? Email Phil@Strausphoto.com
March 26, 2018
"Bob Ryder was 48 at the time of this tournament ( From the Archives: The First International Amateur Go Tournament 1963 ) ," writes Terry Benson. "He became one of the first western 5-dans and was president of the AGA in the 60s and…
January 8, 2018
"I read your article about the Tokugawa Memorial Go Congress set for February 2017 in Shizuoka," writes Erwin Gerstorfer. "One additional bit of information that might be interesting to the readers of the American Go E-Journal is an…