American Go E-Journal

The second SportAccord World Mind Games (SWMG) will be held December 12-19 in Beijing, China. The multi-sport event is intended to highlight the value of mind sports and features five games: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), go and xiangqi (Chinese Chess). Coverage will be provided on the SWMG website, Ranka Online and in the E-Journal.

The SWMG go tournament is held under the auspices of the International Go Federation (IGF), and 28 players — 16 men and 12 women — will participate. The competition format includes Men’s Individual and Women’s Individual events and a Pair Go event. The Individual events feature a double elimination in seven rounds, a time limit for each side of 1 hour, with three 30-second byo-yomi periods. Eight pairs will compete in the Pair Go event, a single elimination with two rounds each day and three rounds in total. The time limit is 1 hour each side, with three 30 second byo-yomi periods.

The surprise this year is that nearly 80% of the field is new: the only returnees from last year are Li He (China), Choi Chulhan and Park Jeonghwan (Korea), Mukai Chiaki (Japan), Joanne Missingham (Taipei), and Vanessa Wong (Great Britain). This reflects the astounding rate at which young players have been rising to the top all over the world during the past year or so. Nearly one-third of the contestants are under 20, and all but five of the rest are under 30.

In the Asian zone, China used its internal rating system to select its two best women and two best men, and added LG Cup-winner and world meijin Jiang Weijie as its third man. Korea and Chinese Taipei held qualifying tournaments in which young players did conspicuously well. Japan followed their lead by entering five of its best young players. In the European zone, three men selected in a special qualifier held in Lille in August are joined by the top three finishers in the recent European Women’s Championship. In the North American zone, two young Canadians — Tianyu Lin and Irene Sha — won the men’s and women’s qualifiers, shutting out the United States. Only in South America was youth denied: Argentina’s famed veteran Fernando Aguilar rebuffed five rivals from Argentina, Mexico, and Chile to become the first South American go player to compete in the SportAccord World Mind Games.

Three Peaks 2012 (11/13): The Three Peaks, played from 11/10-11 in Lake District, United Kingdom, was won by Matthew Cock 5d, in second was Andrew Simons 3d and third was Richard Hunter 3d… Kani 6 2012 (11/13): The Kani 6 (Rabbity Six), played in Tampere, Finland, on 11/10-11 was won by Juuso Nyyssonen 4d (r), in second was Oiva Moisio 3d and third was Juri Kuronen 5d… November Tournament (11/12): The 17th November Tournament, played in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on 11/10-11 was won by Lukas Podpera 5d, in second was Pavol Lisy 6d and third was Jan Simara 6d… Il Gladiatore (11/12): The Il Gladiatore, played in Rome, Italy, on 11/10-11 was won by Alessandro Pace 2d, in second came Andrea Mori 3k and third was Andriy Zakharzhevskyy 2d… Rahlstedter Tengen 2012 B (11/12): The Rahlstedter Tengen B, in Hamburg, Germany, on 11/10-11 was won by Manuel Jacobsen 6k, in second was Veronika Lyssenko 7k and third was Patrick Brunner 6k… Rahlstedter Tengen A (11/12): The Rahlstedter Tengen A, played in Hamburg, Germany, on 11/10-11 was won by Ji Lu 4d, in second was Bernd Lewerenz 3d and third was Yang Liu 4d (photo Michael Steffensen 8k, 14th)… Winterhurer Herbst- / Samstagsturnier (11/12): The Winterthurer Herbst- / Samstagsturnier, played in Winterthur, Switzerland, on 10/11 was won by Jonas Jermann 3d, in second was Ciaran Pearson 3d and third was Rick Wertenbroek 2k… Deutsche Go-Einzelmeisterschaft (11/12): The Deutsche Go-Einzelmeisterschaft, played in Hamburd, Germany, on 11/08-11 was won by Franz-Josef Dickhut 6d (r), in second was Johannes Obenaus 5d and third was Jun Tarumi 5d… Autumn Tournament (11/09): The Autumn Tournament, played in Kosice, Slovakia, on 10/27-28 was won by Adrian Lacko 12k, in second was Michal Kralik 5k and third was Zuzana Kralikova 11k… 5th Nam-Ban Cup (11/09): The 5th Nam-Ban Cup, played in Madrid, Spain, on 10/26-27 was won by Kiichi Matsumoto 1k, in second was Fernando Holgado 3k and third was Diego Alonso 2k.
- excerpted from EuroGoTV, which includes complete winner reports, crosstabs and photos. Edited by Taylor Litteral

Wayne B. Nelson didn’t even need komi to win our photo caption contest. His entry – “I should’ve started learning this game when I was little” – topped the runner-up, Solomon Smilack’s “Cross cut? I think I’ll try crawling instead” 36.7% to a distant 19.6%. Eric Osman (“But Daddy, I don’t think that ladder really works”) tied with Joel Olson and Teddy Terpstra (“Please turn the page”) at 18.4% each, while Terry Benson (“New Fuseki”) gets an Honorable Mention at 7%. The baby is Nathan Bengtson,  son of Matt Bengtson and Seohee You. Now all of three months old, Nathan was “less than a month old and already studying hard!” says proud poppa Matt. No word on the tyke’s current rating…
GOT PHOTO? If you’ve got a great go photo for a future caption contest, we want to see it! Email it to us at journal@usgo.org 

Contact Tony Hoffman, 661-747-9341, or tonymichelehoffman@gmail.com if you are in Marin County,CA and want to learn or play go. Tony is a resident of San Rafael and lives aboard his boat in the Loch Lomand Marina.

After 35 years, Go World will cease publication after the next issue. “We regret to inform you that there will only be one more issue, #129, of Go World published,” Richard Bozulich writes in a letter now being received by subscribers. “After that Kiseido will cease publication.” “By relieving ourselves of the burdens of putting out Go World, we can devote ourselves to putting out some other kinds of publications,” Bozulich tells the EJ. For example, “We will be publishing a new book on December 5 titled, Fight Like a Pro — The Secrets of Kiai.”  And, adds Bozulich, “After I publish this book, I am going to work on another project aimed at teaching go to children, called How to Develop a Photographic Memory and Turn Your Child into a Genius. Of course there will be more than go in the contents, but go will be the centerpiece.”  Published continuously since 1977, Go World was for many years the sole source of go news and instruction for Western players, who eagerly awaited each quarterly issue, packed with instructional articles on tactics and strategy for beginners and stronger players alike as well as articles on the background and history of the game. High production values were the magazine’s hallmark, from the full-color reproductions of go prints on the cover to detailed analyses of top international title matches, featuring Korean, Chinese and Japanese players. Bozulich and longtime go author John Power – who also collaborated on many now-classic go books – “inspired a new generation of go writers, publishers and journalists,” said American Go E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock. “Go World set a standard for excellence, longevity and commitment to the game of go that we can only dream of achieving.” Click here to purchase the final issue of Go World.

Does Won Seogjin 9P’s promise to dance Gangnam style if he won in the Samsung Cup also apply to the LG Cup? Won (l), known as ‘Won Punch’ for his powerful haymaker, promised his fans he’d do his version of South Korean pop artist PSY’s megahit if he defended his Samsung Cup title earlier this year, but the lighthearted hopes of many go fans were dashed when Park Junghwan 9P eliminated Won in the Samsung quarter finals. Now Won has earned the right to defend his LG Cup title against Shi Yue 5P, reigniting hopes that Won will have a chance to show off his dance moves if he wins the LG. Shi defeated Kang Dongyun 9P to advance to the final, marking another challenge by a member of the “Chinese Tiger Club Generation” so called because of their young age and fierce fighting styles. Won bested Choi Cheolhan 9P in his bid to repeat his championship run from last year. The 17th LG Cup will be decided by a best-of-3 match in mid-February 2013. Games will be broadcast live on Baduk TV.
Adapted from a report on Go Game Guru; click here for game records and more information.

On November 12 and 14, Lee Sedol 9P of Korea and Gu Li 9P of China swept the 17th Samsung Cup semifinals, both defeating their opponents 2-0. Gu and Lee now proceed to the Cup finals, which will be played December 11-13 in Korea and broadcast live on Baduk TV. Interestingly, the two superstars have only met in two international tournament finals, which account for 7 of their past 30 games. The two are neck and neck at 4-3 in Gu’s favor in international finals; Gu won the 13th LG Cup in 2009 2-0 and Lee won the 3rd BC Card Cup 3-2 in 2011. Gu has a slight lead in their overall head-to-head, with a 15-14 record. This finals series will decide who takes the lead from here. Their 29th game during the Samsung Group Stage resulted in a spectacular quadruple ko, which was ruled a draw and Gu won the rematch to pull ahead by one game.
- adapted from a report on GoGameGuru, which includes extensive reports, photos and game records from the Samsung Cup; photo: Lee Sedol (left) and Gu Li (right) with famous Korean musician and amateur go player Kim Janghoon at the 17th Samsung Cup semifinals.

Almost three months after the 37^th Meijin title match started, Yamashita Keigo 9P prevailed in the decisive final game on November 12 and 13 in Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan, successfully defending his Meijin title for the first time. As if trying to prove a point after Hane Naoki 9P forced a seventh game, Yamashita started a severe attack around move 60 and skillfully carried the momentum from one attack to another, winning convincingly in just 138 moves. No doubt Yamashita’s focus will now shift to taking the Honinbo title back from Iyama Yuta, but first, there should be a little time to sit back and enjoy some Yamanashi wine.
- adapted from a report on GoGameGuru, which includes game records for all seven games.

Just back from extensive filming in Asia, The Surrounding Game  documentary team is now in post-production. “We’ve hired an assistant editor to prep us for the editing and organizational process,” reports co-director Cole Pruitt. “We’re now in the process of transcoding, logging, and labeling all of our footage, which totals over 200 hours and includes several languages, countries, and of course, dozens and dozens of go players!” The filmmakers expect to begin fulfilling promised rewards to Kickstarter backers “as the materials trickle in,” Pruitt adds, while they continue to do “small bits of filming here and there” to assemble the last pieces. “We’re extremely grateful for the continued support of the American and international go communities and are looking forward to the next several months of making the film,” Pruitt says. With some 30 hours of interviews in Chinese or Korean, the filmmakers are looking for translation help. “These exclusive interviews include Chang Hao 9P, Lee Sedol 9P, the editor-in-chief of the World of Weiqi magazine, and several more high-profile figures,” says Pruitt, “so this a chance to see them before anyone else!” Translators need to be fluent readers/speakers in English and Chinese or Korean. Anyone interested should email surroundinggame@gmail.com.
photo: Co-director Will Lockhart (l), photographer Colin Sonner (middle) and Field Producer/Translator Cherry Shen (r) interview an 11-year-old Chinese 5 dan and her father in Shanghai at the Holiday Go Club; photo by Nik Gonzales

“I recently went to the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego to see Allegiance, a musical about the Japanese internment camps in the US,” writes San Diego Go Club President Ted Terpstra. “Powerful stuff. They had an accompanying exhibit of artifacts of the camps in the Museum of Man next door. There was even a go board and stones that had been smuggled into the camp because ‘Japanese’ cultural things were prohibited. Note that the board has been used so much that the lines have been worn off.”
photos by Ted Terpstra