A few simple rules ... limitless possibilities

The go9dan.com game this Saturday between Lee Sedol 9P and Gansheng Shi 1P has been postponed “while we move go9dan’s main server to Hong Kong this weekend,” reports Michael Simon. The match will likely be rescheduled for Saturday, April 13 at 10p. Lee is 7-0 in the AGA-Europe Pro vs. Sedol 10-Game Series.

“The Spring Go Expo has something for everyone,” said organizer Michael Fodera as he announced the opening of the 2013 Spring Go Expo at Harvard University’s Student Organization Center at Hillel last weekend.

And so it did. Spread out across four connected areas in a student lounge, the Expo featured exciting performances, thoughtful presentations from a scholarly perspective and an exclusive 15-minute segment of the upcoming documentary film The Surrounding Game. The event was organized by The American Collegiate Go Association  (ACGA) and the  Harvard University Go Club and sponsored by the Ing Chang-ki Weiqi Association.

And for those who wanted it, there was plenty “real go,”  with a self-paired tournament, plenty of space for casual play and simultaneous play with top players ranging from Ing Cup winner Chang Hao 9P to America’s newly minted pros Andy Liu 1P and Gangsheng Shi 1P. Narumi Osawa 4P, a Japanese pro currently touring the US, and US-based Chinese 1P Stephanie Yin also made generous use of their time, joining the others in simultaneous play and instruction.   Mid-level players also had the opportunity to play Chinese National University Champion John Xiao and American 7-dan Ben Lockhart. The first round of simuls began at 9a on Saturday.

“Many go events focus on tournament play, but we also wanted to include teaching, and exposure to other aspects of Asian life,” Fodera continued. “Go is considered one of the ‘Four Accomplishments’ in China, so let’s learn more about the others,” he said, yielding the stage to Shin Yi-yang, an accomplished player of the qin. Meanwhile, calligraphers from The Chinese Culture Connection demonstrated their art,  and drummers from The Rhode Island Kung Fu Club chased a  large dragon throughout the space as attendees enjoyed a free lunch. While self-paired and casual games continued, filmmakers Cole Pruitt and Will Lockhart presented a 15-minute of their exciting documentary scheduled for release later this year. After a lecture by Prof. Elywn Berlekamp on “Coupon Go,” Liu played an exhibition game against Hao, losing by only 3.5 points.

On Sunday, while younger players competed in a Youth Tournament, more than 50 participants played and recorded games that were then analyzed in small groups by the professionals. Peter Schumer reprised his college go course talk from this year’s International Go Symposium. (click here to view Schumer’s Symposium talk), and Thomas Wolf described his work studying “The Mathematics of Seki.” Pruitt, Lockhart, Fodera and all the ACGA organizers can take pride in a job in a job well done and extended grateful thanks to the Shanghai Ing Foundation, especially its director, Lu Wen Zhen, and the Secretary General, Ni Yaoliang, who traveled from Shanghai to attend the event.
- report/photos by Roy Laird; collage by Chris Garlock

In an ironic showdown between the computer and ‘The Computer’, computer go program Crazy Stone defeated Ishida Yoshio 9P on March 20 at the sixth annual Computer Go UEC Cup in Japan. Ishida, 64, was nicknamed ‘The Computer’ in his prime, because of the accuracy of his counting and endgame skills. Rémi Coulum’s program took just four stones against the former Honinbo champion and won by 2.5 points. After the game, Ishida said he thought Crazy Stone was a “genius,” evincing special admiration for the program’s “calmness” and “flexibility.” Takao Shinji 9P also offered words of praise, calling one of the program’s moves “the kind of move a human would overlook.” UEC chairperson Takeshi Ito expressed his hope that the UEC Cup will continue to “function as a place where program developers can meet face-to-face and make technological changes,” adding that “we should never forget the human being using the programs to play the game.” Rather than seeing computer go advancement as another competition, Takeshi said he believes computer go program technology “should be useful for and able to enrich the hearts of human beings.” Coulom and Crazy Stone also won the 6th Computer Go UEC Cup a week earlier, defeating the defending champion, Zen. For game records and more information about the Ishida-Crazy Stone match, click here.
- Annalia S. Linnan, based on a longer report on Go Game Guru 

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for The Surrounding Game documentary team. They launched an online “collaborative game,” premiered an extended preview of the film at last weekend’s well-attended Spring Go Expo in Boston and kicked off a campaign to raise $30,000 to finish their film. Director Will Lockhart is especially excited about the collaborative game, saying that “You can go to the game and vote for your move, and at the end of the day the votes are tallied and one move is played per day!  I think it should lead to a very interesting game.” An interesting thing to consider, says Lockhart, is “what level of play is reached when each move is decided by democratic vote?” The fundraiser aims to raise the caliber and potential impact of the The Surrounding Game “by hiring a professional editor and paying for legitimate distribution,” Lockhart explains. With less than a month to go, they’ve raised almost $6,000 thus far; click here to see who’s contributed.

A special election is being held to fill the Central Region board seat vacated recently by Bob Barber (Barber & Smith Moving On, Central Region Seeks New Board Members 2/8/2013 EJ). The election is being conducted on a compressed time frame, with nominations closing April 15 and ballots due back by May 1. The winner, who will serve out the remaining year of Barber’s term, will be announced on May 2. Lisa Scott has volunteered to serve the last few months of departing board member Daniel Smith, who was also from the Central Region. The regular elections and call for nominations for the 2013-2015 board seats will be announced on May 4. Details on qualifications and nominations are available on the AGA Election page; questions can be sent to elections@usgo.org.

Beat Chinese amateur 6-dan Bao Yun and you could win a million RMB ($160,000 USD). There’s a catch: you have to beat him blindfolded. Famous in the Chinese weiqi community for being able to play  blindfolded, Bao has not lost a single game when both sides play blindfolded. His opponents have included professional players and now he’s extending his challenge to the whole world. Bao has played as many as four boards simultaneously blindfolded, and when he visited Singapore, he won against a Singapore 5 dan who was not blindfolded, in a game that lasted 220 moves. Bao says that his strength when playing blindfolded is about one stone weaker than usual. A Korean baduk station recently broadcast a program called Dark Room Game, in which two professionals play blindfolded up to 100 moves. If any side makes an illegal move, they lose a point; after 100 moves, they take off the blindfold and continue regularly. Click here for two games a blindfolded Bao played simultaneously against two players, a 4-dan and a 3-dan.
- translated from a Chinese news report by Zhiping You

Japanese 4-dan professional Narumi Osawa (right) will give a free talk and simul in Washington, DC on April 2. The event, which will run from 7-9:30p, is co-hosted by the Japanese Embassy the Greater Washington Go Club and will be held at the Japan Information and Cultural Center in downtown Washington, at 1150 18th St. NW. Born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan on May 22nd, 1976. Ms. Osawa became professional 1-dan in 1998, was promoted to 2-dan in 1999, 3-dan in 2003, and 4-dan in 2009. She won the Women’s Kakusei title in 1999 and 2003, and the Women’s JAL titlein 2005. She participated in the 16th Asian Tournament as a member of the Japanese National Team. The free event will have two parts: a short talk designed for beginners, then a simultaneous exhibition followed by a short analysis of highlights from these games.

“I’m looking for a good Mac computer go program to play against as I learn,” writes an EJ reader, “any suggestions?” Email suggestions to journal@usgo.org

March 30: Rochester, NY
Empty Sky Spring Tournament
Steve Colburn tournament@emptysky.org 585-703-3977

Get the latest go events information.

On March 17th a group of Bay Area Go Players Association volunteers gathered and gave free go lessons to beginners in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood (across the bay from San Francisco). More than 35 people of various ages and diverse backgrounds learned to play go at this fourth annual event. Each took home the informative Way to Go booklet and a 9×9 starter go set. Herb Doughty, a veteran go teacher in the local community, recalled his high point of the day: “I spent some time this afternoon teaching four members of one family, spanning three generations.” Event organizer and Bay Area Go board member Jay Chan reports, “It was a lot of fun. We’re planning to do it again later this year – next time in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood.” An AGA ratings tournament was held concurrently with the free lessons, and Argentinian Gabriel Benmergui 6d dominated the dan section with four wins and no losses.
- Roger Schrag 

Paul Anderson, former President of the American Go Association and the New York Go Center, has died. Anderson worked at IBM in New York and Japan for many years, and arranged the IBM-sponsored matches in the late 1980s. He was President of the American Go Association for two years in the late 1960s, leading an AGA delegation to Japan, and President of the New York Go Center from 2005 to 2009. “Paul was a department head in IBM Japan (my memory is that he was head of the printer division for Asia),” writes go journalist John Power, “and he persuaded IBM to sponsor a fast-play tournament — one hour per player plus 30 seconds per move — with limited international participation (two Chinese and two Koreans in a first round of 64). It lasted for three terms from 1988 to 1990.” Power also notes that “Yi Ch’ang-ho made his international debut in the first tournament, but won only one game. An American and a European also played in the qualifying tournament.”

The exhibition match between Chang Hao 9P and Andy Liu 1P was broadcast live on KGS on March 23. Stephanie Yin 1P and Gansheng Shi 1P provided live commentary; Yi Tong recorded the game and Todd Blatt transcribed the

download SGF file

commentary.  The match was part of the ACGA Spring Go Expo, a two-day event held jointly at Harvard University and MIT, sponsored by the American Ing Foundation. The Expo also includes simultaneous matches against professional players, a preview of “The Surrounding Game,” the first feature-length documentary on go, presentations by experts in game theory, and Chinese culture, public teaching and demonstrations, a youth go tournament, and cultural performances.

Tim Klancisar 4k won the Kyu Turnir tournament, played on March 23 in Kranj, Slovenia. Pavel Kos 4k was second and in third was Peter Gaber 1k. NOTE: The photo of Jin Zou 6d in our 3/20 China Cup report (Jin Zou 6d Repeats as China Cup Winner in Berlin) was courtesy EuroGoTV.
- adapted from a report on EuroGoTV; click here for all their latest reports; photo: Anna Marconi 11k, who  placed 4 of 17. Result table. 

The American Go Association recently launched its official Facebook page. “Like” this page and follow it for information about go and the AGA. There’s also now a Google+ community for the AGA; join the community and follow the latest news there as well. “We will investigate additional uses of both of these social networks and associated tools,” says Bart Jacob, who’s helping coordinate social media for the AGA. Options include using Hang Outs in the Google+ community for live discussions around topics of interest to AGA members and the go community in general. “Post your ideas, suggestions and feedback on both of these sites,” Jacob urges.

The Ing Foundation is holding its final round for the World Youth Goe Qualifier this weekend, in Menlo Park California.  Andrew Lu 6d and Albert Yen 6d will compete in the Senior Division; Jeremy Chiu 5d and Austen Liao 3d will compete in the Junior Division.  Ing coordinator John Kwei also announced that the “Special Representation” position is still open, and interested parties may contact the Ing Foundation.  Download the attached file to apply. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

The Walthers brothers are tantalizingly close to raising the $8,000 they need to create a free movie trailer (German Brothers Team Up to Produce “Fascinating” Go Video  2/4/2013 EJ) to inspire more go enthusiasts. Sven Walther, a go player and computer scientist, and his brother Lars, an actor and filmmaker, plan to make the video available on YouTube, so anyone “can use it to promote the game wherever you want.” Their goal “is not to explain the rules, but to create some fascinating atmosphere to represent the game. The novice will see it and say ‘Whoa, what’s that game? Wanna learn more!’” The project will only receive funds if at least $8,000 is raised by Monday, March 25 at 11:59PM PT.
- Annalia Linnan 

Former German go champion Jin Zou 6d won the 4th China Cup in Berlin on March 17.

Zou (left), who lives in Leipzig, won last year and defended his Golden Challenge Cup against Ma Xiao 5d, who took second place, and Johannes Obenaus  5d, who was third. The Cup was held in the Chinese Cultural Center Berlin, surrounded by Chinese culture, enabling local participants to meet go players from China. Free tournament admission has been granted to players of Chinese nationality since the very first China Cup. The tournament also serves to build a bridge between Berlin, capital of Germany, and Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province. The Cup is supported by some local companies from Hangzhou and Chinese professionals sometimes make an appearance. A highlight this year was the presence of Hang Tianpeng 4P from China. Hang is the director of the Weiqi school in Hangzhou, where last year three students successfully became new go professionals. Hang commented tournament games for Cup participants, gave a short workshop and promised to give additional workshops especially for kids and teens in Berlin. Click here for complete tournament results.
- Jan Engelhardt, E-Journal Correspondent; photo courtesy EuroGoTV

Tian-Ren Chen retained his British Youth Go Championship title on March 17, defending the title he won last year. Second was Matei Mandache, a fellow-student at Loughborough School. The Castledine Trophy was won this year by Loughborough, who beat Aston 2-1. The Best Primary School award went to Sandilands, Manchester, who entered five 8- and 9-year-olds, who enjoyed some successes in this their first-ever tournament away from their school. This year’s event was held at the new venue of King Edward VI (Aston) School, Birmingham, attracting 27 competitors aged 7 to 18, with strengths from 37 kyu to 1 dan. An Easter egg prize was awarded to each of the winners and runners-up in each age group, as well as those with 3 or 4 wins. There were also prizes for the three children who correctly answered all the go puzzles on a hand-out. Tony Atkins was again the master of ceremonies, organizing the pairings for each of the 5 rounds, and presenting the prizes. Click here for complete results.
- adapted from a report on the British Go Association website

Play continued last weekend in the Pandanet-AGA City League A and B Leagues, as the top players in the country competed in some thrilling games. All three of the A League Board 2 matches last weekend featured exciting ko fights: Eric Lui (Greater Washington) defeated Daniel Ko (LA), Jie Liang (Boston) beat Edward Kim (Seattle 1), and Zhaonian Chen (NYC) defeated Bill Lin (Vancouver). As it stands, Los Angeles defeated Greater Washington 2-1, Boston downed Seattle 1 2-1, and Vancouver BC vs New York City stands at 1-1. Los Angeles is currently leading the league with 6 points followed by Greater Washington and Boston with 4 points each. Play continues with all Leagues on March 31st starting at 1PM EST, when you can watch live on IGS. All up-to-date results can be found on the City League pages.

The Western Massachusetts Go Club is honoring Teddy Feldman (In Memoriam: Teddy Feldman 3/3 EJ) by renaming their summer tournament The Teddy Feldman and Dolph Rosoff Memorial Tournament. Feldman, 89, a long-time contributor to the American go scene, passed away on March 1. After teaching herself to play go in 1955, she soon became a regular at The Marshall Chess Club in Manhattan, the first go venue in New York City. She and her late husband Dolph Rosoff were very active in helping to develop the early go scene in Washington Park Greenwich Village and the upper west side Nippon Club. She was single-handedly responsible for teaching the game to hundreds of people. Teddy Feldman was granted a Shodan Diploma from Iwamoto Honinbo, making her the first woman amateur shodan outside Asia. She was later granted a 2-Dan diploma by legendary professionalEio Sakata. She was a frequent player at innumerable go meets, Congresses and tournaments, where her joy at playing, spirit of teaching and learning always shone through. She is survived by her sons Micah 5 Dan and David, many grand and great-grandchildren, and a large extended family.A future memorial service is planned. Micah (myfeldman@yahoo.com) 413-530-8040 can be contacted for further information.
- photo: Teddy Feldman at the ’87 US Go Congress; photo courtesy Bill Saltman