A few simple rules ... limitless possibilities

Those who were lucky enough to be able to attend Ireland’s premier event, the Confucius Cup, may like to see if they can spot themselves in the report published by the Sun Emerald – see here

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