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Place :College Tunku Abdul Rahman

Date : 8th June 2013(Saturday) and 9th June 2013 (Sunday)

Entry Fee : Dan Level = RM 60 Kyu Level = RM 40

P/s: For non-MWA member and non-student will have extra RM 10 surcharge for registration.

Contact : Jimmy 012-2009396

P/s: Meal and T-shirt will be included for registration before 15th May 2013

Go to Malaysia Weiqi Association facebook to download registration form.

Time is running out to register for the American Go Honor Society’s 14th annual School Team Tournament. On March 16th and 23rd, go clubs from across North America will compete online for glory and prizes.  Each school may enter up to three teams, consisting of three players of any levels from the same K-12 school. There are multiple divisions, so teams of any level will be able to compete.  A total of $3,000 in prizes will be awarded, with prizes in each division, but also to every team that has a high participation rate. Visit www.aghs.cc to register and to read important information about the new rules and prizes. The registration deadline has been extended to March 6th, so gather a team from your school and enter before it’s too late. -Julian Erville, AGHS Vice President.

A group of 12 American players, including AGA President Andy Okun, visited Cuba on February 16th-17th for a friendship match with local players. Follows a report in Spanish by Rafael Miranda of the Cuban Academy of Go.

El sábado 16 y domingo 17 pasado; se celebró en la Academia Cubana de Go, el 2do Intercambio Cuba-EUA, el primero fue en el año 2000,organizado por Peter Shotwell, en ese entonces 28 norteamericanos viajaron a la isla y el intercambio fue solo amistoso no competitivo como en esta oportunidad, donde 12 jugadores organizados esta vez por Robert Gilman, se entusiasmaron en conocer la Academia Cubana de Go y sus jugadores, el torneo se organizo en tres grupos, Grupo Dan, Grupo Kyu fuerte y Grupo Kyu débil, en un sistema de 3 partidos diarios, dos en la mañana y uno en la tarde, a una hora finish con Komi de 6 1/2 puntos. El equipo norteamericano fue el mismo para los dos días de competencias; hubo dos equipos Cuba para diferentes días. El sábado 16 ganó el equipo norteño 24 por 9 donde Cuba solo supero en el Grupo Kyu Débil y el domingo 17 repitió la victoria los del norte esta vez 20 a 13 siendo Cuba superior en los Kyu Fuertes. En el grupo norteamericano integraba la nómina Andy Okun 1 Dan, presidente de la Asociación Americana de Go. Los partidos fueron muy buenos y en oportunidades bien reñidos. Durante la semana se estuvieron realizando partidos amistosos y entablándose una relación de amistad muy bonita entre visitantes y nacionales. Este intercambio dejó la perspectiva de seguir desarrollándose en próximas ediciones.

Lets start with some positive news! The first ladder game of the year was played this Monday, in Dublin’s venue of choice, Larry Murphy’s. Marek Gutowski won against Arthur Cater, thereby moving himself up to 6th place, and inside the Korea Points positions.

By contrast, the Irish team were failing dismally in the international arena. Gavin Rooney, so far undefeated in the team competition, finally lost a game in our match with Turkey. The rest of the team, sadly used to him leading by example, followed suit, and a difficult result of 0-4 followed. Hopefully next time, the match strategy will have been explained more carefully by the coach.

Finally, just in case you missed it, the Irish Go Congress is this weekend. Don’t miss out on this important event, we’ve already had many strong players from Europe register to play.

Fifteen-year-old Andrew Lu 6d has just won the Senior Division of the US Youth Go Championships, dethroning Calvin Sun 7d, age 16, who has had a lock on this event for the past six years.  Sun seemed almost sure to win again, emerging from the finals with a perfect record, and defeating Lu (at left) in the final round of the qualifiers.  Both boys then started fresh in the four-player double-elimination finals, which began on Jan. 20th.  Sun defeated Andrew Huang 6d in round 1, while Lu defeated talented newcomer Albert Yen 6d, who at just 12 years of age is proving to be a force to be reckoned with.  Round 2 gave Sun another edge, defeating Lu, while Yen knocked Huang out.  Yen then faced Lu a second time, and the victor would go on to face Sun.  Although he fought his best, Yen was not able to prevail and was eliminated.  This left Lu in the uncomfortable position of being out if he lost a game, but needing to defeat Sun twice in a row in order to win.  Despite having lost to Sun in both of their previous matches, Lu was determined to break through.  He opened strongly in round 4, on Feb. 16th, and then waged and won a protracted ko fight to claim a decisive victory.  The final showdown came Feb 23rd, and again featured a strong opening from Lu.  Sun tried to create complications, but in the end was down by komi, and resigned.  The game is attached below.  To get a sense of just how difficult a player Calvin Sun is to beat, check out the members-only Feng Yun commentary on Lu and Sun’s earlier match up in the qualifiers, where Sun turns the tables on Lu.  With this victory under his belt, Lu is now the US National Youth Champion, and has won a free trip to the US Go Congress.  The Junior Division matches are not yet finished, but the E-J will report the results when the final games are played.  Paul Barchilon - E-J Youth Editor.  Photo: Andrew Lu 6d 

March 2: Sacramento, CA
Davis/Sacramento Spring Quarterly
Willard Haynes willard@emeritus.csus.edu 916-929-6112

March 2: Simsbury, CT
Simsbury Open Scholastic Go Championship
Michael Scudder michael.j.scudder@gmail.com 860-738-7350
Gert Hilhorst gert@hilhorst.onmicrosoft.com

March 2-3: Princeton, NJ
New Jersey Open 2013
Rick Mott rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu 609-466-3306
Paul Matthews paul@fengyungoschool.com

March 3: Seattle, WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Brian Allen manager@seattlego.org 206-545-1424 206-632-1122

Get the latest go events information.

Last February 10th, the Mexican Go Association together with the Chess National School held their first Under 15 Youth Tournament. We had participants from Lancaster School, Chess National School and Pipiolo Art School accompanied by their respective teachers: Emil García, Iván Olguin and Siddhartha Ávila. It was a great event were the children got the chance to play with kids from different schools, backgrounds and styles. The event was mainly dominated by the students from Pipiolo school which also belong to the Mexican Go Community and have more experience competing. The surprise was given by Chess School student Angel Calvo, whom with little experience finished second. “This is the first of many steps to come in the road of linking the different sectors that are promoting youth Go in Mexico”, Mexican Go Association organizer and teacher Emil García reports.

The winners:

1st - Leonardo P. - Valdovinos Pipiolo Art School
2nd - Angel Calvo - Chess National School
3rd - Samuel Suaustegui - Pipiolo Art School

The New Jersey Open, to be held at Princeton University in New Jersey March 2-3, will be the second of 2013′s NAMT points qualifiers after January’s Jujo Jiang Ing Goe tournament in San Francisco. A large tournament with a great history of more than half a century, the New Jersey Open is often a draw for strong players “and will be a fantastic opportunity for them to earn points,” notes AGA Tournament Coordinator Karoline Burrall. As the first qualifier for the Eastern region, participating strong players will be eligible to earn points towards the North American Masters Tournament at this year’s US Go Congress in Tacoma, Washington. Registration is 9-10A Saturday, March 3. Email co-director Mott for full details at rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu.

Shi Yue 5P took this year’s LG Cup, and his first international title, defeating Won Soengjin 9P in two straight games in the best-of-3 final.

Shi became a Chinese professional player 10 years ago, but an international title has eluded him until now. Per Chinese Go Association rules, he will now be promoted to 9D.

His style has always fared well against Korean pros, like Won. Shi’s record in 2012 was 17-2.

This marks the 5th consecutive year China has taken the LG Cup title, beating Korea’s previous streak of four, giving Korea even more of an incentive to try to take back the Cup next year.

Adapted from a report on Go Game Guru; click for game records and more information. Edited by Ben Williams

The Ing Foundation has announced its qualifier tournament for the World Youth Go Championships (WYGC), to be held March 9th and 10th.  The new tournament has changed many of the requirements, added new prizes, and created a two step process.  The qualifiers will be open to youth under 21, of any strength, and will be held on KGS.  Two winners in each age bracket (under 16 and under 12) will be invited to compete live in Menlo Park, CA, for finals on March 22 and 23.  The winner will then be invited to compete at the WYGC, which will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, this August.  Another addition is the inclusion of a “special recommendation” player, who can be any youth player 3k or stronger, who  is recommended by their go club, teacher, or other organization.  Details on the tournament, including registration information, can be found in the attached PDF file here: WYGC.  The deadline to register is March 3rd.  Information on the WYGC tourney in Prague can be found here: WYGC_flyer. - Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo: Tyn Church in Prague.