12th Fujitsu Qualifier: Jan. 9-11, 1999 Houston, TX
Tournament Director: Mike Peng
The Houston Go Club hosted the 12th North American Fujitsu Qualifying tournament at the Hobby Airport Radisson Hotel in Houston. This was the second time that Houston has been a host to this tournament, the first time being 1994.
With the AGA's agreement twelve seats were offered to North American players instead of the usual sixteen. This was really a result of the continuing Asian economic problems and the poor exchange rate between the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar.
This year's invitees included Michael Redmond (Tokyo, Japan), Jimmy Cha (Fullerton, CA), Ho Suk Yi (Rowland Heights, CA), Hak Soo Kim (Los Angeles, CA) and Thomas Hsiang (Pittsford,NY), all seeded from the previous year's 11th Fujitsu Tournament. Other invitees were James Kerwin (Minneapolis, MN), Janice Kim (New York, NY), Ron Snyder (Westfield,NJ), James Chien (San Francisco, CA), Moon Chong Kim (Houston, TX), June Ki Beck (Toronto, Canada) and Carlos Torres (Mexico).
Unfortunately, heavy snow in Cincinnati, Ohio the airline cancelled June Ki Beck's flight to Houston. Mike Peng, the tournament director called on Joseph Wang of Jacksonville, Texas and asked him to fill Beck's slot as a house player. Joseph drove 200 miles at very short notice to play in the tournament.
Ron Snyder's also had his share of problems when his flight was delayed three hours. He eventually arrived at the Hotel after midnight in a taxi paid for by the airline.
The plan was to hold just one round on the first day (Sat, 1/9). The top four seeded players got byes to play their first game in the second round, per the AGA Tournament Director's recommendation. This was the same format that is commonly used for top tournaments in Japan when 24 players are invited with the top eight seeded players passing straight to the second round. In our tournament, Michael Redmond, Jimmy Cha, Hak Soo Kim and Ho Suk Yi were the top four seeded players who advanced to the second round without playing in the first round.
With Saturday afternoon being free, Thomas Hsiang, James Chien and Carlos Torres all visited the Houston Space Center. Henry Kao of the Houston Go Club ferried them to and from the tournament.
On Sunday, James Kerwin learned he had to leave early to take care of a family matter and had to forfeit his 4th round.
A local two-day tournament was held in the Radisson Hotel during the same weekend. Andy Kochis was the Tournament Director. There were 34 players attended the local tournament.
Jimmy Cha and Michael Redmond both advanced to the 4th round without a loss as expected. Jimmy won the tournament when Michael, playing white, resigned after 177 moves.
Results
| Player | Rnd 1 | Rnd 2 | Rnd 3 | Rnd 4 | Score | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Michael Redmond |
5+ | 3+ | 2- | 3 | 2 | |
| 2 | Jimmy Cha |
6+ | 4+ | 1+ | 4 | 1 | |
| 3 | Ho Suk Yi |
11+ | 1- | 6- | 2 | 5 | |
| 4 | Hak Soo Kim |
8+ | 2- | 11+ | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Thomas Hsiang |
9+ | 1- | 6- | 12+ | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | Ron Snyder |
10+ | 2- | 5+ | 3+ | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | James Kerwin |
11- | 10+ | 9+ | 8- | 2 | 8 |
| 8 | Moon Chong Kim |
12+ | 4- | 11- | 7+ | 2 | 9 |
| 9 | Joseph Wang |
5- | 12+ | 7- | 10+ | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Janice Kim |
6- | 7- | 12+ | 9- | 1 | 11 |
| 11 | James Chien |
7+ | 3- | 8+ | 4- | 2 | 6 |
| 12 |  Carlos Torres |
8- | 9- | 10- | 5- | 0 | 12 |