In a thrilling display of strategic prowess, Alexander Qi emerged as the undefeated champion at this year's New York State Championship held at the prestigious New York Institute of Go. The title of New York State Champion was claimed by Alan Huang. With over 90 players, including more than 35 youth competitors, the stakes were high and the competition fierce.
Organized by NYGI’s Stephanie Yin and Ryan Li and directed by Trevor Morris, this year's championship introduced Fischer time settings, a game-changer in the world of Go tournaments. First popularized at the New Jersey Open many years ago, Fischer time provides advantages both to players, who can focus more on the game and less on maximizing time via playing some moves artificially slowly to maximize byo-yomi, and for tournament cadence, as the games typically finish within the allotted time. Aaron Julian provided excellent operational support, ensuring that matches flowed seamlessly.
The tournament pairings were run without taking age into consideration, but the prizes were awarded separately to adult and youth divisions.
Michael Chen secured second place in a closely contested battle, while other adult division standouts included Jerry Ju 4d, Yang Li 3d, Rudi Chen 1k, and Janis Rancourt 17k.In the youth division, Kevin Yang 5d emerged triumphant, along with rising stars like Alexander G Corsiglia 4k, William Allen 15k, and Youxian Jiang 21k.
photos: bottom left: tournament organizer Ryan Li; NY State Champion Alan Huang, AGF president Terry Benson. Bottom right: Ryan Li with tournament winner Alexander Qi. Top right: Youth players showing off their trophies and certificates. Top left: Ryan Li, TD Trevor Morris, runner-up Michael Chen, Terry Benson.