More than 60 Go players came from around the U.S. to compete in the 2024 California State Go
Championship last weekend, November 30-December 1. They hailed from Washington state, New York, Maryland, Texas, North Dakota as well, naturally, as a plethora of players from across California, from the San Francisco Bay area to the border with Mexico.
This was the seventh year that the San Diego Go Club (SDGC) has hosted the event and the strength of the tournament was reflected in the twenty-player Open, with two 5-dans and the rest 6- and 7-dans, including a professional. Thirty players had wanted to enter the Open section, but only the top 20 were allowed in, so several 4- and 5-dan players formed the first section of the Handicap sections.
In the fifth and final round of the 2-day tournament, two undefeated 7-dans played for the California state championship, with Guanyu Song edging out North American Go Federation pro Calvin Sun – the 2018 state champion -- in a fierce battle.
SDGC President Enrique Garcia wanted to make the Open section special this year. The first board games, played on a 2-inch kaya board, were streamed on Twitter with post-game interviews with the players. Over 600 people watched over the streaming. Cloth tablecloths were put under all the game boards. Slate and shell stones were used on the top eight boards. Chocolates and bottles of water awaited all players. The Open was played in a separate quiet room from the handicap sections.
For the first time in SDGC tournament history, a female won the handicap section: Xuewei Chen, a ten-year-old from China Hills, CA went 5-0. The other undefeated player in the Handicap sections was Youngmin Kim from San Diego in the second section. Nine-year-old Leo Chen from Irvine, CA not only won the section three but won the traditional trophy for being the youngest player in the Handicap tournament.
The top three finishers by tie-breaks for the four sections:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Entering Rating
|
AGA Rating
|
City/State
|
|
Open: 1st Place
|
Guanyu Song
|
7.0d
|
7.0d
|
San Jose California
|
|
Open: 2nd Place
|
Calvin Sun
|
7.9d
|
7.9d
|
Cerritos California
|
|
Open: 3rd Place
|
Yiyao Hu
|
7.0d
|
New AGA
|
San Diego CA
|
|
Handicap: Division I: 1st Place
|
Xuewei Chen
|
2.6d
|
2.6d
|
chino hills ca
|
|
Handicap: Division I: 2nd Place
|
Igasho Yin
|
4.0d
|
2.8d
|
Irvine California
|
|
Handicap: Division I: 3rd Place
|
Zeyuan Zhang
|
4.2d
|
4.2d
|
San Jose CA
|
|
Handicap: Division II: 1st Place
|
Youngmin Kim
|
1.5k
|
1.5k
|
San Diego CA
|
|
Handicap: Division II: 2nd Place
|
Shawn Blue
|
3.3k
|
3.1k
|
Riverside CA
|
|
Handicap: Division II:
3rd Place
|
Arunas Rudvalis
|
6.0k
|
6.0k
|
Oceanside CA
|
|
Handicap: Division: III 1st Place
|
Leo Chen
|
18.0k
|
19.6k
|
Irvine CA
|
|
Handicap: Division: III 2nd Place
|
Daniel Guroff
|
9.2k
|
9.2k
|
San Diego California
|
|
Handicap: Division: III 3rd Place
|
Christopher Cho
|
13.3k
|
13.3k
|
Staten Island New York
|
photos and Story by Ted Terpstra
photos: top left: Xuewei Chen-Handicap Winner; top right: 2024 California State Go Champion Guanyu Song with SDGC President Enrique Garcia; bottom right: Calvin Sun 1p-Second place in the Open and past winner; bottom left: Top three of all sections; middle left: Leo Chen-winner of the Section 3 of the Handicap. Also youngest player in the tournament