Fuzhi (Alvin) Huang 6-dan will be representing North America at the 23rd
World Student Go Oza Championship in Tokyo, Japan in February 2025. This tournament was founded in 2003 and is organized by the All-Japan Students Go Association as a way for top undergraduate university players around the world to both compete against each other and promote cultural exchange.
The North American qualifier was held on November 2nd, 2024 online on KGS, and consisted of a single-elimination tournament between four formidable amateur student players. Shang Zhou 7d from UC San Diego defeated Shanxu Wang 5d from University of Toronto, while Alvin Huang 6d from UC Irvine defeated Lambert Lee 7d from NYU. The final match was held the same evening, where Alvin Huang was victorious.
Alvin is currently studying economics and mathematics at the University of California, Irvine. A well-traveled and passionate Go enthusiast, he began learning Go at the age of 7 in his hometown of Jieyang, Guangdong, China. Since then, he has promoted Go while working in Nigeria, and was the Vice-President of his university's Go club while studying in Singapore. In 2022 he moved to the US to continue his studies and has been active in AGA tournaments, winning the 2022 Washington State Go Championship, achieving 3rd place in the California State Go Championship, and competing for Seattle in the A League of the Pandanet-AGA City League. After completing his studies, he hopes to use his skills and experiences to contribute to the development of Go in the United States. "I feel really excited and I expect the tournament in Japan to be both challenging and rewarding. I wish to perform at my best and represent North American Go with pride. Additionally, I look forward to making new friends from around the world and share our mutual passion for Go," he told the E-Journal.