The January 11 Colorado 2025 Winter Go Tournament “was a huge success,”
reports Solomon Smilack. The event was advertised in the local Korean newspaper, resulting in several newcomers for a total of 36 players, including a small 9x9 tournament for beginners, “which was an exciting mess,” Smilack says.
“At the prospect of having to play an adult in the first round of the 9x9 tournament, Sonya had some big emotions,” reports Smilack. “She then obliterated all opposition 4-0, drawing on an inner strength that was matched only by her exuberant trash talk.” Tournament officials had their hands full, as it was common to find boards on which groups of both colors had run out of liberties. Daniel finished second (3-1), dropping only one game to Sonya, and newcomer Jeremy Walsh took third place, graciously accepting byes so that no children would be left out.
The format for the 19x19 tournament was a 4-round Swiss at Handicap -1. Clocks were set to Fischer Bonus time at 10min + a 20sec increment (“The TD would now recommend 20min + a 15sec increment” Smilack notes). Everyone's experience was smoother with BadukClub's Tenjin Tournament tool, “which simplified the tasks of registration, pairings, results, standings, and reporting to the ratings system.”
Kent Evenson 1d went undefeated (4-0) to claim first place atop a field of 30 players. His third game was a contested half-point win, requiring adjudication from the TD after both players failed to provide prisoners during the passing phase. “Thankfully, adequate photographs had been taken of the final position so that it could be scored correctly,” says Smilack. Yun-Bo Yi 5d took second on tiebreakers over Cedric Arisdakessian 2d, who finished 3rd (both 3-1).
Four players achieved a 3-1 record in the SDK division, but SOS tiebreakers were enough to separate Rich Newman 9k as the winner; Jaden Iazukin 9k took 2nd and William Ott 4k took 3rd. Mike Davis 15k swept the DDK division (4-0); Jason May 16k took 2nd (3-1); David Brown 11k took 3rd (2-2) due to SOS.
Top finishers earned a pick of Go equipment, donated by local clubs, and they also look forward to personalized trophies. All the attendees also enjoyed pizza and duffeyrolls*, and were able to take home a Go book of their choice.
photos & report by Solomon Smilack 3d
* A local cinnamon roll specialty, “An elegant proprietary dough recipe featuring a perfect balance of light buttery crunchiness with a mouthwatering soft center.”