News / Articles

54th New Jersey Open Set for March 2-3 in Princeton

The Princeton Go Club will host the 54th annual New Jersey Open the weekend of March 2-3, reports co-director Rick Mott. The 2-day, 5-round event has been running for more than half a century, and on the Princeton campus for 23 years. Registration is 9-10A Saturday, March 3. Email co-director Mott for full details at rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu. Go has a long history at Princeton. The Princeton club was founded by Professor Ralph J. Fox of the Department of Mathematics in 1945, who continued to promote go in Princeton until his untimely death in 1973. Professor Fox brought a number of Japanese professionals to visit Princeton, and often hosted them at his house. His late wife Cynthia bequeathed some of his books, photographs and papers to the club archives. Perhaps the most famous association of Princeton with go is an opening scene in the film "A Beautiful Mind", depicting the life of Nobel laureate John Nash Jr., in which Nash is challenged to a game by a fellow graduate student. The Princeton club hosted the fifth US Go Congress in 1989. The following year, the long-standing New Jersey Open, one of the earliest regional events in the US, moved to the Princeton campus where it continues to be held. The tournament has drawn up to 120 players from Virginia to Massachusetts, with occasional visitors from as far away as Europe and Asia. Past NJO winner and former club president Zhaonian (Michael) Chen '11 (AGA 7D) is the highest-rated player to date to be part of the Princeton community. He was part of the first group of students from the nearby Feng Yun Go School to reach college age. Freshman Zhongxia (Ricky) Zhao '16, AGA 7D, also studied with Feng Yun (photo). "In recent years, we have had an influx of college club players, notably Stony Brook and Rutgers. This year, Cornell has told us they will be sending a group as well," Mott tells the E-Journal.
photo: Feng Yun analyzing a top-board game at the 2010 NJO; photo by John Pinkerton