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Evanston Go Club tournament attracts diverse, far-flung -- and new -- crowd

The Evanston Go Club’s November 10 fall tournament drew 42 players from five states; Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and, “Wait for it,” said TD Mark Rubenstein, “Hawaii!” The diverse field included players ranging in rank from 26k to 7d. Albert Yen 7d, a regular at the Evanston tournaments for many years, was able to play his first-ever even game against another 7 dan, Boya (Eric) Hu. “With 13 dans, 15 single-digit kyus, 14 double-digit kyus, and ages ranging from 7 to 70, this tournament was one to be remembered!” said Rubenstein. “And exactly half the participants were first-time attendees; a new record!” Daniel Lambert, who streams his games on Twitch, was recording his games at the tournament and has posted them online with commentary. And Xinming Simon Guo, the AGA’s 2015 Teacher of the Year, was there teaching some of his youngest students.

Prizes were supplied by Yellow Mountain Imports. “YMI has been donating prizes to us for many years; thanks Yellow Mountain!” said Rubenstein. “You’ll notice all the DDK winners played six games,” Rubenstein added. “In fact, thirteen players played more than four games, which is the minimum to be eligible for a prize. This is one of the advantages of self-paired tournaments; players can play as many games as they like. You’ll also notice that Jim Benthem is holding three coins in his hand, and is the only one without a prize. That’s because there were only two prizes available for the Dan section, so the three players agreed to flip coins for them… and Jim lost the toss.” 

As is the tradition, about a dozen players and family members went out for pizza after the tournament. Click here  for more photos. Winners: Dan division:  3-way tie for first place (no second place): Albert Yen 7d (3-1), Yang Yang 3d (3-1); James Benthem 1d (3-1) Single-Digit Kyu division: Tied for first place: Laura Moon 2k (4-0), Steffen Kurz 4k (4-0); Second place: Daniel Lambert 6k (4-1) Double-Digit Kyu division: First place: Blake O’Day 10k (6-0); Tied for second place: Mike O’Day 15k (5-1), Jowita Wisniewski 20k (5-1) Update (11/14): Links added for Daniel Lambert.