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U.S. GO NEWS

KIM HIGHEST IN ROCKY MOUNTAINS: Joseph Kim 7d won the Rocky Mountain Spring Go Tournament, held March 27 in Denver, CO. Forty-eight players 96 a new record - participated and Eric Wainwright directed. 93It was very gratifying to see a lot of new faces mixed in with the old-timers,94 Eric reports. 93It appears that the 91Hikaru no Go92 Japanese anime is responsible for generating much of the interest among younger players.94 Full results:
High dan - 1st: Joseph KIM, 7d; 2nd: Jung Hoon LEE, 8d
Low dan/high kyu - 1st: Anthony KENYON, 5k; 2nd: Bob SORENSON, 4k
Mid kyu - 1st: David MUNHOFEN, 10k; 2nd: Anthony EARL, 8k
Low kyu - 1st: DeeDee ECKLES, 15k; 2nd: Brad EDWARDS, 25k
     
GU TOPS IN CHERRY BLOSSOM: Zhenying Gu 5d took top honors in the Nova Cherry Blossom Tournament in Washington DC last Saturday, March 27. A record 67 players turned out, including 14 dan and 53 kyu players. Mike Lash and Allan Abramson organized the event, and Chuck Robbins directed. Full results:
Section A (3D-6D): 1st: GU, Zhenying 5d; 2nd: LEE, Keon Wan 4d
Section B (1D-2D): 1st: YU, Zhong 1d; 2nd: YOON, Sung W 1d
Section C (1K-2K): 1st: Maia, Joe 2k; 2nd: ZHOU, Xin-Li 1k
Section D (3K-4K): 1st: CARL, Joe 3k; 2nd ZIMMERMAN, Sam 4k
Section E (5K-5K): 1st: HOFFMAN, Seth 5k; 2nd: LANCASTER, John 5k
Section F (6K-6K): 1st: BECK, Jared 6k; 2nd: ZHAO, John Q. 6k
Section G (7K-7K): 1st: BLACKBURN, Paul 7k; 2nd: GIONFRIDDO, Sal 7k
Section H (8K-9K): 1st: GREINER, John A. 9k; 2nd: MCILHARGEY, James 8k
Section I (10K-12K): 1st: FIELDING, Robert 12k; 2nd: HEIDENREICH, Todd 10k
Section J (14K-15K): 1st: BLUMENFELD, Horatio 15k; 2nd: MULLIGAN, Rebecca 15k
Section K (17K-20K): 1st: MARKIWITZ, Jonathon 19k; 2nd: CHIN, Kabe 20k
Section L (22K-24K): 1st: CARLSON, Tom 22k; 2nd: BASSETT, Ben 24k
Section M (26K-35K): 1st: TEKEHARA, Keiju 26k; 2nd: CHIN, Kevin 26k

KERWIN COMES TO ROCHESTER: The Empty Sky Go Club in Rochester, NY will host a James Kerwin go workshop on April 10th and 11th. The workshop runs 10A 6:30P both days and will be held on the University or Rochester campus. Registration is $100 and includes breakfast. Space is limited; contact Lee at LF004K@mail.rochester.edu ASAP for info and to register.

RECORD MEMBERSHIP GROWTH CONTINUES: For the 22nd consecutive month membership in the American Go Association increased last month, drawing tantalizingly close to the 2,000 mark with a record 1,995 members. 93Membership was up in most categories,94 noted AGA President Chris Kirschner, reporting increases in Full members, Sponsors, Life Members, Youth and even Chapter memberships, which jumped to 94. While Hikaru no Go and the popular weekly E-Journal continue to drive interest in go, said Kirschner, another factor in recent membership growth is the availability of the 2003 American Go Yearbook, a selection of the “best of” the material published during the year in the E-Journal, organized, indexed and including all the original game commentaries and problem files. New members receive a 12-page version of the 2003 Yearbook, a free copy of the 2004 Yearbook (to be published at the end of the year) and half-off the $30 price of the 2003 Yearbook. Join or renew now at http://www.usgo.o rg/org/application.asp

SMARTGO 1.4.1 RELEASED: The latest release of SmartGo is now out, reports Anders Kierulf. Version 1.4.1 fixes one critical bug, and makes a few small improvements, including adding columns in the game collection view in the proper order (instead of at the end), and handling of semeai (race to capture) has been improved. Some performance improvements let the computer look further ahead. You can now purchase the SmartGo User Manual as a printed book; more info on SmartGo is at http://www.smartg o.com

MORE CHI PIX: More photos from the March 13 Chicago are posted online at http://www.pranci ngtarantula.net/~beckman/photos/2004-03-13-Go-Tournament/ The photos by Laura Kolb were posted by Mattox Beckman.

EMAIL THE WAY TO GO: Last week we asked readers to vote for either hotlinks or content delivered via email and by a 3-1 margin you strongly prefer your full EJ via email. While some readers, like Glenn Peters, are 93Definitely in favor of a small, lighter e mail with links to a website,94 the vast majority say hotlinks would add a cumbersome extra step, and prefer the ease and portability of delivered content. 93I can take it anywhere and read emails whenever I wish,94 said Steve. Added Ron Goldman, 93When I receive it I can quickly scan it and end up reading much more than if I had to follow a link.94 Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond: your suggestions will be tremendously helpful to us as we continue to work hard to make the E-Journal ever more useful and user-friendly.

MCGUIGAN THE CAT92S MEOW IN KITTY CAPTION CONTEST: With so many great entries, last week92s Homepage Photo Contest was tough on the judges. Winner by a whisker was Robert McGuigan with 93Black plays the tongue tesuji in the upper left in response to White‘s nose tesuji,94 with Ethan Baldridge92s 93For some reason these tasted better last week.94 a close runner-up. Honorable mentions: 93Tinkerbell and Fluffy try out the ‘No hands rule’ proposed at last year‘s Go Congress,94 (Paul Wheeler); 93Under feline rules, it‘s possible to swallow a stone without occupying all its liberties,94 (Bill Strider); 93See, the proper way to hold the stone is between the 3rd and the 4th tooth,94 (Robert Barber); “Aha! He‘s coughing up the old fur ball joseki!” (Anton Ninno); and “Curiosity alone will only get you to 1kyu, after that you have to study.” (Steve Carder).

WHO ARE THOSE GUYS? This week92s Homepage Photo contest features two heroes of American go: who are they and what are their contributions to the go community? Check 91em out at http://www.usgo .org and email us at journal@usgo.org As usual, the winner receives a go vendor gift certificate and braggin92 rights.


WORLD GO

U BEATS O TO EVEN THE SCORE: In game two of the 42nd Judan, challenger Cho U 9p defeated current Judan title holder, O Rissei 9p, by 1.5 points to bring the overall score to 1:1. Cho is the current Honinbo and Oza title holder, and is looking to solidify his standing at the top of the Japanese professional go scene with a third major title. O, on the other hand, is vying for his 4th consecutive Judan title. The Judan is one of Japan‘s oldest professional tournaments, starting in 1962 after being re-incarnated from the Lightning Go Meijin title of the late ‘50s. Game three of this best-of-five match will be held in Nagano on April 8th. Game records can be found at www.go4go.net
-reported by Dennis Hardman

MAXIM CUP ALL TIED UP: Koreans Rui Naiwei 9p and Yu Ch‘ang-hyeok 9p are deadlocked in the best-of-three 5th Maxim Cup at one win each. Ch‘ang-hyeok won the first game by 3.5 points on March 26th, and Naiwei came back on the 27th to win game two by a very close 0.5 points. Game three was scheduled to be played on March 28th, but as of this writing, no results were available. Rui is one of the top female professional go players in the world and was runner-up in last year‘s Maxim when she played her husband, Jiang “Jujo“Zhujiu (winner of eight consecutive North American Masters Tournaments). Ch‘ang-hyeok, a stalwart professional, has won numerous titles including the 14th KBS Baduk Wang, the 1st LG Cup, the 1st Chunwon title, the 5th Samsung Cup, and more recently, the 37th Paewang title in which he swept Yi (Lee) Ch‘ang-ho 9p three games to none.
- reported by Dennis Hardman

CHINESE TEAM WINS CSK ASIA CUP: In their first world team championship ever, the Chinese team consisting of Yu Bin 9p, Wang Lei 8p, Ding Wei 8p, Kong Jie 7p, and Wang Xi 4p defeated the Korean team in the 3rd round to win the overall 3rd CSK Asia Cup held last week in Okinawa, Japan. The winners take home 20 million yen (about $180,000). Four teams (China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan) of five players each took part in the Asia Cup which is sponsored by Japanese high-tech firm CSK. Japan won last year‘s championship and Korea won the first tournament held in 2002. Game records can be found at http://www.go4go. net and detailed tournament results at http://www.igo-ki sen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/asia.html.
- reported by Dennis Hardman

ZALOUDKOVA AND DACH WIN EURO PAIR GO CHAMPIONSHIP: Klara Zaloudkova and Zbynek Dach of Czechia won the European Pair Go Championships held in Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Romania on March 20th and 21st. Rita and Tibor Pocsai from Hungary and Lisa Ente and Benjamin Teuber from Germany won an equal second place. And United Kingdom players Natasha Regan and Matthew Cocke took a respectable fourth. A total of 40 pairs took part from 11 countries. For more information about this international event, go to http://www.romani a.european-go.org.
- reported by Dennis Hardman

GO UP NORTH:
- On February 29th, the Canadian Tournoi d92hiver (Winter Tournament) was held in Montreal, with Xenos Khan 6d, from Quebec City, winning the high-dan section. Other winners include: 2nd Section - Pierre-Yves Lafleche 3d, 3rd Section - Walter Rhee 1d, 4th Section - Yifan Dong 4k, 5th Section - Alex McDonnell 6k, 6th Section - Charles PrE9vost 8k, 7th Section - Diran Li 11k, and 8th Section - Daniel Gourdeau 19k.
- The Alberta Open Go Tournament - 2004, hosted by the Sabaki Go Club is scheduled for May 8th and 9th in Edmonton.
- The Victoria Education Centre Toronto Open Go Tournament is scheduled for April 17th and 18th at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Toronto.
For more information on these and other Canadian Go events, go to http://www.go-can ada.org.
- reported by Dennis Hardman


GAME COMMENTARY: Profit v. Influence
       In today92s game commentary Black‘s profit battles White‘s influence in the 2003 CSK Cup game between Yi (Lee) Se-tol, 5P and Yoda Norimoto, 9P. Originally published in Go World #99 (Autumn 2003), the game features incisive commentary by Awaji Shuzo 9P.
       This week92s problem file is a clever puzzle from The Art of Go Series, Volume 2: Capturing Stones, by Wu Dingyuan and Yu Xing, published by Yutopian Enterprises: http://www.yutopi an.com
       Our bonus file this week is another 93What92s Wrong With That Move94 lesson from Nakayama Noriyuki, 6P, this one on how to handle the 3-space high pincer.
       To view the attached .sgf file(s), simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen‘s http://gobase.org /sgfeditors.html

GO REVIEW: The Girl Who Played Go
by Shan Sa
translated from the French by Adriana Hunter
280 pp.
Reviewed by Roy Laird

NOTE: SHAN SA JUST WON THE 2004 KIRIYAMA PRIZE FOR FICTION; WE92RE PLEASED TO REPRINT OUR REVIEW, WHICH ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE E-JOURNAL ON OCTOBER 17, 2003.

In The Square of The Thousand Winds, a Chinese girl plays go. Serious go, toppling opponent after opponent. The time is the early 1930‘s and the Japanese are invading. Hearing that “terrorists” from the Chinese Resistance meet at the Square to plot their next moves, a Japanese soldier visits the square in disguise, to spy on them. Instead he falls into a game with the girl who plays go. They meet at the square day after day to continue this strangely compelling game. Meanwhile, we watch their lives converge toward a startling climax.

The award-winning author seems to know her Asian history and literature, and even fills us in with footnotes when the characters participate in major historical events, or discuss history. Attention to detail is so “granular” that the Chinese girl depicted on the cover is even holding authentic Chinese stones! (Chinese stones are flat on one side.) The writing is sprinkled with thoughtful little gems, but seems mostly halting and disjointed, and the occasional intrusion in the translation of Britishisms like “chivvying” is a bit jarring. Most of the chapters are only a few paragraphs long -- just when we‘re beginning to immerse ourselves in a scene, it‘s over. Nonetheless, as often happens with good books, I am left with vivid memories and images, and thoughtful questions about the meaning of war. You have to admire the author‘s ambition. Through these gradually intertwining lives, one Chinese, one Japanese, she seeks to illuminate a dark era of occupation, torture and violent death, and to some degree she succeeds.

As a go player, I was happy to see the game presented as in a compelling, dramatic way. The Japanese lieutenant goes to the Square on a mission for his country and the Emperor, but finds himself hopelessly seduced by go. He confesses to his Captain, who shows his understanding by quoting the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi: “When you lose a horse, you never know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.” In the end, the game becomes the means by which two minds meet in a profound, life-altering way.

This novel takes its place in a growing lexicon of “go stories”. The ongoing, periodically adjourned game that progresses through most of the book invites comparison with Kawabata‘s “The Master of Go,” which won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. After the degrading portrayal of women in Sung-hwa Hong‘s tough, dark “First Kyu”, it‘s nice to see a woman who is not just the central character, but clearly the master of a her fate -- and a strong go player to boot!

Most of all, “The Girl Who Played Go” brings to mind the classic film “The Go Masters”, a historic Chinese-Japanese film that has been called “an Asian ‘Gone With the Wind.' ” Unfortunately, “The Go Masters” is not commercially available at the present time, but if you go to ftp://ftp.hikago.flirble.org/pub/Misc/ with a high-speed modem, you can download a 300 MB .avi file and view this incredible masterpiece

YOUR MOVE: READERS WRITE

EUROS ONLY: 93Thanks for mentioning the European Youth Go Championship,94 (93To Be Young And Play Go In Cologne In The Spring,94 EJ 3/22/03) writes European Go Federation President Tony Atkins. 93but before your young players start booking their flights you might like to point out only European Nationals are eligible to participate.94

THE OTHER FUJISAWA: 93The first Meijin was not Fujisawa Hosai, as you wrote in your article (93Go Seigen Almost Becomes Meijin,94 EJ 3/22/03), but the other Fujisawa, Shuko,94 writes Lucretiu Calota 5 dan and Romanian Champion. 93Shuko was known for his capacity to win the first instance of a title, like Kisei among others.94 Thanks to Lucretiu and the other sharp-eyed readers who caught this slip; we apologize for the confusion and will make it up next week with a special feature on 93The Two Fujisawas.94


GO CLASSIFIED: BOOKS, EQUIPMENT, ETC

WANTED: Go Reviews, older complete years, 60‘s & 70‘s send info on condition and price to flynp1@comcast.net (3/29)

AVAILABLE: A few very nice Japanese kaya table gobans(thickness varies from 33mm to 69mm) and one 7 inch japanese kaya goban with legs. Also I have kaya bowls, jade stones, marble stones, agate stones and double convex yunzi, the best stone in China. photos are available at http://cat.isi.ed u/~ruiwang/gobanpic/ click fullsize for 2048x1536 photos and regular size for 640x480 photos. Please contact ruiwang@isi.edu (3/22)

WANTED: The Treasure Chest Enigma Noriyuki Nakayama; new or used in very good condition. Contact Shavit at info@go mind.com (3/22)

FOR SALE: the book “Enclosure Josekis” by Masaki Takemiya and published by the Ishi Press. Now out of print, it was purchased years ago by the Canadian Go Association and then forgotten so it is in new, unopened condition. Contact Frank Monks at pmonks@look.ca (3/22)

AVAILABLE: beautiful t-shirts for the Brooklyn Go Club, designed by Michael Samuel and about to be made. $12. Jean Claude Chetrit 718-638-2266 zorglub@brooklyngoclub.org
http://brooklyngo club.org/ (3/15)

WANTED: Someone with a Macintosh computer running system 10.3, Panther, who has successfully downloaded sgf software to read the games in this newsletter who is patient and willing to provide assistance so I can successfully download such software and read the games. Contact Andrew Whitmont at Yakpsyche@yahoo.com Please identify your purpose in the header of the email so I don‘t think its spam. (3/15)

WANTED: Materials showing steps in traditional go stone manufacture. Needed for children‘s classes and outreach programs. Would like a shell and piece of slate with holes from stone blank removal and possibly some unshaped blanks as well. A few sample finished stones would also be appreciated. Willing to compensate. Any leads on proper contacts would be very helpful. Please e-mail johneckelkamp@yahoo.com (3/8/04)

WANTED: Logo for the new Cyprus Go Association: http://cyprus.eur opean-go.org Contact Nicholas Roussos at roussos@alum.rit.edu (3/8/04)


GO CLASSIFIED: GO PLAYERS WANTED

WANTED: Go players in the State College/Centre County (Penn State University, UP Campus). A small unofficial club has started with only five or so members, looking for more people to expand the club. Contact djs443@psu.edu for more information. (3/29)

WANTED: Players wanted in the New Jersey shore area. Contact Iangershman@hotmail.com (3/29)

WANTED: Go players in or near Harrison N.Y. Mauricio Aguirre; maguirrel@hotmail.com (3/29)

WANTED: Go players in the south suburbs of Chicago, IL please contact Jeff at tompygo@comcast.net (3/22)

WANTED: Go players within the Asheville, NC area. Email ichliebedeinunderhosen@yahoo.com
(3/22)

WANTED: Go players in Carlsbad, California. mschlee@yahoo.com (3/22)

WANTED: 7-12 grade players in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area to join our Santa Fe Preparatory School Go Club. We are also looking for a strong local player willing to mentor the members from time to time. Contact: James Taylor (jtaylor@sfprep.org). Our club website is http://www.sfprep org/clubs/SFPrepGo/index.htm, and we meet Thursday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:00. (3/15)

WANTED: Go players in Ft. Collins, CO. Our club is currently looking for more members, beginner to dan level. Feel free to contact Steve for more information at liquidpophybrid@aol.com (3/8/04)

WANTED: Go players in the Warren/Detroit area of Michigan. Contact jkolasa@ameritech.net (3/1)


GO CLASSIFIED: TEACHERS

AVAILABLE: Cornel Burzo, a top European 6dan player is now teaching online on IGS. For details check out http://www.goless ons.com or contact him via email at cornelburzo@yahoo.com (3/1)


Got go stuff to sell, swap or want to buy? Do it here and reach nearly 7,000 Go players worldwide every week at Go Classified! Listing are free and run 4 weeks; send to us at journal@usgo.org


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 2: Yuan Zhou at GWGC
8:30P in the basement of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church, 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda. Bring game records to participate ($5), or observe for free. Don‘t have a game?- Come early
(official opening time 7P) to play and record a game.
Haskell Small haskellsmall@starpower.net

April 3: Raleigh, NC
The Spring Fuseki Tournament
Troy Hurteau 919-515-3318 jthurtea@unity.ncsu.edu
http://people.eng r.ncsu.edu/jthurtea/springtournament/

April 4: Seattle, WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org
http://www.seattl egocenter.org/

April 10 & 11: San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Go Club Spring Tournament
Steve Burrall 916-688-2858 sburrall@comcast.net

April 17: Seattle, WA
Seattle Cherry Blossom Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org
http://www.seattl egocenter.org/

April 18: Seattle, WA
Seattle Cherry Blossom Youth Lightning Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org
http://www.seattl egocenter.org/

April 17 & 18: Toronto, ON, CANADA
Victoria Education Centre Toronto Open
Frank Monks 416-591-6414 pmonks@look.ca
http://www.go-can ada.org/

April 17 & 18: College Park, MD
2004 John Groesch Memorial Tournament
Steve Mount 301-405-6934 smount@umd.edu
http://www.wam.um d.edu/~smount/Spring.html

April 18: Boston, MA
MGA Spring Handicap Tournament
Zack Grossbart 617-497-1232 zack@grossbart.com

April 24: Middlebury, VT
Spring Tournament
Peter Schumer 802-388-3934 schumer@middlebury.edu

April 24: Fort Wayne, IN
1st Indiana Go Tournament
Jim Kiraly 260-710-3644 jim@fwgc.net
http://www.fwgc.n et/tourn.php

April 25: Menlo Park, CA
First California High School Goe Tournament
Mingjiu Jiang 650-969-2857 mingjiu7p@hotmail.com
http://www.gomast ers.com/

June 3-6: Round Top, NY
Guo Juan Workshop at The Woodlands
Jean-Claude Chetrit 718-638-2266 zorglub@brooklyngoclub.org
http://brooklyngo club.org/cgi-bin/disp_topic.iphtml?topic_id3D188

June 24-27: Hackensack, NJ
2004 New Jersey Yang 7p Go Workshop
John Stephenson 201-612-0852 jcs@wingsgoclub.org
http://www.wingsg oclub.org/Yangworkshop.asp

For the European Go Calendar see
http://www.europe an-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDate.htm

GET LISTED & BOOST TURN OUT! Got an upcoming event? Reach over 6,000 readers every week! List your Go event/news In the E Journal: email details to us at MAILTO:journal@usgo.org

Ratings are on the web! Check the website; http://www.usgo.o rg for the full list.

GET YOUR TOURNAMENT RATED! Send your tournament data to MAILTO:ratings@usgo.org

AGA CONTACT LIST: For a full list of AGA officers, contacts & their email addresses, go to:
http://www.usgo.o rg/org/index.asp#contactinfo

Published by the American Go Association

Text material published in the AMERICAN GO E JOURNAL may be reproduced by any recipient: please credit the AGEJ as the source. PLEASE NOTE that commented game record files MAY NOT BE published, re-distributed, or made available on the web without the explicit written permission of the Editor of the E-Journal. Please direct inquiries to journal@usgo.org

Articles appearing in the E-Journal represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the American Go Association.

To make name or address corrections, notify us at the email address below. Story suggestions, event announcements, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:
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