by Keith L. Arnold, hka
The New York Institute of Go (NYIG) hosted a wonderful two-day event last weekend, on October 28 and 29. Held in their spacious Manhattan location, close to the theater district, Stephanie Yin and her team put on a jam-packed event.
Bright and early on Saturday, players, including many of the Institute’s young students, arrived for the first two rounds of a four-round tournament. The competition was ably directed by the ubiquitous Devin Fraze, and both games were completed by lunch, with early leaders Alan Huang and Jeremy Chiu leading the field with two wins each.
After lunch, American Go Foundation President Terry Benson arrived with his box of Crazy Go and the group of players enjoyed many interesting and challenging Go variants.
Then four pros - Stephanie Yin 1P, Alex Qi 1P, Ryan Li 4P and guest of honor world Champion Kim Jiseok 9P played over 30 players and teams alternating moves with each other, flying around the inside of a huge rectangle while the mere mortals on the outside struggled to keep up.
A panel discussion followed, as Kim Jiseok and Ryan Li described their journeys from learning Go to becoming professionals, and their thoughts and hopes for the game’s future. Terry Benson shared a brief history of Go in New York and Ryan Li detailed the New York Go Institute’s plans for the future, fielding questions from the highly engaged audience.
Stephanie and her team then provided a lovely dinner and folks played into the late evening.
The tournament continued Sunday morning, with the final two rounds before lunch. Uniquely, the winners were divided into youth groups and adult groups with separate prizes. Alan Huang 7d prevailed with a perfect 4-0 record. A complete winner list from the nearly 70-player field is below.
Kim 9P then reviewed Alan Huang’s victory over Jeremy Chiu 7d, as well as a game from undefeated 1 kyu Juliet Zhang. He then reviewed his Samsung World Championship final, concluding a hectic and joyous event.
Stephanie’s team did a stupendous job, particularly Ryan Li , Korean translator Kenneth Lee and Aaron Julian. Additionally, her students and their parents pitched in to help when anything needed to be done. Keep an eye out for future events - they are not to be missed!
Champion Section
- Alan Huang 7D (4-0)
2. Jeremy Chiu 7D (3-1)
3. Edward Zhiyuan Zhang 6D (3-1)
4. Leshan Feng 7D (2-2)
5. Yufei Wu 6D (2-2)
6. Boyang Chen 6D (2-2)
Advanced Adults
1. Alan Yin 2D (4-0)
2. Rudi Chen 2K (4-0)
3. Austin Robinson 1k (3-1)
4. Shiyang Qi 4D (2-2)
5. Lei Xie 2D (2-2)
6. Nathan Chan 1k (2-2)
Intermediate Adults
1. Kenneth Lee 4k (3-1)
2. Jim Conyngham 4k (3-1)
3. Hynryk H 24k (3-1)
4. Katie Oh 4k (1-3)
5. Grace Liaw 4k (1-3)
6. Peter Lin 12k (1-3)
Advanced Youth
1. Juliet Zhang 1k (4-0)
2. Chase Lin 4D (2-2)
3. Joshua Wong 3k (2-2)
4. Alexander Corsiglia 5k (2-2)
5. Amari Gonzalez 5k (2-2)
6. Emily Xie 3k (1-3)
Intermediate Youth
1. Jeremy Wong 8k (4-0)
2. Jerry Su 7k (3-1)
3. Jerrick Cheung 7k (3-1)
4. Caroline Li 7k (3-1)
5. Alden Ng 7k (2-2)
6. Noah Carrafa 8k (2-2)
Beginner Youth
1. Matthew Qi 13k (4-0)
2. Miles Henry 12k (3-1)
3. Charles Wang 20k (3-1)
4. Jayden Lai 12k (2-2)
5. Kyle Huang 11k (2-2)
6. Albert Ye 14k (2-2)
Young Fighter Awards
Tiffany Wang 20k (2-2)
Bruce Zhu 23k (1-3)
Photos: top left: NYIG HQ; top middle: Stephanie Yin 1 dan pro during the big simul; top right: Everyone wins!; middle left: Alan Huang 7 dan has a very good day, winning the tournament and the raffle for a beautiful fan signed by Kim 9P; middle center: American Go Foundation president Terry Benson with guest of honor Kim 9P; middle right: “It’s your move, counselor” Attorneys Kenneth Lee 4 kyu and Keith Arnold, hka enjoy Crazy Go; bottom left: Ryan Li 4 dan, Kim Jiseok 9 dan and translator Kenneth Lee during the panel discussion; bottom middle: Kim 9P reviews the crucial 3rd round game between winner Alan Huang 7 dan and second place Jeremy Chiu 7 dan; bottom right: Ryan Li 4 dan and Kim Jiseok 9 dan.
photos by Yuki He and Keith Arnold