Kyu Tourney Deadline Feb. 3

Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 3.14.21 PMThe deadline for young kyu players who want to compete in the North American Kyu Championships is Feb. 3rd, with the tourney itself held Feb. 7th, on KGS.  Kids and teens (under the age of 18) who are members of the AGA, CGA, Gimnasio de Go, or MGA, may all enter in the event.  With thousands of dollars in scholarships available, to both the AGA Go Camp, and US Go Congress, kyu players of any rank should enter.  Prizes will be awarded roughly every five ranks, starting at 25 kyu, and working up to 1 kyu.  The registration form is here, more information is available here.

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Atlanta Celebrates MLK Day with Stone Mtn. Hike

 

Screen Shot 2015-01-24 at 4.35.24 PMOn Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2015, the Atlanta Go Club and the Atlanta Chinese Go Association organized a hike up Stone Mountain, in memory of Dr. King, who referred to the mountain in his I Have a Dream speech — “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.” Feijun (Frank) Luo 7d, led young kids to play go at both the shelter in the middle of the mountain, and the pavilion on the top of the mountain. “The kids greatly enjoyed mountain climbing, playing go during the trip, and the spectacular view on top of Stone Mountain,” said Luo. Brandon Zhou 4d, who won the Ing Foundation’s World Youth Goe Qualifier in the U.S. junior division in 2014, was among the participants. “Playing go on Stone Mountain is a good way to pay tribute to Dr. King,” said Luo, “go is a board game that best displays equality and freedom — it represents equality because every stone has an equal value by itself, and it expresses freedom because playing styles are unrestricted and free.” -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Frank Luo: Clockwise: Ryan Dong, Edwin Lin, Brian Zhou, Ryan Li, Brandon Zhou, Feijun (Frank) Luo, Daniel Luo, and Ethan Zhou. Kids not pictured above: Alex Lin, Vicki Gu, Eileen Chen, and Jerry Chen.

 

 

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Your Move/Readers Write: BGC Bullseye; More on Studying Pro Games

BGC Bullseye: “Although I left Brooklyn behind several years ago, the description of the Brooklyn Go Club (Go in NYC: An Insider’s Guide 1/21 EJ) is disturbingly accurate,” writes Solomon Smilack. “Thank you for the laugh.”

More on Studying Pro Games:
“This is a widely debated and discussed topic (Your Move/Readers Write: How Do You Study Pro Games? 1/20 EJ),” writes Dennis Wheeler, “and one can find numerous discussion threads on this very topic in the Life in 19×19 discussion forum. There also may not be just one answer, as I believe the answers can be as varied and personal as the people who give them. And I too would love to hear opinions from EJournal readers who are professional players themselves.” Wheeler goes on to suggest that “Professional games show us how the game should be played, as opposed to the jumbled misguided (yet fun) mess we often play. Why not try to learn from the best? Or just simply enjoy the beauty of a well played game.”

 

 

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Go Commentary: Kim Jiseok vs Tang Weixing – 2014 Samsung Cup

This is game 2 from the 2014 Samsung Cup final.

The game was played between Kim Jiseok 9p and Tang Weixing 9p, on December 10, 2014, in Xian, China.

Tang Weixing Kim Jiseok 2014 Samsung Cup picture

Tang Weixing 9 dan (left) and Kim Jiseok 9 dan at the 2014 Samsung Cup final

Kim takes an early lead

Kim Jiseok 9p won game 1 of the final. Tang was ahead at the beginning of the endgame, but he made a couple of mistakes and lost the game.

It was very unusual to see the endgame mistakes from Tang, because he’s generally good at endgame. Anyway, it was unfortunate for Tang, and Kim had a nice start in this final.

Head to head record

The head to head record before this final was 3-1 for Kim’s favor.

However, Kim’s losing game was in the quarter final of the 2013 Samsung Cup, and eventually Tang won his first international title with defeating Lee Sedol by 2-0 in the final.

In the group stage of round of 32, Kim and Tang already played each other, and Kim won that game. Tang had to play one more game, and he defeated Choi Cheolhan 9p to proceed to the round of 16.

Earlier in the Samsung Cup

Tang defeated Murakawa Daisuke 8p and Kang Dongyun 9p in the round of 16 and quarter finals respectively, and he defeated Park Junghwan 9p in the semifinals by 2-1.

On the other hand, Kim defeated Rui Naiwei 9p and Rong Yi 4p in the round of 16 and quarter finals respectively, and he defeated Shi Yue 9p in the semifinals by 2-0.

Both Kim and Tang defeated the #1 players from China and Korea in the semifinals, and this final was expected as a very interesting match.

Tang was aiming to win the Samsung Cup again as the defending champion. Meanwhile, it was the first time for Kim to be in the final of an international tournament.

Let’s have a look at game 2 of the 2014 Samsung Cup final.

Commented game record

Kim Jiseok vs Tang Weixing

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Changes to Go Game Guru in 2015

Over the last four years Go Game Guru has evolved a lot.

go game ninja picture

Kuro the ninja is also hard at work.

When we started, it was just Younggil and I moonlighting on a hobby project.

Then Jing joined us to help with Go news. And later we met Josh, who created Glift, and he started working with us too.

Also, we have ninjas, and a cat!

With the encouragement and support of many readers and customers, we’ve gradually started doing more and more different things.

We now ship Go equipment locally in six different countries and offer a Go TV service, for example. Someone has to manage all that.

Cutting back on editing

From the very beginning, I’ve edited nearly all the content that’s been published on this website, to maintain a consistent style and level of quality.

However, anyone who’s followed Go Game Guru for a long time would have noticed that updates became less regular throughout 2014. The problem is that we’ve been trying to do too much.

For several years Younggil and I have worked together on game commentaries, with Younggil doing the bulk of the analysis and me pointing out things that required more explanation and helping with the English.

But Younggil’s English has improved a lot since we started and he’s also developed a better feeling for what the average Go player would want to know, thanks to readers who ask questions.

Younggil and Jing take over the blog

So from today, Younggil will be publishing his own articles without any help from me – the first of which will be published shortly. Jing will also start publishing her news articles without me proofreading them.

This will mean that articles get published more quickly and more often again – like it used to be. It will also mean that I have more time to keep everything running properly behind the scenes, look after customers and have more freedom to post occasional articles or videos on a wider variety of topics.

In the short term, we’re going to put the weekly Go problems on hold. They’ll restart again when Younggil’s ready to take over, but he’s going to focus on getting the commentaries right first.

Please be patient during this change

There might be some bumps along the way, but in the long term this will mean that we can do more. Please be patient and understanding while this change takes place and if you notice any problems, please let us know and we’ll still fix them.

Also, please keep in mind that none of us can work on the website full time for now and that we’re doing our best.

Thanks!

David

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Join the American Go Association and get two months of Baduk TV English for free

Want to try Baduk TV English for free?

From now until the end of January (2015), you can get two months of free access to Baduk TV English (valued at $40) when you join the American Go Association (AGA).

Simply join the AGA, or renew or extend your membership before the end of January to qualify.

Click here to join the AGA now.

Once you’ve sorted out your AGA membership, get your free Baduk TV here.

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Baduk TV studios in Korea. Join the American Go Association to watch Baduk TV for free.

 

What’s Baduk TV English

Baduk TV is a cable TV channel in Korea, which broadcasts Go programs 24/7.

Baduk TV English is a service from Go Game Guru. We take the best of Baduk TV and subtitle it in fluent English for you.

baduk tv english 550x412 picture

Baduk TV English provides you with the best of Baduk TV, translated into English.

You can learn more about it here.

 

What if I already have Baduk TV?

If you’re already a Baduk TV subscriber at Go Game Guru, we don’t want you to miss out.

In fact, thank you for subscribing and helping us to keep this site going. You’re awesome!

To say thanks, we’re going to send you a free Go book instead.

Choose your free Go book here

 

What if I don’t live in America?

This offer is something that was arranged in partnership with the American Go Association, but we’re happy to work with any Go organization to do something similar.

We started Go Game Guru to promote Go and we want to do what we can to help Go associations build their memberships and reward their members.

If you want to do something similar, organize it with your local Go association first and then get in contact with us once you have a firm plan.

You probably have a national Go association (check our list of known Go associations here), but if not maybe you can start one!

 

Join the American Go Association now

So what are you waiting for?

There are plenty of other benefits to joining the AGA and $40 worth of Baduk TV alone is worth more than the $30 yearly membership fee ($10 for students). So you’re already coming out ahead.

Click here to join the AGA now

 

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Go in NYC: An Insider’s Guide

Just because the Gotham Go Group at the Hungarian Pastry Shop on Tuesday evenings 7-11p  1030 Amsterdam Ave – between 110th2015.01.20_Gotham-go-club-IMG_1108 and 111th – “is the hottest go scene in New York City does not mean it’s the only option,” reports local organizer Peter Armenia. Here are four other places to play go in the Big Apple, along with Armenia’s pithy descriptions:

Go at Pie by the Pound – Wednesday evenings 6:00 – 124 4th Avenue between 12th and 13th St. “The healthy alternative.”

Go at the Fat Cat – Sunday afternoons 12:30 – 75 Christopher St, at 7th Ave. “The jazzy afternoon bar option.”

Brooklyn Go Club – Intermittent Fridays (email Jean-Claude Chetrit (jc.chetrit@gmail.com) for time and location. “The social club of NYC go lore in someone’s home. Good food, good conversation, and maybe even some go.”

Korea Baduk Club – Daily 11AM-12 Midnight  – 36-18 Union Street (Flushing) – Call Sammy Park (718-353-4646) for more info. “The seriously smoky, less healthy option. English sporadically spoken, strong players routinely humbled.”
photo: at the Gotham Go Group, November 2014; photo by Chris Garlock

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UK Go Updates: South Africa Makes Go Moku for the UK

Pandanet Go European Team Championship: On January 13th, the UK secured a win against the South African team with a score of 3 wins to 1 loss, making it their fifth win in the league. A commentary by Andrew Simons of his own game against Victor Chow 7d can be found in the news article on the BGA website. The UK team currently ranks second to Bulgaria in their league. The two teams will play on February 24th.
– edited by Amy Su from reports on the BGA website.

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