Croatia: Lovro Furjanic 1d bested Zoran Mutabzija 5d at the 2. Velika Gorcia Open on January 12 while Mladen Smud 1k placed third. Turkey: The Istanbul City Championship Finals finished on January 4 with Ozgur Degirmenci 2d in first, Mustafa Morca 2k in second, and Hayri Killic 1d in third. Ukraine: Andrii Vdovin 2d conquered the 2014 Championship of the Dnipropetrovsk region on January 5. Kostiantyn Lopatenko 2d came in second and Volodymyr Oblovantyi 1k was third.
– Annalia Linnan,  based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news

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Last Saturday, January 11, the Las Vegas Go Club (LVGC) was at full capacity. “New membership to our club is up and we are hoping that it transfers to long-time go players.” reports Mike Wanek. “In the last month or so, we have had four new members who have started to attend the club regularly.” The seven regular members of the LVGC were very surprised when over 15 people showed up for last week’s meeting. “Currently, our main goals for the club are twofold,” says Chris Tettamanti. “First, to generate interest in the great game of go and second, to boost membership to the AGA.” As the club grows, donations are collected to buy much needed club equipment. Sean Jacobson noted that “The latest set of donations will go to purchasing new game clocks. We are very close to having enough in donations to purchase 5 or 6 of them already. This will allow us to create mini-tournaments on days that we have a large turnouts.” Weekly meetings of the Las Vegas Go Club — which welcomes players of all strengths — are on Saturdays from 4pm to 10pm at the IHOP at 7490 S. Las Vegas Blvd.

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download SGF file

Black to play. Both sides must find a clever move for optimal play. The first move is relatively easy, as White lives easily if Black plays any other move.
Published in the January 17, 2014 edition of the American Go E-Journal.

This bonus tsumego is just one example of the material, including pro game commentaries, available to Member’s Edition subscribers. Click here for more on how you can sign up today.

Michael Redmond 9P shares with the E-Journal some of his own tsumego compositions. For these more challenging problems, dan players can test their reading speed and accuracy, while kyu players can play through the solutions to learn ideas and techniques.

Michael based this problem on a very similar position that arose around move 63 of the just completed 1st game of the Kisei championship match in Spain. Click here to see the game record.

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A story about a battle between elderly Korean patrons and a McDonald’s in Queens, New York, mentions go in passing. Apparently the Korean seniors prefer the McDonald’s to the other facilities that “cater to the elderly in the neighborhood,” according to a January 14 report in The New York Times. “Civic centers dot the blocks, featuring parlors for baduk, an Asian board game, and classes in subjects from calisthenics to English,” the report adds. No mention of whether the seniors are playing baduk in the McDonald’s.
photo: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times. Thanks to Ted Terpstra for passing this item along. 

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Cho Hanseung 9P successfully defended his Kuksu title against Lee Sedol 9P on January 13 in Seoul, Korea. This gives him the title for a third consecutive year, as he overcame Choi Cheolhan 9P in the two previous editions. Cho (left) took the first match of the best-of-five clash and then extended his lead to 2-0. Lee fought back in the third round, narrowing the gap to 2-1, but the fourth game proved to be the decider. Cho’s play was clinical. Holding black, he established a strong position in the early game. Lee tried to reduce, but with solid play, Cho maintained his lead throughout. Professional commentators were left somewhat bemused, as it was difficult to find any mistakes in white’s play, a testament to the calm strength shown by Cho in this match. The victory extends a healthy rivalry between the two players. They know each other well, having achieved professional status in the same group in 1995. Lee remains ahead in wins (23-17), but Cho is now ahead 2-1 in finals.
– Ben Gale, Korea news correspondent for the E-Journal

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Alex Panaccione won all four games to win the January 12 MGA Winter Tournament. Twenty eight players turned out for the event, which was directed by Eva Casey with support from Eric Tillberg, whose entry fee was waived as a result. “I hope others will begin to learn the ropes of directing this way too in upcoming tournaments,” says Casey. Tillberg took third place and Graham Higgins was second. Click here for more photos.
photo:  Panaccione (right) playing Eric Osman; photo by Eva Casey

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/01/alex-panaccione-sweeps-mga-winter-tourney/

The British Go Association has announced that the Nihon Ki-in are to send two professionals to the UK in February/March 2014. Minematsu Masaki 6p and Kobayashi Chizu 5p will make a teaching tour of the country and will attend the European Youth Go Congress (EYGC) in Bognor Regis. Full details have yet to be confirmed, but it is hoped that the tour will include Scotland for the first time for such a visit.

In other EYGC news, the winner in the Under-20 category will this year gain a place in the new GLOBIS Cup World Youth Go Championship, to be held in Japan on 8 – 11 May 2014 (see Nihon Ki-in Announces New Under-20 World Tourney, EJ 11/30).
– Tony Collman, British correspondent for the E-Journal.

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