A team of researchers from UCLA and Osaka University are developing a way to learn go with “augmented reality” goggles. Players using an actual physical board will “see” highlights on certain intersections as the game proceeds in real time. Check out the Youtube video to see how it’s supposed to work. The authors – S. P. Chuang at UCLA and Kikoshi Kiyokawa and Taruo Takemura at Osaka University – believe many beginners get discouraged because it is hard to apply lessons from books on the real board in actual play. On the other hand, computer play lacks the aesthetics of placing real stones on a real board, which also deepens the learning process. ARGO aims to integrate the best aspects of “real” and “virtual” experience. The video illustrates four functions.  “Fuseki Tutor” uses Kombilo to search a database of 80,000 professional games, identify moves that pros have used, and “project” them onto the board, while “Joseki Tutor” uses Kogo’s Joseki Dictionary in a similar way. As play moves into the middle game phase, “Go Engine” mode allows the player to connect with an open-source program such as GNUGO or Fuego for next-move recommendations. ARGO can also attempt to count the game and provide estimates of the current “score.” The authors also claim that ARGO enables online play with a real board by transmitting the player’s next move to the server.

At first glance, ARGO appears to set forth on a potentially promising path. We’ve all encountered and experienced “bewildered beginner syndrome,” in which new players have no idea what to do next. A few recommendations can help to move the game along so that protracted helplessness does not become part of the experience. In years to come, players may look back on ARGO’s little green dots as we now recall Pong and the Commodore 64 — quaint relics of a primitive era. One can easily imagine color-coding good moves, best moves, pitfalls, trick moves and so on. Future players may “right-click” on recommended moves view possible outcomes while a narrator talks them through each variation. For now, ARGO is probably mostly of benefit to new players by providing them with specific options to think about. Cynics may say that ARGO also makes it easier for players to “cheat” with a program that is stronger than they are, especially online, but anyone with two computers can do that already.

Unfortunately, the 60 MB download does not seem to include easy instructions; and of course one would need a pair of AR goggles. Nothing has been posted or revised for several months and we were unable to reach the developers for comment, so it is hard to know whether this project will move forward or remain “vaporware” for now .Visit Chuang’s Github site for the latest information.
– Roy Laird

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/argo-go-in-augmented-reality/

Chinese-American physicist Anthony Zee mentions go in his book Fearful Symmetry:The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics. First published in 1986, the book is an attempt to explain to the layman how modern physics strives to produce the simplest possible explanation of nature and describes the rallying cry of fundamental physicists as, “Let us worry about beauty first, and truth will take care of itself!”. At page 16 (2007 edition)  he writes:

“It is easy to produce complicated behaviour with a complicated design. As children, when we take apart a complicated mechanical toy, we expect to find a maze of cogs and wheels hidden inside. The American game of football is my favourite sport to watch, because of the variety of behaviour exhibited. But the complex repertoire is the direct result of probably the most complicated set of rules in sports. Similarly, the complexity of chess is generated by its rather complicated rules. Nature, whose complexity emerges from simplicity, is cleverer. One might say that the workings of the universe are are more like the oriental game of Go than chess or football. The rules of Go can be stated simply and yet give rise to complex patterns. The eminent physicist Shelley Glashow has likened contemporary physicists to kibitzers at a game whose rules they do not know. But by watching long and hard, the kibitzers begin to guess what the rules might be.”

The book’s title is, of course, a reference to William Blake’s poem, The Tyger.

Report by Tony Collman, British correspondent for the E-Journal. Thanks to spotter Pat Ridley, editor of the British Go Journal. Photo: cover of 1999 edition, courtesy of Princeton University Press.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/go-spotting-fearful-symmetry/

The US team has advanced from the preliminary tournament in first Zhu Gang Cup World Team Go Championship, which runs December 19-26 in Guangzhou, China. “Mingjiu Jiang 7P led the effort with a perfect 3-0 performance on Board 1,” reports fellow team-mate Zhaonian (Michael) Chen 8D. The sixteen teams in the final tournament have been finalized and includes many of the best players in the world, including Gu Li, Chen Yaoye, Lee Changho, and Park Jungwan.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/us-team-advances-in-zhu-gang-cup-world-team-go-championship/

Just in time for the holidays, SmartGo Books has released half a dozen new titles, including two exclusives. The two volumes of “Lee Chang-Ho’s Endgame Techniques” are published by Yutopian, “but they never made it into print,” says SmartGo’s Anders Kierulf. In Volume 1, Lee, known for his extremely strong endgame play, takes a systematic look at many common patterns, while Volume 2 contains endgame tesuji problems. Also included in this release are “Cross-Cut Workshop” by Richard Hunter and “200 Endgame Problems” by Shirae Haruhiko (both Slate & Shell), as well as “The Basics of Go Strategy” by Richard Bozulich (Kiseido, also includes the German text by Brett & Stein), an extended and revised version of the classic “Strategic Concepts of Go”. Click here for a list of all 86 SmartGo books now available, or check out the free SmartGo Books app for iPad and iPhone.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/6-new-titles-from-smartgo-books-including-2-volume-lee-chang-hos-endgame-techniques/

Maeda Ryo 6P, the popular Japanese professional who’s a regular attendee at the annual U.S.Go Congress, is organizing a 3-week intensive go camp in Osaka again next year, running from June 29 through July 19. “We had 32 attendees from 11 countries all over the world this year, including Iraq and Bahrain, and it was a blast,” Maeda (right) says. “After the long day of training and lectures, they were still playing till midnight! There was lots of laughter and great spirit; we had such a great time.” Osaka Go Camp activities include intensive training by Kansai Kiin professionals, the opportunity to play go at the Kiin with professionals, play against top amateurs and former inseis, as well as sightseeing, cultural trips and making new go friends. Register by the end of February for a 5,000-yen discount. The camp is sponsored by Kansai Kiin and the Osaka University of Commerce. Email osaka.go.2014@gmail.com for more info or to reserve your space. Maeda photo by Peter Mooyman

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/maeda-organizing-2014-go-camp-in-osaka/

The Tournaments Ratings Status page, formerly available at the American Go Association Go Database (AGAGD), is now available here. Game results are submitted to the AGA by the tournament director. Results must be cross checked for
new and duplicate members, payments must be received and processed for new and renewing members, the membership database must be updated, and only then can tournaments be rated. If your event is not listed, it is waiting for submission or weekly processing, and if it’s listed as not rated, the status page now explains why. Thanks to Jonathan Bresler and Greg Smith for their work in creating the new Tournaments Ratings Status page.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/tournaments-ratings-status-page-returns/

The 2013 Cotsen Open was held October 26-27 in Los Angeles, CA. One of the major tournaments on the American Go Association’s annual calendar, the event is sponsored by Eric Cotsen (center, in white shirt), with major organizational support provided by Myung-wan Kim 9P and Andy Okun; Chris Sira was the Tournament Director and top boards — including pro commentaries — were once again broadcast on KGS by the American Go E-Journal. See below for our overview of the coverage, including game records and the final cross-tab, plus never-before-published photos.

Cotsen Open team: Eric Cotsen, Andy Okun, Hunter Knight, Samantha Davis, Susanna Pfeffer, along with Alec Cowan, Zack Craven, Danny Ko, Chris Sira (TD). Plus Daniel Kim and his whole team at the KCC.
Professionals: Myung-wan Kim, Yang Yilun, Lee Hajin and Kim Minhee.
EJ team: Chris Garlock, Richard Dolen, Nick McNelis, David Dows and Joe Cepiel, with online support by KGS.

Reports
Evan Cho Wins 2013 Cotsen Open in Thrilling Win Over Andy Liu
Cotsen Guaranteed Through 2017; Korean Baduk Cup Planned for 2014; Cotsen Top-Board Game Records
KABA Opens First Overseas Branch at Korean Go Club in LA

Game Records

Click here for the final crosstab

Round 1
2013.10.26_CotsenRd1Bd1_Beomgeun Cho-Yixian Zhou
2013.10.26_CotsenRd1Bd2_Andy Liu-Wayne Cheng-Haijin Lee Commentary
2013.10.26_CotsenRd1Bd3_Won Sik Lee-Izuki Matsuba

Round 2
2013.10.26_CotsenRd2Bd1_Beomgeun Cho-Ari Saito-Yilun Yang Commentary
2013.10.26_CotsenRd2Bd2_Andy Liu-Gus Price
2013.10.26_CotsenRd2Bd3_Won Sik Lee-Rui Wang

Round 3
2013.10.26_CotsenRd3Bd1_BeomgeunCho-CalvinSun-MyungwanKimCommentary
2013.10.26_CotsenRd3Bd2_Andy Liu-Juyong Ko
2013.10.26_CotsenRd3Bd3_Yunxuan Li-Won Sik Lee 

Round 4
2013.10.27_CotsenRd4Bd1_Won Sik Lee-Beomgeun Cho-Hajin Lee Commentary
2013.10.27_CotsenRd4Bd2_Andy Liu-Eric Lui
2013.10.27_CotsenRd4Bd3_Deuk Chang-Rui Wang

Round 5
2013.10.27_CotsenRd5Bd1_Beomgeun Cho-Andy Liu-Myungwan Kim Commentary
2013.10.27_CotsenRd5Bd2_Juyong Ko-Won Sik Lee
2013.10.27_CotsenRd5Bd3_Eric Lui-Ari Saito
2013.10.27_Cotsen-pro-pro_Wang Qun-YilunYang 

photos: top right: player game analysis; photo by Chris Garlock. middle: Andy Liu (l) plays Beomgeun Cho in the Round 5, Board 1 final; photo by Chrissy Hampton. bottom: game analysis with Yilun Yang; photo by Chris Garlock

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/2013-cotsen-overview-reportsgamescommentaries/

Hwang In-seong 8d, currently the number-one rated player in Europe, has introduced American hours to his Yunguseng internet go school, previously only conveniently available to Europeans. The fully-online format comprises three elements: live, interactive video lectures, student-student games played on KGS in graded leagues and reviews of all these games. It runs in three-month seasons, during which students can interact by text with nine live video lectures which start at 9p Central Time (CT) . They will also play five league games per month on prearranged dates, starting at 8p CT. Students may move up and down between leagues each month, depending on their game results. The games are then reviewed at 10p the same evening. In addition, students can view recordings of all lectures and game reviews, past and present, including those of their European counterparts. The new season starts on January 6, 2014 and is enrolling students now. The cost is $130 per month, or $330 for the full season, $570 for two. There are special rates for spectator-only membership and scholarships are available for under-26s with no regular income. Click here for full details and the chance to view three sample videos free of charge.
Report by Tony Collman, British correspondent for the E-Journal.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/12/hwang-in-seong-extends-internet-go-school-to-the-americas/