The 24th International Amateur Pair Go Championship was held in Tokyo, Japan from November 2-3, 2013. Kim Sooyang and Jeon Junhak, representing Korea, won the tournament with five straight wins – after a close final round game with Oda Ayako and Nagayo Kazumori from Japan.

Lin Hungping and Lo Shengchieh, from Taiwan, were the runners up. Japan’s Oda and Nagayo (mentioned above) finished in 3rd place and were crowned the Japanese Amateur Pair Go Champions.

The highest finishing team from outside of Asia were Natalia Kovaleva and Dmitry Surin, from Russia, who finished 4th. Olga Silber and Benjamin Teuber, representing Germany, and Irina Davis (née Suciu) and Lucretiu Calota, from Romania, also finished strongly – in 9th and 11th place respectively.

Rita Li and Bill Lin, who represented Canada, finished in 19th place and the USA’s Amy Wang and Justin Ching finished 25th. Full results are available on the International Amateur Pair Go page.

– David Ormerod, based on a longer article at Go Game Guru. Photo: Kim Sooyong (left) and Jeon Junhak, Korean representatives.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/11/24th-international-amateur-pair-go/

Tang Weixing secured his place in the 2013 Samsung Cup Final when he defeated Shi Yue 9p in Daejeon, Korea on November 7. Though he lost his first match, Tang’s keen eye and perseverance through games two and three led him to victory. Meanwhile, Lee Sedol 9p (left) had a similar journey on his route to the final. Korean fans worried when a misread in his first match caused Lee to surrender to opponent Wu Guangya 6p. However, he quickly recovered and sailed through games two and three.

The finals will be held December 9-12 in Suzhou, China and broadcast live on Baduk TV. Defending champion Lee will be going for his fifth Samsung Cup title while Tang will be making his international debut. If Tang wins, China will close the year as winner of all the 2013 major international tournaments. Will Lee’s veteran status be enough to carry the flag for Korea? Tune in to find out!

For more information on the 2013 Samsung Cup semifinals including photos, game records, and post-game interviews, please visit Go Game Guru.
– Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article on Go Game Guru; photo courtesy of Go Game Guru

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/11/china-vs-korea-tang-weixing-to-play-lee-sedol-in-2013-samsung-cup-final/

Russia: Ilja Shikshin 7d defeated rival Alexander Dinerchtein 7d in the Japan Ambassador Cup in Moscow on October 27 while Dimitrij Surin 6d placed third. Spain: The XIV Spanish Open finished on November 3 with Yue Li 5d (left) in first, Shizuo Kato 6d in second, and Ignacio Cernuda 3d in third. Sweden: Also on November 3, Antti Tormanen 6d bested Yaqi Fu 6d and Klas Almrot 4d came in third at the Gothenburg Open.
– Annalia Linnan,  based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news; photo courtesy of EuroGoTV

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/11/eurogotv-update-russia-spain-sweden/

Hwang In-seong (left) will be special guest this year at the London Open, the UK’s  largest go tournament, which runs from December 28-31, ending with a New Year’s Eve meal and drinks (Upcoming European Tournament: London Open Go Congress, EJ 10/30).

Hwang, a Korean national, was a yeongusaeng – the equivalent of a Japanese insei – although he never made pro status. He is now resident in Europe, where he is the second highest-ranked player on the European Go Database (after Fan Hui), graded at 8d* with a GoR of 2802.

Click here for Hwang’s interview with Eurogotv in May this year, where he discusses, amongst other things, his decision to quit yeongusaeng, his move to Europe and his teaching activities, including his own Yunguseng internet go academy.

Report by Tony Collman, British correspondent for the EJ. Photos: (left) Hwang teaching, courtesy of Belgian Go Federation website; (right) Hwang gives a presentation on approaching life-and-death issues at an invitation event in October at the home of Oxford City Go Club Secretary Harry Fearnley  (pictured far left), by Ruth Davis.

*Although graded at 8d in Europe, Hwang styles himself as 7d since, as Harry Fearnley explains, in his native Korea no amateur is allowed a higher grade.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2013/11/hwang-in-seong-to-guest-at-london-open/