Kiseido has just released “Mastering the Basics, Volume Nine, An Encyclopedia of Go Principles,” by Richard Bozulich. Bozulich’s purpose is nothing less than “bring(ing) together all the strategic and tactical principles of go,” collecting 100 principles, supplemented with examples. Kiseido has also posted fascinating essays by Bozulich, like “Einstein and Go,” the story of Edward Lasker’s attempt to interest Albert Einstein in go. While you’re at Kiseido’s site, check out their go equipment site as well as their “Luxury Go Equipment Bargains“.

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Vagabond Manga: “A favorite coffee barista of mine suggested I read the manga Vagabond, a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue,” writes Devin Fraze. “It portrays a fictionalized account of the life of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, based on Eiji Yoshikawa’s novel Musashi. In Volume 6, go is being played by the hero’s love interest. Unfortunately more of the game play is not shown as her opponent “accidentally” knocks over the board.

The Uncommon Series: One of the protagonists in The Uncommon Series is an avid go player. “The thriller trilogy follows a pair of entrepreneurs that drop out of college to found a new tech startup and get caught up in an international conspiracy along the way,” author Eliot Peper tells the E-Journal. “James Chen is the protagonist who’s a go enthusiast. He’s Chief Technology Officer of the startup in the book and the brains behind the whole operation. He develops a complex algorithm that identifies fraud in large financial datasets, allow law enforcement to take down money laundering rings, etc. He loves go because it’s all about pattern recognition and is the perfect analog for the breakthrough software he’s developing. He even uses online go players to train the software’s artificial intelligence routines. As the startup in the book skyrockets from garage to IPO, they have to use his technology and their own wits to take down a major cartel that’s in bed with the big banks and government regulators.”
Spotted go somewhere? Let us know by emailing us at journal@usgo.org!

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Players traveled from as far away as Houston and Dallas to play in the Austin Go Club’s tournament on Saturday, November 7 in Austin, Texas. Lei Xu 3k, with a 4-0 record, was the overall winner, topping a field of 17. Six other players went 3-1 including John Zhang 4d, Matthew Machado 1d, Stephen Walker 3k, Tracey Su 4k, Ray Heitmann 5k and John Ruder 6k. “We were able to take advantage of the AGA Chapter Rewards Program and supply a pizza lunch to all participants,” reports organizer Bart Jacobs.
photo: (l-r) Tracey Su, John Ruder, Ray Heitmann, John Zhang, Matthew Machado, Lei Xu and Stephen Walker; photo by Bart Jacobs

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With less than a week to go, there are less than two dozen places left in the upcoming Gotham Go Tournament this Saturday, November 14 in New York City. There are cash prizes in all sections and an open section for strong dan players; click here to register. On Sunday there’s a Pair Go tournament, with $500 in cash prizes from the AGA; click here to register.

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Ke Jie 9p will face Shi Yue 9p in the 2015 Samsung Cup finals. As previously reported (Ke Jie Wins Samsung Cup Semifinal 11/3 EJ), Ke — thenew #1 in China and ranked #2 in the world in Dr Bai Taeil’s rating system — defeated Lee Sedol 9p 2-0 in the semi-finals last week. Shi Yue 9p — #2 in China — lost the first game in his semi against Tang Weixing 9p but came back to win the next two games. Click here for GoGameGuru’s complete report, including comments by Younggil An 8P, game records and photos.
– photo: Ke Jie 9p (left) and Shi Yue 9p

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Facebook’s Go Study Not Deep Enough: “Only good moves? Did anyone tell Facebook that they will lose their first 1000 games?” wonders Chris Uzal (Facebook Tackles Go With “Deep Learning” AI 11/7 EJ) “This is what happens when you think the world can function great with only a “like” button but the sky is full of frowny faces if you have a “dislike” button. I don’t think Facebook is psychologically equipped to play go let alone research the game. In their world, missclicks and undos are part of the game. The only people who lose are not friends with their friends. They would possibly learn more by studying moral hazard.”

Excellent Live Streaming: “Thank you so much for this live streaming,” Fabio G. Moreno from Bogotá, Colombia, posted on Facebook after last week’s Ke Jie-Lee Sedol streaming on the AGA’s YouTube channel. “Andrew and Myungwan did excellent work. I think is great contribution for the spread of go in the world to make this excellent live streaming in English and open access (to) this level of tournament, like the Samsung Cup, and a game in the semi-finals. Was great.”

We love to hear from our readers! Let us know what you like or dislike, love or hate; email us at journal@usgo.org or post on our Facebook page!

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No free massages or tacos (a la the Cotsen Open) but next weekend’s 18th “Go to Innovation” tournament  in Berlin does offer free draught beer in the cafeteria starting at noon on Saturday. Ting Li 1P, Pavol Lisy 1P and Ilya Shikshin are among the players slated to compete for over 3,000€ in prizes including a 500€ Omikron Data Quality GmbH-Prize for the best female gamer and a 500€ Jackpot for 8 wins.
– photo from the 15th Go to Innovation; Jaromir Sir

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Researchers at Facebook are now tackling go with an increasingly important form of artificial intelligence known as deep learning, Wired magazine reported earlier this week.

“Facebook is using similar technology to recognize a promising Go move—to visually understand whether it will be successful, kind of like a human would,” writes Cade Metz. “Researchers are feeding images of Go moves into a deep learning neural network so that it can learn what a successful move looks like,” as opposed to using brute computing power to analyze the many possible outcomes of every possible move.

Though this system is only about two or three months old, Facebook CTO Mike “Schrep” Schroepfer told reporters at Facebook’s California headquarters last week, it can already beat systems built solely with more traditional AI techniques. The company’s go work—which Schrep described as “super early”—demonstrates why deep learning is so powerful and how it can continue to push the boundaries of what machines can do, Metz reported.

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If you missed Myungwan Kim 9P’s livestream commentaries earlier this week on the two semi-final Samsung Cup games between Lee Sedol and Ke Jie, you can now watch them at your leisure on the AGA’s YouTube Channel. With nearly 2,000 subscribers, the channel has really taken off this year, broadcasting live from the US Go Congress, the Chang Qi Cup and the Cotsen Open, attracting thousands of viewers who either watched live or later at their convenience. The channel has also become the place to find go players on YouTube, from gamer Dwyrin — whose videos have been viewed more than 5 million times — to Haylee (professional Hajin Lee), Nick Sibicky, Shawn Ray, Andrew Jackson and more, each of whom have been developing their own styles and attracting fans and subscribers. “I love your extremely positive personality!” one viewer told Haylee. “It makes your videos really enjoyable. Thank you for these amazing videos.”

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With go growing more and more popular in Russia, game organizers held a press conference October 22 in Moscow on the eve of the 21st edition of the Cup of the Ambassador of Japan, the oldest go tournament in the country. New clubs are opening up, the number of players is increasing and notable international competitions are taking place, the organizers reported. Russia will host the 60th Polymetal European Go Congress next year in Saint-Petersburg.

In another major development, the National non-Olympic Sports Committee and the Russian Go Federation signed an official contract assuring the Committee’s support for developing this intellectual sport in Russia. Moreover, go is officially included in the list of sports by the Ministry of Sports of Russian Federation.

“The number of Russian athletes taking part in international go competitions grew by 70% since 2012,” said Boris Grishin, deputy director for the Summer Athletics Development department at the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. “Go is successfully developing in Russia and the results of which are noted by our European colleagues,” said Maxim Volkov, the president of the Russian Go Federation.
– Ludmila Nemchinova

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