Eight top US go players will gather just outside Boston next week to determine the next US professional. Play in the 3rd AGA Pro Qualification Finals starts on Sunday, January 4 and ends on January 10. The games will be broadcast live on KGS from the Nantasket Beach Resort by the E-Journal; morning rounds will begin at 9:30 AM and afternoon rounds will begin at 4:30 PM. The players are Eric Lui 7d, Ryan Li 7d, Yuan Zhou 7d, Jeremy Chiu 6d, Daniel Gourdeau 7d, Ricky Zhao 7d, Ben Lockhart 7d, and Matthew Burrall 6d. The tournament will be played in two parts, a Round Robin Prelim Sunday through Wednesday, followed by the Championship Thursday and Friday. Jeff Shaevel is the Tournament Director, AGA President Andy Okun will be on hand and Chris Garlock and Andrew Jackson will head up the EJ recording team.
photo: Calvin Sun, winner of the 2nd AGA pro tourney in January 2013; photo by Dennis Wheeler. 

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/12/8-top-us-players-to-vie-in-3rd-aga-pro-tourney/

by John Power, EJ Japan Correspondent

Ida Takes Sole Lead in Honinbo League: Two games in the second round of the 70th Honinbo League were played on November 13. Cho U 9P picked up his first win by beating Ryu Shikun 9P (B) by 3.5 points, and Ida Atsushi 8P (B) beat Mimura Tomoyasu 9P by resignation. This was the second win for Ida (right), the previous challenger. Another game was played on November 20. Yo Seiki 7P of the Kansai Ki-in beat Takao Shinji 9P by 8.5 points. That put both players on 1-1. On November 27, the second round was completed when Yamashita Keigo 9P defeated Kono Rin 9P by resig. That took Yamashita to 2-0, giving him a share of  the lead with Ida. Kono had made a bad start with 0-2. What could turn out to be the decisive game in the league came in the third round in a clash between Ida and Yamashita. In the previous league, Ida had caught up with Yamashita in the final round, then beaten him in the play-off. This time, in a game played on December 4, Ida (B) beat Yamashita by 1.5 points.  Yamashita will have to play catch-up, but forging ahead of the other players didn’t work for him in either the Honinbo or the Meijin League this year. On December 11, Cho U 9P (B) beat Yo Seiki 7P by resignation. On December 15,  Ryu Shikun 9P (B) picked up his first win in the league when he beat Takao Shinji 9P by resignation.  On December 18, Kono Rin followed in Ryu’s footsteps by beating Mimura Tomoyasu 9P by resignation. That completed the third round and also the league schedule for this year. The league goes into the new year with a tidy arrangement: the top-ranked player, Ida, leads with 3-0, as mentioned above; the number two and three players, Yamashita and Cho U, are both on 2-1, and the other five players are on 1-2. As yet, no one is out of the running.

Suzuki Leads Women’s Meijin League: Two games were played in the Women’s Meijin League in November. On the 13th, Suzuki Ayumi 6P beat Mukai Chiaki 5P by 1.5 points.  On the 20th, Mannami Nao 3P (B) beat Chinen Kaori 4P by resignation. On December 4, Chinen Kaori 4P (B) beat Mukai Chiaki 5P by resignation. Two more games were played on December 11. Kato Keiko 6P beat Aoki Kikuyo 8P by
4.5 points and Suzuki Ayumi 6P (B) beat Mannami Nao 3P by resignation. On 4-1, Suzuki holds the sole lead — every other player has at least two losses.

Iyama Loses Chance for Grand Slam Next Year: Iyama Yuta was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 53rd Judan tournament, so he lost his chance to aim at a grand slam of the top seven titles in 2015. In a game played at the Osaka headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in on November 28, Kobayashi Satoru 9P beat Iyama by half a point. His prospects subsequently became even more distant, as you’ll see in tomorrow’s report.

Suzuki and Rin Win Pair Go Tournament For Married Couples: One of the events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Nihon Ki-in was a Pair Go tournament for married couples. There are 16 or 17 professional couples in Japan (I have lost count), of whom eight took part. The first two rounds in the knockout tournament were played on October 6, and the final was held on November 22, which is known as ‘good married couples’ day. If you take the first syllables of the numbers in 11/22 in Japanese, you get ‘ii fufu,’ a homophone for ‘good married couple.’ (Japanese are found of  turning numbers into mnemonics). In the final, Suzuki Ayumi 6P and Rin Kanketsu 7P defeated Mimura Kaori 2P and Tomoyasu 9P by resignation.

Meijin League Starts: The first game in the 40th Meijin League was played on December 4. Ko Iso 8P beat Hane Naoki 9P by resignation. Two more games were played on the 11th. Kono Rin 9P beat So Yokoku by resignation and Murakawa Daisuke (B) beat Kanazawa Makoto 7P by 13.5 points. Incidentally, Kono’s win ended a losing streak of ten successive games, starting with the fourth game of the Meijin title match (a contrast to his winning streak of 19 games earlier in the year). The final game of the first round was played on Christmas Day. The new Tengen Takao Shinji (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by half a point.

Tomorrow, Part 3: Takao Scores 900th Win; China Leads in Nong Shim Cup; Hane Wins Crown Title; Gu Wins Japan-China Ryusei Play-Off; Murakawa Takes Oza from Iyama

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/12/the-power-report-part-2-ida-takes-sole-lead-in-honinbo-league-suzuki-leads-womens-meijin-league-iyama-loses-chance-for-grand-slam-next-year-suzuki-and-rin-win-pair-go-tournament-for-mar/

Return of The Hedgehog: “The French movie ‘The Hedgehog’ has a mention of go and a scene showing the game,” writes Bart Lipofsky. “It’s based on the book ‘The Elegance of the Hedgehog’ by Muriel Barbery, which mentions the game at a dinner table discussion.  The adult is corrected by the young girl concerning rules.”
Previous EJ reports include Go Art: “The Hedgehog” Now Available Online (11/28/2012 EJ) and Your Move/Readers Write: The Elegant Hedgehog Pops Up Again (9/1/2012). 

’42 Ozu Film: In the 1942 movie There Was a Father (“Chichi ariki”), directed by Ozu Yasujiro, “There are views of a go parlor at minute 35, then further mention of the game later,” reports Bob Barber.

For more about go on film, check out the European Go Federation’s Go Filmography.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/12/go-spotting-return-of-the-hedgehog-42-ozu-film/

by John Power, EJ Japan Correspondent

Ichiriki Wins Ibero-Japan Cup: This is a new tournament founded to encourage young players. It is open to players under 18, including inseis (professional trainees), and games are played on the Net. In the final, played on November 11, Ichiriki Ryo 7P (right), taking white, beat Kyo Kagen 2P by 6.5 points.

Yamashita Repeats as Kisei Challenger: The play-off to decide the challenger for the 39th Kisei title was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on November 13. It featured the same players as the previous year, Yamashita Keigo 9P and Murakawa Daisuke 7P, and had the same result: a win for Yamashita. Taking black, Yamashita won by resignation. Yamashita’s previous challenge was rebuffed 4-2 by Iyama, but Yamashita has an affinity for this title: he has won it five times in all, including a run of four terms in a row, and has played in the title match eight times. Aged 36, he will soon qualify as a “veteran,” so he will be hoping to do better this time. The first game will be played in Osaka on January 15 and 16.

Kanazawa Wins Third Meijin Seat: Winning a seat in a league earns you an automatic promotion to 7-dan if you have not already made it. There has been a rash of such promotions in the last year or two (Yo Seiki, Ida Atsushi, Ichiriki Ryo), and now Kanazawa Makoto has joined them. The 4-dan beat O Meien 9P in the final round to win a seat in the 40th Meijin League. The game was played on November 13; taking white, Kanazawa won by 1.5 points. His promotion to 7-dan came the following day. The 22-year-old Kanazawa won the 37th King of the New Stars title in 2012. He looked a little disappointed when he realized he would no longer be able to play in this title or in the Hiroshima Aluminium Cup, both of which are restricted to players under 7-dan. Incidentally, Kanazawa’s father is Kanazawa Moriei, a former top amateur player who is a go writer for the Mainichi Newspaper.

Motoki Wins Hiroshima Aluminium Cup: The Hiroshima Aluminium Cup: Young Carp Tournament is a two-day knock-out tournament for Nihon Ki-in players 30 or under and 6-dan or under. The 9th cup was played at the Central Japan Newspaper Building in Hiroshima City on November 15 and 16. In the final, Motoki Katsuya 3P (aged 19) beat Mutsuura Yuta 1P (aged 15) by 2.5 points to win his first title. Fujisawa Rina made it to the semifinals but lost to Motoki.

Tomorrow, Part 2: Ida Takes Sole Lead In Honinbo League; Suzuki Leads Women’s Meijin League; Iyama Loses Chance For Grand Slam Next Year; Suzuki And Rin Win Pair Go Tournament For Married Couples; Meijin League Starts

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/12/the-power-report-part-1-ichiriki-wins-ibero-japan-cup-yamashita-repeats-as-kisei-challenger-kanazawa-wins-third-meijin-seat-motoki-wins-hiroshima-aluminium-cup/

The North American Kyu Championships (NAKC) returns this year, and will be held on KGS, on Saturday Feb. 7th.   The NAKC will  welcome kids who live in both Canada and Mexico to compete with their counterparts in the US.  Dan level players will be able to compete in the Redmond Cup (including players from Canada and Mexico).  Youth who compete in either event will also be eligible for $400 scholarships to the AGA Go Camp, or $200 scholarships to the US Go Congress, courtesy of the AGF, on a first come first served basis.

Brackets in the NAKC will be divided by rank, with a new bracket formed approximately every 5 ranks or so depending on the range of participants. Within brackets, all games will be played even. Depending on the number of entrants in a given bracket, there will be either 3 or 4 rounds. There will be a trophy for the best Junior player (under 13) and the best Senior (under 18) in each bracket. Jr. and Sr. level youth will compete together.  Registration is now open for the NAKC, and more information can be found on the AGA webpage for youth events.  The deadline for the NAKC is Feb. 3rd. to register, click here.   –Story and Photo by Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo: Kyu players competing at the US Go Congress in NYC.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/12/youth-kyu-championship-feb-7/

Former AGA Board Chair David Weimer tipped us off about a forthcoming book with a go-themed cover. International Relations Theory, The Game-Theoretic Approach is by Andrew H. Kydd, a colleague of Weimer’s in the Political Science Department at the Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs in Madison, WI. “Written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this is the first textbook on international relations theory to take a specifically game theoretic approach to the subject,” according to the book’s description on the Cambridge University Press website. “International relations theory is presented and analysed using simple games, which allow students to grasp the concepts and mechanisms involved with the rationalist approach without the distraction of complicated math.” The book is due out in March.

via American Go E-Journal http://ift.tt/1EjeXDS

In-seong Hwang 8D’s online go school starts its fourth American season – and 11th European season – next month and is accepting new students now. Click here for details on the American Yunguseng Dojang and here for the European Yunguseng Dojang. A well-known top player in Europe, Hwang Inseong 8D trained at the Korean Yunguseng Academy, studied Go in Myong-ji University and worked for a baduk TV channel as commentator. The program consists of interactive online lectures, student league-play and game reviews on KGS. Students have access to all past lectures and reviews — more than 100 lectures and over 2,000 game review videos — as well as “personal go reports” to help students assess the progress they are making and the areas which need most work. “After just one year, the American league already has the biggest number of players, thanks to the members who bring their friends,” says Hwang. “Since we have more members, the next season league will be much more interesting and competitive!” Click here for details on the program, schedule and pricing.

via American Go E-Journal http://ift.tt/1AMqBTV

Romania: Liviu Oprisan 4d bested George Chirila 1d (left) at the 6th Radu Baciu Grand Prix in CSRB on December 14 while Mihai Lita 2d came in third. Ukraine: Also on December 14, the Tournament of 50 parallel finished in Kharkiv with Oleksandr Hiliazov 1d in first, Anton Parafilo 8k in second, and Leonid Shumakov 5k in third. Serbia: Lazar Manojlovic 5d took the 39th Serbian Championship on December 14 in Kragujevac. Mijodrag Stankovic 5d placed second and Dragan Mitic 4d was third. 
– 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://ift.tt/1Hv7Apl