Three Portland schools competed in a chess and go tournament, on Nov. 30th, reports organizer Peter Freedman. Four go players and four chess players from each school participated.  Go was played on 13×13 boards. Irvington edged out Beverly Cleary to take the go trophy, and also edged out Richmond to take the chess trophy. Chess results: Irvington 9 wins, Richmond 6 wins and Beverly Cleary 3 wins. Go results: Irvington 8 wins, Beverly Cleary 7 wins, and Richmond 3 wins. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

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The Iwamoto North America Foundation (INAF) has taken another step toward establishing a new East Coast Go Center, releasing an Announcement of Intended Request for Proposals. INAF “seeks proposals from interested parties for the establishment of a center that would help promote Go in the center’s local area, serve as a resource for east coast go activities, and contribute to a more vibrant Go community nationally.” A formal request for proposals is expected to be released in July 2015 with proposals due in November 2015 and an award made in January 2016. Interested groups should contact INAF for discussions on how to proceed.

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Most of the games for the first round of the 2014-2015 AGA City League have been played already “and they were spectacular,” says TD Steve Colburn. “With many of the strong AGA and CGA players playing we have seen some exciting games.”

Results:
A League:
Boston def Canwa Vancouver 1 (2-1), Greater Washington def San Francisco 1 (2-1), Los Angeles def Seattle 1 (3-0)

B League:
Bay Area def Washington DC 2 (2-1), Princeton def Canwa Vancouver 2 (2-1)
Still ongoing: NC Raleigh vs Katy TX 1 (1-1), last game to be played Dec 18 9:30ET

C League:
DC Team 3 def Boston 2 (3-0), SF Bay Area/Berkley def Atlanta 2 (2-1)
Still ongoing: Atlanta 1 vs New Orleans, times TBA

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December 6: Sacramento, CA
Davis/Sacramento Winter Quarterly
Willard Haynes willard@emeritus.csus.edu 916-929-6112

December 7: Seattle, WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Brian Allen manager@seattlego.org 206-632-1122 206-545-1424

Get the latest go events information.

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Go Seigen, regarded by many as the greatest go player ever, passed away at 1:11 am on November 30 in Japan. Go Seigen had celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year, joined by go players around the world. “We mourn the passing of a truly great master and celebrate his life and the deep understanding of the game he left us with,” said American Go Association President Andy Okun.

Born in China on June 12, 1914, Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan in Chinese) did not start learning the game of go until he was nine, a relatively late age for a professional. But he quickly excelled and soon became known as a go prodigy, immigrating to Japan in 1928 at the invitation of Baron Kihachiro Okura and Inukai Tsuyoshi (later prime minister of Japan), where he embarked on a professional career. He was tutored by Segoe Kensaku, the same teacher as Hashimoto Utaro and Cho Hunhyun.

In 1933, along with his great friend Kitani Minoru, Go Seigen developed and popularized the Shinfuseki that broke away from the traditional opening patterns. It is for this very important contribution that Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru are recognized as the fathers of modern go. Starting in 1939, Go Seigen began a spectacular series of Jubango matches against other top players of the day. It was through these matches that Go Seigen convincingly demonstrated an overwhelming dominance over his contemporaries. Go Seigen had only one formal disciple – Rin Kaiho, Honorary Tengen. Go Seigen’s star began to fade in the early 1960s due to health reasons and he had to virtually retire from playing professional go by 1964. However, he continued to remain active in the go community through teaching, writing, and promoting go around the world.

“I still study Go every day, placing stones on the board,” Go Seigen wrote in “A Way of Play for the 21st Century.” “You might think study is meaningless for me, since I retired so many years ago. But for people who play it, Go is like an eternal friend, a permanent art form. I’ll continue playing and studying Go. Probably just like you.”

Read more about Go Seigen here Go Seigen: The Go Master  and here. We welcome your thoughts about Go Seigen’s influence on the game of go or on you as a go player; please add your comment below or send them to us at journal@usgo.org

Includes reporting in Go Game Guru and Wikipedia; photo (left) by Zhang Jingna.

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Dropped in on the Gotham Go Club last Tuesday night during a visit to New York City to see longtime friend and go colleague Roy Laird. Despite Thanksgiving being just two days away, the club was bustling with activity, as it reportedly is each week. Had a fun time watching games and a quick pick-up game with a young student from China; it’s a great club well worth the visit if you’re in town!
– Chris Garlock, Managing Editor, American Go E-Journal. Check our Facebook page for more photos. Got go travel tales — or photos — of your own? Send ‘em to us at journal@usgo.org!

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/11/traveling-go-board-gotham-go-thanksgiving-week/

The Shanghai Ing Chang-ki Wei-ch’i (Go) Educational Foundation, will be holding the semifinals of 12th Annual Chinese Professional Chang Qi Cup Invitational Tournament in Cambridge, MA, next fall, along with two new side tournaments intended for the North American go community, the EJ has learned.

The Chang Qi Cup, jointly hosted by the Ing Foundation and the China Go Association, now one of the most prestigious of the domestic Chinese go tournaments, was started in 2004 in memory of Taiwanese businessman and go benefactor Ing Chang-ki. Past winners have included greats such as Gu Li 9p, Kong Jie 9p and Chen Yaoye 9p. According to AGA President Andy Okun and Michael Fodera of the American Collegiate Go Association (ACGA), the Ing Foundation and Mr. Ing’s son, Ying Ming-haw, have decided to take advantage of the 2015 semis to provide a promotional event for American players and to strengthen ties between the North American and Chinese go communities.

The semifinal matches will take place Sept. 26-28 at Harvard University Student Center. Alongside the main event, on Sept. 26-27 the Foundation will be sponsoring a tournament for college students to be run by ACGA and a tournament for amateurs to be run by the AGA, both with major prizes, Okun and Fodera said. There will also be simultaneous games with visiting professionals, commentary on the semis, and side trips to meet go players in Washington DC and New York on Sept. 29 and 30. “This event will have something for everyone, tournaments for those who crave the competition but also teaching events, an opportunity to watch the best players in action and a chance to get together with old friends and make new ones,” Okun said. Watch the EJ for further details as they’re available.

via American Go E-Journal http://www.usgo.org/news/2014/11/2015-chang-qi-cup-invitational-semifinals-to-be-held-in-boston/

Sweden: The Gothenburg Open finished on November 23 with Charlie Aakerblom 4d in first, John Karlsson 4d in second, and Erik Ouchterlony 4d in third. Romania: Also on November 23, Ionel Santa 2d took the Romanian Cup Semifinal in Bucuresti. Pierre Boulestreau 1d came in second and George Chirila 1d was third. Finland: Jaakko Virtanen 2d (left) bested Jesse Savo 4d at the Turku Championship on November 23 while Tuukka Muroke 2d placed 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://www.usgo.org/news/2014/11/eurogotv-update-sweden-romania-finland/

Nihon Kiin Chairman Wada Norio on November 25 announced a donation of $2M to serve as the seed fund for the new Iwamoto North America Foundation for Go (INAF).

INAF was founded earlier this year (Iwamoto North America Foundation for Go Takes Next Step 8/11/2014 EJ) to support the promotion of go in North America according to the vision and wishes of the late Japanese go master, Iwamoto Kaoru (at right in October, 1970).

“We’re very glad to see that, after nearly two years of effort, the Iwamoto North American Foundation is now ready to move into action,” said Thomas Hsiang, who is serving as Executive Director of INAF. “We thank the Nihon Kiin Board, which gave unanimous consent to the donation. In the coming years, the INAF Board looks forward to restarting an East Coast Go Center and to funding new go promotional and exchange projects.” INAF will seek proposals for these activities; updates will be posted on the official INAF website. Other INAF officials include Norio Wada, President, Andy Okun, Masaki Shusuke, David Weimer and Yamashiro Hiroshi, Directors.

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In his 2013 “A New Equation For Intelligence” TED Talk, Alex Wissner-Gross uses go to demonstrate his thesis that there is a single equation for intelligence. Drawing on the fact that computer game playing has improved to the point that in 1997 the computer beat the world chess champion and in the last decade computers have made significant progress in playing go, Wissner-Gross postulates that intelligence is a “physical force that resists future confinement.”
– Ted Terpstra, with thanks to Arnold Eudell and Joshua Guarino. We also covered this in a February 8, 2014 post.

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