The Empty Sky Go Club was host to 24 players for the 11th Greg Lefler Memorial Tournament on October 24th. Players from 8d to 28k competed in four rounds.

There were three divisions of winners. Dan Section: 1) Tang Zhenbokang; 2) Thomas Hsiang. Single Digit Kyu Section: 1) Jim Gonnella; 2) Luk Yan-Yeung. Double Digit Kyu Section: 1) Nakaya Hiroaki; 2) Joe Bauser. All first place winners went 4-0 and second place were 3-1.

Full tournament crosstabs have been rated on the AGAGD. Photos: (left) 24 players from Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Utica play a morning round. (Right) Tang Zhenbokang (white shirt) and others watch on as Thomas Hsiang plays one of his games.

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The Orange County Go Club was the top winner in the club competition at the recent Cotsen Open, winning $1,000. In second place ($300) was the Santa Monica club and Arizona ($200) took third place. Yilun Yang awarded special prizes to Cotsen Tournament Director Chris Sira and James Chen for his many contributions to the early years of the Cotsen Open.

The 2015 Cotsen crosstab has now been posted. The Cotsen livestream videos have also been posted now, including a very brief one in which Mark Lee reviews key points in his Round 3 game against Aaron Ye.

Tournament Organizer Samantha Davis thanked Assistant Tournament Organizer Wenguang Wu, Tournament Assistant Katie Dicus, Webmaster Laura Mayer-Sommer, Photographer Brian “Ferrari” Peregrina and many volunteers, including Sighris Sargon, Paru Maheta-Sargon and Chris Kirschner.

E-Journal team leader Chris Garlock’s crack recording/broadcast team included Andrew Jackson (YouTube live-streaming), Dennis Wheeler, Joe Cepiel, Richard Dolen and Jim Woh (game recorders).
photo: Eric Cotsen, Orange County Go Club’s Kevin Chao and AGA president Andy Okun; photo by Brian “Ferrari” Peregrina

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Aaron Morris 16k topped the October 17 Louisville Go Club tournament with a 4-0 record. Twelve players — including players from Cincinnati, Columbus, and Bloomington — showed up for the club’s third annual tournament. Morris is a member of the Louisville Go Club in Louisville, KY.
– Asha Nagaiya

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Andy Liu 1p and Gansheng Shi 1p played in an exchange match with Kansai Kiin pros on Friday in Osaka, with Liu (top right) winning his match against Sinntani Yousuki 1p (top left) and Shi (bottom left) losing to Yinaba Karinn 1p (bottom right).

Liu, who won two initial rounds of the 12th Sankei Cup pro preliminary, will play a final preliminary round on Monday at 2:30 p.m. Japanese time, or 12:30 a.m. Monday Eastern time and 9:30 p.m. Pacific time.

According to Kansai Kiin, Ha Yoniru 6p and Arakaki Shiyun 9p will play each other Monday morning and the winner of that match will play Monday afternoon against Liu. The matches will be broadcast on Pandanet; the E-Journal will provide information about the Sankei Cup main tournament when available. See below for game records.
– photos courtesy of Kansai Kiin.

Gansheng Shi (b) vs Mine Yasuhiro
Imai Kazuhiro (b) vs Andy Liu
Andy Liu (b) vs Shintani Yousuke
Inaba Karin (b) vs Gansheng Shi
Takashima Yougo (b) vs Andy Liu

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The upcoming Samsung Cup semifinal match between Ke Jie and Lee Sedol has the go world buzzing. Ke Jie, regarded as the strongest player in China today and currently rated #2 in the world, will face Lee Sedol, #3 worldwide, Monday in their best-of-three match. The two players have never before met in tournament play, and the Samsung Cup is one of the most prestigious international titles, with a grand prize of over $250,000 USD.

Myungwan Kim 9p will provide live commentary for English-speaking players via the AGA’s official YouTube channel and official Twitch channel. Kim says hundreds of thousands will watch the event in Korea alone, and a large audience is expected in China as well. “These could be the best games of the year,” he says.

The games are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2, Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Wednesday, Nov. 4 (if necessary). Video commentary will begin at 7:30PM PST (10:30p EST) each day.

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The exchange match between Kansai Kiin young professionals and American and European reps takes place in Osaka, Japan, during the day Friday, late Thursday or the middle of the night Friday US time. Andy Liu’s (below, right) game will be at 10a Japanese time (9p Thursday East Coast US time), against Sinntani Yousuki 1p. Gansheng Shi (below, center and left) will play at 2p (1a Friday East Coast US time), against Yinaba Karinn 1p. The games should be broadcast on Pandanet.
– photos courtesy of Kansai Kiin

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Just over three dozen players players from eight countries competed in the 17th Ibero-American Championship tournament held at the Cuban Go Academy in Havana from October 9 to 11. Hisao Uyama 7d (Brazil) won first place; Fernando Aguilar 7d (Argentina) finished second and Santiago Alvarez 5d (Cuba) was third. “It was a nice occasion to foster international friendship through go,” Aguilar told the E-Journal.

The field included 19 Cubans and 18 players from other nations. John Harriman 2d (US) finished 10th with a 4-2 record. Other US players competing were Bob Gilman and Tania Tadakia.  High officials from the Cuban Ministry of Sport attended the event, and it was covered on Cuban television. photo: (l-r) Fernando Aguilar, Hisao Uyama & Santiago Alvarez.
– report/photos by Bob Gilman

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“Considering we were novice organizers and pulled it together in under two months, the Philadelphia Fall Open went smoothly,” reports Benjamin Sauerhaft Coplon, Penn Go Society Treasurer and Chief Tournament Organizer. Twelve players participated in the October 25 tournament, ranging from from 6 dan to 17 kyu.

“The winners all happened to be new AGA members,” Coplon adds. They shared $100 in prizes: First place, Summer (Yuting) Yue, Second place, Amber Jain, Third place, John Deming. Full results available here.

“Thank you to all the players for making this event a success, and having patience with our minor difficulties,” says Coplon. “Thank you to Evan Zou for remaining calm under pressure as TD. Thank you to Matt Bengtson, our club president, for providing his expertise and keeping the Penn Go Society running. And finally, thank you to Redcap’s Corner, Gaming Emporium which hosted us for free.” With renewed momentum from the tournament, “The Penn Go Society is looking forward to planning our next tournament within the next few months and expanding the presence of go in the Greater Philadelphia Area,” Coplon said.
photos: (top): The final game of the tournament between Antong Chen and Summer (Yuting) Yue attracts a crowd; (bottom right): The winners; 1st Place Summer (Yuting) Yue (center), 2nd Amber Jain (right) 3rd John Deming (left); (bottom left): John Deming and Henry Hathaway begin the game. photos by Isaiah Coplon

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Age: 36
Years playing go: 26
Lives in: McLean, VA
Home club: Capital Go Club

Life is unpredictable: could be great, could go south. Playing go for nearly three decades has taught me strategies that have benefited me tremendously in my current career in financial planning. Reading out the variations helps me understand which is a manageable trade and which is an unfavorable battle. It’s also important to keep a couple byo-yomi periods for the uncertainties at the end. That said, it’s still impossible to predict a go game or life, but we can always plan to avoid the unnecessary pains, taking only the calculable risks.

Why do you play? Tell us in 100 words or less your favorite thing about the game of go, include your name, age, how long you’ve played go, where you live and your home go club, and email to journal@usgo.org. Be sure to include a current photo!

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American professional Andy Liu 1p has won his way into the final round of the Kansai Kiin’s 12th Sankei Cup pro preliminary in Osaka, Japan. Liu defeated Imayi Kazuhiro 6p by resignation in his first game and won against Takashima Yougo 1p by a half-point in the second round. He plays Ha Yonnyiru 6p on Monday, Nov. 2 at 2:30 p.m. Japanese time.

Fellow AGA pro Gansheng Shi lost in the first round to Mine Yasuhiro 3p, and the two EGF pros, Mateusz Surma 1p and Ali Jabarin 1p lost their matches as well. Shi and Liu will also play in an exchange match with young Kansai pros on Friday, Oct. 30, Liu at 10 a.m. Japanese time against Sinntani Yousuki 1p and Shi at 2 p.m. against Yinaba Karinn 1p. All matches will be broadcast on Pandanet. The EJ will update with photos and game records as soon as they are available.
– Andy Okun

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