Canwa Vancouver 1, Chicago & Katy TX 1 Lead AGA City League After 4th Round

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After four rounds in the AGA City League, Canwa Vancouver 1 is leading the A League. Hot on their heels are Seattle 1 and Greater

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 Washington with one match behind. May’s final matches will decide which two teams will meet at the Pandanet City League Finals in New York City at the US Go Congress. Chicago is leading the B League with NY City their only contender. Can Raleigh take down Chicago in their match up in just a few weeks? The teams in the C League were closer matched before this round. Now Katy TX 1 has come way out ahead in their matches. Katy TX 2 and Memphis are in the 2-3 seed respectively. With three more rounds to go the lineup could change a lot before the end. See right for an exciting 4th-round game between Eric Lui (W, Greater Washington) vs Bill Lin (B, Canwa Vancouver 1) from the A League. See below for complete 4th-round results.
– Steve Colburn, TD

A League: Los Angeles Def Toronto (3-0), Seattle 1 def Boston (2-1), Canwa Vancouver 1 def Greater Washington (2-1)
B League: Washington DC 1 def NC Raleigh (2-1), Chicago def San Francisco 1 (2-1), New York City def Washington DC 2 (3-0)
C League: West Tennessee/Memphis def Katy TX 2 (2-1), Brentwood/Nashville def Seattle 2 (3-0), Katy TX 1 def Lincoln (2-1)
Still in progress: Central New York/Syracuse vs Canwa Vancouver 2 (0-2)

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Straus Washington Open Baduk Championships Photo Album Posted

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Photographer (and former AGA president) Phil Straus has just posted an album of 28 high-resolution photos from the April 27-28 Washington Open Baduk Championships, which includes portraits of many of the players and dignitaries in attendance. The photos may be freely used but must credit Straus.
photo: Baltimore Go Club organizer Keith Arnold (left) gets a lesson; photo by Phil Straus 

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EuroGoTV Update: Lithuania, Turkey, UK

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Lithuania: Andrius Petrauskas 3d took the Vilniaus Taure on April 27 while Vladas Zaleskas 2d came in second and Ernestas Romeika 1d placed third. Turkey: The 3. Adana Go Tournament finished on April 20 with Cagdas Yeloglu 2d in first, Ertug Akkol 1d (left) in second, and Eren Kurter 2d in third. UK: Paul Taylor 2d bested Alistair Wall 2d at the Welwyn Gardens tournament on April 26. Francis Roads 2d 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

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Upcoming European Tournament: Amsterdam International Go Tournament

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(c) Vit BrunnerThe Amsterdam Go Club and European Go Centre will host the 43rd Amsterdam International Go Tournament May 29-June 1 at the European Go Cultural Centre. In addition to the main tournament, there will also be two deciding rounds of the CEGO EGF Pro Qualification Tournament for the first EGF professional go player, the Batavia Blitz Tournament, the DNM Rapid Tournament, and the Kunwa Children’s Tournament. The Rapid Tournament is open to main tournament players for a reduced price or for players who would like to only play a one day tournament. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top five players and special small money prizes for players with four to six wins. Players must register before May 25 or will be required to pay a late registration fee. For more information or to register, please visit the official Amsterdam International Go Tournament page.
—Annalia Linnan; for complete listings, check out the European Tournament Calendar; photo courtesy of the Amsterdam International Go Tournament

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84 Compete in School Teams Tourney

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The School Team Tournament drew 84 kids and teens, reports organizer Calvin Sun 1P. Held on KGS, March 22 and 29, the event is organized by the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) every year. “28 teams of three competed in four divisions to claim the title of best youth team in North America,” said Sun, “ranks ranged from 25k to 6d.” Top honors in the Varsity division went to Diamond Bar High School, CA. “I want to thank AGHS and our tournament organizers for running such an amazing event,”  said team leader Yunxuan Li 6d. “It was very fun and exciting to compete with other go clubs throughout North America. Our club started this school year (see E-J 11-5-13) and I was pretty surprised that we won the tournament after such a short time period. We got lucky in a lot of our games.  This is a great event for our youth players and it is really wonderful to see new clubs playing in it and enjoying it every year.”

The Junior Varsity division was topped by reigning champions, Cary Christian School, from North Carolina, who have fielded multiple teams for the past several year, often winning one or more divisions. “The kids really enjoyed it,” said Team Advisor Jeff Kuang, “especially, the kids in CCS Team one (who took first place).  They learned not only go skills but also online playing experience and etiquette.” Another new team, David Douglas High School, from Portland, OR, took top honors in the Intermediate division. “It was a very pleasant surprise,” said club president Andrew Nguy 19k, “it was our first tournament, and none of us really expected to even place, much less win first.”  Rounding out the winners list in the Novice division was a team from CNY Chinese School in Manlius New York, which was coached by the 2013 AGF Teacher of the Year Richard Moseson. “This was my first online tournament,” said 8-year-old Liya Luk, who played first board. “I liked it because it lasted two Saturdays, so our team could prepare in between the Saturdays. I had lots of fun doing the tournament.” -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor.  Photo by Siddhartha Avila: Youth from Mexico City competed from the public library.  Avila’s students from multiple locations, fielded five teams.

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This Week’s Go Calendar: Austin, Evanston, San Diego, Raleigh

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May 10: Austin, TX
Austin ‘May… you win” Go Tournament
Bart Jacob bart.jacob@gmail.com 512-659-1324

May 10: Evanston, IL
You Say TomAYto, I Say TomAHto
Mark Rubenstein mark@evanstongoclub.org 847-869-6020

May 10: San Diego, CA
San Diego Go Club 2014 Spring Soiree
Ted Terpstra ted.terpstra@gmail.com 619-384-3454

May 11: Raleigh, NC
Carolina Spring Go Tournament
Owen Chen owenjchen@gmail.com 919-523-7727

Get the latest go events information.

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The Power Report (Part 2): Kono and Yuki Secure Kisei League Places; Japanese Team Plays in Chinese League; Yamashita Keeps Sole Lead in Meijin League

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by John Power, EJ Japan Correspondent

Kono and Yuki Secure Kisei League Places: The remaining two vacant seats in the 39th Kisei Leagues were decided on April 21. In the play-offs, Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Ko Iso 8P by resig. and Yuki Satoshi 9P (W) beat Mizokami Tomochika 8P by resig. Kono (right) has made an immediate comeback after being eliminated in the previous league; this will be his 7th Kisei league in a row. He has kept his seat in the Honinbo League and is playing in the current Meijin League, so he is one of only two players (the other is Yamashita Keigo) to be a member of all three leagues. Yuki will be playing in his ninth Kisei league and reappears after a five-year gap; he made an unsuccessful challenge for the 29th Kisei title. Incidentally, he played this game three days after losing the Judan title, so it seems he has not been crushed by this reverse.

Japanese Team Plays in Chinese League: This year, too, a Japanese team competed in the Chinese league. Known as the China-Japan Friendship team, it was composed of Ida Atsushi 8P, Yo Seiki 7P, Yo Chito 2P, and Kyo Kagen 2P; apart from Ida, these players were all born in Taiwan. The team played in the C League and took 5th place out of 22 teams. The league was held in Hangzhou City from April 21 to 29; the Japanese team scored two wins, four draws, and one loss, giving it eight points (out of a possible 14). The top three teams are promoted to the B League. Ida, who will launch his challenge to Iyama Yuta for the Honinbo title in mid-May, scored 4-3, Yo Seiki 2-5, Yo Chito 3-4, and Kyo an impressive 7-0.

Yamashita Keeps Sole Lead in Meijin League: With a win over Ryu Shikun 9P on May 1, Yamashita Keigo (left) remained the only undefeated player in the 39th Meijin League. He is now 5-0. Ryu’s loss meant that he dropped out of second place. Cho U 9P has won his fourth game and, with 3-1, is now in sole second place. Yamashita is the favorite, but he also led the Honinbo League throughout only to stumble right at the end.
Recent results:
(April 14) Yamashita (W) beat Kono Rin 90 by 3.5 points.
(April 24) Cho U (B) beat Takao Shinji 9P by 2.5 points.
(May 1) Yamashita (W) beat Ryu by resig.; Hane Naoki 9P (W) beat Ko Iso 8P by resig.

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The importance of studying at your level

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Many people try to study very advanced things. Some kyu adults try to memorize 4dan, 5dan, and 6dan joseki variations.

This could work for talented kyu children who could beome a 1dan and then a 7 dan within a year or two years. But that doesn’t happen to adults. Also children will never forget what they learn. Adults can forget lessons much more easily.

In the years of teaching hundreds of kyu players, I’m convinced that you should study things at your level..

If you’re a 10 kyu player, you should study tesuji, life-and-death, joseki at 10 kyu levels, and I can tell you why.

Please think about it this way.

Suppose you learn a ski jump. As a sky jump 10 kyu player, would you go up to the top of a take-off ramp from 100m above the ground like top amateur ski players do?

No!

If you tried to slide and fly from the 100m top ramp, you could die or at
least end up with broken bones.

You probably start with learning how to jump from a 50-cm hill,
and then 1m-hill, and then 2m-hill, and so on down the line.

But kyu players often try to learn 4dan, 5dan, 6dan, 7dan things. For example even if they successfully play a 4dan joseki, they should keep playing 4dan moves in order to maximize the joseki. But that’s probably impossible for kyu players.

What often happens is that many of their stones often end up with dead or broken bone stones in the middle of the game when they play with a bit stronger player.

This is why you should learn basic things at your level. Otherwise, your stones
will keep facing dead stones or a lot of broken stones, and you will only lose confidence.

Also if you study at your level, you will understand things much more
easily. Then you can retain them and apply them. Further, you probably enjoy
learning them because you can understand them.

When I give a private lesson, I examine my student’s games (10 or 20 games at first) to learn how much they understand things because every key player has a different understanding. (Ideally I should examine 100 games, but I don’t have time.) Then I start commenting on their games.

After commenting on their games, I try to choose problems at their levels. If you’re interested in my private lesson, please take a look at my website (which will be updated sometime very soon. So please wait. I’d appreciate your understanding. )

I hope you find this advice useful.

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May 05, 2014 at 08:46AM

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Studying tesuji is far more important than joseki

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More and more I’m convinced that one of the most effective ways to study Go is to learn tesuji than joseki. I’m sure I have already reiterated some advice before, but many of them are new.

(I’m not saying that learning joseki doesn’t help you. It does help you become strong. But I believe it’s better to spend more time on learning tesuji than joseki, and I’m giving the reasons below. )

1. Learning tesuji helps you not only in the opening, but also the middle game as well as the endgame.

2. Some joseki variations become out of date, but tesuji never gets old or uncommon.

3. One of the hardest things to learn about Go is the shortage of liberties especially for adults. Often adults lose a winning game because the shortage of liberties often makes you lose stones.

Tesuji problems often contain a lot of shortage of liberty problems. So the more you learn tesuji, the more likely that you will be able to spot that.

4. When you learn tesuji, you not only learn tesuji, but also learn good shapes. It’s always good to make good shapes than bad shapes, so you can fight better.

5. The more you know tesuji and good shapes, the more you can understand the meaning of joseki moves. But just memorizing joseki will not make you understand tesuji and good shapes, especially for adults.

It’s partly because many joseki variations contain 5dan, 6dan, or 7dan tesujis. If you’re a kyu player, when do you expect to understand 5dan, 6dan, and 7dan tesujis and learn them

Keep in mind that all pros were talented when they were children and easily memorized hundreds of josekis as a children. They also got from a kyu player to 1dan and then 7dan within a year or two years. So all the joseki moves would make sense quickly. But this doesn’t happen to adults.

For adutls, it’s much better to understand the meaning of each joseki move so that you can remember joseki moves more easily. To do so, learning tesuji is probably the best way. Also I think for most people it’s more fun to understand the meaning of moves than pure memorization.

I’ve taught hundreds of adult kyu players and helped them learn long, complicated joseki variations. But they will eventually forget them if they don’t keep playing it. Pure memorization doesn’t work for adult kyu playres.

Moreover, some joseki variations contain exception moves, which can be bad in ordinary situations.

For example the Chinese opening has many exception moves rather than basic moves. So I don’t like to recommend it to the people who haven’t solidified the basic foundations. Unfortunately joseki books don’t explain which moves are exceptions and why.

6. The more you know tesuji, the more you are able to respond correctly to new joseki moves and an opponent’s incorrect joseki moves. I’d like to explain this further.

You can’t learn thousands of josekis as well as all new josekis. New josekis come out everyday, especially in South Korea and China, and even Japanese top pros can’t keep up with everything.

Moreover, regardless of how many josekis you memorize, you always meet an opponent’s moves deviating from a correct joseki move. (Keep in mind that not everyone studies joseki extensively.) When that happen, your joseki knowledge no longer helps you. What helps you is the knowledge of tesuji, which also helps you find good shape as I’ve already stated.

This is why I’d like to recommend that you learn tesuji more than joseki.

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May 05, 2014 at 07:43AM

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The Power Report (Part 1): Takao Makes Comeback as Judan; Iyama Sets New Prize Money Record; Computer versus Yoda

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by John Power, EJ Japan Correspondent

Takao Makes Comeback as Judan: Six years after he last won a top-seven title, Takao Shinji 9P (left) has made a comeback, taking the Judan title from Yuki Satoshi with a win in the final game of the 52nd title match. Takao started off well in the best-of-five, winning the first game by half a point, but then the title holder fought back with his own half-point win, then took the lead in the third game. Takao saved his first kadoban in the fourth game, then won the deciding game. Below are details of the games played since my last report.
The third game was played at the Kuroyon Royal Hotel in Omachi City in Nagano Prefecture on April 10. Omachi, a town set at the foot of the Japan Alps, calls itself ‘the Alps igo village’ and actively promotes the game among its citizens. The Kuroyon Royal Hotel has hosted a game from the Judan title match for 21 years in a row. The game featured complicated fighting, but was evenly poised in the late middle game. Instead of taking some profit on move 158, Takao chose to attack an isolated black group. However, this backfired on him: Yuki found a clever tesuji to secure life and at the same time took the lead on territory.
The fourth game was held at the Kansai Ki-in in Osaka, Yuki’s home ground, on April 17. Playing with white, Yuki focussed a little too much on building thickness in the opening, letting Takao take the lead in territory. Yuki did his best to use his thickness to harass Black, but he missed his best opportunity to attack a weak black group. With no scope to create complications, Yuki resigned after Black 169.
The final game was played on Takao’s home ground, the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo, on April 21. In the nigiri to decide colors, Takao drew black. In the middle game, he played riskily because he thought he was behind, but that actually gave Yuki the chance to make a powerful attack, which really did put Takao behind. However, Takao managed to set up a double attack on two white groups. Yuki saved one of them, but slipped up with the other, missing the only move that would have saved it. He resigned after 167 moves.
This is Takao’s 13th title. Incidentally, he broke the monopoly of the top seven titles enjoyed by Osakan players since Iyama won the Meijin title in October last year.

Iyama Sets New Prize Money Record: Not surprisingly, considering he set a new record by winning six of the top seven titles, Iyama Yuta (right) also set a new record for most prize money won in one year. Often there is quite a big gap between first and second in this list, with the top player sometimes making twice as much as the next player; not so in 2013: Iyama earned over four and a half times as much as Cho U. Below is the list of the top ten (amounts are in yen). Note that these sums do not include income from teaching etc.
1. Iyama Yuta: 164,613,000 (about $1,600,000)
2. Cho U: 35,241,200
3. Takao Shinji: 30,846,000
4. Yamashita Keigo: 30,630,200
5. Kono Rin: 23,210,192
6. Xie Yimin: 14,582,100
7. Hane Naoki: 14,052,431
8. Kobayashi Satoru: 11,134,600
9. Mizokami Tomochika: 10,973,600
10. Shida Tatsuya: 10,420,500

Computer versus Yoda: Games between computers and professionals seem to be popular these days. In February, the program Zen played a series of 9×9 games and got within half a point of its professional opponent in one of them. On March 21, Yoda Norimoto 9P played two four-stone handicap games against Zen and another program, CrazyStone. Yoda beat Zen by resignation, but lost to CrazyStone by 2.5 points (Black gave a komi of half a point). In the UEC Cup, a computer-go tournament, held just before this, Zen had taken first place and CrazyStone second. Yoda’s comments after the games implied that he benefited from familiarity with Zen’s style of play, whereas he knew nothing about CrazyStone.

Tomorrow: Kono and Yuki Secure Kisei League Places; Japanese Team Plays in Chinese League; Yamashita Keeps Sole Lead in Meijin League

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