The 37 players gathered outside of Baltimore for the 48th Maryland Open over the Memorial Day weekend expected to see a showdown between defending champion Michael Chen 1P and Alex Qi 1P. But Ninghan Duan 7 dan upset things with a win on time over Qi in Round 3, showed it was not a fluke by beating Chen in Round 4 and then defeated Trevor Morris 4 dan to win the event. Duan’s dramatic half-point win in the final round of the New York Institute of Go’s grand opening tournament in February 2023 clinched his first-place win there.
Todd Heidenreich was the TD and prizes were provided by Yellow Mountain Imports.
- report by Keith Arnold
RESULTS
Open Section 1st - Ninghan Duan 7-dan (5-0)
2nd - Michael Chen 1p
3rd - Alex Qi 1p
A Section 1at - Chang Xu 4 dan
2nd - Richard Duan 4 dan
B Section 1st - Max Blair 3 dan
C Section 1st - Bob Crites 4 kyu
2nd - John Gipson 5 kyu
3rd - Luc Thomas 1 kyu (Kyu Champion)
D Section 1st - Robert Qi 5 kyu
2nd - Caroline Li 7 kyu
E Section 1st - Michael Yang 24 kyu (5-0)
2nd - Joonha Lee 10 kyu
3rd - Inha Lee 16 kyu
Gregory Lefler Award - Feng Yun Go School
Fighting Spirit Prize - Jason Siyi Li 1 dan
Go Ambassador Award - Trevor Morris 4 dan
photo: Final round of the Maryland Open: in the foreground pros Alex Qi and Michael Chen square off for second place, while Ninghan Duan 7 dan tries to remain undefeated against AGA Board of Directors Chairman Trevor Morris