The National Go Center kicked off its 2024 tournament season Saturday with the
annual Lunar New Year tournament, drawing a field of 24 players. The top section was won by Yuan Zhou 7D, who prevailed on a tiebreak with Chang Xu 4D; both players were 3-1.
There was something special to celebrate the dawning of the Lunar New Year; the arrival of two new pandas from China. NGC Executive Director and avid photographer Gurujeet Khalsa did a photoshoot of Bao Li in preparation for the tournament, and all players received a picture of their choice, while 3- and 4-game winners received enlarged custom prints.
Timo Ucciferri 11k was the only 4-game winner, trekking down from New York for the day to tune up for the NY Go Championship this coming weekend. The E-Journal – which streamed the top five boards at the NGC tourney using the AGA’s new electronic recording boards, will be streaming top-board games at the Feb 15-16 New York City tourney on both Twitch and YouTube.
The 3-game winners were Yuan Zhou (7d), Chang Xu (4D), Luc Thomas (1D), Paul Celmer (2K), Barreal Anderson (3K), Craig Young (7K), Shamsher Bains (9K).