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Kevin Chao Wins AGF Board Auction

The Orange County Go Club's Kevin Chao 6D (right) prevailed in a spirited bidding war at the annual go board auction at the 2015 U.S. Go Congress banquet August 8. For much of the auction, conducted by E-Journal Managing Editor Chris Garlock and American Go Foundation president Terry Benson, it was a 3-man duel between Brady Daniels, Congress Director Josh Larson and an increasingly hoarse banquet MC Andrew Jackson. 

 The back of the board -- donated by Yutopian -- had been signed by most of the professional go players attending the Go Congress, and previous winner Andy Okun testified to the veracity of Garlock's promise of improvement, noting that he'd been 1-kyu when he won the auction and is now shodan. When Jackson's bid of $1,200 knocked Daniels out, the board seemed destined to head to Seattle, but then Chao swooped in with a bid of $1,500, his first of the evening, and it proved decisive. "This is so amazingly generous," said Benson. "This will help fund American Go Foundation activities and programs that promote go across the United States, including important future investments like go camp scholarships." "The support of go players like Kevin and Chris (whose recent walk across Wales raised $2,400 for the AGF) is what makes this such an incredible community," added American Go Association president Andy Okun. "They, and all our generous AGF contributors, are truly planting the seeds for the future of American go." photo: (top left) Benson, Okun & Garlock; photos by Phil Straus