News / Articles

US IN TOP 10 AT WAGC: Thomas Hsiang 7d's seventh-place finish in the just-concluded World Amateur Go Championships (WAGC) in Nagoya, Japan was one of the best-ever for the U.S. China won the 26th WAGC with a perfect score and North Korea took second place. U.S. representative Thomas Hsiang lost only to China and North Korea, but Germany's win over 8th place Hong Kong trumped Hsiang's best win, over 12th place Ukraine and Hsiang was behind Germany and Japan by just one SOS point. The top ten trophy winners, in order, were China, North Korea, Taipai, South Korea, Germany, Japan, U.S.A., Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. Look for a report and games from Hsiang soon. Meanwtime, you can get full results at http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/amakisen/worldama/26/gameresult-e.htm
- reported by Keith Arnold from gobase.org & the Nihon Kiin

EDWARD KAO AND JOEY HUNG IN ING REDMOND FINAL: Joey Hung 8d defeated Eric Lui 7d and Edward Kao 6d defeated Yuan Zhou 7d in the initial round of the Ing Redmond Tournament last weekend, despite some balky internet connections. Not to be confused with the Redmond Cup, which is for youth aged 12-18, the Ing Redmond is for young players age under 30 (but over 18).The final between Hung and Kao will be held on the first Saturday of the US Go Congress in Tacoma, WA. The winner gets a seat in the Ing Cup at the Congress. The only one of the four who is not already in the Ing Cup on the basis of their ratings, Edward Kao must defeat two Ing Cup players to get in.
  
PARK YEONGHUN DEFEATS CHINA'S NUMBER ONE: Park Yeonghun 9P, the barely twenty phenom of Korea, has defeated China's number one player, Gu Li 7P, who is only two years older, in the first game of their three game match as rival New Star champions of their respective countries. You can download the game at http://igo-kisen.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ckn.html . We'll have the final results of the contest in Monday's issue.

MEMBERS TO VOTE ON BYLAW CHANGES: Members of the American Go Association will have a chance to vote on proposals affecting two major areas of the AGA's governing documents, reports AGA President Michael Lash. "One proposal addresses the AGA's corporate officers while the other relates to weighted chapter voting," says Lash (see MY MOVE below for details).

WEEKEND GO ACTION: Baltimore, MD, Denver, CO & Round Top, NY
- May 27-30: Round Top, NY; Guo Juan Workshop; Jean Claude Chetrit 718-638-2266 jc@brooklyngoclub.org
- May 28: Denver, CO; Colorado Open; U. Tamm 303-466-2865 utamm@worldnet.att.net
- May 28 & 29: Baltimore, MD; 32nd Maryland Open (AGTC event); Keith Arnold 410-788-3520 hlime81@comcast.net

SALAMONY WINS ALERT READER: Kim Salamony of Jefferson Hills, PA is this week's Alert Reader winner, winning a $10 go vendor gift certificates for spotting our Alert hidden in last week's game commentary. Winners are drawn at random from those who correctly report the Alerts. Keep a sharp eye out in all our game attachments; you could be a winner too!

GAME COMMENTARY: Timing and The Obvious Move
        In today's game commentary Yilun Yang 7P reviews a game by Shodan Challenger George Wells 6k, who's been playing for about two years. Timing - when to tenuki - is critical in this game.
        Black needs a second eye in today's bonus problem from Go Review; is there a problem with the obvious move?
        To view the attached .sgf file(s), simply save the file(s) to your computer and then open using an .sgf reader such as Many Faces of Go or SmartGo. Readers who need .sgf readers can get them for most platforms at Jan van der Steen's http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html

GO REVIEW: Pros & Cons of "The Second Book of Go"
By Richard Bozulich
Published by Kiseido Publishing Co
ISBN: 4906574319

PRO: Good For 15k+
Reviewed by Dan Jaqua 11k
        "The Second Book of Go" is an aptly titled book, picking up after you've played your first few games and taking you through some very fundamental ideas. The book is thorough enough for anyone although on occasion a true beginner may have to put forth some effort in order to appreciate and apply the material.
        Speaking of application, it would be helpful to accompany this book with a problem book (Graded Go Problems for Beginners, either Volume 1 or 2 would be appropriate) because "The Second Book" does not provide sufficient opportunities to practice the techniques presented. I don't think this is a major problem, however, since the text deals with issues so fundamental that they come up regularly in games.
        The book is excellent overall. The only reason for someone to avoid this book is if they have progressed past around 15 kyu. I read the book around that level and felt that I had already been forced to learn the vast majority of the material by experience. Even at 15 kyu, however, I did find pockets of new information because this book covers subjects too basic to be adequately covered anywhere else. I wish I had read this book when I was just learning, I think it would have helped me both at the board and when reading more advanced books.

CON: Save Your Money
Reviewed by Mark Engelberg 11k
        "The Second Book of Go" is aimed at beginning go players 20k or weaker. It primarily serves as an overview of the many facets of go that merit further study, from the opening and joseki to tesuji and so on. For the most part, each chapter functions as a preview for a corresponding in-depth book from Kiseido's Elementary Go series. One notable exception to this is the section on
capturing races by Richard Hunter. These chapters are completely out of character with the introductory nature of the rest of the book, providing a rigorous approach to categorizing and analyzing capture races. I enjoyed this information considerably, but once again, a more thorough treatment can be found elsewhere (Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races, also by Richard Hunter, from Slate and Shell). Rather than buying this book, most go players would be better served saving their money and putting it towards the book's meatier counterparts.

MY MOVE: Vote!
By Michael Lash, AGA President
        AGA members will soon receive mail ballots to vote on proposed changes to the Association's Articles of Incorporation and By-laws; I strongly urge your support for all the proposed changes.
The proposals affect two major areas of our governing documents; one proposal addresses the AGA's corporate officers while the other relates to weighted chapter voting. Both were discussed at length at last year's National Assembly meeting and since then, the Policy and Governance Committee has worked with members and interested parties to develop the final proposals you will receive shortly.
       The changes to the language regulating the officers will create real consistency in their appointments, terms of office, duties and responsibilities, and removal procedures. They also will create clear lines of communication and authority. One significant change is to formalize the reality now in place - that the President is responsible for running the business operations of the AGA, with the Board remaining as the top decision and policy-making body.
      On chapter voting, extensive discussions at the Congress continued through last fall and the proposal changes the balance of weighted voting to expand representation to more chapters, while maintaining the basic structure and integrity of the Chapter voting system for Regional Directors and Assembly votes. Under the proposal, the At-Large Director will be elected by direct member vote. The minimum number of Full members required for a Chapter to have a vote is reduced from 5 to 2. Additionally, instead of the current one vote for every 10 members, the changes provide for 1 vote for 2 members, 2 for 5, 3 for 10 and 1 additional for every 10 additional members.
       The ballot contains six changes to vote on, each to be voted yes or no. The actual text of the revisions will be posted on the AGA website soon. I urge every member to take the time to read the changes fully and make an informed vote.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

May 27-30: Round Top, NY
Guo Juan Workshop
Jean Claude Chetrit 718-638-2266 jc@brooklyngoclub.org

May 28: Denver, CO
Colorado Open
U. Tamm 303-466-2865 utamm@worldnet.att.net

May 28 & 29: Baltimore, MD
32nd Maryland Open (AGTC event)
Keith Arnold 410-788-3520 hlime81@comcast.net

June 4 Chicago, IL
Summer Tournament
Robert Barber komoku@earthlink.net

June 5: Seattle, WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org

June 11: Davis, CA
Davis/Sacramento Quarterly Ratings Tournament
Fred Hopkins 916-548-8068 cffredhop@msn.com

June 11-12: 1881 Pine St, San Francisco, CA
Northern California Open Goe Tournament
Ernest Brown 415-641-6255 ernest@goedharma.com

June 12: Minneapolis, MN
Twin Cities Go Club Tournament
Peter Hansmeier 612-85-1681 pfhansmeier@yahoo.com

June 18: Milpitas, CA
1st Joey Cup Youth Go Tournament
Joey Hung 650-387-9422 egogames@yahoo.com

June 18: Richmond, VA
The Virginia Open
William Cobb 804-740-2191 bcobb@slateandshell.com

June 18: Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo's 3rd Tournament
Benjamin Schooley 989-287-0123 benjaminschooley@hotmail.com

June 18-19: Ottawa, Canada
Friendship Go OpenTournament
Charles Chang 613-722-0603 ab073@freenet.carleton.ca

June 25: New York, NY
NYHSGA Summer Tournament
Alex Pak 917-637-0413 llyrias@gmail.com

June 25-28: Hackensack, NJ
2005 NJ Yang Yi-lun Go Workshop
John Stephenson 201-612-0852 jcs@wingsgoclub.org

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