News / Articles

MASTERS KICKS OFF U.S. CONGRESS: U.S. Masters finalists Jie Li 9d and Thomas Hsiang 7d kick off the 21st annual U.S. Go Congress in Tacoma, Washington this Saturday, August 6 with Round 1 of the 3-round U.S. Masters series. Look for full coverage of this and all the Congress action next week in daily E-Journal reports and on the AGA website at http://www.usgo.org  An updated daily schedule for the Go Congress is posted at http://www.go2005.org  Sara Hwang won last week's Congress pop quiz, correctly reporting that the dan and kyu ranks with the most players at this year's U.S. Go Congress are 1d and 1k.
  
DINERCHTEIN WINS EUROPEAN MASTERS: Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P of Russia took first place in the European Masters last weekend, besting eight top European players. The European Masters determines who will represent Europe in international tournaments. The e ight this year were Catalin Taranu 5P of Romania and winner of the European Masters in 2003, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P of Russia, who was European Champion in 2004, Ondrej Silt 6d of Czechia and winner of the European Cup 2003-2005, Andrei Koulkow 6d of Ru ssia and winner of the European Go Oza in 2004, Radek Nechanicky 6d of Czechia and winner of the Toyota-Pandanet European Tour 2004-2005, Christian Pop 6d of Romania, Svetlana Shikshina 1P of Russia, and Franz-Josef Dickhut 6d of Germany. Guo Juan 5P of t he Netherlands declined to participate. Nechanicky took second, and Taranu third.

XIANLIANG WU TOPS AUSTIN TOURNEY: Xianliang Wu took top honors in the July 23rd tournament in Austin, TX, besting a field of 22 competing for over $300 in gift certificates and prizes. "Wu was also the winner of the Best New Member Record," reports TD Mi chael Heinich, who was assisted by Jim Conyngham and Jeff Shavel.
        Results: Dan: 1st: Wu, Xianliang; 2nd: Gabbert, Adam; Kyu I: 1st: Feng, Powei; 2nd: Hu, Alex; Kyu II: 1st: Foran, Gary; 2nd: Mercer, Stephen.

EUROPEAN GO CONGRESS UP-DATE: Although he lost a game in the sixth round to Jong-Wook Park 7d of Korea, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1p is still in first place in the Main tournament at the European Go Congress in Prague, where over 700 are now competing. Park has won all seven of his games, but is in third place on the basis of scores of opponents. Seok-bin Cho 7d of Germany is second, with six wins, losing only to Dinerchtein. Cho leads the Rapid Play Tournament after seven rounds. The early leader, Silt Ondr ej 6d of the Czech Republic has fallen to eighth place as a result of losing his last two games. Jong-min Kim 6d of Korea took first place in the five round weekend tournament. He was the only player with five wins. Ki-bong Lee 7d of Korea was second. Yeo n-sik Lim 7d of Korea and Jong-Wook Park were third and fourth. There was also a four-person team tournament between eight teams which was won by the team of Youn-Sa Youn 7d of Korea and three Russians, Ilia Shikshin 6d, Arte m Dugin 4d, and Timur Dugin 4d. You can see all the results and much more about activities at the 49th European Go Congress at http://www.goweb.cz/egc2005/default.asp?lang=en . The 50th European Go Congress will be in Rome in 2006.

STANKIEWICZ WINS ALERT READER: Brian Stankiewicz of Austin, Texas 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 corre ctly report the Alerts. Keep a sharp eye out in all our game attachments; you could be a winner too!

GAME COMMENTARY: Cho's Masterpiece & Bonus Kaz
        The 37th Honinbo Title Match in 1982 was a memorable one. Title holder Cho Chikun 9P and challenger Kobayashi Koichi 9P were just beginning to break into the top levels of pro play. In face-to-face battle, K obayashi held the edge at fifteen to six, but Cho had won more titles and at the time of this match also held the Meijin and Judan titles. When the best-of-seven match reached a 2-2 tie, everyone expected it to go to the seventh game. Cho won game five, a nd then ended the contest with a game that is considered one of his masterpieces. We're pleased to present this game in today's edition, with thanks to Go World, where it originally appeared. Go World is the English language magazine published by Kiseido that contains thorough coverage of pro events, commented pro games, and instructional material. It is available from http://www.kiseido.com
        In today's bonus file, Kaz Furuyama takes a look at How to Make the Opponent's Thickness Overconcentrated.
         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 p latforms at Jan van der Steen's http://gobase.org/sgfeditors.html

BEGINNER'S MIND: Hello, I Must Be Going
by Aria von Elbe
       I've been thinking about how human beings are adaptive creatures. Despite our normal daily routines and schedules, just a few days in a totally new environment simply establishes new routines. Then when we have to leave our new routine we feel the same foreboding we did when we left the old one. I adapted so quickly to being here in Japan the last few weeks that now I'm sad that I won't be able to do it again for a very long time.
        Still, I'm living in the moment and reveling in the fact that I'm the proud owner of the 2005 Nihon Ki-in Yearbook, the newest issue of Shuukan Go, and a ketai denwa, cell phone, keychain of go stones, all o f which I bought on the 3rd floor of the Nihon Kiin during a Daigaku Sensei Tournament. Since we've been in Tokyo, the go's been a little sparse. No more Igo Terebi, no internet to review games. But the other day, I found Shuukan Go in the eki before we g ot on the train, and last night shopping my friends said that they saw old men playing go.
        I swear I saw the Nihon Kiin from a mile away. There it was, just like the pictures. Shining gold kanji. One of the day's challengers holding the door for me. Go was everywhere. On the 7th floor, two kisha, journalists, were working overtime at the Shuukan Go office, where I know that I'm going to work someday. Did you know the Nihon Ki-in has a Go Museum in the basement? I love Japan...and go...and my future. Ii desu ka? See you at the Congress.
- 17-year-old Aria von Elbe has been visiting Japan; she'll be attending the Go Congress in Tacoma and will be a high school senior in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this Fall.

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