Teaching Go: Kodomo No Hi

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 May 2012 11:41

On the afternoon of Saturday, May 5th, nearly 10 players of the Argentine Go Association (AAGo) joined at the Main Hall of the lovely Japanese Garden of Buenos Aires to teach kids of all ages the game of go, in the celebration of Kodomo No Hi (Children’s Day in Japan). The room was nicely arranged by the staff of the garden to make the experience a great one for everyone, having an exposition of classic Japanese toys and tables with games to play or drawings to colour. Next to these tables, a huge, long one was set, with fifteen 9x9 go boards and stones, and instructors wandering around, waiting for the kids. When they arrived, the fun begun and soon the parents were as excited as the little ones, though a bit slower at learning the rules. Mainly, the teaching consisted of how to play atari-go, and getting the children to play it as soon as possible, to grasp the basic mechanics of the game. A group of them actually ended up playing 9x9 go. There were also a few that knew how to play go, and played 19x19 with some instructors. The speed at which the little ones progressed in the game was really astonishing. The big star was a colourful Korean board, all green with glass stones in four different colours, which every assistant wanted to use. In the opinion of this humble reporter, surely a group of kids of the nearly 70 that attended the event will continue playing and, probably enough, surprise us in a few years.

Report by Luciano Salerno (AAGO). Photo: Mario Nakazato (Jardín Japonés).

Shusaku in Transylvania

Last Updated on Friday, 04 May 2012 13:41

Ninety-four go players, 63 Romanian, 17 Hungarian, and 14 from countries as far away as Spain, converged on the Transylvanian town of Targu Mures to compete for the 2012 Shusaku Cup from March 30 to April 1. The field ranged from 8 dan to 20 kyu, with 15 players ranked 5 dan and above. At stake was 3200 euros in prize money, to be divided in a 12:8:5:4:3:1 ratio among the top six finishers. First-place honors went to In-Seong Hwang, a former Korean insei now teaching go in Zurich, Switzerland. Second and third places went to a pair of young Ukranians, Artem Kachanovsky and Andrii Kravets. Rounding out the top six were Cornel Burzo (Romania), Ondrej Silt (Czechia), and Nikola Mitic (Serbia). Also attending, though not competing, were a couple of Chinese pros: Song Ronghui 5p and Zou Junjie 5p.

The deciding game between In-Seong and Artem can be seen here. Full results are here. Further details and photos are here and here.

Sun Shines in California

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 May 2012 02:14

Nearly 200 players turned out for the 2012 Cotsen Open, held April 28-29 at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Sponsored by LA businessman and go enthusiast Eric Cotsen, this tournament is noted for its free lunches, massages, and other perks. This year 15-year old Calvin Sun won the open section with a 5-0 record, including victories over former U.S. WAGC players John Lee and Joey Hung, capped by a 4th-round win over runner-up Curtis Tang (game record http://usgo.org/tournaments/crosstab/results/792-15272-15212) and a final-round win over Dangerous Dan (Dae-Hyuk) Ko, who finished fifth. No newcomer to the Cotsen Open, Calvin first attended in 2004, at age seven, when he won the 1d section. By taking the top two places, Calvin and Curtis have qualified for the pro certification tournament to be held at the US Go Congress this summer.
The American pro certification system has come into existence through the cooperation of the Korean Baduk Association and Tygem. Once the system gets going, American pros will be competing in Korean professional tournaments. To help kick off the pro selection process, the KBA sent over its Secretary General Yang Jaeho (9p), superstars Cho Hunhyun (9p) and Yoo Changhyuk (9p), and Kim Hyojung (2p), who joined local pros Myung-wan Kim 9p, Yilun Yang 7p, and Janice Kim (3p) in giving lectures and commentaries and playing simultaneous games.
Further results and photos and an interview with Cho Hunhyun are available on the American Go Association news page.

2012 British Go Congress

Last Updated on Sunday, 29 April 2012 09:00

The 2012 British Go Congress was held in Durham on April 20-22. The opening event was a Friday evening lightning tournament won by Andrew Kay (4d). The main event was the British Open, played in six rounds on Saturday and Sunday, also won by Andrew Kay: he now has four British tournament triumphs for 2012. Second and third places in the Open went to Andrew Simons (3d) and Toby Manning (2d).

The full results of the British Open are here. Results of other events and further details are here.