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 Gurunavi Cup - 39th WAGC Edition - May 4 ~ 7 - Tokyo
 
 
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Chan Yi-Tien of Chinese Taipei wins the 39th WAGC

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Interview with Torben Pedersen

RANKA online Posted on May 5, 2018 by adminMay 5, 2018

Torben Pedersen, 3 dan, is a 54-year-old engineer from Vallensbaek in Denmark. He also competed in the WAGC in 2011 in Matsue, where he finished 32nd out of 57 contestants.

Torben Pedersen

Ranka: How did you start playing go?
Torben: I got started in go when my sister found a copy of Go for Beginners by Iwamoto in a library. We then managed to find and buy a go set and started playing. Afterward, in 1991, I made contact with a go club and started playing regularly.

Ranka: What’s the current go situation in Denmark?
Torben: It’s doing okay. I don’t think the number of players is either increasing or decreasing. We play in clubs, and we have perhaps three or four major tournaments in Denmark tournaments a year.

Ranka: Has AlphaGo had any effect?
Torben: In Denmark it’s mainly something we talk about. It hasn’t made any big changes. It has brought the game of go to the attention of more people, but it hasn’t increased the number of players.

Ranka: How do you hope to do in the World Amateur Go Championship this year?
Torben: I hope to do okay. My ambition is to win four games, as I did in 2011, but that may be a little difficult because there are many strong players here.

Ranka: Thank you and good luck.

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First Day of Play

RANKA online Posted on May 5, 2018 by adminMay 6, 2018

Competition in the Gurunavi World Amateur Go Championship began at 9:30 a.m. in the large playing hall on the second floor of the Nihon Kiin building in Tokyo. The field had been divided into three groups, with the top quarter (the A group, made up of 6- and 7-dan players) and bottom quarter (the C group, consisting mostly of kyu-level players) paired against the middle half (the B group) in the first round. Since the number of players was odd (61), one player was given a bye. The oldest contestant in the field, Aliaksandr Suponeu of Belarus, was chosen for this honor.

The game between the players from Brazil and Poland was the first to end, at 10:20. Stanislaw Frejlak, the Pole, had scored the first victory of the championship. The players immediately went to the side room to review it with chief referee Michael Redmond. The game had begun with an AlphaGo-style 3-3-point invasion. Michael corrected Thiago Ramos, the Brazilian, on the continuation.

Manh Linh Nguyen

As was to be expected, the A-group players won almost all of their games and the C-group lost almost all of theirs in the first round. The one surprise was that Dusan Mitic, a Serbian player with a 7-dan European ranking, lost to Vietnam’s Manh Linh Nguyen, 5-dan. Or perhaps this is not such a surprise. Vietnam has sent some strong players to the WAGC in the past, and has been turning out world-class chess players as well.

Organizationally, the round went smoothly, thanks to an experienced staff, the hard-working referees, and the many capable interpreters. Even the weather cooperated — sunny and warm but not hot. For the benefit of go players worldwide, several of the games were broadcast live on the Internet, including the victories by the players from China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Korea over opponents from Thailand, Austria, the Ukraine, and the Netherlands.

After lunch, the second round started at 1:30. Now the A-group players began to meet each other, and the sparks began to fly. In two contests between players both boasting 7-dan rankings, China’s Wang Chen dispatched the U.S.A.’s Aaron Ye, while Korea’s Kim Sangcheon did likewise with Romania’s Christian Pop. In a game that lasted longer, Japan’s Murakami Fukashi defeated Russia’s veteran Dmitri Surin. In contests between 6-dans, Germany’s Benjamin Teuber defeated Finland’s Juri Kuronen and Hungary’s Csaba Mero defeated Czechia’s Jan Prokop.

There were also many close match-ups lower down in the field: between 5-dans Xin Lei (Australia) and Leon Matoh (Slovenia), won by Xin; between 4-dans Cheng Khai-Yong (Malasia) and Maros Kral (Slovakia), won by Mr. Cheng; between 4-dans John Walch (Switzerland) and Vasyl Skochko (Ukraine), won by John; between 3-dans Juan Andrade (Colombia) and Jorge Kina (Peru), won by Juan; between shodans Hordur Thordarson (New Zealand) and Ari Gonzales (Ecuador), won by Hordur; and between 2-kyus Michael King (Ireland) and Teodor Nedev (Bulgaria), won by Michael.

Chan Yi-Tien (left) playing Lo Cheuk-Tung

In the longest game of the round, which lasted nearly three and a half hours, Chinese Tapei’s Chan Yi-Tien defeated Hong Kong’s Lo Cheuk-Tung. ‘I did badly in the opening,’ Chan said afterward, ‘but managed to come from behind and stage a reversal.’ Once he had the lead, he played confidently and carefully, but Lo did not give up easily. Using all of his 30-second-per-move overtime and persevering through a long endgame ko fight, which he won, he kept the spectators on edge right up to the end. When the territories were counted, however, Chan had won by a comfortable 4.5 points.

At the end of the day, fifteen contestants remained undefeated, including B-group players from Belarus, Colombia, Israel, Italy, and Norway. All five of them would face 7-dan opponents in the next round.

– James Davies

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Interview with Ólafur Sigurðarson

RANKA online Posted on May 4, 2018 by adminMay 5, 2018

Ólafur Sigurðarson

Ólafur Sigurðarson is both an artist and a go player, and Ranka asked him about both of these activities. Some of his artwork can be seen on DeviantArt.

Ranka: How did you start playing go?
Ólafur: I first learned about go from a few friends of mine online. They had seen Hikaru no Go and they thought go was something that would suit me. I didn’t see Hikaru no Go myself until I was around 12 kyu. My friends stopped playing shortly after they taught me, but I kept on, and slowly, slowly, I started to get involved with the game. This was about eight years ago. There were just a few players in Iceland who were actively playing online back then.

Ranka: And what is the situation in Iceland like now?
Ólafur: Although I’m the president of the Iceland Go Association, I’m not really sure. We have about five players who are very active, and there might be about twenty others who are less active, but I don’t know all of them. In fact, one of them is actually playing in this tournament — for New Zealand. I was surprised when I saw his name on the list, because I hadn’t even known about him.

Ranka: How strong are your five active players?
Ólafur: Well, I’m around 2 dan, maybe 1 dan. There’s one other at about the same level and another who is around 3 kyu. The other two active ones are in the 6-to-9-kyu range. Most of our other players are also in that range, or below it.

Ranka: Do you have any clubs?
Ólafur: Just one, in Reykjavik, our capital city.

Ranka: Do you have tournaments?
Ólafur: We haven’t had any so far, but I really want to host one at some point.

Ranka: Do you play on the Internet a lot?
Ólafur: I used to play a lot, but in recent years, I’ve been working more, because I’ve bought an apartment, and that’s really cutting into my go-playing.

Ranka: How about the other Icelandic players? Do they mostly play online?
Ólafur: Yes. For example, one of our most active players, who is in the 6-to-9-kyu group, plays something like fifteen games a day, blitz games, online. He’s played tens of thousands of games.

Ice Bubbles 47

Ranka: Now please tell us about your artwork on the DeviantArt website.
Ólafur: Well, I work in a freezer, a food freezer, mostly for fish and imported food like chicken. So my artwork is mainly just frozen ice and food coloring. It’s done in multiple layers and it’s a bit complex to describe, but what goes into it is mostly ice and food coloring, and a lot of time: about a week or so for a single subject.

Ranka: Your employer must be very cooperative to let you do this.
Ólafur: Yes, my workplace is very free. I can take vacations whenever I want for as long as I want. Last year I took two months of vacation in total, of which five weeks were paid.

Ranka: Do you enjoy your job?
Ólafur: There are currently some unfavorable changes, but I like the flexibility and I get to travel, and that counters anything else.

Ranka: How did you get started as an artist?
Ólafur: It was by accident. We had a company come in to do beer commercials, and they froze some beer bottles. I could see crystals growing on the bottles, almost like leaves, and I got curious about them. I started fooling around with them, taking pictures, using macro photography and all sorts of techniques. It took me a while to find the right equipment.

Ice Bubbles 46

Ranka: Did you say macro photography?
Ólafur: Yes, that’s a technique for taking big pictures of things that are really tiny, using a special camera with small sensors.

Ranka: What are you trying to express with your art?
Ólafur: I’m not sure if I’m really trying to express anything. I’m exploring. I find it fascinating what you can do with such simple things as water and food coloring. I’m really just fooling around, but it’s incredible what you can do with the simplest things.

Ranka: Do you get any income from this activity?
Ólafur: Just a little bit, very limited. I’m not really trying to sell my art. I could get more if I tried to push them on the market, but that would take time and effort. I’d rather spend my time just taking the pictures.

Ranka: How do you balance your time among working, taking these pictures, and playing go?
Ólafur: It’s difficult, because recently I’ve started working out too, so I rarely have any time to myself just to relax, but I guess you could say that all of what I’m doing is for myself.

Ranka: Finally, what do you hope to accomplish here in the World Amateur Go Championship?
Ólafur: I’m hoping to finish above average, above the halfway mark in the field. I don’t see myself getting much higher than that, but I would really like to play some strong players and learn from them.

Ranka: Thank you very much.

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Interview with Chan Yi-Tien

RANKA online Posted on May 4, 2018 by adminMay 6, 2018

Chan Yi-Tien

Chan Yi-Tien is a 24-year old go instructor from Taipei, Taiwan. Always smiling, he says go has helped him make many friends, as well as strengthening his ability to concentrate and think logically. He won the WAGC by one SOSOS point in 2014, when it was held in Gyeongju, Korea.

Ranka: Having already won the world amateur go championship four years ago, what are your hopes for this year?
Chan: Four years ago I felt lucky to win. This year I hope I can do the best and get the best result.

Ranka: We’ve been told that you were considering becoming a pro in Taiwan. What made you decide not to?
Chan: Actually, shortly before the 2014 World Amateur Go Championship, I reached the age limit for becoming a pro in Taiwan, so I had to give up that ambition. But instead of becoming a professional go player, I’ve become a professional amateur go player. This means that in part I make my living by competing in amateur tournaments in Taiwan and earning prize money, but that doesn’t provide a stable income, so I also teach go.

Ranka: Have AlphaGo and the other go-playing AIs affected your game?
Chan: Yes. When I was younger I learned from the games of the strongest human players, like Lee Sedol. But now I, and professional players too, have started learning from the AIs, because they’re the strongest.

Ranka: Who’s your favorite professional player in Taiwan?
Chan: Hao Hung-Hsu. He’s a 5-dan pro, but he won four titles in Taiwan last year and added another last month, and he’s just turned seventeen years old.

Ranka: Thank you and we hope to talk with you again.

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The 2018 World Amateur Go Championship Begins

RANKA online Posted on May 4, 2018 by adminMay 10, 2018

Friendship Match

The 39th World Amateur Go Championship, also known as the Gurunavi (Gourmet Navigator) Cup, began with a friendship match on the morning of May 2, 2018 at the Nihon Kiin headquarters in Tokyo. The WAGC contestant were matched against Japanese opponents with a wide range of ages and playing strengths. Although they were instructed to enjoy themselves in the match, the mood was serious. Particularly on the top four boards, where the WAGC contestants from China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Japan took on one professional and three strong amateur opponents, the pace of play was slow and concentration was intense. The contestants from Korea and Chinese Taipei eventually defeated two very young opponents by resignation, but the other two of these four games were still going on at the 12:00 ending time, and had to be abandoned. The Chinese player’s opponent was Hong Maleunsaem, a former Korean WAGC contestant who is now a professional 3-dan at the Kansai Kiin and runs a go dojo in Tokyo that has produced some of Japan’s best young professionals.

2018 IGF Annual General Meeting

Following lunch, the General Meeting of the International Go Federation was held, also at the Nihon Kiin. Outgoing IGF president Chang Zhenming began by summarizing the considerable support that the IGF and China had been giving to the game of go in the past two years. Among other things, he mentioned that attendance at Chinese go tournaments, national and international, professional and amateur, had totaled over 50 million. These tournaments drew considerable Chinese media attention and dispensed substantial prize money. IGF secretary general Wang Yi, IGF vice presidents Thomas Hsiang and Dan Hirotaki, and directors Taki Hiroko, Eduardo Lopez, and Martin Stiassny then gave more detailed reports on IGF operations in the past and coming years, including last year’s world amateur go championship in Guizhou, upcoming world amateur go championships in Matsue in 2019 and Vladivostok in 2020, numerous amateur and professional pair go events, the Latin American Go Congress, international mind games tournaments, a women’s go championship in Tokyo planned for 2020, to coincide with the summer Olympics, and a renewed effort to gain recognition for go as an Olympic discipline, with the aim of making it a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 2020 or 2022. The General Meeting concluded with the announcement that Mr. Dan would serve as the new president of the IGF, and Korean professional player Yoo Changhyeok would join Mr. Hsiang as a new vice president.

Players at the Press Conference: (from the left) Sigurdarson, Wang, Murakami, Kim, Chan and Vazquez

The General Meeting was followed by a press conference featuring chief referee Michael Redmond and six of the contestants. Michael Redmond noted that the East Asian players were still the strongest, but that it will be interesting to see how close to them the rest can come. The Japanese contestant Murakami Fukashi then implored the stronger contestants not mistreat weaker opponents in their games. Wang Chen (China), who last competed in 2010, observed that the level of play at the WAGC was steadily rising and said he would do his best. Korea’s Kim Sangcheon said he hoped to bring the championship back to Korea. Chan Yi-Tien, WAGC winner in 2014, reported that the qualification tournament in Chinese Taipei had been particularly tough this time. ‘I was lucky to get here,’ he said, ‘but now that I’m here, I hope I can play some good games.’ Olafur Sigurdarson (Iceland) said he was happy to be in Japan, that he had enjoyed traveling around Japan before the championship, and that he hoped to enjoy the championship itself too.

Spain’s Oscar Vazquez, age 15, stated that this was his first international tournament and his first time in Japan. Then he said, ‘I want to beat someone stronger than me, the American player in particular.’ Asked later to clarify this remark, he said he wanted to beat the American player because that player is slightly younger than him, bravely adding that another of his ambitions was to beat all European players under the age of twenty.

The press conference ended with these six contestants answering questions from reporters about go education and the growth of the go population in their countries, and whether they had been influenced by classical Japanese go, that is, go in Japan’s feudal era. All six said yes, but some also mentioned the influences of Hikaru no Go and, more recently, AlphaGo. After the press conference, the contestants boarded buses for an evening reception at the Chinzanso, a swank hotel and plaza complex on beautiful grounds a short drive northwest of the Nihon Kiin.

The reception started off with a bang: with a jumbo-size calligraphy demonstration, and some lively singing and dancing, by a group of girls from the Namegawa Consolidated High School. Then, following introductions of Gurunavi founder Taki Isao, other sponsors, the IGF officers, and the championship referees, with speeches by some of these people and a toast, the attendees enjoyed a buffet dinner that did full justice to Gurunavi’s reputation as an online guide to excellent eating.

– James Davies

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Gurunavi Cup – 39th World Amateur Go Championship

RANKA online Posted on April 16, 2018 by adminMay 4, 2018

After a nine-years hiatus the World Amateur Go Championship is returning to Tokyo.
The Gurunavi Cup – 39th World Amateur Go Championship will be decided in eight rounds played May 4-7 at the Nihon Ki-in. The field of 63 players will range in age from 14 to 63 and in official rank from 5 kyu to 7 dan. The full list of players can be viewed here.

The opening ceremony and reception party will be held in a banquet room of Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo on the evening of May 3. Side events and sightseeing programs will be arranged as well.

Starting May 4, Ranka online will provide full coverage of the championship.

Gurunavi Cup – 39th WAGC: Schedule
MAY 2018 TIME EVENT VENUE
Wed 2
Arrival
Thu 3
9:30 ~ 11:00 IGF Board of Directors Meeting The Nihon Ki-in – Tokyo
10:30 ~ 12:00 Goodwill Match
13:30 ~ 15:00 IGF Annual General Meeting
15:30 ~ 16:30 Orientation
16:30 ~ 17:00 Press Conference
18:00 ~ 20:00 Opening Ceremony Reception Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
Fri 4 ~ Sun 6
9:30 ~ 12:30 Rounds (1,3,5) The Nihon Ki-in – Tokyo
13:30 ~ 16:30 Rounds (2,4,6)
Mon 7
9:30 ~ 12:30 Round 7
13:30 ~ 16:30 Round 8
17:30 ~ 18:30 Closing Ceremony
Photo Session
18:30 Doping Test
Tue 8 All Day Sightseeing
Wed 9
Departure
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Contestants

RANKA online Posted on April 13, 2018 by adminMay 5, 2018

61 Countries and Territories

Asia (14) – Middle and Near East (2) – Europe (32) – Africa (1) – Americas (10) – Oceania (2)

Asia
China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong India Indonesia
Chen WANG Yi-Tien CHAN Cheuk Tung LO Shashank DAVE Faishal Umar FITRAH
Age: 25 Age: 24 Age: 24 Age: 43 Age: 14
7 Dan 7 Dan 6 Dan 4 Kyu 4 Dan
Japan Korea Macau Malaysia Mongolia
Fukashi MURAKAMI Sangcheon KIM Chan Fai TANG Khai Yong CHENG Temuujin BATAA
Age: 33 Age: 18 Age: 28 Age: 19 Age: 27
7 Dan 7 Dan 4 Dan 4 Dan 1 Dan
Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
Celeste ABAT Jie Hui KWA Wichrich KARUEHAWANIT Manh Linh NGUYEN
Age: 37 Age: 20 Age: 17 Age: 31
5 Kyu 6 Dan 4 Dan 5 Dan
Middle and Near East
Israel Turkey
Amir FRAGMAN
Hakki Burak GUNER
Age: 25 Age: 29
5 Dan 1 Dan

Asia – Middle and Near East – Europe – Africa – Americas – Oceania ↑TOP

 

Europe
Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium
Ashot MARGARYAN
Lothar SPIEGEL Elchin ALIYEV Aliaksandr SUPONEU Thomas CONNOR
Age: 56 Age: 32 Age: 45 Age: 63 Age: 29
5 Kyu 5 Dan 1 Dan 2 Dan 4 Dan
Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark
Teodor Nedkov NEDEV Stjepan MEŠTROVIĆ Absent Jan PROKOP Torben PEDERSEN
Age: 48 Age: 26 Age: Age: 27 Age: 54
2 Kyu 3 Dan 6 Dan 3 Dan
Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland
Juri KURONEN Benjamin DRÉAN-GUÉNAÏZIA BenjaminTEUBER Csaba MERO Ólafur SIGURÐARSON
Age: 28 Age: 26 Age: 34 Age: 38 Age: 30
6 Dan 6 Dan 6 Dan 6 Dan 2 Dan
Ireland Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands
Michael THAI TRUNG KING Carlo METTA Tomas SABIROVAS Jeremie HERTZ Willem Koenraad POMSTRA
Age: 33 Age: 31 Age: 27 Age: 27 Age: 46
2 Kyu 4 Dan 1 Kyu 2 Kyu 5 Dan
Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia
Frank Sola HESTVIK Stanislaw FREJLAK Pedro Miguel DE BRAGANCA Cristian Gabriel POP Dmitry SURIN
Age: 36 Age: 21 Age: 28 Age: 43 Age: 46
1 Dan 6 Dan 1 Kyu 7 Dan 6 Dan
Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden
Dusan MITIC Maroš KRÁĽ Leopold MATOH Oscar VAZQUEZ Kim JOHANSSON
Age: 27 Age: 26 Age: 56 Age: 15 Age: 29
6 Dan 4 Dan 5 Dan 5 Dan 2 Dan
Switzerland UK Ukraine
John Daniel WALCH Daniel Yeelun HU Vasyl SKOCHKO
Age: 29 Age: 22 Age: 42
4 Dan 4 Dan 4 Dan

Asia – Middle and Near East – Europe – Africa – Americas – Oceania ↑TOP

Africa
South Africa
Andre Scott CONNELL
Age: 41
3 Dan
Americas
Argentina Brazil Canada Chile Colombia
David POLLITZER Thiago Sinji SHIMADA RAMOS Yongfei GE Abner TURKIELTAUB Juan Felipe BURGOS ANDRADE
Age: 41 Age: 28 Age: 48 Age: 26 Age: 33
3 Dan 6 Dan 7 Dan 2 Dan 3 Dan
Ecuador Mexico Peru USA Venezuela
Ari MONTESINOS GONZALES Jose Abraham FLORENCIA ISLAS Jorge Noriyuki YAMAMOTO KINA Aaron YE Manuel Ernesto AZUAJE ALAMO
Age: 41 Age: 30 Age: 44 Age: 15 Age: 34
1 Dan 5 Dan 3 Dan 7 Dan 2 Dan
Oceania
Australia New Zealand
Xin LEI Hordur THORDARSON
Age: 33 Age: 52
5 Dan 1 Dan

Asia – Middle and Near East – Europe – Africa – Americas – Oceania ↑TOP

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