Last Sunday, Feb. 19, the American Go Honor Society (AGHS) hosted a one-day Blitz Tournament on KGS. The tournament consisted of five rounds and eight divisions. The rank of the players ranged from 20K to 9D. The division winners included: Shang Zhou 9D, Al Tang 2D, Jason Liu 2D, Ryan Huang 1K, David Rohlfing 4K, Phillip Briz 5K, and Royal Ni 18K.
An error in calculating the handicap in Division G occurred. The division’s top two players: Anna Zhou and Brett Li, received the same total points while playing with the incorrect handicap. Thus, the AGHS tournament directors are in the process of deciding on the Division G winner.
“I don’t we will count it as a tie, but we will give [Li] a prize,” said AGHS President Jenny Li.
Albert Yen 8D was one of the players in Division A. Yen joined the Blitz Tournament to support the AGHS, having served as the AGHS Promotions Head. Overall, Yen described the tournament as a “very well-organized” and “low-stress” event.
“My games were rife with mistakes since we only have 10 seconds per move, but I feel lucky that my sole loss wasn’t due to a single blunder,” Yen said. “I am happy I got to play five strong players in just three hours.”
In the future, Yen hopes to see more integration of AGHS events with the American Go Association and E-Journal reporting on AGHS events.
“For example, maybe participants in AGHS events can get discounts to go to the Congress to entice participants to attend more Go events,” Yen said.
The AGHS plans on hosting more engaging events for all Go players. Visit the AGHS news section for updates.