US Go Congress Day 2 / 2026 Jul 26 ---------------------------------- Didn't sleep well last night, I rarely do the day before the first game of the Open. When I should have been going to sleep, I played a blitz game on Fox Weiqi. Fox games can be quite chaotic, leaving one struggling to find properly sensible responses. Afterwards reviewing the game with CGoban, it seems the other player was losing after move 6 and never recovered, so even though I was feeling confused, I did not succumb to the shenanigans. Greedy overplayers tend to never fix their own weaknesses. They keep trying things that just don't work and finally you just finish the game by killing off something they never properly took care of. But I needed sleep more than I needed insights ... The next morning, after trying to wake up on instant hotel coffee, I headed to the tournament for 9am start. Ten years ago, you would find your match pairing on sheets of printed paper posted to a wall in the tournament room. Now everything is done online via Leago. Checking my match, I saw my first opponent (black) was Jim Conyngham 5K at table 150. The last time we played was in Portland, Oregon 2 years ago when he was 4K. Jim has more than a 1000 ranked tournament games, at one point he was 3 kyu, but it's really tough to hold on as you get older. Besides Leago, time controls have also changed over time. Ten years ago both players had 1 1/2 hours main time plus 3 periods of 1 minute byo-yomi. While uncommon, with these time controls, games can stretch past 1pm. This has been tightened to 1 hour main + 30 seconds Fischer. In Open games I tend to use a lot of time, so for me this felt a bit rushed, though I'm sure for my opponents my relaxed pondering is interminable. I do need to keep this under control though, while I am pretty good at playing at my level at blitz speeds, blunders still become more likely ... The game was pretty calm until Jim tried an early invasion. It was reasonable to ignore, or to answer. I decided to answer. An interesting sequence occurred and while he lived small on the inside, the outside damage allowed me to intrude easily into his lower left area. Later my intrusion invited a mistake. Wanting to hold on to everything, rather than give me a few stones he permitted the worst possible cut which allowed me control the game and command a large territorial lead. By the end I was more than ten points ahead on the board, add the 7.5 points komi given to white and it was nearly a twenty point lead. I took a short break and then went to the Pro reviews area. Logan was getting his game reviewed by Ryan Li 3P. As I predicted, Logan did very well against his opponent. His lack of surety was more do with not having played in a tournament in nearly decade than ability. My prediction is that he'll be a solid 6/7 kyu by the end of the Open. For lunch I picked up some sandwiches in Natick and brought them over to Logan's house to hang out with Logan, his partner, their two adorable kids and their friendly dog. The kids were sleepy after a busy morning but having a guest got them excited, so I excused myself to not interfere too much with nap-time. Back at the conference hotel I played a friendly game against a 6k and won. They played well, but after punishing an overplay, the game started to feel comfortable and then I killed a group and finished it. Go is a funny game - as had been said elsewhere the game is very akin to a conversation. The beginning is filled with pleasantries and typical greetings. As the game progresses you learn a bit more about the person. When our game finished up, it was about time for the 7pm 13x13 tournament. I got paired with some strong single digit kyus (SDKs). I played two terrible games, but I solidly beat the two strongest people at the table both 2 kyu by resignation. I never really cared about 13x13, but these two games gave me a new appreciation. Whereas 9x9 is a bit too tight for anything beyond instant struggle and sudden death - 13x13 rewards a bit of patience and understanding that skirmishes at the four corners will often intermingle and that will decide the game. That of course can happen on 19x19, but the theaters of conflict feel a bit more independent. After 13x13, I caught the tail end of Pro Yeonwoo's lecture. She's a very entertaining speaker, and true to her YouTube videos she had the whole room engaged and laughing along. I had a quick bite after the lecture. Sleepiness hit me like a brick wall. People tend to mingle in the tournament room in the evenings so I stopped by and ran into a fellow Hwang In-seong student Brian Kirby. The last time I saw Kirby was 3 years ago at Kent, Ohio. He had been going through some sad family related thing then, but he seemed to be doing much better now. In a couple of weeks he'll be moving to Korea for a year. No Fox games tonight.