The Trip At about 7 in the morning, Devin came by the baduk house along with Paul, Katie, and Joe. All were players for the Columbus Go Club who would attend the Burning Board alongside Janar Kahr) and myself. We packed all manner of kitchen equipment we thought we would need, including a rice cooker and our everyday items, and then went on our way, as we had no time to waste and a long trip ahead of us from Columbus to Raleigh in North Carolina. Ed and I would be driving in Devin's Tesla, so we had to take longer breaks to charge the car on the way to where we were going. Devin loved his new Tesla and saw this trip as a chance to play with it; the trip planning and the food stops were, to him, all part of the experience of driving a Tesla on a road trip. I admit that I was quite grateful for the 30-minute breaks we had to take, as they allowed us to appreciate the journey a little more than we otherwise would have. On the way, we stopped at a gas station, an excellent Chinese diner with food so cheap you'd never find it in the city, and a shopping plaza area with an ice cream shop. All were welcome sights along the long Journey to William B. Umstead State Park, where the tournament would be held. We finally arrived at our destination in the late afternoon, where we met up with Paul, Katie, and Joe, who had beaten us to the local grocery chain where we would be shopping for our supplies. The Arrival at the Cabin We finally reached the campground area after half a day of travel. The first thing that greeted us in the campground were signs warning us that "all cars must turn back," though each of these signs had a piece of paper taped to them saying, "Only go-player cars allowed this way." That immediately made us feel special and let us know we must be going in the right direction. It wasn't long until the most beautiful little village of cabins I had ever seen stood before us. We were at the end of our travels. We were instantly greeted by Ursa, a former baduk house player, and Eunkyo Do, a Professional player from South Korea who had also made the trip to Burning Board to help the strong players review their matches. We shook hands and brought our supplies into the refrigerators. Inside the cabin were already about a dozen players who had already gotten started by playing a few casual matches against each other. Most likely, this was a means of scoping out the competition and getting a quick fix of the game after the long drive, which many of the other players here undertook. Everyone present was a go player, with ranks ranging from 15k to 5D, so there was no shortage of opponents to play. Our group made food in the kitchen and started a bonfire in the firepit area. This was when the first serious game of the tournament took place. Devin and Paul had brought a board out to the campfire and attempted to play a game there despite the growing darkness, which increasingly swallowed up whatever light was too far away from the central fire. Devin played black and began encroaching on Paul's position with the old 4-5 approach, which Paul defended with a variation that gave him a good setup toward center influence. Oh, it wasn't a tournament game. Still, it was serious as it had attracted the attention of all the players there who wanted to see how the game was progressing. Perhaps the added challenge of trying to discern what was happening on the dark board, with the black stones barely visible, gave the game its great appeal. It got so dark that I couldn't figure out what the heck was happening on the board anymore. The temperature had settled down enough to where the insects had come from the nearby lake to feast upon whatever they could get their dirty little feelers on, including my legs. "Enough of this!" I exclaimed and walked back to our cabin, the one called "The Infirmary." Infirm is what I felt like after the long day of travel and the attack of the insects. I would soon be joined by the other go players who also preferred to avoid following the match to its conclusion in the darkness. It turned out that neither Paul nor Devin could tell their groups apart and had made misplay after misplay. Playing go in the Dark, it would seem, is not the ideal way of playing the game. The First Day With the previous day's absurd experiments out of the way, it was time for the players to get serious about their matches. No more experimental nonsense. From now on, the players would be playing those strategies with which they felt most comfortable. In total, there would be 17 games played, meaning 34 players had now arrived to play in person. It was a sight to behold! "Go players focusing over their go board in this beautiful stretch of nature out in the middle of nowhere." If that doesn't sound like the title of an artwork in a museum, what does? With so many players, the cottage looked utterly filled to the brim with people. Still, all that changed once Devin, the tournament organizer, called for the matches to begin. As if by lightning, the players found their tables and their opponents with the help of the match schedule, and the chaos turned into an orderly distribution of players on the long table. But some players preferred to take the go board outside to play by the morning campfire, surrounded by the trees and the delicate aroma of pine needles. The matches were played for 1 hour of primary time, but extra byo-yomi time was provided in case the players needed it. It was definitely a tournament with a more relaxed atmosphere than most. I looked around to see if any interesting games were being played. Being a kyu player myself, I find the patterns that emerge in kyu matches more attractive to understand, and it is often easier to retroactively analyze how the game might have gotten to the point it is at when looking at such games. Paul's first game was interesting, and territory appeared to be negated as soon as it was created. What I just said notwithstanding, I could not for the life of me make out how the heck these players came to the board state they were now looking at. It made no sense at all! I left and looked for another exciting game that Joe played against his opponent, Patrick, a remarkably amiable player who would play many matches against other players within the baduk house. Playing white, Joe captured the entire left side during this match but missed a vital snapback, a mistake that lost him the game. For kyu players, snapbacks can be very easy to forget when we are not actively looking for them, which makes them a very effective offensive tactic. Meanwhile, Ed, considered the most likely player to win the tournament, played Hueng Sho, one of the youngest players and last year's champion. Compared to Kyu matches, Dan games tend to be either an all-out battle or very orthodox, played with impeccable accuracy. No move is wasted, and no prominent weak groups exist. If something looks suboptimal, it would reveal itself to be a trap if one were to attack there; of course, these players already knew all of that. The positions steadily coagulated into evermore solid territory. However, while Ed did have a significant lead in terms of playtime on the clock, a silly mistake at the end swung the game in favor of his opponent. A shame, in a way, but also the very thing that makes go such an exciting sport; at any time, the house of cards one of the players has been building might collapse, and a sure victory turns into an inevitable defeat. Once the first round of games was over, players were everywhere, either reviewing their games or playing self-paired AGA matches. I chatted with Bob, the organizer of this great tournament, about what gave him the idea to make it. "It sort of just came to me; I've been playing go since the 70s and wanted to have more opponents to play with, so I decided to host the Burning Board tournament, and It's been going for three years now." Bob was the champion of his division in the past year as a 6 kyu. Still, he embodied the virtues of patience, honor, and courtesy, which one finds in great-go players. I also took the chance to speak with Ed about his game. He was frustrated, feeling that the game should have been his on account of the holes that his opponent left while playing. I didn't spend much time analyzing games during the second round because I interviewed Eukyo Do about her go career instead. The interview will be made available on the website. After the second round, Ed and Paul each had a victory to report to their scores. Eunkyo Do and Yuan Zhou provided us with lectures around the fireplace, hoping they could strengthen our go skills for the coming matches. The consensus around the fireplace was that the first day had been full of upsets and that the tournament promised to become one of the most interesting go tournaments yet. I interviewed Paul to get his thoughts on the matter: Leo: "We've seen a lot of upsets, and you mentioned that the 3 kyus in this tournament seem to be weaker than the 4 kyus… Bob Bacon, last year's champion in his division, lost both of his games today, and Ed, the favorite to win the dan division, came out and lost his first match. What are your thoughts?" Paul: "There's a lot… Burning Board never disappoints. Upsets… who knows what's going on with Bob, maybe you need to check in with him, and give him some more morale…. But, it is true that the 3 kyus, myself included, we're all like 8 kyus in reality, and the 8 kyus are really more like 3 kyus, so I gave myself a big advantage by sandbagging in the opposite direction." Leo: "Interesting. Yeah, Joe is 4 kyu and he just beat his 3 kyu opponent in his second match." Paul: "Exactly! No, we're weak. When a 3 kyu gets paired against a 5 kyu, the 5 kyu is the favorite. It's crazy! Leo: "So would you actually have to give a handicap to a 5 kyu then?" Paul: "In theory, we should. I might have to speak to the tournament director about it. Maybe reverse komi because of uh… you know." Leo: "Wow. That's interesting. But it all lends itself to the charm of what we've got going here. Maybe a little bit of Wabi Sabi makes it exciting." Paul: "Yeah, at the end of the day, Bob said it best, right before the games started: 'Have fun!'" (laughs) And that's what Burning Board is all about. That's why we're here." After the interview, Paul went and joined the evening game of poker where he cleaned up as much as he did playing go that day. After quadrupling his buy-in, his confidence was overwhelming. The Second Day - A New Challenger Approaches On the Second day, we had yet another increase in the number of players. At this point, we could claim 22 simultaneous matches for a total of 44 players as part of the tournament. Some stayed at the cabins, while others were local. Then again, others had their own accommodations nearby, for there are some whom the log cabins do not suit. One of the new players who arrived was Huan Xiu, who had the strongest player ranking, partaking in the tournament at a level of 5 dan. However, not being at the championship on the first day meant that she would start with two losses in her score. Xiu's first game was against Ed, who desperately needed a win after going 1-1 in the day prior. The game resulting from this match became the most talked about game of the day, and many an analyst who tried to understand how it came to happen as it did found their attempt at insight frustrated. It was just so bizarre to see two high-level players playing a game in which the point total after the match was negative for both players. Negative how? Based on the scoring system of the two players, captures counted as negative points for the opposing side, and there were far more captures than there was territory on either of the two sides. It was the bloodiest match of the whole tournament! Large captures usually end a match quickly, but the game stayed pretty even this time despite the excessive bloodshed. It got so bad that both players ran out of stones in their go bowls and, without thinking, rudely grabbed stones out of the bowls of the neighboring players. That's the kind of hyper-focus that formidable go like the ones that could be witnessed at this tournament exhibit when put into difficult situations. It was the craziest game anyone had ever seen players at this level play in any tournament. Still, when all the dust had settled, Xiu came out as the victor by komi. I asked Ed just how the game got so out of control, but he was not yet in any state to give any coherent answers about what had just transpired, and neither was his opponent. It was madness and the kind of mental exhaustion one would expect to see within a serious junkie on the come-down after an astronomical high. But these players didn't need drugs to get high; all they needed was a board and a challenging opponent who would bring them to the limits of what they were mentally capable of doing. However, a great go player can only be exhausted for a short time. A brief lunch break was all it took for Ed and Xiu to regain their strength and claim victories in their next matches. But the excitement of the day was not only in the Dan division. Paul won both of his games, continuing his domination within his division and becoming something of a rising star throughout this tournament. There was also the highly anticipated match between Devin Fraze and Spencer Berry, considered the strongest Kyus in the competition. Devin, being the tournament organizer, took negative byes so that other players could get the chance to play. This meant that his odds of winning the tournament were slim. However, people were still always excited to watch "The Gatekeeper," a nickname he got for gatekeeping the way to 1Dan, play his matches. Spencer, who had taught himself all the way to 2kyu by studying positions from Hikaru no go on a chessboard and coins, was another player who only arrived on the second day and would play Devin for his first match. I had the great pleasure of witnessing the players discuss and analyze with Eunkyo Do who had great insights on the positions and fights which broke out in the corners at the start of the match. Leo: "Devin, the two of you played the most anticipated match of the day. What comments or insights do you have after the game?" Devin:" As per usual, I played terrible go, but I managed to use my Jedi mind tricks to baffle my opponent and get him to make some silly mistakes." Leo: "Spencer, what did you think of the game?" Spencer: "First tournament game ever, so I definitely felt the jitters, so the goal now is to not allow the tilt to continue into my next games throughout the weekend." Devin: "I was a bad opponent to play because I specialize in Jedi mind tricks and causing tilt." Spencer: "Well, I'm 2-1 for the weekend as I played some self-rated games before this one, so at least I can say that much, but those weren't tournament games, and this felt different." Devin: "Or it's just my mind tricks." Everyone: (Laughs) Spencer: "I'm not gonna lie, I really wanted to play you; I really, really wanted to play you because I've heard so many people talking about you and saying that we were even in strength, and the game did not disappoint. You hit me with something I hadn't seen before, and it was a great match ever since." Leo: "Well, congratulations, Devin, on your first victory, and congratulations, Spencer, on your first tournament game. Thank you for the interview. May your future games be splendid." After the day's matches, some of us went into the nearby lake to cool off. We acted out go corner play on the little square safe swimming area, and Devin and Ursa played some absurd slow-mo kung-fu fighting in the water. We also used two little balls filled with air, which Devin had gotten in a set of Spider Ball (aka spike ball)- or something by that name - to entertain ourselves and to make the watersport of swim racing more interesting as the swimmers were tasked to fetch the balls tossed by the other goofballs in the lagoon. Afterward, whenever anyone asked us what we had been doing, Iwe would explain that "We absconded to play with our blue balls. All this time in the sun really made it necessary to let off some steam by the lake." The day ended, as would become tradition, with a round of poker at which Paul was fast becoming the champion. By the second day, he had won another 35 dollars at cards, and his confidence was soaring because of his victories in go also. I also interviewed Micah, a veteran go player on the history of go in the US. As a 3 Dan player who had learned to be good at the game before the Asian teaching methods and go books came into the United States. Learning the great history of competitions such as this one was fascinating. The full interview will be made available on the baduk.news website as well. The Third Day - Champions Crowned This was it. The exciting final day was when we saw who would come out on top based on their skill ranking and overall game performance. At this stage in the tournament, the players had found their grooves, the right rhythms by which to swing their sense of play, direction, and strategy. Every player I spoke to in the morning said they were playing better now than when the tournament first began. However, they thought they needed more than this to help them as the competition had also strengthened throughout the tourney. For some players, it was the last chance to make a name for themselves, while, for others, it was the time to win it all and take home a trophy. All eyes were on Paul and his opponent Zahn. Paul played as a 3 kyu going 4-0 and Zahn was a 4 kyu who equally dominated at 4-0 until now. For both players, this could be the most crucial game of the tournament. I managed to catch Paul, who went on a "quick 7-mile run" to prepare for the day. Leo: "So Paul, you are 4-0, and then there is Zahn, who is also 4-0, whom you will be playing today. What do you think about your upcoming matches?" Paul: "Today is… a big day!" (laughs) Leo: "I can imagine." Paul: "I am very scared." Leo: "If you win your next match, do you think it will guarantee your victory?" Paul: "That depends on the division distribution and how well my opponents are doing based on their rank. For example, Mateo is the biggest sandbagger here. He might go 6-0 as an 8 kyu." Joe: "Mateo an 8 kyu? There's no way that he's an 8 kyu." Paul: "I know." Devin: "Did Joe tell you about his take on Zahn?" Joe: "I think he's beatable by me, and you're stronger than me, so I think you can win this." Paul: "I think I'm getting nervous now. (laughs) there's a lot of pressure coming towards me here." Leo: "That's the guy who lives in the woods; no cabin, he just lives in the woods or his car. He told me about how to eat the bark on these trees. I'm not even joking; that's what he was talking about." (laughs) Paul: "He lives in the woods? That makes him extra scary. I need to go for a run. This is crazy, plus he's 4 kyu, so he's probably stronger than my 3 kyu opponents so far. Gotta run, bye!" Leo: "Thank you for the interview." Not long after, I was able to catch Zahn and ask him how he felt regarding his upcoming match. Leo: "So Zahn, your upcoming opponent has been the most dominant 3 kyu in the tournament. What are your odds of beating him and winning the tournament?" Zahn: "Oh, a hundred percent! Hundred percent, for sure!" Leo: "Yeah? So you think you'll beat everybody you'll match up against?" Zahn: "Absolutely!" Leo: "So, how do you think your match with Paul will go? Have you looked at any of his matches?" Zahn: "I have no idea, I just go out there and play games. This is actually my first tournament, so I have no idea what I'm technically supposed to do to ensure my victory." (laughs) Leo: (laughs) "Okay, good luck to you in your struggle." Meanwhile, the Dan division was equally difficult to call a winner on. Most Dan players were 2-2, and Ed, being in the unique position of being the strongest player from the baduk house this year, did not want to see his chances of winning a trophy slip away. Given the current standings, he still saw his chances of winning as being possible. Still, he was beginning to feel extremely tense about them. Ed had an emotional support volleyball with him, which he'd go outside to smack around for a bit whenever the match he was playing became overwhelming. I'd seen him use it fairly often throughout the course of the tournament. When it was time for the players to begin their games, there was a lot of hype about how the games would go, but I immediately went outside to see how Paul and Zahn were faring against one another. I checked the board 45 minutes into the game, and neither side had a clear advantage. Even though Paul was known for his exciting style the board position looked orthodox and pacific. That game gave the impression that Zahn was pulling the strings in this match, even if no advantage in score was apparent yet. However, there was still a long time left to play, and the tables turned quickly in this tournament. As I followed the match, I glanced up and noticed Ed playing with his volleyball again. That wasn't unusual, but he'd hit the ball much harder this time than I've seen him do throughout the tournament. He hit it so hard that he even surprised himself. "OH NO!" I heard him yell as he went chasing after the ball. I hadn't seen that before either. Knowing that the game he was playing was anything but relaxing, I had to see for myself what was upsetting him. I could feel the tension when I stepped inside the main cabin where the dan players were the focus of the dan players had practically begun to take physical form. As I looked over Ed's board, I could tell that his opponent, Thomas Rehfeld, who was playing white, was about 3 points ahead on the board. That made a total difference of 10 points, which is quite a large sum at the dan level. To make matters worse, both players looked even in terms of influence and potential, which meant that his opponent had simply been playing more efficiently until this point. Such games can be intensely frustrating as every step forward looks as though it is matched by two steps backward. As time went by, both Paul's and Ed's games fell more heavily to the advantage of the opposing players. There was little hope for victory for either player. Every time I went back to look at the boards of either player, it looked as though they had fallen even further behind their opponents in terms of point totals. Toward the end of the playtime, Zahn had stripped Paul of many points he might have had, trading him a small corner to do so. Unexpectedly, however, I saw Ed coming back outside to playfully bounce around his volleyball while in a good mood. It appeared that his opponent had made a mistake which allowed Ed to capture a good portion of the board and obtain a victory by about 7 points. I asked him about the game, but we were soon distracted by the large crowd that had now begun forming around Paul and Zahn's game. We arrived at the board just as they began counting up their points. Paul, as expected, had lost, which caused him a great bit of frustration. Zahn had won the most anticipated match of the tournament, and Paul's chances of winning a trophy, let alone a first-place one, were slipping away. To make matters worse, Zahn's next opponent was a 3 kyu which Paul had beaten earlier in the tournament, and who therefore had little chance of frustrating Zahn's perfect record. I recorded some of Paul's musings after the game: Paul: "Everything was on the line! And the thing was, it was in my grasp, and you know what I did? I sought for the truth. There was this move… I could do the passive, normal move, but no, I thought I could do better… DIVINE! And that move that I played is why I fell apart." Leo: "I was watching the game from the beginning, it was an exciting match. Everybody came to look at it, I mean everybody." It's too bad they didn't see the beginning, where you weren't as far behind yet. Paul: "Yeah, the last 30 minutes things kinda fell apart for me. But that's when everyone was watching." Leo: "Well, we're gonna have to get some food now. I'm hungry, and I'm sure that you are in need of some nourishment after a match like that. Let's get something for you." Paul: "Sounds like a plan. I'll need the added strength for my next match." During the final matches, I took the time to interview Yuan, who commented on the evolution of go as a result of the AI revolution, and how attitudes toward it have changed from a competitive sport to a type of meditation and fun recreational activity in Asia. He also had some interesting insights on how to improve at the game. A full interview is pending on the baduk.news website. It wasn't long after the interview that I saw Paul dejectedly walking back into the cabin. I knew he'd lost his final match, putting him at 4-2. I tried to catch up to him but was interrupted by Ed, who once again wanted to start a fire. I knew that he, in contrast, must have won, also putting him at 4-2. These final matches really went by quickly. But they weren't the only ones. Something about the final matches seemed to motivate players to go all in fighting as the scores were already in for many players. Even though he won, Ed didn't wish to say much about his final game, only glad that it was over and that he now had a chance to win it all as the other Dan players all looked slated to be 4-2 also. In fact, once all the scores were in, there was a 3-way tie between 4-2 Dan players, making the final decision about who would be victorious primarily about who played what opponent and what their tournament ranking would be. Meanwhile, Paul thought his odds of winning the tournament were destroyed. But Zahn had lost his final game against an opponent whom Paul had beaten. Devin told me that this, along with Zahn having been a 4 kyu, thus playing other opponents of lower ranking throughout the tournament, could still lose to Paul once the aggregate point totals were considered. Still, no one knew, at this point, who the true victor was in either division due to how close the scores stood. Yuen gave his final lecture, but fewer players showed up, possibly thinking that another lecture could not help their odds in the tournament anymore, possibly because they knew their minds would be on the score rather than the lesson. When the time finally came to reveal the score, Devin told many of the great stories in the tournament. Many great trophies were given out for first and second places within divisions, for the youngest player, most unexpected newcomer, the best understanding of joseki and what have you. Some of these trophies even came with cash prizes, and the Dan division, especially, had prizes in the hundreds of dollars. Ultimately, Ed snagged enough points to win second place in the dan division among the 3-way tie for first place. Huan Xiu received 3rd place with her points as she'd won every game she played since joining the tournament. And finally, Ed's first opponent Hueng Sho won first place, making him the champion twice in a row! Meanwhile, both Zahn and Paul managed to win first place in their respective divisions as their relative performance was too close to call, even when points were to be considered. I was excited that Paul managed to win his division (a first for him in his Go career).Similarly, I was excited that Ed won second place despite fumbling in the first match. I squeezed through a few players to hear his thoughts on winning the tournament. Leo: "Well, you are the tournament champion now. How do you feel?" Sho: "I feel happy!" Leo: "I can imagine. What is your secret? How does one play go as well as you do?" Sho: "You have to smile. I just smile when I play, and then I win." Leo: "Interesting insight. I'll be sure to note it down." I didn't have much more time to interview Sho as a crowd of players wanted to congratulate him on his victory. The other players also had plenty of crowds around them, especially Paul and Zahn, who were the heroes among the Kyus who played this year. I decided that I'd have plenty of time to speak with Paul and Ed on the way back to Columbus, as passengers would be switched on the way back. Of course, we could not forget about the final ceremony where the false board of wood was burned as everyone gathered around the fire. Devin and another player placed pebbles onto the board to play a game while it burned. This symbolized bad memories being forgotten and good memories cemented by the great metaphor of life, the go board. Everyone was assembled for this significant celebration, gathered around the campfire that united all of us within the warmth of its fire. After that, a round of poker was played, and once again, Paul cleaned out the competition. I don't know if it was luck or if he's a natural, but he sure isn't an experienced poker player… unless he was keeping his poker playing a secret from the rest of us. I took some time to reflect on what I had just seen for the past few days, and it dawned on me how momentous of an occasion this tournament really was. It was a congregation of many different people from many walks of life, all brought together by their shared passion for a game that has been around for thousands of years. All of them are highly respectful of the other players. They are genuine human beings with only their innocent desire for an increased understanding of the game driving them on. There was no pretense here. No Rolex watches, no suits and ties, no briefcases, no talking about boats and fancy cars, and no scams to pull money out of the pockets of others to enable even more such dreadful consumerism. No, these were not the great and powerful men and women who you read about in the newspapers and who enjoy status wherever they go. Still, they were the noble souls who focus on improving themselves, togetherness, and the true joys of life. It's an international community, with people coming from all over. Still, all of them are the true American heroes, the people in this country whom we truly ought to be proud of. Well, that was it then. The brief little ascension to heaven had run its course. But the memories of those special few days playing go will never be forgotten and serve as an inspiration in the times to come. Burning Board was unique among go tournaments and a testament to the great virtue of go players. With those encouraging thoughts and some heartfelt goodbyes, we all parted ways and crossed back into this world.
