Cheuk To Tsui is set to launch the first-ever Evanston Invitational starting this weekend, March 9-11, 2024. Tsui previously took on the role of Tournament Director for both the Evanston Go Club’s 2023 Chicago Open and the 2023 Chicago Rapid. Mark Rubenstein, President of the Evanston Go Club, will serve as the Evanston Invitational’s Tournament Director, with the Baduk Club’s live streaming managed by Jae Donley. Tsui said he envisions the event offering opportunities for himself and fellow Midwestern players to compete before the annual week-long U.S. Go Congress (see the website here). “There are a few reasons why I decided to host this event,’ Tsui said. “I wanted to create another opportunity to play tournament games since most of us only play a few tournaments a year. More importantly, this event lets me gather the friends I’ve made from the game and share the joy of playing Go.” Tsui highlighted the round-robin format of the Evanston Invitational, which differs from the McMahon system used in most tournaments. “Round-robin guarantees that everybody plays a game with each other, which is why I limited the number of players and chose this format,” Tsui said. The 2024 Evanston Invitational will feature six Midwestern players Al Tang 4D, Cheuk To Tsui 5D, Eric Yoder 6D, Jae Donley 5D, Paige Lemaster 5D and Sungsoo Kim 5D, representing the states of Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Matches will be live-streamed from March 9-11 on Baduk Club’s YouTube channel (see the channel here), with commentary from Michael Zhou 6d, Janice Kim 3P, TheLovingSun 5d, Jake Game 5d, Amy Guo 7D and Albert Yen 8D. Games start at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. CT on Saturday and Sunday, and 9:30 a.m. CT on Monday, March 11. Tiebreaks for 1st and 2nd, if necessary, will be held Monday at 2 p.m. CT. Time settings are 60 minutes + 15 seconds/move. Donley said that he wants to motivate others to provide coverage on Go events. “It was all on a whim,” Donley said. “I hope this inspires others to try this type of tournament and streaming set-up.” The Evanston Go Club is the official sponsor of the Evanston Invitational. The Evanston Go Club will be hosting the 2024 Chicago Open on Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-26 (see website here and article here) with special guest Kim Jiseok 9P.
