Last week I heard the exciting news about the upcoming Los Angeles Open. This major event will be directed by Michael Zhou, 2023 AGA Teacher of the Year, and supported by the San Diego Go Club (AGA's largest chapter). I was also quite surprised to hear, for the 2024 LA Open, an anonymous sponsor has donated over $6,000. So a lot of players will win trophies and cash prize. Previously the major tournaments in LA were also called Cotsen Cup or Zheng Cup. Many thanks to the Cotsen family and the Zheng family. I played in the 2009 LA tournament. It was a remarkable event with world-class preparation, and comprehensive AGA E-Journal coverage. I met a lot of new friends! The buffet-style lunch was great, and there were even two masseuses to provide a 5-min head massage for everyone. After the 5-round tournament I also visited fun places like the Hollywood and the Beverly Hills. It appears no LA Lakers playing that weekend, otherwise I'd go watch Kobe! As a 6D I was fortunate to upset an 8D player Mr. Soo-ihl Ha in Round 1, which helped my rating :) In R2 I lost to Mr. Jing Yang from Canada who eventually won the tournament. Later I lost to Michael Zhou and Wayne Cheng but won over miss Cherry Shen. I'm happily surprised that Cheng🌹and🌹Shen got married ❤️ some years later, after attending UC Berkeley Wellesley College respectively. What a romantic coincident! Dr. Lisa Scott and Andrew Jackson, my friends in DC, also joined the tournament, and made an impressive presentation about the Go Congress in Santa Barbara. From E-Journal emails and previous AGA website, I was able to recall some AGA happenings then. https://www.usgo-archive.org/news/2009/10/ I encourage everyone to join the LA Open next month if possible. It'll be a great, fun experience. Nearly 40 players either have registered online, or told the TD they would join. I expect about 100 players in LA Open this year, if not more.
