Life In 19x19

hyperpape wrote:http://www.usgo.org/news/2011/12/aga-inks-deals-with-korea-to-develop-u-s-pro-system/

Well, now we know where there's an audience for an American professional system!

Has there ever been bigger news (for US Go players)? I'm so curious about all the little details.

Do you think it is big news?

I have this little cynical part of my brain that will wait and see because I don't want another WMSG

finally, They announced it. Lisa told me all the details 2 months ago I have kept it secret since.

I think it is big news, and probably the most important part is that the Koreans are willing to finance the project, and allow our pros to go compete there. My biggest worry with a US pro system would be that it isn't really a legitimate kind of thing, there are no sponsors, huge titles, or a way to get paid for just playing. Professional implies you can get paid for it, and make a living off of it. That still won't be the case for us, but the fact that we can send our pros to Korea to compete goes a long way towards legitimizing it. In the historical perspective, the Koreans are now stepping in with the kind of funding we got for years, from both the Japanese and the Ing Foundation. Since those funds stopped a while back, it is great to see this new foreign assistance coming in. Kudos to Andy, Myung-Wan, and all involved in making it happen!

I think it's big news but not as an American Pro system. This is an organized system to allow students to study Go in Korea. This will help our players but is at best a start to a professional system.

I think the intention is for students to train and compete here. The ones who make our local pro grade can then compete in Korea. We actually already have a good number of pros teaching here, and they turn out very strong players. My hope is that the Chinese pros who are teaching here will also feed students into this system. I also think a lot of this action is going to take place online, although I don't know what safety protocols they will have in place against cheating.

i dont understand why US will agree to adopt pro system while it is about to fall apart in japan and korea.

balmung wrote:finally, They announced it. Lisa told me all the details 2 months ago I have kept it secret since.

They talked about this at least twice during congress. I don't think it was exactly secret.

shimari wrote:I think the intention is for students to train and compete here. The ones who make our local pro grade can then compete in Korea. We actually already have a good number of pros teaching here, and they turn out very strong players. My hope is that the Chinese pros who are teaching here will also feed students into this system. I also think a lot of this action is going to take place online, although I don't know what safety protocols they will have in place against cheating.

It doesn't quite sound the way I read it, but ok.

A $30000 purse is not enough to have any real numbers of professional full time players. The real advantage comes from being able to compete in Korean professional tournaments which is nice.

Tygem is pretty cool, so I hope we support it more for donating to the system.

Magicwand wrote:i dont understand why US will agree to adopt pro system while it is about to fall apart in japan and korea.

How so?

jts wrote:

Magicwand wrote:i dont understand why US will agree to adopt pro system while it is about to fall apart in japan and korea.

How so?

Having professional means that they will be paid regardless of what they do. Currently korean kiwon will produce 8+ pros per year. When they reach high dan in next 20 years where are they going to get money to pay them all? Same thing is happening in japan. Soon china will have same problem.

For a long time the strongest amateur players in the USA were Korean ex-yeongusaeng who failed to qualify as pros. I hope this system will be more than just a second chance for those unsuccessful pro students.

Re Magicwand's comments, the reason for the limits on how many people can qualify as pros each year is to keep the total number of pros low enough that the system can support them. It seems that policy has not been successful. "American" pros will have to find a way to support themselves in the US or Europe.

oren wrote:A $30000 purse is not enough to have any real numbers of professional full time players. The real advantage comes from being able to compete in Korean professional tournaments which is nice.

the $30000 is just from tygem

With the generous support of the KBA and Tygem, we are off to a great start

this would lead me to believe that the KBA is also donating money, although how much I don't know. It is also possible that they are just referring to training and ability to compete in Korean tournaments.