Yuan Zhou
Yuan Zhou 8d was born in Tianjin, China. Tianjin is a major
city in the northern part of China, near Beijing. His father, Xinli Zhou,
taught him to play Go at the age of six, and a year later he won the Tanggu
District Junior Go Championship. After this auspicious beginning, Zhou began
professional Go training while he was still seven years old. He was twice invited
to represent Tianjin in the All China Prodigy Cup.
In 1989 Zhou immigrated to the USA and joined the American Go Association (AGA), becoming a US citizen. Zhou was the president of the University of Maryland Go club, from which he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, and became increasingly involved in AGA events, winning many Go tournaments. Please see the list below for Yuan Zhou's 26 US Go titles. Zhou was also elected to be the AGA board of directors in 2005.
Zhou is one of the top competitors on the American Go scene, winning the Eastern US Open, one of the biggest US tournaments in 1992. He also won New Jersey Open, one of the biggest US tournaments, four times. Twice he has also won the Maryland Open, another major tournament that attracts strong players. Zhou is regularly invited to play in the North American Ing Cup, which involves the strongest US players, and the North American Fujitsu Qualifying Tournament, which also includes pros. In Zhou's Go career, he has defeated pros many times, including three times in even tournament games: Hak Soo Kim 6p in the 1996 Fujitsu, Xuefen Lin 1p in the 2001 Eastern Oza and Huiren Yang 1p in the 2009 North American Ing Masters. In 2004 he won the US Ing Redmond Cup and with Kristen Burrall as partner, the US Pair Go Tournament. He and Burrall represented the US in the 15th World Pair Go Championship in Tokyo. Zhou represented the US again in the 20th World Pair Go Championship in Tokyo. Zhou was also the US representative in the 3rd World Student Oza in Tokyo.
In 2009, Zhou represented USA in the 4th Korea Prime Minister Cup World Go championship in Jeonju, Korea and finished 5th place (the best result for USA in this tournament).
In addition to his competitive successes, Zhou has become a popular teacher and lecturer, frequently giving lectures and teaching lessons at various Go clubs in the Eastern US region. He has also published many books at Slate & Shell (www.slateandshell.com). Zhou resides in Germantown, Maryland.
US Go Tournament Victories
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