L-R: Alan Huang (7d) (2nd place), Alexander
Qi (3p) (1st), Trevor Morris (4d), Andrew Huang (5d) (3rd)79 Players, Record Turnout at Boston Latin School
The 2026 Massachusetts State Go Championship drew 79 players to Boston Latin School on January 31 - February 1, up from last year's 65-player field. Players ranging from 3-pro-dan to 7-dan to 30-kyu competed across five rounds of AGA-rated play under AGA rules.
The tournament was directed by Nick Bonner, with registration handled through RegFox, pairings managed by Leago, and prizes via the new prizes app. All three were new to this tournament.
Alexander Qi (3p, NJ) - the strongest youth player in the known universe - ran the table with a perfect 5-0 record, claiming the tournament title. His most significant test came in Round 3 against Alan Huang (7d), one of several strong dan players he defeated en route to a dominant performance.
Alan Huang (7d, NJ) finished as runner-up at 4-1, his only loss coming to Qi in Round 3. Andrew Huang (5d) took third at 3-2, his only losses to Qi and Alan - a perfect pecking order among the top three, each falling only to those ranked above them.
L-R: Alan Huang (7d) (2nd place), Alexander
Qi (3p) (1st), Trevor Morris (4d), Andrew Huang (5d) (3rd)
Harley Huang (3d) earned the title of 2026 Massachusetts State Champion with a 4-1 record - the best result among MA residents. In a breakout performance, Huang defeated players well above his rating, including Massachusetts' highest-rated player (5d) in Round 4 and Trevor Morris (4d) in Round 5. His only loss came to Joel Kenny (5d) in Round 3.
The State Champion title goes to the highest-placing Massachusetts resident, regardless of overall tournament standing - a distinction that mattered again this year, as tournament winner Alexander Qi hails from New Jersey.
2026 Massachusetts State Champion Harley Huang (3d)
I jumped into the tournament at Round 3 and was naturally paired against Massachusetts' top-rated player, a 5-dan. I won that game and followed it up with a win over Mingxuan Wang (3d) in Round 4. But the story of the weekend was Harley Huang - a player relatively new to the AGA who worked his way up through the field, taking out both the top seed and me on consecutive days to claim the state title. That's the kind of emergence you love to see at a state championship.
Thank you to our generous sponsors: Go Magic, OGS, 101weiqi, European Go Journal, ZBaduk, AI Sensei, BenKyo, Tsumego Dragon / Shawn Ray, AYD, SmartGo, AwesomeBaduk, BadukPop, and Internet Go School.
Teachers & lessons: Justin Teng, Michael Chen, polgote / Mateusz Surma, Yoonyoung Kim, and Chris Sagner.
This was the debut of our custom prizes application, which awarded prizes based on player preferences. Instead of the usual scramble to match prizes to winners at the closing ceremony, sponsors listed their prizes in advance. Players ranked the prizes they preferred. Prizes were then awarded via email, using a straightforward rank-choice algorithm.
The app was well received by both vendors and players. By browsing and ranking prizes before the tournament, players were driven directly to vendor sites to evaluate each offering - learning about products and services they might not have discovered otherwise. Vendors got sustained visibility both before and after the event, with their prize listings remaining accessible indefinitely.
We're planning to use this app for the US Go Congress this summer, where we're working hard to streamline the awards ceremony while providing even more prizes than ever. MA State was our dry run.
| Total players | 79 (up from 65 in 2025) |
| Dan players | 27 |
| Single-digit kyu | 36 |
| Double-digit kyu | 16 |
| Rounds | 5 |
Two players achieved perfect 5-0 records:
Nineteen players finished with 4-1 or better, demonstrating the depth of competition across all levels.
Special mention to Joel Kenny (5d), who drew all four of the top finishers - Qi, Alan Huang, Andrew Huang, and Yuxiao Wang - and came within a point of upsetting Qi in Round 4. His only win? Harley Huang, the eventual state champion.
4 & 5 game winners: L-R: Austin
Robinson (1k), Joaquin Perkins (2d), Alan Huang (7d), Raymond Welch
(13k), Nanjia Jiang (6k), Laura Wu (5k), Harvy Yu (9k, 5-0), Stephen
Leone (3k), Jerrick Cheung (7k), Trevor Morris (4d), Bruce Jiang (25k),
Pablo Marco Rider (2k), Bennett Ferris-Hamlett (5k), Isaac Wilde (6k),
Quan Le (9k), Jacqueline Hood (18k), Hermann Fan (4k). Not pictured:
Sophia Mears (11k). Photo: Nick Bonner
The full cross-tab is available at wmgc.massgo.org/ma-state-2026/standings.html.
More photos: nickbonner.com/2-1-2026-best-of-mass-go-state-championship
The 42nd US Go Congress comes to Boston this summer, July 25 - August 1, 2026. Co-directed by Trevor Morris and Audrey Wang, the Congress will feature the US Open, pro exhibitions, lectures, workshops, a youth program, and over $20,000 in prizes. Register at gocongress.org.
The tournament was directed by Nick Bonner, with Jonathan Green handling registration and John Kerpan managing facilities. Trevor Morris thanks Nick for letting him use this tournament as a dry run for both the RegFox registration system and the prize allocation program. Trevor serves on the AGA Board of Directors and is co-directing the 2026 US Go Congress in Boston.