Jonas Acres, New President of the American Go Association, Meets the World of Go in Mungyeong [World Go Walk 16]

[Financial News] Jonas Acres has been appointed the new president of the American Go Association (AGA) and will lead American Go in a new direction. His term begins on September 14, 2026.
His first step ahead of taking office was to head to Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, where Go players from around the world had gathered. I met Acres, along with figures from the international Go community, at a café in the Mungyeong Saejae Sports Center, where the 46th World Amateur Go Championship was being held. It was an opportunity for him to introduce himself on the international stage as the new leader of American Go, having grown up in a local Go community and managed the largest Go festival in the United States.
Acres was elected president for the 2026–2028 term on June 14, three months before taking office, following a review by the board of directors of the American Go Association. The candidates at the time included Acres, incumbent president Gurujeet Khalsa, and Devin Fraze. After interviewing the candidates and conducting a comprehensive review, the board selected Acres as the new president.


What the board particularly valued was the organizational management experience he gained while serving as executive director of ABATE of Oregon, a nonprofit organization in Oregon. In addition to his experience leading grassroots organizations and coordinating volunteers, his consistent involvement in the Portland Go community and the close relationships he had built with Go players across the United States were also important factors in his appointment.
Acres served as co-chair of the 40th U.S. Go Congress, held at Portland State University in July 2024. Approximately 550 professional players and Go enthusiasts from the United States, as well as Korea, China, Japan, and other countries, participated in the event. Dozens of volunteers prepared for the congress for more than a year, and Acres led the entire process of the large-scale event, including program planning, volunteer management, participant support, and cooperation with the local Go community.
The U.S. Go Congress is not merely a national tournament. It is the largest Go festival in the United States, featuring various games, lectures, game reviews, professional instruction games, and social and cultural programs. His experience as co-chair gave Acres the organizational capacity to connect local Go clubs with players, professional players, and international participants from across the country. The American Go Association also regarded his successful organization of the Portland congress as one of his key qualifications for becoming president.
The tasks presented by the new president are clear: building a systematic volunteer organization, strengthening relationships with local Go clubs, expanding the sponsorship base, and modernizing the American Go Association brand.
His goal is to connect the Go communities scattered across the vast American continent more closely and to introduce Go to younger generations and a broader public by making use of the changing media and technology environment.

Ahead of taking office, he said, "I hope the American Go Association will keep pace with the changes brought about by technology and find the best way to introduce the appeal of Go to more people."
His vision goes beyond simply preserving the traditions of Go. He aims to improve accessibility by actively using new technologies and communication methods and to connect people who enjoy Go online with actual local Go communities.
An important element in understanding the American Go Association is its network of local organizations known as "chapters." Chapters are more than informal gatherings where people meet to play Go. As grassroots organizations officially recognized by the American Go Association, they form the foundation supporting the spread of Go throughout the United States.
According to the American Go Association website, Oregon has five registered chapters, including the Portland Go Club. More than 150 American Go Association-affiliated clubs are active across the Western, Eastern, and Central United States.
The Portland Go Club plays a central role in Oregon's Go community through regular meetings and local tournaments. Portland hosted the U.S. Go Congress in 2024, following its previous hosting in 2008. Acres' experience as a member of the Portland Go community and as an organizer of the 2024 congress has led to his vision of strengthening the volunteer network and relationships with local chapters as president.
I asked Acres what it specifically means for the American Go Association to "keep pace with technological changes."
The area he is particularly interested in is connecting people who play Go online with local, offline Go clubs. He believes that if strong amateurs or professional players review online games and the content is shared with the Go community, it could provide a powerful incentive for online users to visit local clubs in person.
Improving the convenience and speed of the rating system is also one of his key plans. Although players can currently submit game results, Acres wants to automate the process further so that anyone can enter results easily and quickly and have them immediately reflected in the ratings.

He emphasized that it is also important to provide the resources and operational tools needed to make it easier for local chapters to host tournaments. His dream is to create an environment where people can always find an upcoming tournament nearby, wherever they live in the United States.
Technology is not the ultimate goal of the changes he envisions. It is a means of connecting online users with local clubs and then linking those local clubs to the nationwide network of the American Go Association.
A cautious approach is needed when considering the size of the Go-playing population in the United States, as no accurate statistics are available. Acres estimates that about 50,000 people in the United States have played Go in some form. The cumulative number of people who have participated in official tournaments throughout the history of the American Go Association is estimated at approximately 25,000, including overseas visitors who attended major events such as the U.S. Open. The number of active competitive players who regularly participate in various tournaments is currently estimated at about 2,500.
He explained that these figures are not officially confirmed statistics and may differ from the actual size of the community. To accurately understand the overall picture of American Go, efforts are also needed to systematically accumulate data on participation records and local activities.
Various exchanges have also continued between Korean professional players and American Go players. Officials from the American Go Association fondly recalled the activities of professional player Do Eungyo and 9-dan Kim Jiseok, who participated in the U.S. Go Congress and actively interacted with local Go players through simultaneous games and game reviews.
Professional player Jeong Yeonwoo, who also participated in the U.S. Go Congress, is currently serving as a referee at the World Amateur Go Championship in Mungyeong, helping ensure that games involving players from around the world proceed smoothly. The activities of such professional players are an important link sustaining Go exchanges between Korea and the United States.
Acres does not intend to create an organization exclusively for English-speaking Go players. He also expressed his desire to expand informational materials in multiple languages, including Korean, Chinese, and Japanese, so that visitors and immigrants coming to the United States from abroad can participate more comfortably in the American Go community.
Enabling people from diverse cultural backgrounds to find local Go clubs and participate in tournaments without language barriers is a way to broaden the reach of Go in the United States while also strengthening ties with the international Go community.
What makes Acres noteworthy is not only his experience as a tournament organizer.
He works in information security and enjoys riding BMW motorcycles. Through his work with ABATE of Oregon, he has participated in protecting the rights of motorcyclists and improving related laws and public policies. At the same time, he is a caring father to a high-school-aged daughter and a community activist who teaches Go to local children.
His family also has a close connection to Go. After tasting the local specialty omija tea provided by Mungyeong City at the tournament venue, he brought up his family and said that his daughter would probably like the tea as well. He said that his daughter is interested not only in playing Go but also in organizing and running Go events. This offered a glimpse of his view of Go not simply as a competition but as an activity that connects people.
Players representing 53 countries and regions gathered in Mungyeong for this year's 46th World Amateur Go Championship. It was the first time in 12 years, since the 2014 Gyeongju tournament, that the event had been held in Korea.
"Introducing Go to more people, meeting new friends through Go, and reuniting with old friends."
That is the appeal of Go that Acres emphasizes. For him, Mungyeong is a special place where he can observe firsthand the state of Go promotion in various countries and consider together the direction in which the international Go community should move. Following the Mungyeong tournament, he plans to attend the Nagoya Pair Go Tournament in Japan and continue interacting with Go players from around the world.
During the lunch break at the tournament, I walked with Acres to Gomosanseong Fortress, not far from the stadium. As we climbed the fortress, which retains traces of fierce battles from the Three Kingdoms period, we could see Juheulsan in the distance.
As we walked around the fortress, the conversation naturally turned to Korean culture. Acres said that Korean dramas are very popular among young American women. Coincidentally, while we were discussing this, we encountered people preparing to film a drama at the fortress.
At the tavern village along the old road, I explained that the route once connected the Yeongnam region with Seoul and served as a place where travelers stopped to rest. The conversation returned to his BMW motorcycle and eventually developed into the intriguing idea of creating a webtoon featuring a protagonist riding a motorcycle alongside a tiger.
On the old road of Gomosanseong Fortress, where people met and parted hundreds of years ago, our conversation turned to the future of Go and its power to connect people.
For Acres, who grew up in a local Go community, organized the U.S. Go Congress, the largest Go festival in the United States, and became the new leader of the American Go Association, the visit to Mungyeong marks a symbolic starting point for his new term.
His vision of connecting the online and offline Go communities, supporting local clubs so they can host more tournaments, and enabling people of different languages and cultural backgrounds to meet new friends through Go is only beginning to take concrete shape.
After meeting international Go players in Mungyeong, Acres is heading to the Nagoya Pair Go Tournament in Japan. We hope that his journey, which began in Mungyeong, will help American Go take another step forward and further expand its connections with the global Go community.