by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Shin Minjun wins 6th Globis Cup: The Globis Cup is an international tournament sponsored by the Globis University Graduate School of Management (president Hori Yoshito) for players under 20 (as of January 1) and is held at the university’s Tokyo campus, which is quite close to the Nihon Ki-in. The professed aim of the sponsor in founding the tournament was to give younger Japanese players more international experience. This year the tournament was held from April 19 to 21 and was dominated by Korea and China. It was won by Shin Minjun (right) of Korea, who lost in the final last year. He turned 20 on January 11, so he made the most of his last chance to compete. Sixteen players start out in four mini-tournaments in which two wins earn you a seat in the main tournament (the best eight). Below are the results for the main tournament.
(Quarterfinals, April 20). Ding Hao 5P (China) (B) beat Chen Jirui 5P (Chinese Taipei) by resig.; Shin Minjun 9P (Korea) (W) beat Shibano Toramaru 7P (Japan) by 3.5 points; Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) (B) beat Chen Zijian 7P (China); Wang Zejin 6P (China) (W) beat Park Sangjin 4P (Korea) by 2.5 points.
(Semifinals, April 21) Shin Minjun (W) beat Ding by resig.; Wang (W) beat Shin Jinseo by resig.
(Final, April 22). Shin (B) beat Wang by resig.
(Play-off for 3rd place). Ding (B) beat Shin by resig.
China starts well in 9th Huanglongshi Cup: The first round of this team tournament for five-women teams from China, Korea, and Japan was held in Taizhou City from 23 to 26 April. This continue-until-beaten Chinese-sponsored tournament is similar in format to the Nong Shim Cup, but one difference is that two games are played on most days. China is threatening to dominate the tournament in the same way their male players did the most recent Nong Shim Cup. After the seven games of the opening round, China has four players left while both Korea and Japan have only two. Japan’s team leader, Rin Shien 8P commented that he was surprised how closely the play of the Chinese players matched the style of AI programs, especially in the opening. He comments that the Chinese players not only study AI go intensively but also share the fruits of the study with each other. Results follow.
Game 1 (April 20). Gao Xing 4P (China) (W) beat Cho Seungah 2P (Korea) by resig.
Game 2 (April 20). Gao (B) beat Xie Yimin 6P (Japan) by 4.5 points.
Game 3 (April 21). Gao (W) beat O Jeongah 4P (Korea) by resig.
Game 4 (April 21). Mannami Nao 4P (Japan) (W) beat Gao by resig.
Game 5 (April 22). Kim Chaeyoung 5P (Korea) (W) beat Mannami by resig.
Game 6 (April 23). Zhou Hongyu (China) (W) beat Kim by 3.5 points.
Game 7 (April 23). Zhou (B) beat Fujisawa Rina 4P (Japan) by resig.
Nakamura Sumire makes pro debut: After all the waiting and the advance publicity, Japan’s youngest-ever go professional Nakamura Sumire has finally made her debut, by which time she was ten years one month old. Her first professional game was in Preliminary B of the 29th Ryusei tournament and her opponent was another debutante and member of the Kansai Headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in, Ms. Omori Ran 1P, who was all of 16. On the morning of April 22, when the game was played, 100 members of the press, from 40 different media organizations, turned up to cover the game, which was also telecast live on the Igo & Shogi Channel. This was probably a first for a game from the preliminary round. It was also one of the top items on TV news programs that day, which shows that public interest in Sumire is not waning.
Although Sumire lowered Fujisawa Rina’s record for the youngest professional, she did not set a new record for the youngest player to win a pro game. Omori, who had white, outplayed her in the middle-game fighting and forced her to resign after 174 moves. Some people, myself included, have been worried that the excessive media attention may put too much pressure on her, but there were no signs of this on the day. Both she and Omori were relaxed and smiling at the press conference before the game and afterwards Sumire did not appear too upset by her loss. Unfortunately, with the way debutantes are slotted into the opening rounds of tournaments in progress, Sumire will not play her second official game until some time in June, but a week later she took part in an unofficial tournament. This was the 2nd Young Bamboo Cup, a tournament for 16 “young” players (40 and under) at the Kansai Headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in. The first two rounds were held on April 28. Forty members of the press turned up to report on Sumire. Seeing the level of interest, a representative of the sponsor, the Iida Group, who was present, doubled the first prize to 200,000 yen (about $1800) on the spot. In Round One, Sumire beat (Ms.) Tanemura Sayuri 2P but lost in Round Two to Muramatsu Hiroki 6P (who, ironically, is a disciple of her father’s), although this was reported to be a tight game. According to the tournament referee, Goto Shungo 9P, Sumire had the lead at one stage, but was tricked by Muramatsu’s superior technique. In any case, this was clearly a professional-level performance. On May 1, Sumire fever reached a new level when she was tapped for the ceremony of “pitching the first ball” at the first Giants baseball game of the Reiwa era at Tokyo Dome. Her pitch didn’t quite reach the catcher, who was standing closer than on the home base, on the full stretch, but the direction was good, and she got a warm round of applause from the crowd. Sumire was wearing a special Giants uniform with “15” on the back, as this number can be read “igo.”
Gosei challenger: Ichiriki or Hane: Ichiriki Ryo’s good form against Iyama Yuta continues after his NHK win. In the second semifinal of the 44th Gosei title, played on April 23, Ichiriki (B) beat Iyama by resig. He will meet Hane Naoki 9P in the final; Hane beat Yo Seiki 8P in the first semifinal on April 1; taking white, Hane won by resig.
Next: Kisei S League starts; Otake wins 1,300 games; Meijin League; Shibano wins Grand Champion Tournament; Obituary: Ing Ming-hao
