by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Fujisawa wins Senko Cup
The final rounds of the 6th Senko Cup were held in the Guest Pavilion Akekure (Dawn and Dusk) at the Crefeel Koto hotel in East Omi City, Shiga Prefecture, on September 10 and 12. This tournament is a little unusual in that the previous winner does not defend the title but starts out again in the main tournament. The winner of the 5th Cup was Ueno Asami; she reached the final, so the result was the same as if she were defending the title. She was joined in the final by her main rival, Fujisawa Rina. The latter prevailed in the final, so she won this title for the third time. First prize is 8,000,000 yen (just under $73,000 at $1 = 109.62 yen), which makes this the most lucrative domestic female title. Second prize of 4,000,000 yen is also quite generous. Fujisawa now holds five of the six women’s titles, the other four being the Women’s Honinbo, the Women’s Meijin, the Women’s Hollyhock, and the Hakata Kamachi Cup. The lone hold-out is the Women’s Kisei, held by Ueno. Fujisawa also holds the Young Carp title. This is her 19th title; she is rapidly catching up with XieYimin (27 titles).
Results:
Semifinals (Sept. 10). Ueno Asami (B) beat Xie Yimin 7P by resig.; Fujisawa (B) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7P by resig.
Final (Sept. 12). Fujisawa (W) beat Ueno by resig.
The 79-year age gap
On September 9, Sugiuchi Kazuko 8P, at 94 the oldest active go player, was paired against Fukuoka Kotaro 2P, at 15 one of the youngest professionals at the Nihon Ki-in. The gap between the two was 79 years. Taking black, Fukuoka won by resignation. After the game, he commented: “Sugiuchi Sensei’s posture and movements were very natural and struck me as beautiful. I’m glad I had a chance to play her.’ The biggest gap ever in a professional game was 80 years, set when her husband, the late Sugiuchi Masao, then 95, played Onishi Ryuhei 1P, then 15.
New Honinbo league members
The four vacant seats in the 77th Honinbo League have been decided, and two have gone to Kansai Ki-in players. On August 26, Sada Atsushi 7P (KK) (W) beat Koyama Kuya 4P by 2.5 points. Sada makes a comeback to the league immediately after dropping out of the previous league.
On September 2, Yo Seiki 8P (KK) (W) beat Ko Iso 9P by resig. and won a seat for the sixth time after a gap of two terms. On the same day, Motoki Katsuya 8P (W) beat Koike Yoshihiro 6P by resig. This will be his fourth appearance in the league; he won the 72nd league.
In the game for the last open seat, played on September 9, Tsuruyama Atsushi 8P (B) beat Anzai Nobuaki 7P by resig. Tsuruyama also made an immediate come back to the league. He commented that he was happy to make his second league; one appearance could be dismissed as a fluke, but not two.
Three-way tie in international tournament
The 2021 6th Hulu Island Weiqi Cultural Festival China-Japan-Korea Tournament was held from September 12‾14 on the net. It is a team tournament, with three-player teams from China, Japan, and Korea competing. It features former top players, though one member of the Japanese team might object to the first adjective. Each team won one match and lost one and each scored three individual wins, so the result was a three-way tie for first. Chinese rules were used, and the time allowance was one hour plus one minute x 5. Prizes were 300,000 yuan (about $18,450 at one yuan = 15.3 cents), 200,000, and 100,000. Results follow:
Round One) Korea 2-China 1
Yoo Chang-hyeok 9P (B) lost to Yu Bin 9P by half a point.
Lee Chang-ho 9P (B) beat Chang Hao 9P by resig.
Cho Hun-hyeon 9P (B) beat Nie Weiping 9P by resig.
Round Two) China 2-Japan 1
Nie Weiping 9P (W) lost to Kobayashi Koichi 9P by resig.
Yu Bin (B) beat Kobayashi Satoru 9P by resig.
Chang Hao 9P (W) beat Takao Shinji 9P by half a point.
Round Three) Japan 2-Korea 1
Kobayashi Koichi (W) beat Cho Hun-hyeon by 4.5 points.
Kobayashi Satoru (B) beat Yoo Chang-hyeok by resig.
Takao Shinji 9P (B) lost to Lee Chang-ho by 2.5 points
Shin Jinseo wins Chunlan Cup
Shin Jin-seo 9P of Korea, the world’s top-rated player, beat Tang Weixing 9P of China 2-0 in the best-of three final of the 13th Chunlan Cup (the tournament started in July last year). In the first game, played on the net on Sept. 13, Shin (W) upset his opponent’s lead and won by half a point. The second game was played on Sept. 15; taking black, Shin won by resig. after 173 moves. First prize is $150,000.
Shin was born on March 17, 2000, and this is his fourth international title (see below for the other three). The other three are given below. Shin has a reputation for surpassing AI, which has earned him an interesting nickname: “shinko chino,” which means “Shin-built intelligence.” That is a pun on the term “jinko chino,” which means “artificial intelligence.”
Shin’s other titles: 4th Globis Cup (2017); 31st TV Asia (2019); 24th LG Cup (2020, this tournament began in 2019).
