American Go E-Journal » 2022 » September

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

King of the New Stars starts

The first game in the 47th King of the New Stars best-of-three title match was played at the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in on September 22. Go Weekly is billing this game as “the plain style” v. “the chaotic style.” Otake Yu 7-dan likes to keep things straightforward, whereas his opponent in the match, Sakai Yuki 3-dan, likes to plunge the game into messy fighting. In the first game, Sakai’s style prevailed. Taking black, he forced a resignation after 207 moves. This loss put an end to a winning streak of 13 games that Otake had enjoyed. The second game will be played on September 30.

Sumire’s progress

Nakamura Sumire’s results for the year so far are 36-16 (see “Most Wins” item below). Her overall results as a pro are 117 wins to 58 losses, so she has won just over two-thirds of her games.

(Aug. 8) Sumire (B) beat Kawai Shoji 6-dan by resig. (Prelim B, 48th Gosei).

(Aug. 11) Sumire beat Hoda Shota 1-dan; beat Kawahara Yu 1-dan; beat Miura Taro 2-dan (these games were in the 3rd Discovery Cup—see article above).

(Aug. 18) Sumire  (W) lost to Ueno Asami Women’s Hollyhock by resig. (semifinal, 41st Women’s Honinbo).

(Aug. 25) Sumire (W) beat Tsuneishi Takashi 5-dan by 6.5 points (Prelim. B, 48th Gosei). With this win, Sumire advanced to the A preliminary.

(Aug. 29) Sumire (W) beat Suzukawa Natsumi 1-dan by resig.; Sumire (W) beat Cho Chien 2-dan by resig.; Sumire (W) beat Taguchi Misei 2-dan by resig. (these games were in the preliminary, 17th Young Carp). Sumire secured a seat in the main tournament (the best 16).

(Sept. 8) Sumire (B) beat Nakaonoda Tomomi 9-dan by resig. (Prelim. B, 71st Oza).

(Sept. 22) Sumire (W) beat Kuwabara Yoko 6-dan by resig. (Prelim. A, 26th Women’s Kisei).

Most wins (as of Sept. 23)

1. Ueno Asami: 38-14

2. Nakamura Sumire: 36-16

3. Ichiriki Ryo: 34-18

4. Nyu Eiko: 33-14

5. Fujisawa Rina Women’s Honinbo: 32-13

6. Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan: 31-9

7. Otake Yu 7-dan: 30-6

8. Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan: 28-18

9. Ida Atsushi 9-dan: 27-12; Kato Chie 2-dan: 27-13

Best winning streaks

10: Hane Yasumasa 9-dan

8: Kato Yuki 7-dan, Nyu Eiko Women’s Senko Cup, Nakamura Sumire 2-dan

7: Rin Kanketsu 8-dan, Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan

6: Mizokami Tomochika 9-dan, Ueno Risa 2-dan

5: Cho U 9-dan, Akiyama Jiro 9-dan, Kono Takashi 8-dan, Sotoyanagi Sebun 4-dan

Streaks that have ended since my last report.

13: Otake Yu 7-dan

9: Sasaka Shiro 8-dan,

8: Sakai Yuki 3-dan, Fukuoka Kotaro 3-dan, Shibano Toramaru 9-dan, Sonoda Yasutaka 9-dan, Tajiri Yuto 5-dan, Tanaka Nobuyuki 4-dan

7: Tsuruyama Atsushi 8-dan, Izumitani Hideo 9-dan, Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan, Hirata Tomoya 7-dan, Mukai Chiaki 6-dan, Muramoto Wataru 4-dan

6: Itani Shunta 2-dan, Nakamura Hidehito 9-dan, Hirose Yuichi 6-dan, Tsuruyama Atsushi, Takao Mari 1-dan, Shuto Shun 8-dan, Ohashi Hirofumi 7-dan

5: Ida Atsushi 8-dan, Kobayashi Izumi 7-dan, Miura Taro 2-dan, Fujisawa Rina Women’s Honinbo, Mimura Tomoyasu 9-dan, Kumamoto Shusei 4-dan, Kato Chie 2-dan, Terayama Rei 6-dan, Sotoyanagi Sebun 4-dan, Arimura Hiroshi 9-dan, Yamagisawa Satoshi 6-dan

Promotions

To 7-dan: Kurotaki Masaki (120 wins, as of Aug. 23); Otake Yu (for entering the Honinbo League, as of Sept. 9)

To 6-dan: Yamamoto Kentaro (90 wins, as of Aug. 12)

To 3-dan: Utani Shunta (40 wins, as of Sept. 16)

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Yo to challenge Iyama for Oza

The play-off to decide the challenger for the 70th Oza title was held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 29. Taking black, Yo Seiki 8-dan of the Kansai Ki-in beat Shibano Toramaru 9-dan by resig. after 191 moves. This will be his fourth challenge for a top-seven title. In the 64th Oza (2016), he lost 0-3 to Iyama; in the 55th Judan (2017), he lost 1-3 to Iyama; and in the 60th Judan (2022), he lost 0-3 to Yo Kagen. He has also come second in the 38th King of the New Stars (2013), the 23rd (2014) and 26th (2017) Ryusei tournaments, and the 68th NHK Cup (2021), so his career is a little reminiscent of that of the late Kato Masao’s. Yo will be hoping he can turn it around as dramatically as Kato did. It may not be a consolation, but he has won the Kansai Ki-in No. One Position title five years in a row.

Ueno to challenge for Women’s Honinbo

The play-off to decide the challenger for the 41st Women’s Honinbo title was held at the Nihon Ki-in on September 1. Based on results this year, you can argue that four players make up the top group in Japanese women’s go: Fujisawa Rina, Ueno Asami, Nyu Eiko, and Nakamura Sumire. However, the play-off featured a player who may be a new face for Western readers: Kato Chie 2-dan. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce her. Kato was born on September 13, 2001. Her results have been consistently good since she became a professional in April 2018 and recently she got into the top ten in the “most wins” list. Her consistent results are proof of significant talent, as she has to battle a major handicap in her daily life. As a child, she suffered from a bone disease that prevented the full development of her bones, so she has to use a wheelchair. Her bones were fragile and she had broken bones about 20 times. Fortunately, she received treatment that stopped these breaks. She took up go in kindergarten and in sixth grade, in 2013, she won the 34th (all-Japan) Boys and Girls Tournament, the first time in 14 years that a girl had won it (that was Mukai Chiaki in 1999). She started out at the Osaka branch of the Nihon Ki-in, but then switched to Nagoya. Her win-loss record to date is 116-74 (61%) and she will surely be a title-winner soon. 

The play-off was won by Ueno Asami (W) by 4.5 points. Kato had the lead, but Ueno pulled off an upset in the endgame. Ueno took the 38th Women’s Honinbo title from Fujisawa in 2019, but the latter reclaimed it in 2020. If Ueno wins it back, it will be her 10th title. The match starts on October 4.

New youngest player at Nihon Ki-in

At a press conference held on September 13, the Nihon Ki-in announced that Yanagihara Saki would be inducted as 1-dan by the Ki-in’s Women’s Special Induction Recommendation system. Yanagihara is in sixth grade and is 11 years old; she is a member of the A class in the Nihon Ki-in insei system. She will officially become 1-dan in April 2023, but she will begin playing professional games in January. She took second place in the section for 12 years and under in the World Youth Championship run by the Ing Chang-Ki Foundation. The four insei teachers all recommended Yanagihara and the Nihon Ki-in board of directors approved her appointment on September 13th. She will be the youngest professional. She learned go from her parents, both of whom play go, when she was three. She has studied at Hong Seisen’s dojo. Hong 4-dan is a member of the Kansai Ki-in, but he runs a go school in Tokyo. He seems to be a very good teacher, as many of his students have succeeded in becoming pros and are doing well.

Shibano wins Kisei S League

Although he still has a game to play in the 47th Kisei S League, Shibano Toramaru is in an unbeatable position with 4-0, as every other player has at least two losses. Takao Shinji secured second place when Iyama Yuta lost his last game. Results since my last report follow.

(Aug. 11) Takao Shinji 9-dan (W) beat Yo Seiki by resig.

(Aug. 18) Shibano Toramaru 9-dan (W) beat Kyo Kagen Judan by resig.

(Sept. 1) Iyama Yuta (B) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8-dan by 1.5 points.

(Sept. 12) Takao (B) beat Murakawa by resig.

(Sept. 22) Kyo Kagen Judan (B) beat Iyama Yuta by resig.

A and B Leagues

The play-off between the winners of the B1 and B2 Leagues was held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 25. Taking black, Suzuki Shinji 7-dan beat Fujita Akihiko 7-dan by 5.5 points. Suzuki won the B League 7-0, so he now had eight wins in a row in the Kisei tournament. The A League was decided on August 25, when Yamashita Keigo beat Hane Naoki. This took Yamashita to 6-1, two points clear of the field.

Knock-out to decide the challenger

The final irregular knock-out to decide the challenger looks like this. Otake Yu 7-dan (C winner) v. Suzuki Shinji 7-dan (B winner), the winner v. Yamashita Keigo 9-dan (A winner), the winner v. Takao Shinji (2nd in S), the winner v. Shibano. The last two play a best-of-three in which Shibano is gifted a win at the outset. Takao’s only path to the challengership is winning 2-0 whereas Shibano needs just one win. 

Just for the record: The current league system, topped by the S League and ending in the irregular knock-out, was introduced in the 40th term of the Kisei. So far, it has been held seven times, and each time the winner of the S League has become the challenger. During that time, Kono Rin was the challenger three times and each time he lost the first game in the best-of-three, the only S League winner to do so. In two cases, his opponent was Takao, so he knows from bitter experience how tough the challenge will be for him.

Tomorrow: King of the New Stars starts; Sumire’s progress; Most wins; Best winning streaks; Promotions

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Shibano takes lead in Meijin title match

In the 47th Meijin title match, the challenger, Shibano Toramaru 9-dan, has made a good start, taking a 2-1 lead over the defending Meijin, Iyama Yuta. However, Shibano had the bitter experience of taking a 3-1 lead over Iyama in the Honinbo title match last year without being able to win the title, so he won’t be counting his chickens. So far, Shibano has played five title matches with Iyama and won only of them. They are: the 67th Oza (2019), which Shibano, the challenger, won 3-1; the 45th Meijin (2020), which Iyama, the challenger, won 4-1; the 75th Honinbo (2020), which Iyama defended 4-1; the 76th Honinbo (2021), which Iyama defended 4-3; the 69th Oza title (2021), which Iyama defended 3-2.

The first game was played in the customary venue for opening games in recent years, the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, on August 24 and 25. Shibano drew black in the nigiri. In the opening, he played less aggressively than usual, storing up strength instead. This seems to have let Iyama secure a small territorial lead. Shibano kept on playing patiently, so White’s territorial lead became decisive. Black made use of his thickness to launch an all-out attack on a large, weak white group, which Black had surrounded on a large scale. However, Iyama found the perfect move to rescue this group. Black kept attacking it and reduced it to one eye, but in the end, he found that he had to give up one of his own attacking groups or let White link up. Shibano resigned after 152. In effect, he didn’t get a chance to use his stored-up strength to full advantage.

The second game was played at the Todaya, a long-established traditional inn in Toba City, Mie Prefecture, on September 5 and 6. Shibano (W) played very boldly in the early middle game, making an invasion in which he used 11 stones as a sacrifice. However, the limited compensation he got on the outside didn’t seem to justify the sacrifice. Iyama maintained a lead throughout most of the middle game, but he went wrong in an invasion into White’s moyo. In a position in which there were only two feasible moves, he chose the wrong one. Shibano took profit from attacking the group, enabling him to upset Black’s lead; in the end, he no longer needed to kill the group. Black resigned after White 220.

The third game was played at the Hotel Agora Osaka Moriguchi in Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture, on September 15 and 16. As in the previous two games, Iyama (W) took the early lead in territory and staked the game on a shinogi strategy, that is, on being able to rescue groups in trouble. Shibano again built thickness. The game was very close all the way through. Perhaps it became slightly favorable for Black when he walled off one side of a center moyo by sacrificing a few stones in sente. A little later, he had the option of attacking a vulnerable white group, but there would have been uncertainties involved. Shibano calculated that a peaceful enclosing move would retain a small lead. His calculations in choosing this safety-first move turned out to be correct. Convinced that he was behind, Iyama abruptly resigned after Black 171. The players following the game in the pressroom were astonished—according to their endgame research, Black had a win, but the margin was just half a point. 

For the second time in a best-of-seven, Shibano had the lead over Iyama, but he was well aware that the match had only just started. The fourth game will be played on October 6 and 7.

Seats filled in the new Honinbo League

The first seat in the 78th Honinbo League was decided on August 18 in a game held at the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in, Fujita Akihiko 7-dan (B) beat Ida Atsushi 8-dan, a former Honinbo challenger (the 69th term), by resig. Fujita will make his debut in a league.

The second seat was decided on August 25. Motoki Katsuya 8-dan (W) beat Cho U 9-dan by resig. Motoki regained his seat immediately after dropping out. Cho U failed to make a comeback after an absence of six years.

The remaining two seats were decided on September 8. Tsuruyama Atsushi 8-dan (B) beat Hirata Tomoya 7-dan by resig., securing a seat in the Honinbo League for the third year in a row. Otake Yu 6-dan (W) beat Fujisawa Rina by resig. Otake will make his debut in a big-three league (Kisei S, Meijin, Honinbo); he earned an automatic promotion to 7-dan. Unfortunately, Fujisawa Rina missed her second chance to be the first woman player to enter a top league—three years ago she lost a play-off to enter the Meijin League to Ichiriki Ryo. 

The new league will start in October.

China dominates 4th Nie Weiping tournament

The Nie Weiping Cup Youth Masters, named after the legendary Chinese player who dominated international go in the 1980s, is an unofficial tournament for 16 young players from the four Far Eastern countries with professional systems. The tournament is open to players born on January 1, 2002, or later. The time allowance is one hour plus byo-yomi of 30 seconds a move. The first two rounds were held on the net on August 27. In the opening round, China fielded eight players, who won seven games; Wen of Korea was the only one to dent their record and he was eliminated in the next round.

Results are given below. The dates of the semifinals and the final have not yet been decided. First prize is 250,000 yuan (about $35,100).

(Round 1)  Zheng Zaixiang 4-dan (China) beat Xu Jing’en 4-dan (Chinese Taipei); Li Haotong 4-dan (China) beat Lee 4-dan (Korea); Tu Xiaoyu 7-dan (China) beat Kweon 4-dan (Korea); Wen Minzhong 5-dan (Korea) beat Wang Chunhui 2-dan (China); Zhou Hongyu 6-dan (B) beat Miura Taro 2-dan (Japan) by resig.; Zhang Baiqing 2-dan (China) beat Sakai Yuki 3-dan (Japan) by 5.5 points; Jin Yucheng 4-dan (China) (B) beat Fukuoka Kotaro 3-dan (Japan) by resig.; Wang Xinghao 7-dan (China) beat Lai Junfu 7-dan (Ch. Taipei).

(Round 2) Li beat Zheng; Tu beat Wen; Zhang beat Zhou; Wang beat Jin.

(Semifinal pairings) Li v. Tu, Zhang v. Wang

Tomorrow: Yo to challenge Iyama for Oza; Ueno to challenge for Women’s Honinbo; New youngest player at Nihon Ki-in; Shibano wins Kisei S League

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Sumire wins 3rd Discovery Cup 

The Discovery Cup is an unofficial tournament for players 18 and under and 2-dan and under, including insei. Eight players who have won their way through a preliminary compete in a three-round league. The two players on 2-0 meet in what is virtually a “final” inside the third round. The format is the same as the NHK Cup: players have 30 seconds per move plus ten minutes thinking time to be used in one-minute units. First prize is ¥200,000 ($13,956, at $1 = ¥143.3). The tournament was founded by the late Ogino Shoji, who owned an art gallery on the Ginza. His family is continuing the sponsorship after his death.

The main tournament was played on August 11, which happened to be Nakamura Sumire’s off day in the Chinese Women’s B League (see previous item)—she was certainly keeping busy. After two rounds, the players on 2-0 were Sumire and last year’s winner, Miura Taro 2-dan. Taking white, Sumire won by resignation after 172 moves. Sumire: “I’m happy: winning this tournament was one of my goals.” (Results of all three games are given below in “Sumire’s progress.)

Shin Jinseo wins Kuksu Mountains

The 8th Kuksu Mountains International Baduk Championship, a Korean-sponsored international tournament, was held from August 13 to 15, with the 16 participants playing on the net. The tournament was dominated by Korean players, with seven of the quarterfinalists and all the semifinalists being from Korea. In the final, Shin Jinseo 9-dan beat Byan Sangil 9-dan, winning his fourth big international title. 

The time allowance is 30 minutes per player plus 40-second byo-yomi x 3. First prize is 75 million won ($52,891, at $1 = 1418 won). Below are the results (in most cases, full details are not available to me).

Round One (Aug. 13). Park Junghwan 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Ichiriki Ryo 9-dan (Japan) by resig.; Kim Jiseok 9-dan (Korea) beat Iyama Yuta 9-dan (Japan) by half a point; Shin Minjun 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Kyo Kagen 9-dan (Japan) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9-dan (Korea) beat Mi Yuting 9-dan (China); Zhao Zhenyu 9-dan (China) beat Kim Myeonghun 9-dan (Korea); Weon Seongjin 9-dan (Korea) beat Lai Junfu 7-dan (Ch. Taipei); Kang Dongyun 9-dan (Korea) beat Wang Yuanjun 7-dan (Ch. Taipei); Byan Sangil 9-dan (Korea) beat Ding Hao 9-dan (China).

Round Two (Aug. 13). Shin Jinseo beat Kim; Park beat Zhao; Weon beat Kang; Byan beat Shin Minjun.

Semifinals (Aug. 14). Shin Jinseo beat Park; Byan beat Weon.

Final (Aug. 15). Shin Jinseo 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Byan Sangil 9-dan (Korea) on time. 

New record set for youngest player

Nakamura Sumire, who became 1-dan at the age of exactly ten, has lost her record as the youngest professional ever in Japan. In April this year, the Kansai Ki-in announced that it had set up a system, the Special Induction System for Young Players, to enable talented young players to debut at a younger age in professional play in the belief that this will speed up their development. It is similar to the system under which Nakamura Sumire was chosen at the Nihon Ki-in; in her case, the system has been a resounding success. At a press conference held on August 17, the Kansai Ki-in announced that Fujita Reo, aged nine years four months, would become a professional 1-dan as of September 1. Fujita has set a new world record for the youngest professional. Previously, Cho Hunhyun of Korea and Chang Hao of China had shared the record at nine years seven months. 

Fujita was born in Osaka on April 25, 2013. At the age of four, he became addicted to the game of Othello. One day, when he was four years ten months old, his mother took him downtown to find an Othello club but couldn’t (not surprising, because they don’t exist, as far as I know), so she took him to a go club instead, since it looked similar to Othello. Reo was immediately fascinated by the game and started playing it all day long. The manager of the go club commented that he made amateur shodan in ten months. He started attending classes for children and playing in youth tournaments. When he was six, he won the Osaka qualifying tournament for lower-grade elementary-school pupils for the Children’s Kisei tournament, but couldn’t play in the all-Japan tournament because kindergarten pupils were not eligible. From June in first grade to April in third grade, he enrolled as an insei at the Kansai Headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in. In 2021, he had the second-best results; apparently, from second grade he would occasionally play even games with low-ranked professionals and won some of them. (By the way, the Kansai Ki-in, which had some claim on Nakamura Sumire, cooperated with the Nihon Ki-in in her appointment as a pro; on this occasion, the Nihon Ki-in returned the courtesy.)

When Reo heard about the new Kansai Ki-in system, he sent in an application. He had to submit game records for vetting and play a game on black (no komi) with Seto Taiki 8-dan. Seto won the game by six points, but the Kansai Ki-in concluded he was strong enough to play as a pro. At the press conference, he commented that his ambition was to become the world’s top player. He said that his goal was to beat Shin Jinseo and that he wanted to play Iyama Yuta.

Nakamura Sumire’s reaction: “I’m astonished! I look forward to being able to play him!”

Japanese Wikipedia has some stories about Reo. He has a phenomenal memory: when he was one, he memorized all the stations in the Osaka train network (that’s at least 123 stations); when he was four, he memorized the 47 Japanese prefectures in order of size. He became a disciple of Hoshikawa Takumi 5-dan at the Kansai Ki-in. At first, he played him on the handicap of black without komi; in January this year, he played his first game on even and won it. Their results on even are 50-50. Hoshikawa: “The main feature of his go is his destructive power, based on reading. His opening is also strong; I find myself under pressure all the time.” His teacher at the go club commented: “I was often surprised by how he perfectly memorized long and complicated life -and-death sequences.”

Incidentally, Reo is the youngest male professional in Japan; he lowered the record set by Cho Chikun, who became 1-dan at 11 years nine months in 1968.

On September 2, Reo played a game to commemorate his becoming a pro. Taking black (no komi) against Yo Seiki 8-dan, he lost by resig. after 160 moves. He played a little too aggressively, creating weak groups.

Tomorrow:  Seats filled in the new Honinbo League; Shibano takes lead in Meijin title match; China dominates 4th Nie Weiping tournament

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Sumire stars in the Chinese Women’s B League

The much-delayed 2021 edition of the Chinese Women’s B League Team tournament was held in Fuzhou City in Fujian Province from August 9 to 16. The three-player teams represent different areas of China, and a match was played every day, with just the third day off as a rest day. Two players from Japan, Nyu Eiko 4-dan and Nakamura Sumire 2-dan, took part, playing their games on the net. Nyu, who was on a Hubei team, made a bad start, losing her first three games, but she recovered to win the next three. She lost her final game, however, so she ended up with a minus record of 3-4. In contrast, Sumire had an excellent tournament, playing on a Fujian team and scoring 5-2 and helping her team to win promotion into the A League. Both served as captains of their teams, but I am afraid I do not know how to render the team names in English. Sumire’s best performance was in the last game; the match was tied 1-1, so her result would decide whether her team went up or not. Sumire demonstrated a good understanding of the Chinese rules, in which victory goes to the player with more stones surviving on the board. She worked out that if she played the “natural” move according to the Japanese rules, she would lose, so she tried to find a sequence that secured a half-point victory by the Chinese rules. Actually, her opponent, Kim Dayong of Korea, made a mistake, so Sumire won by half a point. Playing the way she did gave her opponent the opportunity to make this mistake. Ko Reibun 7-dan, who was acting as referee at the Japanese site, commented: “You can only call this a miracle.”

Korea does well in Go Seigen Cup

The opening rounds of the 5th Go Seigen Cup World Women’s Go Championship were held from July 30 to August 1. This is a Chinese-sponsored tournament with a top prize of 500,000 yuan (about $70,220, at $1 = 7.12 yuan). Sixteen players start out in the first round, then eight seeded players join the winners in the second round.

The tournament was a triumph for Korea, which secured three of the semifinal places. The fourth went to a Chinese representative. Japan had three players taking part, but only Ueno Asami picked up a win. In the second round, she beat Zhou Hongyyu 6-dan, one of China’s top players. Results to date are given below. The semifinals are scheduled for November 30. It was interesting to see Wu Yiming, who turns 16 on Nov. 22, again representing her country in an international tournament. In the not too distant future, she might become the world’s top woman player. Also, Hei Jiajia (aka Joanne Missingham) seemed to be in good form, just missing out on a semifinal seat. 

Round One (July 30). Wu Yiming 4-dan (China) (B) beat Nyu Eiko 4-dan (Japan) by 7.5 points; Li Xiaoxi 2-dan (China) (W) beat Nakamura Sumire 2-dan (Japan) by resig.; Hei Jiajia 7-dan (Ch. Taipei) (W) beat Rui Naiwei 9-dan (China) by resig.; Feng Yun 9-dan (North America) (W) beat Dina Burdakova, am. 5-dan, (Russia) by half a point; Zhou Hongyu 6-dan (W) beat Kim Eunji 3-dan (Korea) by 10.5 points; Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan (Japan) (W) beat Virzhinia Shalneva, am. 3-dan, (Russia) by resig.; Lu Yuhua 4-dan (Ch. Taipei) (B) beat Wang Yubo 4-dan (China) by resig.; Cho Seunga 5-dan (Korea) (B) beat Yin Mingming (Stephanie Yin, North America) by resig.

Round Two (July 31). Kim Jaeyoung 7-dan (Korea) (B) beat Wu by 1.5 points; Wang Chenxing 5-dan (China) (W) beat Cho by resig.; Lu Minquan 6-dan (China) (B) beat Suzuki by resig.; Hei (B) beat Yu Zhiying 7-dan (China) by 2.5 points; Lu Yuhua (W) beat Li He 5-dan (China) by half a point; Ueno (B) beat Zhou by resig.; Choi Jeong 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Li by resig.; Oh Yujin 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Feng by resig.

Quarterfinals (August 1). Oh (W) beat Lu Minquan by resig.; Kim (W) beat Hei by half a point; Choi (W) beat Ueno by resig.; Wang (B) beat Lu Yuhua by resig. 

Semifinal pairings (Nov. 30). Oh v. Choi, Kim v. Wang

Iyama starts badly in Chinese A Team League

The first round of the Chinese A Team League was held from August 3 to 11. There are 16 teams in this league; teams are made up of four players, but each team actually has a pool of five or six players to call upon. They announce their team just before a match. In the second round, the top eight teams will vie for supremacy, while the bottom eight will compete to avoid relegation to the B League. Iyama Yuta represented the Zhejiang Zheshang Securities team in Match 5 (the 8th) and Match 7 (the 10th). In the first game, Iyama (B) lost to Dang Yifei 9-dan, who was playing for the Zhengdu Agricultural & Commercial Bank; he resigned after 180 moves. Dang is a top player and won the 21st LG Cup. In the second game, Iyama was paired against Rong Yi of the Shenbo Dragon Flower team. Iyama had white and resigned after 141 moves. Actually, he had the lead for most of the game but made some errors in the latter stage of the game. 

Iyama’s team finished 8th. He is hoping to get a chance to redeem himself in the second round, but first, he has to be picked to play . . .

Tomorrow: Sumire wins 3rd Discovery Cup; Shin Jinseo wins Kuksu Mountains; New record set for youngest player