By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
New Honinbo League starts
The first game in the 78th Honinbo League was played on October 3. Yo Seiki (W) 8-dan beat league newcomer Fujita Akihiko 7-dan by 3.5 points.
Ueno doing well in 1st Hoban Cup
The Hoban Cup Seoul Newspaper World’s Women’s Baduk Championship is a new international tournament for female teams. Its main sponsors are the Hoban Construction company and the Seoul Newspaper and it is organized by the Korean Baduk Association. First prize is 100,000,000 won (about $69,400 at $1 = 1440.8 won).
The second round was held on the net in mid-October. China dominated the first round, with Wu Yiming earning a promotion to 4-dan by winning five games in a row. After that, China and Japan each won a game. (See my report of June 22.) In the second round, Li He of China won two games in a row, then Ueno Asami of Japan won three in a row. However, China still has two players left.
Results to date:
Game 8 (Oct. 15). Li He 5-dan (China) (B) beat Fujisawa Rina 5-dan by resig. (193 moves).
Game 9 (Oct. 16) Li (W) beat Oh Yujin 9-dan (Korea) by resig. (166 moves).
Game 10 (Oct. 17). Ueno Asami 4-dan (Japan) (B) beat Li by resig. (183 moves).
Game 11 (Oct. 18). Ueno beat Choi Jeong 9-dan (Korea) by resig. (Korea was eliminated).
Game 12 (Oct. 19). Ueno (W) beat Lu Minquan 6-dan (China) by resig. (266 moves).
Sumire promoted to 3-dan
A win in the Teikei Young Stars tournament over Takei Taishin (see next item) on October 13, earned Sumire promotion to 3-dan. It was her 40th win in a game that counts toward promotion. At this stage, her career record was 120 wins to 60 losses, a statistic of interest for two reasons. One is that Sumire has a winning record of exactly two thirds, which is quite respectable. The other is that it shows that 50 of her wins (women’s tournaments, unofficial tournaments, etc.) don’t count for promotion.
Moving on to new records: at 13 years seven months, Sumire is the second youngest 3-dan at the Nihon Ki-in, the record being held by Cho Chikun, at 13 years four months. However, she makes a big dent in the previous record for youngest female 3-dan, which was 16 years four months, set by Xie Yimin.
Sumire’s progress
The two wins in the TK Young Stars tournament listed below not only earned Sumire a promotion but also secured her a share of the lead in the most-wins list—see below.
(Sept. 29) Sumire (B) beat Tsuji Hana 2-dan by resig. (Prelim., 10th Women’s Hollyhock Cup).
(Oct. 6) Sumire (W) lost to Motoki Katsuya 8-dan resig. (Prelim. A, 48th Gosei).
(Oct. 13) Sumire (W) beat Yo Chito 6-dan by 5.5 points; Sumire (W) beat Takei Taishin 2-dan by resig. (prelim., 2nd TK Young Stars).
Tomorrow: Most wins; Most successive wins; Winning streaks recently ended; Promotion; Quasi-professionals; Retirement
UPDATE: The post has been updated to reflect Sumire’s promotion at 13 years seven months, making her the second youngest 3-dan at the Nihon Ki-in, the record being held by Cho Chikun, at 13 years four months (we had switched the promotion ages in our original post)
