At AI levels of play, White has an advantage at 7.5 komi area scoring. And 7.5 komi territory scoring, for that matter. 7.5 is just a lot. The fairest komis you can get under either ruleset at this level are 6.5 territory scoring or 7.0 area scoring.

Xie Yimin has reported back for duty after being AWOL for a time. She did her bit for the army by defeating Yamashiro Hiroshi 9-dan in Round 1 of the NHK Cup.

Mrs Sugiuchi is still playing but is 0-5 for the year so far.

Bad news. Commander Ueno has been hit and sunk in the attempt to take a seat in Agon-Kiriyama Cup, where General Fujisawa was already waiting.

She lost to Motoki Katsuya 8p in a fierce game, according to @asahi_igo

Sumire couldn't do it, but Rina Fujisawa finished her first game in the Kisei C league with a win against Kazushi Tsuruta 6p.

It's her first time playing in the league, so it's a very good start.

Today, Xie Yimin played her first game in the Kisei. She played Kobayashi Satoru 9p and won her game.

She had played in the league before, but couldn't keep her seat. So she made it through the prelims again, let's she how she will do.

Another good result for today: Ayumi Suzuki 7p has beaten Sakiya Numadate 7p in the first game of the last prelim for the Honinbo league. That means she's 2 games away from entering one of the big leagues for the first time.

Actually, she missed a chance a few years ago. That time, she lost the last qualifying game. And besides a seat in the league, it would have meant promotion to 7p.

Today were held both semifinals of the Aizu Hospital Cup.

Ueno Asami beat Kato Chie, and Nyu Eiko beat Nakamura Sumire. Next, Ueno Asami will play Nyu Eiko to gain the right to challenge Fujisawa Rina for the title.

For some reason, there was a ceremony with the 4 players dressed in kimono and posing for photos starting the games. The real games were played in the usual outfit.

The Tachioi Cup is another name for the Aizu Hospital Cup. And in this case, Nyu won. So yes, Nyu is worth keeping an eye too.

Today I read something interesting in twitter.

Kana Mannami 4p played in a competition game again after 7 years. I dind't know her, but she is a former female kisei. Not bad. Her return game was agains Yasutaka Sonoda 9p, in the Ryusei B prelim. I don't know him either, but after 7 years... well, I expected her to be rusty, and lose the game. Well, she didn't. She won the game (W+1.5).

Just one more comment in twitter... she is a mother of 3 girls, the youngest one entering kindergarden now. How strange...

It was a good day today for the army. In the Wu Qingyuan Cup, Nakamura Sumire, Ueno Asami and Ayumi Suzuki won their games. Yie Ximin missed her game by the smallest margin. Overall, quite a success, even more so if you compare to the Japanese performance in the last years.

Since the last post, some good things have happened, some bad.

Today, Asami Ueno 4p beat Nishi Takenobu 5p in the semifinal of the Shinjin O. She will fight Sotoyanagi Sebun 3p in a 3 game match for the title.
It is only the 2nd female ever to have reached this final. It is noticeable because, although all "male" tournaments are actually mixed, women don't usually reach the final stages. I think it's just a matter of numbers. Remember, most male players never make it either. So as there are more strong female players, more girls will try to become pros, and so on.

Shibano, Ichiriki, Iyama, Kagen, Yamashita... won this tournament, and some years later (not inmediatly) won other tournaments.

Go, Asami!

I don't know if it was her, but a rather new female player almost reached the finals of one of the big ones a couple of years ago. I recall she would have jumped ... five? six? ranks if only she'd won an extra game.

As it is, if she were Kansai Ki'in, she would be eligible for 7p should she win the Shinjin O, but I think it doesn't apply to the NK.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

Suzuki Ayumi was once 1 game away from entering the Honinbo league (2011?). At that point, she was 6p, I think, so it was a one grade promotion.

She is now 7p, so for inmediate promotion she needs bigger things.

Nope, not that one. Ueno Asami, 28th Ryusei, June 2019.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

Although I have stepped back from regular contributions, I'm glad that some others are continuing to post. Maybe they'll allow me to encourage them by adding a couple of new Amazonian items to watch out for.

One is new pro Jo Bunen (more precisely Jo Bun'en 徐文燕). At age 16, she has just won the 3rd Y's Academy Cup. She has a Chinese-born mother, Kin En, who settled in Japan as an amateur - was once the ladies' amateur Honinbo) and became a pro there.

The Y's Academy Cup is a strange event, held in the Diamond Go Salon, not too far from the Ki-in. It's a Swiss for 10 players, 5 pro and 5 amateur. But the pros have to give the amateurs 2 stones. Jo scored 5-0, beating fellow 1-dans Takeshita Ryoya, Tanaka Yuki, Suzukawa Natsumi and Mito Shuhei. Definitely one to watch.

A pair I personally would definitely avoid watching, as it involves J-pop cutesies, are Natsukawa Ami and Konatsu Yuana of OS☆U. They recently visited the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in as rank beginners. They may give female go an even higher profile. Actually the whole Nagoya go scene seems quite lively, as result of a creative response by pros there to the lockdowns. Even I would have to admit that a bit of J-pop glitter as well would not go amiss.

So, sir, you affirm,
All that glitters is
Not Go.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

Ueno Asami has reached the 46th Shinjin-O finals. Her sister Risa didn't get past the prelims. According to John Power, she'll be the second woman, 20+ years later, to reach the finals. If I understand the charts at the NK, women's performance was interesting.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

Ueno Asami 4p played the first game of the Shinjin-O and lost it to Sotoyanagi Senbun 3p. I watched a bit of the game. There was some interesting fighting, and although Asami lost, she had her chances. Let's hope she can do better in the next game. For those who don't know, this is a best of 3 match, so she has to win the two remaining games.

And perhaps more interesting... Fujisawa Rina 5p beat Ichiriki Ryo 9p for a seat in the 60 Judan. Getting to the main tournament is a big feat, of course, but doing so beating Ichiriki makes it still bigger. I expected him to win, because of his lastest results, but it seems to me that the gap is not so wide. Also (again, seems to me...) his mental strength needs some work, but that's topic for other threads.

お疲れ様、藤沢先生！

I saw her as a recorder in a couple of games (for the Meijin? Honinbo?). Usually, they say the name of the commentators in the description of the video (this is all YouTube). The recorder, not so often. For what I see, they are usually young and lower dans. Years ago, my teacher (former insei) told me that he was recorder or time keeper in pro games too. A chance to think along with the players and get a new perspective.

Back to Bunen, let's hope she can do well. One of several new female pros to follow.

Another one for the archives... Shin Ryusei, Asami Ueno vs Cho Riyu.



Take care.

_________________
一碁一会