Sugiuchi watch.

I'm quoting myself! 【self-importance 1+】

There is good reason. Tomorrow after almost 1.5 years Tsuji Hana and Michael Redmond are facing off again in the Kisei. Last time it was in the first round of the preliminary but the stakes have been raised, this is the final of the preliminary and winner takes it all to league C. It was very interesting last time, as seen on youtube, and Tsuji Hana has literally doubled in strength since then, going from 1 dan to 2 dan.

Joking aside this is genuinely an important game for both players, it is the 5th and final round of the preliminary and every year you start at the bottom (1st or 2nd round) but league C is the next tier where you can stay in the league if you make 3 out of 5. Also if Tsuji Hana wins then she will join Fujisawa Rina as the only women in any of the leagues in the big 7 tournaments (most of which don't have leagues and if I didn't overlook someone when I checked). I admit that my excitement about this is mostly that Michael Redmond might make a review video as with their previous match up

Seconded!

Tsuji Hana 2-dan won her game against Michael Redmond 9-dan, and will take a seat in the Kisei C league.

This is an incredible success for her, and she deserves to be acknowledged. She is not the noisiest player out there, but the truth is, when it was Sumire who did the same, there was a lot of fuss. Hana is not so successful or popular, but the feat is the same.

Good luck next year.

Although wasn't Nakamure Sumire sensei significantly younger?

Sumire is a lot younger. Yes. That's why every success gets a lot of attention.

But Hana's feat is great too.

ヒカルの碁 vibes!

Yanigahara(柳原) Saki(咲輝) 初段 made her first step towards becoming the best player in the world in 12 years, winning her maiden victory in the Tengen C preliminary!

The Aidu tournament is coming to an end. This weekend there was an event with the semifinals and final to decide the challenger. The final match will be played in the future.

First semifinal was Nakamura Sumire vs. Mukai Chiaki. I expected Sumire to win (not a crazy thought), but no, the winner was Chiaki. And as I read in a comment of the video that JK has already uploaded, it was more Sumire who lost than Chiaki who won. Since Sumire won the kisei, it seems that her performance is a bit worse than before. Maybe she is trying too hard, maybe she is feeling the pressure, or maybe she is simply in a slump.

Second semifinal, Fujisawa Rina vs. Ueno Risa. Not the first official game between them, but same result. Rina won, no surprise, and the final game was decided.

Fujisawa vs. Mukai was the game to decide the challenger to Ueno Asami. The 3 game match will feature Ueno vs. Fujisawa, and I am not sure, but this will be the first time in a while where Rina is the challenger, and Ayami is the defending champion. Sounds good, because they are pretty even right now.

Japanese players just went 2-1 in the 1st round of the 6th Wu Qingyuan Cup:

Sumire (b) lost against Wu Yimin https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98392
Fujisawa Rina (w) won against Li Xiaoxi https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98393
Nyu Eiko (w) won against Tang Jiawen https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98394

Japanese players went 3-0 in the 2nd round of the 6th Wu Qingyuan Cup.

Fujisawa Rina (w) won against Wang Chenxing https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98399
Ueno Asami (b) won against Gao Xing (nice reversal) https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98400
Nyu Eiko (w) won against Yu Lijun https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98401

Move in Fujisawa's game and move in Ueno's game caught my eye. I don't remember seeing those before, not even in the few dozen recent pro games I have replayed since coming back to studying go.

Mixed results yesterday for Japanese players in the 3rd round of the 6th Wu Qingyuan Cup.

Fujisawa Rina won against Yu Zhiying https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98405
Ueno Asami lost against Choi Jeong https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98406
Nyu Eiko lost against Fang Ruoxi https://igo-kifu.com/kifu/98407

Nakamura Sumire and Fujisawa Rina will play in the female Baduk league, starting next July 6th. Different teams, so they might play each other someday.

It's a team league, like the Chinese where Sumire is already playing. She wanted to become an international player, here you go.

I don't know if the league has some name (besides "League"). I can't find any female team tournament in gotoeveryone. But it's good to have Japanese players fighting in Korea. Let's hope it helps to raise the level.

Fujisawa Rina has been playing for Inje Haneul Nailin since the first time foreign teams were introduced! Although it's Wu Yimin and Nakamura Sumire getting the focus on Baduk TV, haha!

Some more detail on the resumption of the Korean Women's League. Apart from Rina and Sumire, Wu Yiming 5-dan of China will take part (all in separate teams). The eight teams will have just three players each, so responsibility is high for each player.

The winning team will get 55 million won (a bit over $40,000) and the runners-up 35 million won (a bit over $25,000). In addition, game fees for the winner of each game will be about $1,000 and $300 for the loser.

The curtain rises on 4 July and the event will run till November. All the games will be broadcast on Baduk TV.

The experience will be new for both Sumire and Yiming, but Rina played in the Korean league from 2016 to 2019.

All in all, another sign of the upsurge in women's go. As to how the trio were selected, my guess is that Rina, despite just losing the Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup to holder, Ueno Asami, benefited from the great respect Koreans had for Fujisawa Hideyuki (her grandfather). He helped Korean go, mainly via Cho Hun-hyeon. Good turns always lead to good things, even if in odd ways. Sumire (now 14) and Yiming (now (16) were both the respective youngest pros in Japan and China.

Haha, these are the kind of team events I can't play



And Fujisawa Rina was also youngest pro at her debut!

I would like to add that as has usually been the case none would likely play very many games since they're reserves that have to fly over

Today, Ueno Asami played Xie Yimin in the B prelim of the Meijin.

Asami won the game and will play in the A prelim. But what is more remarkable, is that with this win, Asami won her promotion to 5 dan.

Congratulations!

Suguichi is yet to show up for her game.

KK Joryu's tweet! https://twitter.com/KK_joryu/status/1675784867538423808

Today, Ueno Risa vs. Hoshiai Shiho was won by Ueno (who is not just "sister of").

That was the 2nd semifinal in the female Honinbo, so the final will be Ueno Risa 2-dan vs. Takao Mari 2-dan. First challenge for both of them. Whatever happens will be interesting to see.

Fujisawa Rina will be waiting for the winner, and although I think she will be clearly the favourite, it will be a chance to see the gap between her and the younger players.


edit: I forgot to mention that Risa and Mari became pros together, in 2019. Same as Sumire.