It's what I thought too... about 50%

I knew that in the past, Kido gave awards. I remember when Cho Chikun was the Iyama Yuta of the time.

After the end of this, I thought that the NK had taken over. I thought it was strange, because it was/is a press thing, but I saw the awards in the NK website, so I assumed... wrong.

You are not wrong. Just as Kido was, Go World is owned by the Nihon Ki-in. But the magazines do/did have a degree of editorial independence (including a budget) which should be respected, I think. In particular, they tend to try to reflect the fans' opinions/wishes rather than the pros'. Nevertheless, they are not called the GW prizes. Calling them the NK awards would more accurately emphasise that they go only to NK players, perhaps, but the Japanese stick with Kido-sho. Probably, the word associations nowadays are more along the lines of "Way of Go" awards rather than "Kido magazine" awards.

Yesterday, Sumire beat Xie Yimin in the female Meijin league.

That's her first win against one of the top 4 female in an official game, AFAIK. She beat Ueno Asami in that spa, but it was more of an exhibition game.

I think this is an important milestone in her career (Sumire's, not Xie's). She has beaten strong players before, but Xie is a direct rival in her goal, that is, winning a title while in school (2 years left?). Psycologically, it may be important.

I'm interested to see the record. I wonder if and where it will be published. I did a quick search and didn't find it.

On go4go: https://www.go4go.net/go/games/sgfview/101702

Nakamure Sumire 2p beat Teriyama Rei 6p in the 78th Honinbo!!!

Yes, great game.

It's not in go4go.net (yet), but in youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypR0hWnG8z0

Even if you don't understand Japanese, notice the "KO!" in the title.

I watched the beginning, and then had to leave. I thought that Sumire had set up a terrible attack. White survived, but black was ahead in territory and influence, old concepts. Sumire will play the A prelim, and we can expect a stronger opponent.

BTW, the record keeper was Fukuoka Kotaro 3-dan, another of the strong new players. They might play often in the future.

菫ちゃん(菫先生）、お誕生日おめでとうございます！

Sumire turns 13 today.
Only 13...

https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match_news/ ... um=twitter


Kobayashi Izumi mentioned that Nakamura Sumire always brings this mouse and mouse pad with her when playing online. Comfort and missclick protection? Good luck? Or some other secret? I'm more interested in why Kobayashi noticed.

Anyway, if we are just playing notice Sumire's accessories -- I notice that she often brings a blanket. But this is not the same one I noticed before.

By the way, this picture was from an international youngster team match against "Chinese Taipei," which I've noticed is the preferred term to use by the Nihon Kiin and it's members.

More on topic, Nakamura won her match but the Japanese team lost overall. More games happening soon. They are streamed on the Go server but I don't have the subscription. It's not on Go4Go yet but I'll check again later.

I bought the same mousepad one year ago to relieve wrist pain.

A game played today (or yesterday?) by Sumire, which is still up in the Tygem game list. I don't know whether these games eventually find their way into online databases, so here it is just in case.

Sumire played Zhou Hongyu 6-dan today (March 4th). She had already played with this opponent a few months ago, and Sumire lost. I don't remember the tournament, and I am not going to look for it now, but she is a strong player in the international arena. This is quite an achievement.

As for the mousepad, I can see (in the previous link) that the one that Miura Taro has is different. No wrist protection. Or Kobayashi sees how Sumire takes her mouse and pad from her bag.

The UK blanket, however, is the same that I have seen many times before. Unless it's a different one with the same flag.

BTW, this event is compared with the Hokuto Cup, in Hikaru no Go. In the manga, Akira wins all of his games, while Hikaru and Yashiro lose all.

Just saying.

It was the Go Seigen Cup, last July. But I think you may even be underselling Zhou a wee bit. She actually won the Go Seigen Cup in 2020, and has a couple of other good domestic titles under her belt.

Moreover, Sumire also won her 1st round game here against Taiwan (Lin Yuting), and so in both rounds Japan has scored 1-2 with the two boys in the team (Miura and Fukuoka) not pulling their weight.

For those wondering, this latest event is a 4-country event for new stars under 19 in teams of three (one girl).

I too am intrigued by the Union Jack rug. She is also fond of the Borders tartan, though that may be explained by the black & white of go stones. Possibly it's something to do with learning English?????

Zhou is probably the second strongest female player only to Choi, I was surprised, but then again Nakamura Sumire is on the level of Choi Jung and Kim Eunji!

I noticed that most of the Sumire merchandise is old, same as everyone else's. I haven't seen it change besides the formal Japanese outfit set. They must hire someone to make it all at once. I haven't seen new merchandise in years. The pandemic probably affected that as well.
(https://item.rakuten.co.jp/nihonkiin/c/0000000199/)

I didn't mean to undersell Zhou. Raher, I was underselling my own memory I only follow the Japanese scene, so I don't know players from other countries.

Anyway, winning one game against Zhou and saying that she is on the level of Choi and Kim... a bit too early.



Wow, I didn't know about this. A few quick thoughts:
- Kato Masao is still the first man, and Yoshihara Yukari is the first woman. Still quite popular, I guess, for different reasons.
- Fans from men are 10 yen more expensive than fans from women. Really??
- Xie Yimin has a few more fans, more expensive. Maybe she is better with the brushes.
- The plastic cover with Sumire's image is quite creepy, IMHO.

Back to the topic... I want to see next games against Ueno Asami and Nyu Eiko in the female Meijin league. The last game, against Mukai Chiaki, might be a fight for survival.

I'm sure Sumire is nowhere near the level of Ch'oe - who is? But she has the same grade as Kim Eun-chi yet is MUCH, MUCH superior otherwise (I hope). Kim had to take a year off for alleged AI cheating, you will recall.

I forgot to note I was comparing her with Ch'oie Jeoung when she was the same age! And I guess I assumed that since Kim Eunjchi is young, she can still improve quite a bit from playing informal matches, whereas an adult tends to require official matches to improve. At least that's what I heard from Chihayafuru!

I think Kim is very strong, probably still stronger than Sumire at the moment.

What is the age difference exactly? When kids are this young saying they're in the same grade is like saying two grown-ups are in the same generation. Bill Spight posted Malcolm Gladwell noting how erroneous it is not to treat age differences proportionally. Aversion towards proportional thinking in favour of linear thinking is just another one of the many human habits that make me lean towards anthroposkepticism, haha .