Amazing win!

I don't know if anyone has talked about this but Nate Morse (aka Telegraph Go) has posted his excellent commentary on all three of these games. His telegraphgo channel is extremely addictive:

Nakamura Sumire vs Ueno Asami for Female Kisei title
Game 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b3K0b9wLvw
Game 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gW3SOcYxw
Game 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a96_lcqWHPk

And throwing in also Nakamura Sumire vs Choi Jeong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gFZS4GzWYM

I hadn't seen this but having title match coverage in English is a treat. Thanks for sharing.

I watched the review of the first game and it was well done for my level. Much appreciation to Telegraph Go.

I didn't know about this channel, thanks for the info. Easy to understand. Makes you wonder, why didn't I see all this?

About today's game, just one more thing: Sumire is 1 game away from the last prelim, and then 1-2 games away from the main event. It's a long shot, but wouldn't it be great if she could go to one of the big ones?

I'm genuinely surprised and slightly sad not everyone knew about Telegraph Go . . .

Should the goal now is to make it through prelims to a main knockout tournament before Uni age?

His channel is quite new, so it shouldn't be so surprising.




I expect her to achieve that goal before that age.

Sumire is now in middle high school. Third year, I think, out of three. After that, senior high school. Three more years. I don't know if Sumire will attend senior high school. It's not mandatory, and most pros are already pro by that age, so they decide to dedicate their time to go. BTW, Hikaru covers this topic too.

If Sumire doesn't go to high school, all her time will be for go. In this case, I expect a boost in her performance. See Ueno Risa, she is 3 years older and she has improved a lot since she finished junior high school. By the time Sumire turns 18 or so, she might be a regular in the main tournaments.

I came across Telegraph Go only this week. Very good explanations of pro games. Does historical and current games. I hope he sticks with this content and doesn't go into "watch me play" like so many channels before him. Baduk doctor for example has completely given up on educational content. Of course these guys tune their decisions to their money making potential so I shouldn't complain.

Telegraph Go also streams live on Twitch (the recorded lecture videos are a relatively new thing), and if you like that sort of content he does it well too. I think it's nice that he keeps that content separate from the more lecture-ish content on YouTube. Hopefully the YouTube videos are popular enough that he'll keep it up.

Interesting, earlier there was a post complaining about there being a lack of watch me content . . . Both types together are best!

Sumire sensei has gone two wins one loss so far in the Korea Women Baduk League!

Yeah, me too. Really impressed with the channel. Fills a niche, imo, interesting and educational content aimed at strong kyus and weakish dans. I don't always agree with some of his opinions/conclusions, but appreciate the effort he has made to understand and contextualize the game.

Today Sumire played Son Makoto 7-dan in the 2nd (and last) game of the A prelim of the Judan.

Sumire lost, as one could expect. Well, expect? Really? The result was W+2.5, so quite close in the end. In her usual attacking style, Sumire was ahead at first, but when opponent resists, and she falls behind, it's hard to go on. Against a stronger opponent, like today, it's like jumping a huge wall. That's why, in the end, only +2.5 is a good result. IMHO.

Here is a pattern that's already familiar: play well, miss some move (maybe because she's trying things, not because she can't read), fall behind, try harder, fall behind-er.

Let's say she is gaining experience.

Nothing very interesting happening these days. Summer, right? Sumire must be studying hard. School holidays.

Her next 2 games will be against Kono Rin (Gosei prelim A, 24th August) and Yamashita Keigo (Honinbo prelim B, 28th). Two top players, just one notch below the title holders. Both belong to the national team, so they must have played unofficial games before.

Another chance to see if she is in shape.

First down for Sumire. Lost by 2.5
She began great, with chances about 90%. But then Kono took over and Sumire never recovered. Hard to come back against such an opponent. Still, only 2.5... a good margin for a game between pros, but could we say she was close?

Another loss for Sumire here, this time by resign, after Yamashita saved a group in a fight that looked like a semeai, but probably wasn't.



Even if she lost both of these game, I'd say the outcome was expected. The result alone isn't enough to judge her. But she managed to play close games, giving her opponent a run for their money. I don't know if she is in top shape, but at least it looks like she has left her slump behind.

Nakamura Sumire on the move? She really is the next Cho Chikun for real . . . https://twitter.com/shi1ji9/status/1700493316566261983 Aiming for higher heights! Placing getting better at 바둑 over monetary success, and that attitude must be the reason why she got so good in the first place! What a dramatic development in the world of mindsports!

I saw this video from JK (our source of Sumire information):

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

Automatic translation does a pretty good job, but not perfect. I think I missed things.

Basically, Sumire wants to move to Korea to improve. She took the female Kisei, but since then, her records are not good (below 50%), and she even feels she was stronger before. It might all be in her head (her past slump). Although she seems very mature, she is still young, a teenager, and head is complicated.

Many things to consider: graduate from junior high school, money issues (she is ok with this, but her parents can make more in Japan), and of course the Nihon Kiin will have something to say. But I don't she would say anything in public unless she has already considered and talked about this in private. In this case, by "she" I mean "she and her parents". So I'd say that right now, the move is quite likely to happen.

What about Japanese tournaments? Will she drop them while she is in Korea. Or could she travel, the same way that now she travels to China and Korea? The NK might find a way to fix her schedule, they wouldn't want to miss this player. But if it is not possible, Sumire will be out promotions, will not be seeded anymore when she comes back to Japan... (I am sure she will come back). Who knows, perhaps she will have to play again in the first prelims of everything, crushing new players! Like Hikaru

In today's game in the Asian Games, Sumire beat Oh Yu-jin 9-dan from Korea. Maybe she is not becoming weaker...

I haven't been following Sumire properly over the summer holidays, and so there may be news I've missed. The cessation of Go Weekly last week also hinders matters. But at this stage I am tempted to think of mountains and molehills.

A few weeks ago it was announced that Sumire would join the Korean's Women's League (a team event) as part of a drive to bring together the "three female geniuses": Kim Eun-chi 6-dan (age 16) of Korea, Sumire 3-dan (age ) from Japan and Wu Yiming 5-dan (age 16) from China. All will play in different Korean teams (?over 8 rounds). This event was curtailed because of the CV pandemic and so we can see this as an attempt at a major relaunch. (NH Bank = Nonghyup Bank sponsoring).

It won't be a first for Japanese women, though - Fujisawa Rina played in the league before the pandemic.

Is this a case of "I'm looking forward to playing in Korea" being transmogrified into "I want to go and live in Korea"?

Kim Eunchi (she of the AI incident) has been going great guns recently, reaching a couple of finals and totting up a score of some 65%. Wu Yuming seems rather out of the limelight, scoring around 50%.

It is not. It is a real case of "I want to go and live in Korea".

New video, from Mimura Tomoyasu 9-dan:

[url]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H632eAmKmZQ
[/url]

In this one, the automatic translation does a worse job. But, from what I can understand, he takes the moving of Sumire as a fact. He also discusses the resons, why it happens, compares to baseball (players going to other countries), rules, different systems, and whether Sumire will go back to Japan or not. Also, he mentions that he was one of those who made Sumire professional. I think he does not feel betrayed (allow me this word).

It would be great if someone who can understand Japanese gives a better explanation.

Indeed, the news is now out in the wider press, and it appears she has already made (on 10 September) an application to be be a guest player in the Hanguk Giwon. The significance of that is twofold. One aspect is that she wouldn't have to go through the qualification process. Second, if approved, she would normally be barred from playing in Japanese domestic events. But if it happens, she would not start in Korea until next March, and will of course play as normal in Japanese events up till then,

The Nihon Ki-in has already approved her decision. Wider opinion can perhaps be summed up as as "regrettable but unavoidable" and the example of Otani Shohei in baseball is naturally being cited.

Sumire already spent some time in Korea when a primary-school student, even learning some Korean, and seemed to enjoy the experience. But the driving force at present seems simply to get the opportunity to play against a noticeably higher level of opposition.

Her career record at present stands at 147-82. I'd be surprised if she makes 4-dan in Japan before leaving.

The intriguing party of the story is that "negotiations" with the Hanguk Giwon are "ongoing." I'm very curious what they are negotiating about. On the surface it looks like a no-brainer for the HG, but maybe it's all about providing support to bring her parents over, too, or sorting out education. There are, of course, Japanese/international schools in Seoul.

Al hope is not lost, I was delighted to find out that the Nihon Kiin immediately replaced it with '棋道web', and then was surprised to find that this one's free to read, so times are changing . . .