Sugiuchi Watch

[DrStraw]

It's finally happened, and a very heartwarming statement from Sugiuchi sensei, especially considering recent events.

It is as if that, no matter what is happening to the Go world, there would always be a wise Go sage giving us mysteriously related advice.

http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match_news/m ... 01595.html

But what does it say?

[mhlepore]

It's finally happened, and a very heartwarming statement from Sugiuchi sensei, especially considering recent events.

It is as if that, no matter what is happening to the Go world, there would always be a wise Go sage giving us mysteriously related advice.

http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match_news/m ... 01595.html

But what does it say?

I threw it into a bad translator, and I think the point is that Sugiuchi, at his advanced age and declining win rate, still finds enjoyment in Go and strives for improvement.

A meta message in light of AlphaGo conquering our best and brightest...

[ez4u]

He says that he plays without considering the age difference. These days if he can just win one it's terrific. Compared to winning or losing he would like to still continue to improve.

[Elom]

And just to note, it is finally a broken record match with the largest age difference, but he did lose to 15 year old Onishi Ryuhei (1p), although his passion and continued quest for improvement is one of the reasons we *have* any 80+ year gap match .

[DrStraw]

If Sugiuchi were to play AlphaGo there would be a 94 year age difference!

[Elom]

If Sugiuchi were to play AlphaGo there would be a 94 year age difference!

It really is amazing.

By now, he must be leaning on experience a LOT more than he can depend on being a little sharper than his opponents.

I wonder if he ever thinks "Why won't you try something NEW for a change!?" when he's winning.

Sugiuchi v Robo-Sugiuchi.

[ez4u]

Tomorrow, October 20th, Sugiuchi Masao will be 96 years old. Mamumamu's site lists him as only 3 wins versus 7 losses over the last 12 months so he seems to be slowing down a bit.

Sugiuchi 2016-09-30.jpg (77.88 KiB) Viewed 19090 times

I heard a month and a half ago or more that he lost in the final preliminary for a rapid tournament (probably the NHK) when he made his move but forgot to punch his clock in byo-yomi. The game was in the 1-2 point yose stage. At that point he was leading by about 11 points on the board as Black. So he opponent (that 'youngster' Kobayashi Koichi, a mere 63 at the time) escaped with a lucky win.

[Shenoute]

I have been replaying quite a few of Takagawa's games from the 1950's lately and each time there is one with/against Sugiuchi Masao I think of this thread I haven't checked but I guess is probably among the last players alive to have played against Go Seigen, Takagawa and the likes at their peak.

[oren]

http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kabun-blog/700/239593.html

Sugiuchi lost to Onishi in a game where the difference between the players' ages was 80 years.

[oren]

Raising this topic from the dead for an interesting match.

Antti Tormanen beat Sugiuchi Kazuko on 6/15 for a tengen preliminary.

[macelee]

2017-10-05 Sugiuchi Kazuko lost to Ueno Asami in preliminary tournament of the 5th Japanese Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup

[macelee]

The Sugiuchi couple both played in the 43rd Japanese Kisei preliminary. They both lost, but Mrs Sugiuchi almost caused a major upset against former Honinbo Ishida Yoshio. She played some very good moves, including the following:

$$B
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O . X . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . X , . O X . . , . . X X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . 1 . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . O X X O . X . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . X O . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X X X . . . , . O . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . O O O X . . . . O . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O . X . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . X , . O X . . , . . X X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . 1 . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . O X X O . X . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . X O . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X X X . . . , . O . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . O O O X . . . . O . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

She was leading so much at one point and I was thinking that even I could finish the game off. She later made a huge mistake - playing almost a pass move while having a ko fight. Even then, a Chinese professional commenting the game said that she could still win by playing the correct end-game moves.

[John Fairbairn]

(I was typing the following while macelee was posting, but I'll let it stand anyway as it includes some extra info.)

This thread has gone quiet, but it seems worth mentioning that Sugiuchi was 97 recently yet played (but lost) in the Kisei yesterday, 2 November 2017. Mrs Sugiuchi was also in action at the same time, and she is 90. Without checking, I imagine that is a record age for a lady in pro events. Oyama Toshiko lived to 92 and was a major presence in the go world even late in life, but only as a teacher, having retired from tournament play in the aftermath of the war.

The Sugiuchi's are not winning their twilight games, I'm afraid, but are not disgracing themselves. They seem to be about half a stone to a stone behind their opponents.

[pookpooi]

I check all pro from Go4Go and it looks like (more like definitely) Sugiuchi is the oldest active go professional ever in the history. But I want to expand the record and declare him the oldest active board game professional ever in the history, though I only know chess (GM Yuri Averbakh, 95).

[Ember]

I do hope that I misunderstood this article wrong, but I think it says that Mr. Sugiuchi passed away... If it's true, I'm really sad, it was always great to follow their activities here.. Please do correct me if I'm wrong!