Amazon army

[pajaro]

Ota might not be in his prime, but he is still a 9p. Not everybody can say they defeated a 9p in their first game. So yes, welcome to the army.

The perfumier thing was

[Uberdude]

Eiko Nyu 3p (I think Eiko is first name)

No, Nyu is her first name, her surname. And it is now official policy in Japan to put the surname first even when writing the name in our letters.

Perhaps this was a bit confusing from my side. So just to make things clear:
I am Spanish. We don't say the expressions "first name/second name/family name". We use name + 2 surnames. So when I said "first name", I meant the name given to her, not the family name (surname).
I read her name in Japanese is 牛栄子 (Nyu Eiko). They write Nyu first and Eiko second. That's what I meant with "Eiko is first name". Maybe I didn't choose the proper words. That said, it is good to know that even when using the alphabet, names will be written the Japanese way. Some players are known by the whole name, or name, or surname, and sometimes I get lost about what is it.

When discussing Asian names, I use "given name" and "family name" rather than the more colloquial English first name and last/surname as that is clear and applicable to both Asian and Western (except you Spanish with father family and mother family!) names whatever way round you write them.

[Kirby]

Some folks these days give their children non-family "family names", since it can be viewed as chauvinistic to give the child the man's name.

It's hard to please everyone. I suppose the important thing is effective communication... Though, that can also pose a challenge!

[Bill Spight]

My favorite name from the Domesday Book.

Robert God Save The Ladies

[Mike Novack]

It just makes sense in the case of mammals for XY's to have their mother's surname and XX's to have there father's surname.

I think for mammals makes most sense to take the mother's name. It is certain who is the mother but never more than strong likelihood about the father.

Different for seahorses and their kin. Perhaps more than one female has deposited eggs in his pouch. Maybe also for the various sunfish if more than one females deposits eggs in his nest.

[lightvector]

I was surprised to find that the ai they use thinks black starts with 52.5% advantage with 6.5 point Komi in territory scoring. I've only ever hear of AI's that think white has an advantage . . .

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.

[John Fairbairn]

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.

[pajaro]

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

[pajaro]

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.

[pajaro]

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.

[pajaro]

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.

[pajaro]

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

beat

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.

[pajaro]

Back to Nyu and Sumire: they are going to play again in the Tachioi Cup. I bet it will be a close game again.

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.

[pajaro]

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...

[pajaro]

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.