We have an unusual new study group in Japan. Is elitism back?

It is the Ichiken group (i.e. the Ichiriki Kenkyukai), brainchild of Ichiriki Ryo, the new Kisei (also current Honinbo challenger and now Gosei challenger). He thought of it some time ago, but the move of Nakamura Sumire to Tokyo provided the final impetus.

It is unusual in several ways. First it has what might be the current top two players, male and female, namely Ichiriki and Women's Honinbo Fujisawa Rina, plus the top two future prospects, male and female, namely Fukuoka Kotaro and Nakamura Sumire. And that's it! Just four players.

Normally, study groups in Japan are open to a wide variety of players, but the rationale here is a complex one. At the practical level, these are busy players and getting them together at the same time is problematical. They will meet once a month and play each other in fast games, 30 seconds a move. In other words, they can manage only three games in a day and so that makes four players the limit in their setup. As to why the same four players, that's partly because Ichiriki's desire is to get Japan back near the peaks of international go. Rina and Kotaro are the best prospects, but interestingly, he thinks it's a long haul - 5 to 10 years.

The strategy is clearly to create a hothouse atmosphere in which they can grow Brandywine tomatoes rather than supermarket Globe tomatoes. But the fruit being nurtured on the vine is not just Rina and Kotaro. Asked why she would want to help a rival - Sumire - to improve, Rina said she didn't see it that way; she saw it as a chance to improve herself (and she also noted that so far she's had a hard time against Kotaro). Ichiriki made a similar comment: the group would stimulate himself. This is somewhat reminiscent of Magnus Carlsen's comment that he is no longer interested in playing world chess championship matches unless his next opponent can be the new talent Alireza Firouzja.

What we have yet to hear, of course, is what the sub-elite players think about it all

I saw the cover of a newspaper somewhere, probably in twitter, a few days ago. But I didn't understand what was going on. It must be this.

You can study with whoever you want, of course. But that said, if this is an attempt to raise the level of Japanese go... I don't know. Looks like Ichiriki is putting all the eggs in the same basket. If in 5-10 years Sumire and Kotaro (and Rina before that) don't make it to the international top, this would be a waste. So, it can be a source of pressure for these players. And a source of disencouragement for other players.

If the problem is that it's hard for them to meet, you could have a wider group where players don't have to attend always. Like the national squad.

The main point of a study group is not so much that other people teach you, but to motivate you to study harder.

However I understand that it's specifically an elite talent group so it makes sense to have only a few players. The aim is to help Japan's best players win international titles. Buuut maybe it would be better if it was two or more each of female and male potential prospects that aren't doing quite as well, perhaps second tier, but may still have potential, as that doubling the variety of opponents without the level being significantly lower would would overall be beneficial in their ability to win in international pairings, while hidden ability the second tier (I'm rushing and dumb so I don't have a better way to decribe them) talents in an environment with and playing continuously with the elite talents doing their best and increase the pool of internationally completive players. In other words an elite talent group shouldn't have only elite talents but half elite talents half non elite talents. If the aim is to make Japan competitive.

It's anecdotal evidence but I made my major (and last) leap of improvement when a foreign Go player of comparable strength was living in my house for 6 months (it functioned as a base from where he could oversee the project of building his new ship!) and we played a kind of jubango, with review sessions if often only by myself. Even this friendly rivalry, fueled by the prospect of gaining or losing a handicap stone, was firing up my desire to study and improve.

It's also anecdotal, but possibly the best two Western players (those not in Eastern associations) are Ryan Li and Ilya Shikshin. Both have, basically, a home dojo.

Take care.

_________________
一碁一会

An article about this was posted in twitter:

https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/etc/go_weekly/tsururin044.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Google translator gives a fairly good translation. Two main points of the article:

- More players want to join, but Ichiriki thinks "it's the right size".
- Are you helping a rival? In the original post, it was Rina who answered this. Now, it's Ichiriki. Yes, you are helping rivals, but also he has international titles in mind.

The picture with the four of them will be used a lot in the future (this picture, or any other like this)

The idiom being discussed (英俊豪傑) apparently means talented/handsome hero. Well, it sure is a cute picture.

But here's the thing, Ichiriki Ryo isn't studying with Iyama Yuta, Kyo Kagen, or Shibano Toramaru. He isn't studying with anyone that would actually be a rival ("No, no, respected person" as Ichiriki said in English). Sure Fujisawa Rina did beat him in qualifying (or was it a main tournament?) once, and probably more than once in practice, but still not a rival I think.

I'm not sure I could find the article again but Kyo Kagen was interviewed when he was defending his Judan title from Yo Seiki. There was some talk about them both being Taiwanese and Kyo mentioned that they actually studied together but that stopped when Yo became the Judan challenger.

The mentioned twitter post:

Here, we introduce some anecdotes that could not be covered in the weekly Go serialization "Tsururin-style Recommended Go Watching – Four-character Idiom Edition." (Tsuru = Tsuruyama Junshi 8-dan, Rin = Lin Hanjie 8-dan)

This time, we feature Ichiriki Ryo Kisei, who is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Honna Bonyu in the seven-game challenger match for the Honinbo title. The four-character idiom given to him is "英俊豪傑" (outstanding and heroic). According to Tsururin, there is no one more fitting for this idiom than Ichiriki Kisei, with each character representing his qualities.

Now, are you aware of a study group that Ichiriki Kisei leads that has become a topic of conversation? The study group is aptly named "Ichi-Ken." The members are Ichiriki Kisei, Fujisawa Rina Female Honinbo, Fukuoka Koutarou 3-dan, and Nakamuru Sumire 2-dan, a total of four people. It's an incredibly dense atmosphere with two people at the top of the Japanese Go world, Kisei & Female Honinbo, and two young players who will likely reach the top someday.

Many people may want to join Ichi-Ken, led by Ichiriki Kisei, but he apparently wants to continue with just the four members in the future. With four people, they can play three games a day in fast Go, playing with all members. He thinks it's "just the right size." Ichiriki Kisei said that the purpose of this study group is also "to nurture successors." You can see how much he is expecting from Fukuoka 3-dan and Nakamuru 2-dan.

"But," I, editor K, thought, "doesn't nurturing successors mean raising people who will become threats to oneself?" When I asked the question, Ichiriki Kisei replied, "I think there is that aspect. However, Go has international competition, so it is important for the entire group to become stronger."

Ichi-Ken started in January of last year. Since then, the achievements of its members have been impressive. Ichiriki Kisei took the Kisei title from Iyama Yuta Meijin, Fujisawa Female Honinbo entered the main rounds of several general Go tournaments one after another, Fukuoka 3-dan defeated young Chinese and Korean top players in international competitions, and Nakamuru 2-dan rose to the challenger in the Female Meijin League.

Ichi-Ken seems to be an important place not only for the younger generation but also for the older generation. As they stimulate each other, the results come out with a synergistic effect. The harmony woven by the four members will surely reach the world someday.

Written by Editor K

Who is this "Honna Bonyu"? Surely a misreading.

Maybe Honinbo Monyu (a.k.a. Iyama Yuta)?

Original post . . ?

Sorry, I saw another post when I read the article in twitter. I can't find it now, but I am pretty sure that Rina really said something about this.