The earth moved for her

[John Fairbairn]

Last week saw events marking the 2011 East Japan earthquake. This included some reminiscences from pros of what they were doing at the time.

One that I missed at the time was Xie Yimin's unusual sealed move. It was Game 2 of the 23rd Women's Meijin against Mukai Chiaki. It was held on the 6th floor of the Nihon Ki-in. They knew it was serious when something black fell from the ceiling.

After consulting with the scorekeeper they decided to stop and seal the move. Xie said it was a tricky position and she desperately wanted more time to think, but, shaking life a leaf, she just scribbled something down and rushed off. With transport disrupted she didn't get home till midnight. The game could not be resumed until 12 days later and Xie spent the time worrying about whether she had written her move down correctly. It turned out she had, and she went on to win. She went on to win the title.

One disadvantage of floor boards is that you can't hide under them.

[Ferran]

One that I missed at the time was Xie Yimin's unusual sealed move. It was Game 2 of the 23rd Women's Meijin against Mukai Chiaki. It was held on the 6th floor of the Nihon Ki-in. They knew it was serious when something black fell from the ceiling.

If it had been against Ke Jie, it would have been a stone...

Anyhow... do we happen to know the sealed move? I think I got the right game.

One disadvantage of floor boards is that you can't hide under them.

Senior player gets to use it as an umbrella. Junior has to make do with gosu.

Take care.

[Gunnar]

This game picked by Ferran is also featured in Xie Yimins book 謝依旻の挑戦―厳しい戦いの道のり (kientosho, 2015).

The descend to the first line is amazing.