Life In 19x19

I have been wanted to write about this for a while.

Today, in the Amazon Army thread, John told a bit about the new Teikei Cup (Female Legends). 13 female players, 45-60 years old, took part in it. The first winner was Aoki Kikuyo 8 dan, and as John said, it is a nice way to keep them icentive to stay active.

There is also another Teikei Cup, just "Legend". Also for veteran players, both male and female. You can find names like Cho Chikun, Ishida Yoshio and, surprise, Aoki Kikuyo. What about a second victory for her? We'll see. This one hasn't been played yet.

And still another Teikei Cup: Shunei, for players under 25. This one is a bit bigger. There will be 2 leagues, 6 players each, and the league winners will play to decide the title winner. Like the old kisei. Names like Shibano, Ichiriki and Asami will be there, and names like Fujisawa, Seki Koutaro or Nakamura, won't. It will be interesting... and fast. Both leagues played next week. I think that some Chinese or Korean tournaments have a format like this: not very long games, and all the games in a few days.

This is all very surprising. A new sponsor starts 3 different tournaments at the same time (sorry for 26-44 yo players...), and the prizes for the winners are something: 2M yen for the Female Legends, 5M yen for the Legend, and 10M yen for the Shunei. How good is that? Just to compare, it's between Tengen (13M) and Gosei (8M). Kiriyama winner gets 10M too.

Will this rise and become one of the big ones?

To add a little to what pajaro said, the Teikei Legends event is for veterans but those who have held one of the Big 7 titles are seeded, along with the top four in the Teikei Female Legends Cup. There is also something like an upper limit of two title wins, in which case you have to wait until you are 70, which implies that Teikei are in for the long haul.

The main event, however, will be the Teikei Shunei. Shunei is a person of talent, but with a connotation of youth. A few months ago, at the launch press conference, Kobayashi Satoru (one of the legends) said the idea of this event was to prepare new talent to take part in international events. It was noted that people like Ichiriki and Shibano can take part, and he hoped they would. "Preparation" in this context seems to mean lots of high-quality games, as the event is designed as two leagues. Ueno Asami is the only woman to have made it to a league (the other female big names tried and failed). The time limits are 2 hours (1.5 hours for the other Teikei events, I think). so Mickey Mouse continues to be banished. Good!

The title winner will have to skip a year. Presumably this is to spread the lolly around. Iyama doesn't leave much for the other guys, after all.

Me being a cynical journalist, I have to wonder what's in it for Teikei. They are a security company - the "Imperial Police." Perhaps they are positioning themselves for the soon-to-come time when all players have to submit to body scans, cavity searches and piss-taking, and events have to be patrolled by bomb sniffer dogs, with anti-drone missiles at the periphery. And extra security will, of course, be necessary for pro events.

The final game of the "Legend" Teikei was played today.

Aoki Kikuyo 8-dan couldn't make a second victory, and lost to Sonoda Yuuichi 9-dan, from the Kansai-Kiin.

You can see the game here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIbyPxe7JiE