■First and Second Rounds

Conversation in the Waiting Room
Participant players came into the waiting room one after another. Some pairs began to seriously discuss how to play over lunch. In particular, last year's champion pair, Ms. Kusunoki and Mr. Yoda, kept whispering to each other some distance away from the others. I strained my ears, wondering what kind of strategy they were working out, but their conversation was scarcely audible.
Only the thing I was able to hear was Meijin Mr. Yoda's words, "First of all, what we must do is win the first round. Otherwise, the second round game is meaningless."

I would like to explain Mr. Yoda's remark briefly. Every year in the Ricoh Cup, a total of 16 pairs participate to play the first and second rounds and the eight surviving pairs qualify for the quarterfinals. After the second round is completed, the players are divided into the following groups: four pairs that have won both games, four pairs that have lost both games and eight pairs that have won one game and lost one game. Out of the eight pairs, only four pairs qualify for the quarterfinals in addition to the four pairs that have won both games. The problem is which four pairs will be selected. Under the previous rules, the eight pairs played the third round with one another to qualify for the quarterfinals. However, it was physically hard for the players to play three games a day. For the organizers also, it was unfavorable to arrange for the third round to be played since it was time consuming. For the sake of convenience, a new rule was adopted last year, by which the four pairs that qualify for the quarterfinals are selected from the eight pairs on the basis of their "age". Specifically, the number of days from each player's birthday to the opening day of the Ricoh Cup tournament (December 8) is calculated. And the total of the number of days for the paired players is considered as the "pair points". Last year, the pairs with higher pair points were given priority in qualifying for the quarterfinals. To maintain balance and fairness, the pairs with lower pair points will be given priority this year. Accordingly, young pairs, such as the pair of Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Yamashita, will be able to advance to the quarterfinals with only one win. On the other hand, it will be impossible for older pairs, such as the pair of Ms. Sugiuchi and Mr. Otake and the pair of Ms. Kusunoki and Mr. Yoda, to advance to the quarterfinals with one win --- They will have to win both games.

For this reason, topics in the waiting room mainly focused on "age" and "birthday". "Which pair is older?" "Oh, are you so old?" Players exchanged such words.

The pair of Ms. Kim and Mr. Kato were aware that they must win both games to survive in the tournament. "Let's play boldly. We are at a disadvantage anyway," said 9-dan Mr. Kato and 3-dan Ms. Kim nodded in agreement. The following shows the pair points of all pairs based on age: