The Pro Pair Go Ricoh Cup Championship 2003 opened at Ebisu The Garden Hall in Tokyo on Saturday, December 7, as the annual event that marks the year end in the Go circle.

Participants including top pro players are expected to play exciting games to win the championship. This year, a total of 16 pairs are participating and all the pairs except last year's champion pair, Ms. Inori and Mr. Chikun Cho, were decided by lottery at the meeting on October 7.

The first and second rounds are played between the 16 pairs under the Swiss system, while the quarterfinal through the final games will be competed in a tournament. As all the games are open to the public, Go fans can closely watch the plays of pro players. This is one of the largest appealing points of this event.

As the time for the opening ceremony approached, participants arrived at the venue one after another and exchanged greetings. Among them, the player who most drew our attention was 7-dan Mr. Keigo Yamashita.

Other players were surprised to see his hairstyle and asked, "What's happened to your hair?"

His hair stood upright like the hair of Beckham or some rock'n'roller. Did his hair get mussed-up while he slept? Mr. Yamashita denied this.

"No, it isn't mussed-up hair. I had my hair styled at a beauty salon. I had always gone to a barber, but went to a beauty salon for the first time. The salon's staff styled my hair like this."

People around him were convinced by his explanation.

Then, they started to praise his hairstyle.

"It's nice. It becomes you."

His partner 5-dan Ms. Nakazawa, who was wearing a beautiful hand-made bead necklace, presented a bead brooch, that she made herself, to Mr. Yamashita. Pinning it on his cloth, Mr. Yamashita was teased by other players and became embarrassed.

The opening ceremony started at 12:00 p.m.

First, Mr. Ichiro Yoshikuni, Chairman of the Japan Pair Go Association, delivered a speech. Next, chief referee 9-dan Mr. Seigen Go went on the stage and also gave a speech. Mentioning that he was asked "what is Go" by a newspaper reporter in China recently, Mr. Go said to the audience,

"What is Go? To answer this question, I need to refer to the oriental concept Eki. What is Eki? It clarifies the nature of Yin-Yang. Then, what is Yin-Yang? It is the natural law or the root of life created by God. By following the Yin-Yang rule, we can attain happiness and harmony. The game of pair Go, in which men and women enjoy playing together, is in accordance with the Yin-Yang theory."

After his speech, Mr. Go declared the opening of this year's championship.