On January 23, the final game of the Ricoh Cup Professional Pair-Go Tournament was held in Beijing, which is the most exiting festival that attracts every Go fan. Among a total of 32 top professional Go players, i.e. a total of 16 pairs, the Ms. Keiko Kato, the 4-Dan & Mr. Rissei Oh, the 10-Dan pair and the Ms. Kikuyo Aoki, the 8-Dan & Mr. Tomoyasu Mimura, the 9- Dan pair were selected for the final game. Both the pairs said similarly, "We would like to enjoy in playing Go." However, they pronounced their own winning, "But, we should play for winning." An exciting final game can be expected. All the members arrived Beijing on January 21. The party was composed of Mr. Kaiho Rin, the honorary Tengen, a tournament chief examiner, Mr. Yokoku So, the 7- Dan, an interpreter in the commenting session with a big board, Ms. Kazuko Konishi, the 8- Dan, a recording secretary, Ms. Kumiko Yashiro, the 5- Dan, a counting secretary, and Ms. Akino Izawa, the 3- Dan, a reporter from the "IGO & SHOGI CHANNEL", in addition to 4 players for the final game. What a gorgeous members they are! The temperature was 2 degree Celsius in Beijing. Some members said, "It's not so cold as expected." But a little later they said "Oh, that's to be expected. My ears are getting painful." Mr. So took a muffler out of his bag and wore it around his neck. They checked in Beijing International Hotel. This hotel is adjacent to Changan Great Theater where they will play the final game. The players took a rest for a while, and enjoyed a dinner prepared with medical herbs at a restaurant while looking up the Forbidden City illuminated up just closely. In such way, the players seemed to be restoring their energy.

Dinner, the day before the tournament

On the next day, Mr. Kaiho Rin, Mr. Yokoku So, Ms. Kazuko Konishi, Ms. Kumiko Yashiro, and Ms. Akino Izawa played instructive game of Go with local Go fans. Mr. Rin's popularity was outstanding also in Beijing. Among the fans, there was Mr. Zhuang Ze Dong, the former world champion of table tennis. Ms. Yashiro played with Mr. Zhuang Ze Dong and explained her impression, "He placed 9 handicapped stones without saying anything. It's got me beat. Actually, he was very strong." It was a day-off for the 4 players challenging to the final, but they went to the playing site after they were informed of the NEC Cup Tournament open final game of Mr. Chang Hao, the 9- Dan vs. Mr. Gu Li, the 7- Dan. Ms. Aoki and Ms. Kato said, "We were quite surprised that the atmosphere was absolutely different from those at an open game in Japan. First of all, there are many kids. The atmosphere at the playing site is much vivid and a kind of rough. The press surrounded the Go board for a long time, and they were claimed by the visitors to get out their way." All the players seemed to be ready in spirit by knowing the atmosphere at the playing site, prior to the first experience of playing an open game in Beijing. The Changan Great Theater accommodates 500 visitors on the first floor, which will be the playing site for the Richo Cup Tournament. A Beijing opera was performed on the evening before the game, and all the personnel involved had to prepare for the next day until mid night after the performance was completed.