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| On December 12, the 1999 Pro Pair Go Ricoh Cup Championship began at the Garden Hall in Ebisu, Tokyo. This is the fifith year of the Ricoh Cup Championship. which is being established as an entertaining event for the people in the Go circle. All the participants or 16 pairs played the first- and second-round games before more than 600 fans. And eight pairs, including last year's champion of 7th dan Ms. Kikuyo Aoki and 9th dan Mr. Kunihisa Honda, advanced to the quarterfinals. |
 KIKUYO AOKI 7-dan KUNIHISA HONDA 9-dan pair |
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Thanks to the four years' experience, participants seemed to be getting the knack of playing the game in this championship. Before the games, each player looked considerably nervous and serious. The first-round eight games were started with the sign of Mr. Shuko Fujisawa acting as the chif judge. The pair first declared winner was that of 4th dan Ms. Yoko Inori and 9th dan Mr. Yoshio Ishida. When reviewing their game, they spoke in a low voice at first. But thier voices grandually got louder. Mr. Ishida's moves were successful in the early stages of the game. Smiling grimly and twisting his body, Mr. Ishida sad "(in the 42nd move made by Ms. Inori), she should have played 'ikken-tobi' but she made 'osae'.(So, the opposing black player made 'kiri' in the 43rd move.) It made us weak here and allowed the opponent's attack there on the board...." In an ordinary pro Go game, such a failure would have led to the loss of the game. But they splendidly reversed the situation to win the game. This is an interesting aspect of pair Go. |
 YOKO INORI 4-dan YOSHIO ISHIDA 9-dan pair |
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Winners of the first-round games were decided one after another. During the interval before the second-round games, the pair of Female Kakusei Ms. Mika Yoshida and 9th dan Mr. Satoru Kobayashi made the people around them laugh. Pointing at the shoes of Mr. S. Kobayashi, Ms. Yoshida said, "Frankly, Satoru-sensei....I have been concerned about that...." At her word, we found that there was a price tag on his new shoes. "Oh, you should have told me earliar." said Mr. S.Kobayashi embarrassedly. "To tell the truth, except for the watch and the socks, all I am wearing today are new. I bought them only yesterday." he added. He wore new clothes because of an intention based on his insight. Probably, Go fans can understand what the intention was. Anyway, it would be revealed later. |
 MIKA YOSHIDA FEMALE KAKUSEI SATORU KOBAYASHI 9-dan pair |
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The second round started and there was an upset. The pair of Kobayashi daughter and father (Female Kisei Ms. Izumi Kobayashi and 9th dan Mr. Koichi Kobayashi) had been considered as the top favorite. But they lost two games in a row and dropped out of the race. They were defeated by the pair of 8th dan Ms. Kazuko Sugiuchi and 9th dan Mr. Satoshi Yuki. The match between these two pairs was one of those that most attracted attention in the second round. Mr. K. Kobayashi was thought to be in the best condition both mentally and physically since he had just advanced to the Kisei title match. However, he didn't seem to have fully exhibited his real ability in the pair Go games. After the games, Mr. K. Kobayashi said, "I won as many as eight straight games before (three yaers ago when his pair became the champion). But this year, our opponent pair was too strong." |
 KAZUKO SUGIUCHI 8-dan SATOSHI YUKI 9-dan pair |
 IZUMI KOBAYASHI FEMALE KISEI KOICHI KOBAYASHI 9-dan pair |
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8th dan Mr. M. Redmond, who acted as one of the judges, said that the point of pair Go is how to make the most of the moves made by the partner. Abilities and ideas at plotting Go games differ from player to player. It seems more important for each player to make the most of the moves made by the partner rather than to try to lead the partner. Amateur players may be able to enjoy such partnership in a relaxed mood. However, the atmosphere of pro games is more severe. "We must make our best moves to defeat such a strong pair," said Mr. K. Kobayashi. He may have felt slight slackness in Izumi's move and got nervous. It is understandable that he is very sensitive about each move because he is a top pro player. As a result, their partnership collapsed on the way. This game proved how difficult pair Go is. Another man who gesture his frustration as a top pro player was Mr. Chikun Cho, the holder of the Kisei, Meijin and Honinboh titles. Paired with 5th dan Ms. Chizu Kobayashi, he lost two games in a row. He remarked in abandonment, "Don't invite me as a participant any more next yaer." Then he put on his coat and left the room. Some time later, he came back smiling. "I am back here as I have nothing eles to do." Such openness is one of the merits of Mr. Cho. When the games (revival games) to decide the pairs who will advance to the quarterfinals began, he introduced himself as a commentator and gave an impromptu commentary before the monitor display together with 9th dan Mr. Masaki Takemiya. This happening delighted the audience of 600 and added to the excitement of the first day. |
 CHIZU KOBAYASHI 5-dan CHIKUN CHO KISEI pair |
| Two years ago, 3rd dan Ms. Akiko Tsukuda paired with 9th dan Mr. Hideo Otake and advanced to the finals held in Hawaii. This year, she paired with Ohza title holder Mr. Rissei O and lost two games. She seemed to have a new understanding of how hard it is to always win the games. Looking back on her past games in this championship, Ms. Tsukuda said that her opposing pairs had unexpectedly failed in most of the games she won. 9th dan Mr. K. Kobayashi also said that he had "nearly lost games" even during his winning eight straight games. Although win or loss basically depends on chance, the key to success is to make the most of moves played by the partner, as Mr. Redmond said. and not to be conscious of one's own win. This is simple but may be the best tactics. |
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After the best eight pairs were decided, the closing ceremony was held and the pair as the best dresser prize winners was announced. By the audience's vote, the pair of Ms. Yoshida and Mr. S. Kobayashi won the best dresser prize with 91 votes out of the total number of votes or 238. Mr. S. Kobayashi said that he had just aimed at this result. Mr. S. Kobayashi said, "The best dresser prize mostly depends on the female player. Last year, Ms. Umezawa's pair won the prize and Ms. Yoshida's pair stood second. I thought it was about time for Ms. Yoshida to win the prize. All I have to do was prepare not to give her negative points." That is why he had bought the new clothes the day before. The pair of 2nd dan Umezawa and 9th dan Mr. Kudo stood second with 42 votes this year. We were impressed by Mr. S. Kobayashi's insight. |
 YUKARI UMEZAWA 2-dan NORIO KUDO TENGEN pair |
| Some people had predicted that the pair of Ms. Yoshida and Mr. S. Kobayshi might lose the first two games because both players have an original style of playing Go which should make it difficult to keep partnership. However, they won the games. Now, whether they can maintain the present condition through the final is the focus of our interest. The quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held on December 19 at the Laforet Museum Roppongi, Tokyo. |
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by Takeshi Yokouchi, Journalist |
