* Quarterfinals and Semifinals *

The quarterfinals and semifainals of the Pro Pair Go Ricoh Championship 1999 were held on December 19 at the Laforet Museum Roppongi in Tokyo. And last year's champion pair, 7th dan Ms. Kikuyo Aoki abd 9th dan Mr. Kunihisa Honda, and the pair of Female Meijin Ms. Terumi Nishida and 7th dan Mr. Shikun Ryu advanced to the filnals. Quite unlike the first- and second-round games. the atomosphere of the quarterfinals was tense. Every pair showed strong enthusiasm competing for the championship now that they had advanced to the quarterfinals. As the games were open to public, about 500 fans thronged into the hall. Partly because of the small number of games, a silence reigned over the hall heightening the tension.

With the sign of sub-chief judge Ms. Tomoko Ogawa, the quarterfinals of four games began all at once. The game between the pair of 4th dan Ms. Ayako Nakazawa and 9th dan Mr. Hideo Otake and the pair of 2nd dan Ms. Kumiko Yashiro and 8th dan Mr. Kagen Yo became haeted early in the middle stage. With an air of eagerness, Mr. Otake took off his jaket after making the 30th move in the middle stage. His combination with Ms. Nakazawa was excellent and they started a fierce attack on the opposing pair. On the verge of killing a large number of the opponent's stones, however, overtime was deplorably declared against Ms. Nakazawa. She lowered her head apologetically to her partner. Mr. Otake said to the timekeeper, "You seemed to have counted the seconds a little fast, didn't you?" He probably said so in an attempt to console his partner. Mr. Otake said: "There were changes in the development. It was an interesting game." Mr. Yo said: "We kept receiving heavy blows." If you are interested in the game, please refer to the 'kifu'(the record of the game). The black 47th move 'katatsuki' is Mr. Otake's special play. Apparently, the stone looks the other way. It prenteds to be engaged in the battle on the upper portion. Acually, however, it aims at while stones on the right. Only top pro players could play such a move. It can be said that the pair of Ms. Nakazawa and Mr. Otake made this game quite impressive because it progressed just as they had planned despite thier losing it.

Ms. YASHIRO, Mr. YO pair and Ms. NAKAZAWA, Mr. OTAKE pair

The pair of Female Kakusei Ms. Mika Yoshida and 9th dan Mr. Storu Kobayashi had been intitally underestimated but contrarily turned out to be strong enough to win the championship. In the quarterfinals, however, they lost the game to the pair of 6th dan Ms. Kakuko Konishi and 9th dan Mr. Masao Kato by 2.5 'moku'. "It was I who made the losing move," said Mr. Kobayashi regretfully. During the intermission after the quarterfinals, Mr. Kobayshi showed his strong regret over the game. "I feel regret! On the first day, I was not able to fully concentrate on the games but won them. Today, I was in good hormony with my partner (Ms. Yoshida), but..." "I also feel some regret." agreed Ms. Yoshida. "In the past, I was relieved after playing pair Go games. I felt as if I had been released. But now I feel regret because I thought we might gain the championship this year." "I hope this championship will be held twice a year. I can't wait for aother year. I mean, this championship is so interesting." said Mr. Kobayashi.

Ms. YOSHIDA, Mr. KOBAYASHI pair and Ms. KONISHI, Mr. KATO pair

Beside Mr. Kobayashi, 9th dan Mr. Kaiho Rin was smilingly listening to his talk. Paired with Female Hoininbo Ms.Kaori Chinen, Mr. Rin was defeated by the top favorite pair, Ms. Aoki and Mr. Honda, by a narrow margin. Mr. Rin was away from official games during the first half of this year because he was under treatment after his illness. But he has already returned to the battle line. When reviewing his game, he looks just the same as he was before. And he makes us feel that he is really enjoying Go regardless of win or loss.

Ms. AOKI 7-dan, Mr. HONDA pair and Ms. CHINEN, Mr. RIN pair

4th dan Ms. Yumiko Okada, paired with 7th dan Mr. Kimio Yamada, was attracting some attention, because she had been studying pair Go with young players in a pair Go study group. However, her pair was sunk by the pair of Ms. Nishida and Mr. Ryu. Ms. Okada said "The pair Go study group dosen't exist any more. Anyway, it seems there is no knack of playing pair Go."

Ms. NISHIDA, Mr. RYU pair and Ms. Okada, Mr. Yamada pair

In the quarterfinals, four pairs whitch won two games in a row on the first day competed with the four pairs which won the two games (including a revial game) and lost one game on the first day. The result was that three of the four "revived" pairs won and advance to the semifinals, Before the quarterfinals. Mr. Otake said, "I hope this group ("revived" pairs) will include the champion." If the pair of Ms.Nakazawa and Mr. Otake had won the game. what he said would have come true before the finals. On the other hand, the pairs which won two games in a row on the first day gave a poor showing this day. though they were considering to be in a good partnership. Even if a pair has a good partnership, it is difficult to win a game if the players are too strongly conscious of win. This is another difficulty of pair Go.

s. AOKI 7-dan, Mr. HONDA pair

Ms. NISHIDA, Mr. RYU pair

The semifinals produced no upsets. The pairs which had been considered strong from the beginning won, as expected. And both pairs are "revived" pairs. as mentioned by Mr. Otake. Each player of the two pairs gave us the following remarks. Ms. Nishida said: As our opponent in the semifinals was my teacher (9th dan Mr. Kato), he gave us a win. Last year, the pair of Ms.Aoki and Mr. Honda became the champion. So, I think another pair should become this year's championship. Mr. Ryu said: Somehow, I feel as if I had been waiting for the finals since the time the matches were decided. Ms. Aoki said: To tell the truth, I gave up on the first day as we lost one game. There seems to be an idea that the same pair should not become the champion for two years running. But we will do our best to win the since we have the chance. Mr. Honda said: My condition has been gradually improving from the first game. As there are few chances, we will aim the championship again.

By the way, Ms. Aoki is going to marry on January 15, 1999. Her fiance, Mr. Hiroshi Aoki (the same surname with her). is an old member of the Go club of Keio University. He kept watching Ms. Aoki play the games from the first day of this championship. Whether she can add to the joy of her wedding by becoming the champion for two years running is one of the points of the finals.

	The finals will be held at the Garden Hall in Ebisu, Tokyo on January 9, 1999. A commentary with a large board will be given by 9th dan Mr. Satoru Kobayashi as the commentator and Female Kakusei Ms. Mika Yoshida as the assistant commentator.
	Commentator : Mr. Satoru Kobayashi Assistant commentator : Ms. Mika Yoshida

by Takeshi Yokouchi, Jurnalist