* Ricoh Cup Finals *

Continuous Championship


Kikuyo Aoki 7-dan, Kunihisa Honda 9-dan pair

The finals of the Pro Pair Go Ricoh Cup Championship 1999 was held on January 9 at the Garden Hall in Ebisu, Meguro-ku, Tokyo. And last year's champion pair, 7th dan Ms. Kikuyo Aoki and 9th dan Mr. Kunihsa Honda, won the championship for two consecutive years by defeating the pair of Female Meijin Ms. Terumi Nishida and 7th dan Mr. Shikun Ryu by 4.5 "moku" at "senban". The prize for the championship is five million yen. out of which one million yen will be donated to charity funds and used to purchase Go sets for interested elementary, junior high and high schools throughout the nation Entries from interested shools will be accepted.

Executive committee head Mr. Hiroshi Hamada Chairman of RICOH Co.,Ltd

Chief judge Mr. Shuko Fujisawa Honorary Kisei

Vice-Chief judge Ms. Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan (the right end)

This year's Ricoh Cup has been opened to the public from the first round and about 600 fans thronged to watch the finals. In the opening address, Honorary Kisei Mr. Shuko Fujisawa, who acted as the chief judge. said "Who will wins probabaly be determined as a matter of chance. Anyway, the game is sure to become an exciting close game till the end since both women have an unyielding sprit." As the audience became aroused, the tension within the hall heightened. The two pairs also looked nervous as they waited for the last game. Till then, the atmosphere was similar to that of the professional Go title matches. However, the atmosphere of the Ricoh Cup is a little different. It was the commentary with a large board by the pair of Female Kakusei Ms. Mika Yoshida and 9th dan Mr. Satoru Kobayashi that created such a differece.

Bouquet presentation bofore the game Ms. Yuko Taki, Director of Japan Pair Go Association

Terumi Nishida Female Meijin, Shikun Ryu 7th-dan pair

Kikuyo Aoki 7-dan, Kunihisa Honda 9-dan pair

While the audience was watching the finals played in a tense atmosphere on the left-hand side on the stage, their commentary began in a relaxed mood on the right-hand side. Mr. Kobayashi said,"(As I advanced to the quarterfinals paired with Ms. Yoshida,) I was worrying about what to wear on the finals. To my regret, however, I am acting as a commentator today. By the way, I wonder what makes pair Go interesting. In the past, I used to feel that nothing would make me more exhausted than pair Go because I was always concerned about my partner. But recently, I can play without making myself uneasy. Now I can appreciate how interesting pair Go is." Ms. Yoshida responsed, "Oh, is that so? While playing the games, I was always caring what you were considering."

Commentary with a large board Commentator : Mr. Satoru Kobayashi Assistant commentator : Ms. Mika Yoshida

At first, thier somewhat comic dialogue seemed to even perplex the fans in the hall. The audience may have wondered, "Why is the commentary so peaceful while the players are severely competing for a prize?" But soon the talk by Mr. Kobayashi and Ms. Yoshida began to evoke laughs among the audience. Actually, Mr. Kobayashi had intended to give an entertaining commentary that is special to pair Go.

Meeting place scenery

The Ricoh Cup is a title championship established with the aim of making it widely known how entertaining pair Go is. As this the fifth year, the entertaining feature of pair Go is penetraing among pro Go players. When the quarterfinals ended, Mr. Kobayashi expressed his feeling, "I can't wait for another year because this championship is so interesting. I hope that this event will be held at least twice instead of once a year." He probably said so because he understands that pair Go is a game focusing more on enjoyment than on winning. Needless to say, pro players are very serious when playing pair Go games. But it is a different kind of seriousness from when they play regular Go games. Pro players are physically and mentally exhaused playing professional games between two players. On the contrary, they can enjoy Go like children in pair Go games. The Ricoh Cup provides such opportunities

600 audiences came to the meeting place.

The finals showed a seesaw progression as both pairs exhibited wonderful combination. In and after the middle stage of the game. Mr. Kobayashi talked in a passionate tone focusing on each play. "What a great game!" It is only natural that we here (as the commentators as a result of being defeated). These two pair are so strong." Mr. Kobayashi seemed much impressed by the game. As the record of the finals was being released to the public on real time through the Panda Net, more than 200 fans were watching the development of the game on the computer net.

Wrinting sealed turn Kunihisa Honda 9-dan

Asking an audience the next turn Yumiko Okada 4-dan

In the 101st move (5-3), Ms. Aoki made a "kosumi" play. Then, the 109th move (8-7) attacked while stones on the upper portion. As a results, the black gained predominance. The climax of the game was the 132nd move (16-1) made by Mr. Ryu to take a chance. As the black area on the right had expended, Mr. Ryu made a raid on the opponent's territory with the single cavalryman. If this move had become live, the pair of Ms. Nishida and Mr. Ryu could have come from behind to win the game. But Mr. Kobayashi said "I suppose this move has been mada by Mr. Ryu. This move is, as it were, like a person who unreasonably ties to move into a very small apartment where ten people already live." Needless to say, Mr. Ryu tried to take the last change, knowning that it was a very difficult attempt. After all, this move was unsuccessful because the opponent pair coped with it properly showing thier real ability as last year's champion. As a result, the pair of Ms. Aoki and Mr. Honda became the champion for two consecutive years.

Champion pair Kikuyo Aoki 7-dan, Kunihisa Honda 9-dan

In the interview after the game. Mr. Honda, more talkative than usual, said, "I don't feel I may lose as long as I pair with Ms. Aoki. Even if make unreasonable moves, she can cover them. We will aim at the championship next year again."

Review Chief judge Mr. Shuko Fujisawa Honorary Kisei

Examination after the game

Then, Female Kakusei Ms. Yoshida said, "Ms. Aoki is going to get married on January 15. This championship adds to the joy of her wedding." At this word, blessing applause arose from the audience and Ms. Aoki was very happy looking with a shy smile.

Lottery of "Ricoh travel watch" by champion pair

Lottery by Shikun Ryu 7-dan The book of his own work

Lottery by Satoru Kobayashi 9-dan The book of his own work

Under the Ricoh Cup rules, a year's champion pair is expected to participate in the following year's championship with the partners unchanged. This may cause some concern over next year's championship. During the large-board commentary, Ms. Yoshida already revealed her concern in a serious tone. "If the pair of Ms. Aoki and Mr. Honda become the champion, this pair as it is will participate in next year's championship again. So, they might become an eternally invincible pair......" However, the rules stipulate that if a pair becomes the championship for two consecutive year's, the two players have to be re-paired with other players in the following year. There is still a possibility that these two players will be paired each other again. The result of the next pair drawing is already a matter of interest.

Commendation of Champion pair
	The presentation of the Testimonial by Japan Pair Go Association Mr. Ichiro Yoshikuni, Chairman of Japan Pair Go Association

	The presentation of the Ricoh Cup and the prize 5000000 yen Mr. Hiroshi Hamada, Chairman of RICOH Co.,Ltd

	The presentation of the Testimonial by Nihon Ki-in Hajime Iwata, Managing director of Nihon Ki-in

	The presentation of the Testimonial by Yomiuri Shimbun Mr. Shigeo Motoike, Enterprise office vice-chief of Yomiuri Shimbun

Commendation of second prize
	The presentation of the Testimonial by Japan Pair Go Association Mr. Ichiro Yoshikuni, Chairman of Japan Pair Go Association

	The presentation of the prize, a high quality compact camera "Ricoh-GR10" Mr. Hiroshi Hamada, Chairman of RICOH Co.,Ltd