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At the game of the pair of Osawa and Cho against the pair of Konishi and Sakai, white of Osawa and Cho pair started with fuseki slowly and carefully, and Redmond 9dan’s comment was, ‘The way white play, 6 and a half stone komi, is a good sample.’ Then, later, both pairs tried to make moyo and it was a situation of a severe game.
When Redmond 9dan said, ‘Cho sensei usually intrudes into the commentary room when he loses but this year, he won so he won’t show up.’, the fan who knows from the past for a few years ‘Cho Judan’s intrusion’ →‘Cho and Redmond’s commentary’ → ‘audience laghter’, started to laugh. Also, Yashiro 5dan said, ‘I want to hear Cho sensei’s comments but I want him to win the game. I am confused.’ |
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Now, at this game, after the white were trying to break moyo and was succeeded, inside of white moyo, a severe game started. The black seemed to be leading by attacking rowdily but Redmond 9dan commented, ‘the black had a wrong idea.’ The situation was unknown and the severe game was continued.
Over time, the scenery on the Go board changed and no one could tell what was going on. When we thought the white had sustained damage, in the next minute, there was a big area of white gathered in the middle, and the white was leading. The black’s defeating move did not work and unfortunately, Konishi and Sakai pair had to resign the game. |
For Sakai 7dan, he hadn’t played Pair Go for 13 years. 13 years ago, he was an amateur player. His partner, then, was Yukari Umezawa who was also an amateur player. They won the International Amateur Pair Go Championship and they played against the winner of the 1st Ricoh Cup. By the way, the winner pair of the 1st Ricoh Cup was Kazuko Konishi 8dan and Yashio Ishida 9dan!
After the game, Sakai 7dan said, ‘Slowly, I started to get used to it and I enjoyed the game comfortably, today. It was unfortunate but I did my best.’ He also said with satisfaction, ‘Not only rapid Go has many troubles but also by pairs the troubles are 4 times. I enjoyed the thrill with interesting Go.’ |
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And another game, the pair Izumi Kobayashi and Imamura against the pair of Shei and Kono, was by using Sakai 7dan’s words, ‘troubles times 4’! The commentary room was livened up, and when Redmond 9dan said by imagining being white, ‘If you place a stone here and then here, you can get a big territory of the black.’ Yashiro 5dan commented as black, ‘If you place a stone here, you will get a big territory of white.’ And, when Redmond 9dan pointed out the half space of the Go board and said, ‘Amazing. Then, this part is all white.’, Yashiro 5dan pointed the other half and said, ‘But this area is all black.’ Those two got very excited and were talking at the same time. The audience enjoyed that and there was a lot of clapping. |
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The actual game went through furikawari (trade) as the comments which they made and two huge territories appeared. Those territories were so big that you cannot tell who won and it took long to count.
At this game, the fans’ cheers did not stop and the black won by 5 and a half stones. |
After the games, from the waiting room, I heard…
Izumi 6dan said, ‘As a show, the game we played was perfect.’
Imamura 9dan said, ‘I agree. If we won by a half stone, that would be better.
Izumi 6dan said, ‘Yes. That’s what I regret.’
Izumi Kobayashi 6dan said with a smile, ‘I am satisfied.’
Umezawa Women’s Kisei and others who were still reviewing said to Imamura 9dan, ‘Imamura sensei, you look exhausted. Are you all right?’ He said good-by to them and left the tournament hall. |
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| Again, I will introduce the 2 pairs who won. |
On the 2nd day of the tournament before the closing ceremony started, Cho Judan pointed to the Shei and Kono pair and shouted, ‘What! You, two? Oh, no!’ That matching was played at the 2nd game, on the 1st day of the tournament and it will be the 2nd game he will play against the same opponent.
Narumi OSAWA 3-dan & Chikun CHO judan [White wins by resign]
Imin SHEI Women's Honinbo & Rin KONO Tengen [White wins by 5.5] |
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