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Special Cooperation / East Japan Railway, HITACHI, Japan Airlines
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| Scenes from the Tournament |
November 14th (Saturday) The 1st game
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| « Opening » |
| Twenty years since the birth of Pair Go! The International Amateur Pair Go Championship, now in its 20th year, was launched at the Hotel Edmont Metropolitan on Saturday, 14 November. Again this year, redoubtable players from 22 countries and territories assembled together for two days that were like a dream. Let’s review the course of the tournament, starting with the opening day. |
Hotel entrance and noticeboard
Stage board
Celebratory flowers
Noticeboard in the tournament venue
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Ten o’clock in the morning. The players from each country and territory drew lots for the pairings in the round, then, with tense expressions on their faces, proceeded to the tournament venue.
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| « Round One » |
Ms. Yoshiko Inaba acted as MC for the large variety of events held over the two days. The interpreter, James Davies, also went up on to the stage, and the Opening Ceremony got under way. Ms. Hiroko Taki, Director and Secretary General of the Japan Pair Go Association, gave an address before the games started.
‘The time since we founded Pair Go until today has passed in a flash. It’s hard to believe that 20 years have gone by. But when I meet again all my good friends here, I realize that it is after all 20 years. Perhaps all of you are a little tense now, but I hope you will enjoy Pair Go to the full. Well, then, I declare the tournament started.’
Play in Round One started at 10:30.
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Reception desk for players
Venue for the 1st round
MC: Ms. Yoshiko Inaba and Mr. James Davies
Ms. Hiroko Taki
Director and Secretary General of the Japan Pair Go Association
Call to start
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The rules were unchanged from the previous year. Games were played on even, with Black giving a komi of six and a half points. The time allowance was 45 minutes per team, and running out of time meant a loss. Consultation between the partners was forbidden. Discussion was permitted only to confirm whose move it was or to decide whether to resign the game.
Well, the issue was decided in one game very early. It was between the Japanese team of Geishun and Toshiaki Kushiro and the English team of Kirsty Healey and Matthew Macfadyen. ‘Our opponents made a simple blunder . . . It’s a pity one mistake cost them the game,’ said Geishun apologetically. ‘But it’s a competition,’ said Toshiaki.
The Romanian pair beat the Madagascan pair and looked relieved. The ever-cheerful Cornel Burzo joked: ‘Playing early in the morning is tough.’
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The first round of the main tournament
The Chinese pair
The Chinese Taipei Pair
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The favourite this year was, once again, the Korean pair. The female player Ye Seul Song is a former insei (apprentice professional), and her partner Sang Heun Lee is studying hard to become a professional. However, the Japanese teams were hoping to pick up the first local victory for ten years. The Asian teams from Korea, China, Chinese Taipei, and the different regions of Japan made good starts, as expected, in the first round. |
The Korean
pair
The Malaysian pair
The Singapore
pair
The Indian
pair
The Vietnamese pair
The Turkish pair
The Czech
pair
The Slovenian pair |
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