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by James Davies |
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April 1991
The first two rounds of the Fujitsu Cup, played April 6 and 8, were notable for the losers they produced, including both previous winners of the Cup, Takemiya Masaki and Rin Kaiho.
First round (6th April)
Qian Yuping (China) beat Hane Yasumasa (Japan)
Chen Linxin (China) beat Yamashiro Hiroshi (Japan)
Yoo Changhyeok (Korea) beat Victor Bogdanov (Europe)
O Rissei (Japan) beat Liu Xiaoguang (China)
Ma Xiaochun (China) beat Takemiya Masaki (Japan)
Ishida Yoshio (Japan) beat Tsao Tayuan (China)
Perng Kinghwa (Taipei) beat Sen-Feng Wang (S. America)
Suh Bongsoo (Korea) beat Sonoda Yuichi (Japan)
Second round (8th April)
Qian Yuping (China) beat Rin Kaiho (Japan)
Kobayashi Koichi (Japan) beat Chen Linxin (China)
Cho Chikun (Japan) beat Yoo Changhyeok (Korea)
O Rissei (Japan) beat Cho Hunhyun (Korea)
Ma Xiaochun (China) beat Lee Changho (Korea)
Ishida Yoshio (Japan) beat Chen Changching (Taipei)
Michael Redmond (N. America) beat Perng Kinghwa (Taipei)
Suh Bongsoo (Korea) beat Nie Weiping (China)
The top Chinese and Korean players,
Nie Weiping and
Cho Hunhyun, both
fell in late-endgame upsets. The positions are shown below, in case
you'd like to match wits.
------------------------------ Nie (X) v. Suh (O): O has . . X . . . . . O X . . . X X X O . . just invaded X's territory . . . . . O . . O X . . . X O O . . . on the bottom line and X . . X O . O X . O . . . . X . . O . O has replied with a diagonal . . X . O X . . O X X . . . X X O O X contact play. O's next move? . . . X . O . . O O X . . . . O X X X (Hint: ko) . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . . ------------------------------- ------------------------------- Cho (X) v. O (O): O has invaded O O . . O . . X . X O . O X . X X X O X's bottom left corner, hoping X O O O . O . X X . O . O X . X O O O for ko or seki. If X gets his X X O X X O O X O O O . X O . X O . . next two moves right he's safe, . X X X X X X O O . X . X O . O O . . but Cho, with one minute to . . . O O . X X O . . . . X O . . . . think, went wrong. (No hint) . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . -------------------------------
Barely a week after the Fujitsu games, the quarterfinal round of another international tournament, the World Baduk Go Championship Tongyang Securities Cup, was held in Seoul, Korea. The results:
Lee Changho (Korea) beat Qian Yuping (China)
Cho Hunhyun (Korea) beat Nie Weiping (China)
Cho Chikun (Korea) beat Kataoka Satoshi (Japan)
Rin Kaiho (Taipei) beat Awaji Shuzo (Japan)
In the semifinals in mid-June
Cho Hunhyun and
Lee Changho, master and
pupil, will face each other while
Cho Chikun plays
Rin Kaiho.
It was power over profit, the center over the edges as Takemiya Masaki bested Cho Chikun 3-2 to defend his Judan title. Takemiya won his three victories in characteristic grand style, carving out large chunks of real estate in the middle of the board. This was Takemiya's second triumph of the year: in March he won the Kakusei tournament sponsored by Japan Airlines.
In the last game of the Honinbo League, Kobayashi Koichi came from behind to defeat Yoda Norimoto by half a point and avoid a playoff against Rin Kaiho. Once again, Kobayashi will challenge Cho Chikun for the Honinbo title. The series starts May 10 in Tokyo.
Upset of the month: Kurotaki Masanori (shodan) toppled Kano Yoshinori (9-dan) in the preliminary rounds of the Meijin tournament on April 18. This is only the second victory by a shodan over 9-dan in the history of the Nihon Kiin. Kurotaki, who is 15 years old, also won the shodan section of the Kisei tournament this year.
Finally, a lightning-go result left over from March: Komatsu Hideki won the New Stars tournament sponsored by Tokyo TV.