May 1991

For the first time, a non-oriental player has been in the thick of the fight for first place in the World Amateur Go Championship. Ronald Schlemper of the Netherlands lost to 13-year-old Hsia Hsien-yu of Chinese Taipei in the fifth round, but then defeated two-time champion Imamura Fumiaki of Japan in the last round, leaving Hsia, Schlemper, and Imamura with final tallies seven wins apiece. Tie-breaking points (sum of opponents' scores) put Imamura first, Hsia second, and Schlemper third, but Schlemper had demonstrated convincingly that he can play at the top amateur level in any part of the world: he also beat Li Jiaqing of China, Kan Ying of Hong Kong, and Joseph Wang of the U.S.A.
Imamura used the expression "walking a tightrope" to describe his third World Amateur Championship. He needed a lucky break late in the endgame to overcame Hsia, and his wins over Li and Park Sung-kyun of the Republic of Korea were likewise cliffhangers.
This year's Championship was the first in which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea competed. Hong Hui-dok turned in a good 5-3 performance, losing only to Imamura, Schlemper, and his fellow- Korean Park. Complete results are listed below.

1  F. Imamura (Japan)           7-1 | 21 R. Mateescu (Romania)       4-4
2  H. Hsia (Chinese Taipei)     7-1 | 21 H. Yeat (Singapore)         4-4
3  R. Schlemper (Netherlands)   7-1 | 23 D. Lee (Brazil)             4-4
4  S. Park (Republic of Korea)  6-2 | 24 U. Olsson (Sweden)          4-4
5  J. Li (China)                6-2 | 24 G. Parmenter (New Zealand)  4-4
6  L. Heiser (Luxembourg)       6-2 | 26 J. Beck (Canada)            4-4
7  Y. Kan (Hong Kong)           5-3 | 27 J. Rickard (U.K.)           3-5
8  A. Lazarev (U.S.S.R.)        5-3 | 28 E. Lopez (Argentina)        3-5
9  H. Hong (D.P.R. Korea)       5-3 | 29 M. Ginoux (Belgium)         3-5
9  V. Danek (Czechoslovakia)    5-3 | 29 L. Paatero (Finland)        3-5
11 J. Wang (U.S.A.)             5-3 | 29 P. Garofalo (Italy)         3-5
12 T. Pocsai (Hungary)          5-3 | 32 A. Amador (Spain)           3-5
13 J. Michel (France)           5-3 | 33 J. Chacon (Mexico)          3-5
14 J. Kraszek (Poland)          5-3 | 34 P. Gostelli (Switzerland)   3-5
15 V. Kuhar (Yugoslavia)        4-4 | 35 M. Yokomaku (Japan)         2-6
16 T. Yeo (Malaysia)            4-4 | 36 O. Barriga (Chile)          2-6
17 M. Park (Australia)          4-4 | 37 N. Mitchell (Ireland)       2-6
18 F. Hansen (Denmark)          4-4 | 38 A. Rognes (Norway)          2-6
19 E. Rittner (Germany)         4-4 | 39 S. Intaratase (Thailand)    1-7
20 B. Scheid (Austria)          4-4 | 40 J. Lua (Philippines)        0-8

The third and fourth games in the current China-Japan Super series were fought in Tokyo at the end of the May. In the third game Zheng Hong of China outplayed Yoda Norimoto of Japan to complete a single-handed triumph over the trio of talented youngsters on the Japanese team. In the fourth game, however, Kataoka Satoshi put a stop to Zheng's rampage and gave the Japanese their first win.

Kobayashi Koichi has taken a 2-0 lead over Cho Chikun in the Honinbo title match. Cho lost the first game through a miscarried attack and the second game through a miscarried defense. What will he try in the third game?