Pair Drawing Meeting

The meeting to decide partners by drawing lots for the Pair Go Ricoh Cup 2000 was held on October 26 at Hotel New Otani, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo.

This is the sixth anniversary of the Ricoh Cup, which has been entirely established as an event held at this time of the year. In the Japanese professional Go circle, there is a passage of events: "The Kisei title match is held soon after the new year, the Judan title match comes in spring and the Fujitsu Cup is held around the time the cherry blossoms fall." Using such an expression for the Pair Go Ricoh Cup, it can be said that "the drawing meeting is held about the time fall clothes are being worn and the first-round games are held when woolen scarfs are welcomed."

The Pair Go Ricoh Cup is an all-star pair match with a total of 32 participants consisting of 16 male players and 16 female players selected on the basis of their titles, prize ranking, the number of wins, etc. Since the participants are all first-rate professional players, it is very difficult to decide the schedule of this event considering each participant's schedule.
	All participants will be available on the dates of their own games. However, many of them were unable to attend the drawing meeting held on October 26 because of other matches, etc. Yet, five male players and seven female players or a total of 12 players were present at the meeting which can be said to be a distant eve of the Ricoh Cup.

	The meeting started with Nippon Television's announcer Ms.Mika Takanishi, as the master of ceremonies.
Mr. Ichiro Yoshikuni, Chairman of the Japan Pair Go Association, made an opening speech. And Mr. Hiroshi Hamada, Representative Director and Chairman of Ricoh Co., Ltd., made an opening speech and performed a toast. Then, those present enjoyed dinner. Meanwhile, the preparations for the drawing were made and the long-awaited drawing began.

For the Ricoh Cup, there is a rule that the previous year's champion pair remains the pair without drawing lots. However, if a pair becomes the champion for two consecutive years, the pair is to be dissolved the following year. Accordingly, the pair of Female Meijin title holder Ms. Kikuyo Aoki and 9th dan Mr. Kunihisa Honda is dissolved this year. Therefore, all the 32 participants drew lots.

The atmosphere of the drawing is more tense than can be imagined. For amateur players, pair Go is a game that doubles the joy of winning and reduces by half the pain of losing the game. But it does not seem to work the same for professional players in front of the Go board. It is said that when professional players don't keep good partnership in a pair Go game, then they may feel as if there were three players in the opposing team.

In some cases, female players do not fully show their ability because they care too much not to annoy their partners. Such shrinking attitude may produce an adverse effect on their partners. It would be best for professional players if they are paired with partners who will allow them to play in a relaxed mood. It is no exaggeration to say that the result of the drawing largely influences the consequence of the games. Until their partners are decided by drawing lots, the participants may be waiting anxiously like baseball players designated by more than one professional baseball team in a draft.

There were some points which drew attention in this year's drawing, as in a professional baseball draft. One of the points was the drawing by the parent of 10th dan, Tengen and Gosei title holder Mr. Koichi Kobayashi and Female Kisei title holder Izumi Kobayashi. Last year, the father and the daughter were paired with each other by drawing the lot at the probability of one out of 15. This year, there was much higher probability that the father and the daughter would be paired with other players to compete against each other rather than to be paired together again. Competition between the father and the daughter may be interesting. Those present,however, directed their attention on whether the parent could be paired together two times in a row or not.

As a result of the drawing, they realized that the bond of this parent was so strong that it easily cleared the high hurdle of probability. The father and the daughter were paired together at a miraculous probability of one out of 240 (1/15 for the previous time multiplied by 1/16 for this time). At the moment this pair was made, Mr. Kobayashi exclaimed with surprise. He jumped to his feet for excitement. "Such a thing happens, doesn't it?" he said smiling and showing some embarrassment. The room got stirred at this outcome.

Probably because of the impact of this pairing, nobody seemed to notice that the pair of Female Honinbo title holder Ms. Kaori Chinen and 9th dan Mr. Kaiho Rin cleared the same high hurdle to be paired together for two consecutive years. (Mr. Rin acted as the go-between of the married couple of 8th dan Mr. Kagen Yo and Ms. Kaori Chinen.) When Mr. Rin revealed this fact by himself, there was a stir in the room again as if the people were saying, "Now I remember."

When all the pairs were decided, 9th dan Mr. Hideo Otake predicted the consequence of the competition as usual."Kobayashi parent is a special pair. But I don't regard this pair as the top favorite. I think they may refrain from becoming the champion this time because the father and the daughter hold many titles now. The most prospective winner is the pair of 4th dan Ms. Yoko Inori and Ohza title holder Mr.Rissei Oh. The second favorite is the pair of Ms. Chinen and Mr. Rin. Since all the other pairs also are well matched, there will be many exciting games. Our pair aims to win the best dresser award."

What do other participants have in their mind? Some players' comments are as follows:

9th dan Mr. Masaki Takemiya: "Frankly, our pair is strong.It is certain that we will win the championship. Now that I am paired with Ms. Osawa, no pair can match us. But a too strong pair may have some disadvantages. What do you think,Ms. Osawa?"
Female Kakusei title holder Ms. Narumi Osawa: "Yes, I...I will do my best."

3rd dan Ms. Yukari Umezawa: "Since Mr. Kataoka seems to be tolerant, I feel I can play in a relaxed mood. Mr. Kataoka was paired with 5th dan Ms. Mitsuru Koyama previously. Ms. Koyama, my senior fellow, said that she was able to exhibit her ability with Mr. Kataoka as the partner. As I am said to be similar to Ms. Koyama in the Go playing style, I think I also can exhibit my ability with Mr. Kataoka."

5th dan Ms. Mitsuru Koyama: "I suppose Mr. Yoda is displeased now because he has been defeated in the Meijin title match. So, I would like to dispel his frustration."

4th dan Ms. Yoko Inori: "My name was often mentioned as a prospective winner by Mr. Otake. But I was always defeated on the first day. Probably I will annoy Mr. Oh this year, too. But I will endeavor not to give him a lot of trouble."

10th dan, Tengen and Gosei title holder Mr. Koichi Kobayashi: "Last time, I made Izumi feel bitterly regret. This time, I won't." The fascinating competition will begin on Saturday, December 11 at the Garden Hall in Ebisu, Tokyo.

(Report : Seiken Ko)