Toward the Opening of the 21st Century

With the Pair Go Ricoh Cup 2001 near at hand, the meeting to pair the players by drawing lots was held on October 10 at Hotel Edmont in Iidabashi, Tokyo. This year, a new system has been adopted for the tournament, which everyone is curious about. At the meeting, all participants were teamed into 16 pairs. Among them are interesting pairs including the pair of 4-dan Ms. Izumi KOBAYASHI and the 25th Honinbou CHIKUN. The arrangements have been made for the event which will be held over the beginning of the 21st century.

Male Players Showing Enthusiasm As the time (5:00 p.m.) for the meeting approached, staff members noticed that something was different from previous years.
	The player who showed up first was 9-dan Mr. Masao KATO. Then, 9-dan Mr. Kaiho RIN and 9-dan Mr. Yoshio ISHIDA arrived together, followed by Gosei Mr. Keigo YAMASHITA and 9-dan Mr. Tetsuya KIYONARI. “There are no female players!”.

	When Kisei Mr. Rissei O reached the hall at around 5:00 p.m., the only woman there was Ms. Mika TAKANISHI (Nippon Television’s announcer) appointed as the master of ceremonies of the meeting for two years running.

To the relief of the staff members, 4-dan Ms. Yukari UMEZAWA, 2-dan Ms. Narumi OSAWA and other female players arrived after a short time. Compared to the previous years, male participants, including 9-dan Mr. KATO who reached very early, appeared to be somewhat more enthusiastic for the seventh tournament. A little later, I found that the new system adopted this year was the reason for their eagerness.