Pair Go Ricoh Cup 2001 The Final

■Pair Go Ricoh Cup 2001 The Final

A large moyo of White appeared between the upper part and the center. To deal with the situation, Black made the 33rd move that thrust from the right part to the center. Next, White made the 34th move on the lower part, which triggered a difficult battle. During the battle, White made the 68th move (hanedasi) on the right part, that became the point of the game. Black coped with it with the 68th move (sagari). After the game, Meijin Mr. Yoda referred to this move by Black, "If the opponent had played kosumi at the intersection on the line lower by one row (where the 89th move was made), then we would have been put in a difficult situation. Actually, however, we were able to capture the black stones. I felt relief."

It seemed that winning or losing the game was decided at that point. Black managed to occupy as a large territory as possible in the center but did not catch up with White.

Honinbo Mr. O was also gave a sigh of relief after performing the role of a commentator. "Commentating the game has been more difficult than I expected. As I don't know at all how much Taiwanese people are familiar with pair Go, I had a general talk about pair Go game. How did they react? I don't remember it at all. I have been too busy to pay attention to the audience because it is easier for me to speak in Japanese," said Mr. O and laughed.