Ms. Inori and the 25th Honinbo Chikun of black took over the territory in their game against Ms.Yashiro and Mr.Ryu. White had a big moyo in the center.

Yoko INORI 5-dan/ Chikun HONINBO the 25th Kumiko YASHIRO 5-dan/Shikun RYU 9-dan

Black seemed to win the balance of the territory. However, the Pair Team of Ms.Yashiro and Mr.Ryu demonstrated some powerful moves. Each team began to attack one another. Taiseki of black was almost taken in by white. However, he was surpassed by a splendid one-move by Ms.Inori 5-dan.

The match continued. Ms.Yashiro and Mr.Ryu made a mistake in the last stage of the game. The penalty of 3-moku was allocated to them. The result was Black: Ms Inori and the 25th Honinbo Chikun won by 3.5 moku.

Mr. Chikun HONINBO the 25th of a fan who responds for asking and signs

In the game between Ms.Kobayashi and Mr.Yamashita and Ms.Okada and Mr.Cho, white; Ms.Kobayashi and Mr.Yamashita led from the first stage.

Yumiko OKADA Strongest Women Player/U CHO Honinbo/Oza vs Izumi KOBAYASHI Women's Honinbo/Keigo YAMASHITA Kisei

Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Yamshita had been able to come back in the last stage and won the game. However, this time, they could win this game from the beginning. The result was White: Ms Kobayashi and Mr.Yamashita won by 6.5 moku.

During the closing ceremonies, the final two pairs received a round of applause from the audience.

Ms. Kobayashi: "In this championship I had to face both my father during the first round and my fiance in the semifinal game. This was the first time that I had such emotional difficulties against my opponents."

The Kisei Yamashita said he would feel responsible if Ms. Kobayshi's father and fiance were angry should they win. Therefore his responsibility was rather heavy.

When Ms. Han was interviewing the Kisei Yamashita, she discovered that the Kisei Yamashita got married the previous week. After hearing the news, the audience gave a round of applause.

On the other hand, the 25th Honinbo Chikun was aiming to be the first person to win 3 successive championships in a row. He said "Both of us have nothing to be congratulated for like our opponents do" with a wry smile.

Yoko INORI 5-dan/Chikun HONINBO the 25th

Mr. Cho: "Today, Ms. Inori was not really at her best. In the first game, our opponents moves weren't very good, but Ms. Inori inadvertently helped them out. Then I thought Ms. Inori was helping them out instead of us. However, in the second game, Ms. Inori was really able to read the game. She had great foresight into the game that even I couldn't tell. After that, we knew we could win. Our opponents in the finals had many things to be happy about. But, we didn't really have such things to celebrate. Therefore, we had to make up for that with a fighting kind of spirit."

Ms. Inori: "I'm sorry about today. I didn't mean to pull the rug from underneath you! But I'm happy that I was able to remain in the final game with you."

The semifinal game finished with a kind of electric atmosphere.

The final game will also be held on Sunday, January 25th at Ebisu The Garden Hall.

We hope you enjoy the next game as well!

(Written by Ms. Taeko Ishii)