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Special Cooperation / East Japan Railway, HITACHI, Japan Airlines
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| Convention Scenery |
November 19th (Sunday) 2nd game, Handicap games
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| « Opening Ceremony » |
| On the second day, a joint opening ceremony for the international tournament and the Araki Cup Handicap Tournaments was held. The pledge to compete fairly on behalf of the participants was made in their native tongues by the Japanese pair of Kiyomi Takehisa and Jiro Kajiwara and the Thai pair of Limsombunchai Buppha and Rattanasetyut Choltit. |
Reception of the Araki Cup Handicap Tournaments
Reception of the Araki Cup Handicap Tournaments
A guest's seat
Ms. Hiroko Taki, a director of the Japan Pair Go Association
The head of judge, Mr.Yoshio Ishida 9-dan : Greetings and the explanation of the competition.
The head of judge, Mr.Yoshio Ishida 9-dan and Ms.Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan,
The judge, Mr.Michael Redmond 9-dan
he pledge to compete fairly on behalf of the participants was made in their native tongues by the Japanese pair of Kiyomi Takehisa and Jiro Kajiwara
The Thai pair of Limsombunchai Buppha and Rattanasetyut Choltit.
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| « Main Tournament: Rounds 2 to 5 » |
The remaining four rounds of the main tournament are held on the Sunday. The pairings are crucial for the teams aiming at victory. In the Swiss system, winners are matched against winners, so the opponents get tougher the more you win. However, one loss doesn’t put you out of the running for a prize, so fierce competition continues right until the end. The good thing about Pair Go is that when you win, you praise each other and when you lose, you console each other, cutting the shock in half. You can quickly turn your mind to the next game. Even if your results are not good, it’s fun meeting and talking with the other teams.
As the second and third rounds conclude, the number of pairs with all wins is whittled down. If you keep on winning, the possibility of victory puts even more pressure on you. In the third-round game of the Chinese Pair of Chen and Liu, their opponents made a rotation error in the dame-filling stage of the game. While the players were wondering what to do about it, with the clocks stopped, Liu resigned, saying: ‘You’re ahead anyway. You win.’ This gallant end to the game is typical of Pair Go.
In the fourth round, the Chinese team suffered their second defeat, losing to the Chinese Taipei team of Shu-Ting Yeh and Hsien-Hsu Chen, so they ended up in 12th place. After losing their opening game to the Japanese pair of Ayako Oda and Kazumori Nagayo, the Chinese Taipei pair won four games in a row and secured 5th place.
In the fourth round, the four undefeated teams clashed. After a fierce struggle, the Baba/Saito pair defeated the Takayama/Sato pair, and the Kim/Kang pair from Korea prevailed over the Japanese pair of Reiko Shirane and Yuichiro Shirakawa, who ended up in 9th place. |
Main Tournament and A blocks
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| « The final » |
| The game between the two undefeated pairs was the climax of the tournament. Following the usual practice in this championship, the game between the remaining two contenders for victory was held in a separate room and was published live on the Internet. In the middle game, the Korean pair played in harmony with each other and they took the lead. They then wrapped up a riskless win. With five straight wins, they took the championship trophy. Helped by a good SOS score, their opponents, the team of Baba and Saito, took third place. Another team with the same 4-1 score, Oda and Nagayo, nipped them for second place. |
The Korea team of the finalist
The Japanese team of the finalist
The Final Scenery
The Final Scenery
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| « The Araki Cup Handicap Tournaments » |
| A four-round handicap tournament divided into A, B and C blocks was also held on the Sunday. Many stylish pairs in formal wear took part, making the tournament a colourful spectacle. Many people were dressed up in hopes of winning one of the Best Dresser Prizes, including many children. In rest periods, the playing rooms and lobbies were full of people taking commemorative photographs, creating the friendly, fun atmosphere that is typical of Pair Go. |
B Blocks
C Blocks
Convention Scenery
Convention Scenery
Convention Scenery
The experience corner of Panda-net
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| « Public commentary » |
A public commentary in Japanese on the final game was given by Yoshio Ishida 9-dan and Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan and it was enjoyed by many spectators who had finished their games (the final is started later than the other final-round games). Ishida has commented on the importance of trusting your partner in Pair Go, but he related an episode from the professional Pair Go tournament in which he had been quite cool about it when his partner made a mistake in an ordinary joseki. Ogawa 6-dan retorted: ‘At times like that, you glare at your woman partner. It’s frightening.’ Ishida hastily tried to patch things up. ‘I haven’t glared at you, have I, Ms. Ogawa? I’ll be more careful in the future.’
In the final, the Korean pair took the lead in the middle game and easily converted the lead into a win. According to Ishida, ‘There were some dangerous scenes for them in their fourth-round game, so I thought the Japanese team would have a chance in the final, but...’ It seems Koreans are also strong at Pair Go. They played splendidly.
There was also a commentary in English given by Michael Redmond 9-dan and Yuki Shigeno 2-dan, which was well attended. |
A commentary in English given by Michael Redmond 9-dan and Yuki Shigeno 2-dan
A public commentary in Japanese on the final game was given by
Yoshio Ishida 9-dan and Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan
A public commentary place was Overcrowded
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| « Awards Ceremony and Farewell Party » |
Winners of first to third places in the international and handicap tournaments receive prizes. First place in the former was, as mentioned above, taken by the Kim / Kang pair from Korea. The Oda/Nagayo pair was the top-placed Japanese pair, so they took the top Japanese prize. Third place went to the Baba/Saito pair.
After the prize winners were given their awards, the Best Dresser prizes were announced, followed by the drawing of lots for a large number of prizes donated by the sponsors for which all participants were eligible. After the fierce competition of the tournaments, everyone wound down and had a great time relaxing with new and old friends at the party. |
Main Tournament presenters
A commendation ceremony start
The Kim / Kang pair(from Korea) was given certificate of merit by Mr. Masatake Matsuda
The Kim / Kang pair(from Korea) was given shield by Mr. Masatake Matsuda
The Kim / Kang pair(from Korea) was given certificate of merit by Mr. Kazuyuki Kogure
The Kim / Kang pair(from Korea) was given the cup by Mr. Yuichi Iwasaki
The Oda / Nagayo pair was the top-placed Japanese pair,
was given JAP-GO Cup by Mr. Eitaro Iwama
The handicap tournament presenters
A block champion was given certificate of merit by Mr. Naohiko Ito
A block champion was given Cup by Mr. Shinji Yazaki
B block champion was given certificate of merit by Mr. Minoru Kubota
C block champion was given shield by Mr. Shinji Yazaki
A game of go stone expectation : Mr.Michael Redmond 9-dan
A game of go stone expectation : Mr.Michael Redmond 9-dan |
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