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Special Cooperation / East Japan Railway, HITACHI, Japan Airlines
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| Scenes from the Tournament |
November 14th (Saturday) The Special game
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| « Special commemorative match for the 20th tournament » |
Next, there was a special event: a special commemorative match for the 20th tournament. It featured the team of Hsieh Yi Min, Women’s Honinbo and Meijin, and Naoki Hane Honinbo versus the team of Akane Ishii 1-dan and Kimio Yamada 9-dan. It was a game between a ‘Honinbo pair’ and a ‘Naniwa pair’ (Naniwa = Osaka). In separate rooms, public commentaries were held, one conducted in Japanese by 24th Honinbo Shuho and Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan and the other in English by Michael Redmond 9-dan. Incidentally, the room where the latter was held was filled with players still in their national costumes.
As for the game between the Honinbo pair and the Naniwa pair . . .
Early in the opening, a new pattern appeared in the top right. According to Honinbo Shuho, the Honinbo pair, playing black, slipped up a little here. ‘But the fighting was spectacular.’ In the fighting at the bottom that followed, both sides refused to compromise. ‘It’s really interesting,’ said Honinbo Shuho, a little excited. However, once the fighting came to a pause, it was clear that the Naniwa pair had the lead. As Honinbo Shuho put it, ‘Black has three weak groups. White is probably licking his lips wondering how to make a simultaneous attack. Generally speaking, it’s hard to imagine White rescuing all three of his groups. Hsieh in the Honinbo pair is very good at attacking. We’ll see how good she is at rescuing groups.’
However, little by little the Honinbo pair began exerting their latent strength. First, they pretended to be dead at the top and set about securing life on the left side. Next, they made life for the group at the top, then, while saving the third weak group, they knocked over a white group. In reviewing the game, Tomoko Ogawa expressed admiration for the way Black ‘rescued his groups one by one.’ Honinbo Shuho: ‘This was a victory for Black’s counterattack with his back to the wall.’ White resigned, so the game ended in a win for the Honinbo pair.
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The special commemorative match for the 20th tournament
Akane Ishii 1-dan
& Kimio Yamada 9-dan versus
Yi Min Hsieh, Women’s Honinbo and Women’s Meijin & Naoki Hane Honinbo.
Public commentary given by 24th Honinbo Shuho and
Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan on the special commemorative match.
Public commentary in English given by Michael Redmond 9-dan
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After the game, the players made an appearance in the public-commentary room . . .
Hane Honinbo: ‘[When we got three weak groups,] I had no confidence, but I thought we might be safe because I could leave the reading up to Hsieh.’ In response, Hsieh said: ‘I wasn’t worried because my partner was Hane Sensei.’ Perhaps their team didn’t feel any pressure after all.
A question came flying from the spectators’ seats. ‘Which partner do you think you’d be able to win with in the professional Pair Go tournament?’ In response, Yamada laughed. ‘That’s a difficult question. It’s hard to answer it.’ The audience laughed as he added: ‘All I ask is that my partner is a young player.’
Akane Ishii: ‘A gentle player. Someone who doesn’t lose his temper.’
Hane Honinbo: ‘My previous results hadn’t been good, but I won last year when Keiko Kato 6-dan was my partner. So I want her again. I want to win this year, too. Actually, I’m convinced I will.’
Hsieh, Women’s Meijin and Honinbo: ‘I think I would pair well with anyone, but I haven’t won yet, so I haven’t met my ideal partner.’
This event wound up in a relaxed atmosphere. The preparations for the traditional Saturday night party and a Special Award Ceremony had been completed, so everyone moved to the main hall.
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