< The final >

The final of the Professional Pair Go Championship 2011 was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya, Tokyo on Saturday, 29 January 2011. Of the sixteen pairs that had started out in this tournament, the pair of Ayumi Suzuki 5-dan and Satoshi Yuki Tengen and the pair of Yimin Xie Women's Honinbo and Meien O 9-dan had reached the final. The Suzuki/Yuki pair represented Japan in last year's Asian Games and was one of the favourites in this tournament. Yimin Xie, holder of three women's titles, represented Taiwan in the Asian Games; she had paired with O in the previous tournament, and they were expected to do well.

< OrganizerSponsor's address, introduction of the players >

Ms. Hiroko Taki, Director and Secretary General of the Japan Pair Go Association, offered some words of encouragement in her speech. 'Two splendid pairs have reached the final. I think they will show us a splendid game. I have been looking forward to this final.'

The two pairs moved to the game room.

(Black) Yimin Xie, Women's Honinbo and Meien O 9-dan vs. (White) Ayumi Suzuki 5-dan and Satoshi Yuki 9-dan
Both teams were used to Pair Go, but they listened carefully as the rotation and rules were explained before the game started. On this occasion, to avoid rotation errors, lamps were prepared in front of the players showing whose turn it was. When it was a player's turn to play, the lamp in front of him or her went on, so the player could play without worries. Every precaution was taken so that the final wouldn't be spoiled by any problems. Suzuki 5-dan grasped a number of stones; Xie and O drew black. The timekeeper immediately read out 'ten seconds', so the game started in a flurry. It was arranged so that fans could watch - they could see not only the board close up, but also the expressions on the faces of the players. This was a rare experience for the happy fans.

In a separate room, a public commentary began. 24th Honinbo Shuho (Ishida Yoshio 9-dan) served as commentator, assisted by Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan. Ishida praised the female players. Suzuki 5-dan had reached the final round of the Kisei tournament - two more wins and she would win a place in the league. This would be really something special. Xie 5-dan was a triple titleholder - among women players, she was invincible. Being paired with such strong partners meant that there was a heavy responsibility on the male players. Ishida commented: 'There's no difference between the male contestants. Who cares about them anyway?' The audience roared with laughter. Ishida is known for his sharp tongue, and his commentary was a hit with the audience. Sometimes there would be a caustic admixture in his remarks, but they were tempered by the gentle comments of Ogawa 6-dan. Their commentary was a lot of fun.

The knack of playing Pair Go seems to be for the male player to adapt to the female player. Ogawa 6-dan said: 'O said that he trusted Xie.' Ishida muttered: 'Nowadays Xie's the stronger one.' The audience was well aware of O's strength, so they enjoyed Ishida's joke. When Ogawa asked Ishida what he thought was important in Pair Go, he replied, 'Taking some stomach medicine before the game.' The game had barely started, but the commentary was heating up.

As expected, Xie and O, who had black, started an attack, and the game became a violent one. Yuki played a tesuji for settling a group under attack, but the follow-up ran out of steam. Yuki was in trouble: he didn't have a good move. Ishida commented as if muttering to himself: 'This is the kind of thing that upsets you. The game is suddenly different from your plan.' He added, 'I wonder if Yuki jumped up from his seat.' Ogawa promptly commented, 'When I was your partner, I heard you jumped up from your seat.' Ishida said with a wry look: 'I didn't realize myself, but a fan told me later.'

Suzuki and Yuki failed to settle their group satisfactorily, but they challenged their opponents to a large ko in the middle of the board. As the proverb indicates, there are no ko threats at the beginning of the game, so they knew they would lose it, but they took clever compensation for the ko, so they made up lost ground. Ishida expressed admiration for their play. 'The game may not be good for them, but it's become a drawn-out contest.'

Xie and O had the lead, but O made an overplay, and it looked as if there had been an upset. Apparently Suzuki and Yuki had a chance to deliver the coup de grace, but their opponents survived safely, and in the end the game was quite close. Ishida commented: 'I didn't think such a violent game would become an endgame contest.' He's good at endgame calculation, but the players didn't play the way he expected, and the lead changed several times. 'Maybe White's ahead. It's not clear,' he said. White lost points in the endgame, prompting Ishida to exclaim, 'Maybe it's an upset!' He recounted, though commenting, 'You can't tell until the end.' However, he made a careful evaluation and gave his conclusion: 'Black is a little ahead. White has suffered an upset loss.'

In the end, Ishida's count was spot on: Xie and O won by a bare half point. Having won a difficult game, Xie was finally able to enjoy her first victory. Winning a Pair Go tournament is really tough. Xie looked really relieved, but O was shaking his head dubiously. Maybe he had made a miscalculation. This became clear in the interview later.