The Professional Pair Go Championship 2012 got off to a start at the Tokyo headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in on Saturday, 21 January. Sixteen male and sixteen female players formed pairs and vied to become the number one pair in Japan. In Pair Go, your strength is important, of course, but also your affinity with your partner is significant. The outcome will be decided by how well the two of you play in combination. Just because the players who make up a pair are individually strong, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will have the advantage. You can enjoy this tournament by making your own predictions about which pairs will do well.

The tournament itinerary called for playing three games in a row, from the first round to the semifinals. The tournament started in a festive atmosphere, but this is a day on which physical stamina is also called for, to keep your concentration up right until the end. The top pair was thought to be last year's winning pair, made up of Yimin Xie, holder of the women's Triple Crown, and Wang Ming Wan 9-dan. As the defending champions, they formed a pair again this year, and of course were aiming at repeating their triumph. One of their main rivals was considered to be the pair of Chiaki Mukai 4-dan and Shinji Takao 9-dan, who have represented Japan in the Asian Games.

< Opening Ceremony >

Ms. Hiroko Taki, Director and Secretary General of the Japan Pair Go Association, gave an address. 'I'm profoundly interested in seeing how the marvellous top professionals here play Pair Go,' she said. 'Please show the fans your professional expertise while enjoying the virtues of Pair Go.' Ms. Taki had great expectations of the tournament.

Mr. Hideo Otake, the Chief Referee, said: 'We have a line-up of 32 formidable players. Usually they are competing hard in individual tournaments, but today they are playing doubles. Please enjoy viewing professional skills different from usual.' He drew a laugh when he introduced the 24th Honinbo Shuho (Yoshio Ishida), the tournament commentator, by saying: 'He sometimes says something worth hearing, so please make sure you don't miss it.'

As each pairing was made, the teams playing in the first round went up on to the stage and faced the tournament hall while being cheered by the fans. Naturally enough, half the participants were women, which won't happen with other professional tournaments, so there was a spectacular atmosphere right from the start. Just on this day, the male players who are active in title matches became the supporting cast, but they seemed quite happy with the situation. That's the fun of this tournament.

< Beginning of the tournament >

A large number of fans were assembled for the public commentary. As always, the 24th Honinbo Shuho (Yoshio Ishida) was entrusted with the task of explaining the games. Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan, who usually keeps everyone entertained with her chat as co-commentator, was playing in the tournament this year. In her place, Kaori Aoba 4-dan was asking the questions. There were eight games in the first round, so they were very busy. One by one, the games in progress would be replayed and Ishida 9-dan's sharp tongue would go into action. Aoba 4-dan would break in on him, to the great delight of the audience.

< Round 1 >

(White) Yimin Xie, holder of the women's Triple Crown, & Wang Ming Wan 9-dan vs. (Black) Kana Mannami 4-dan & Hideyuki Sakai 8-dan
Before the game began, Ming Wan 9-dan was worried about what happened when you got your turn wrong. There's a three-point penalty, but Sakai 8-dan, who's always serious, brought over the rulebook and explained it precisely. That scene remained in my memory.

Sakai 8-dan : 'Have you ever made a mistake?'
Ming Wan 9-dan : 'H'm. Perhaps I've never had three stones taken away. Sakai, do you regularly play Pair Go?'
Sakai 8-dan : 'Only this tournament. I think it's my fifth.'

While they were talking, Chief Referee Hideo Otake gave the signal to start play. Immediately, the voices of the timekeepers reading out the byo-yomi - '10 seconds, 20 seconds...' -- began sounding here and there. At one stroke, the atmosphere became tense.

At the same time, the public commentary started, and this was the first game introduced. In the give-and-take of the opening, Yimin Xie played a new move that succeeded, giving her team a favourable result. 'She seems to have already researched it,' Ishida commented admiringly. He promptly labeled the game a win for Xie's team, which caused a stir in the audience.

Actually, in the middle game, the Mannami/Sakai pair went on the attack and the outcome became uncertain, but Xie and Ming Wan made a fierce counterattack. After confused large-scale fighting, Xie and Ming Wan used their formidable power to wrestle the other team to the ground. These two are the favourites.

(White) Kumiko Yashiro 5-dan & Koichi Kobayashi 9-dan vs. (Black) Akiko Tsukuda 5-dan & Dowa Yamashita Meijin & Honinbo
Ishida 9-dan predicted the result just on seeing the pairing. 'I put a plus mark against the Yashiro/Kobayashi team,' he said, another bold statement that stirred up the audience. Moreover, his reason was splendid.

'Yamashita's go is difficult, so it's tough for his partner to go along with him. In contrast, Koichi is straightforward. He likes commonsense sequences, so it's easy for the partner to combine with him. When Yamashita has a choice between an easy-to-understand move and one with which the path ahead is opaque, he chooses the difficult one.' At first, the audience was laughing, but they seemed to be convinced by his logic. In the end, Yashiro and Kobayashi won as he had predicted, and it didn't feel like just a coincidence.

(Black) Akino Izawa 4-dan & Wang Li Chen 9-dan vs. (White) Kaori Chinen 4-dan & Yuta Iyama Tengen & Judan
In the midst of a skirmish in the middle game, the Izawa/Li Chen pair played an irrelevant move, so they got a tough game. The instant Ishida saw the move, he called out, 'Unbelievable!' However, there was an upset in a confused fight, and Izawa and Li Chen showed their power in winning through the opening round. They looked like getting good momentum out of this win.

(White) Ayumi Suzuki 6-dan & Hiroshi Yamashiro 9-dan vs. (Black) Narumi Osawa 4-dan & Tomochika Mizokami 8-dan
Suzuki 6-dan took second place last year, paired with Satoshi Yuki 9-dan. She also does well in regular tournaments, but her forte seems to be Pair Go. This year she was aiming at revenge, paired with Yamashiro 9-dan. They convincingly defeated the Osawa/Mizokami pair to win a place in the second round.

(Black) Terumi Koyama 6-dan & 25th Honinbo Chikun (Cho Chi Hun 9-dan) vs. (White) Tomoko Ogawa 6-dan & Masaki Ogata 9-dan
An incident suddenly broke out in the middle game, and a large capturing race started between two groups in the centre. The Koyama/Cho pair won the capturing race and decided the issue at one blow. The defeated Ogawa/Ogata pair just had to accept it. With the momentum of this win, Cho grinned: 'We're the favourites.'

(Black) Yukari Yoshihara 5-dan & Satoshi Yuki 9-dan vs. (White) Nao Mannami 2-dan & Kimio Yamada 9-dan
Although she won, Yoshihara 5-dan expressed nothing but regrets about her game. Apparently she played a risky move, and a collapse was possible. Yuki 9-dan was solicitous towards his partner and reassured her: 'We were never definitely behind.' This may be why Yuki has good results at Pair Go.

Yamada 9-dan was cheerful despite his setback. 'We lost, but we had fun,' he said. Last year he was paired with the elder sister, Kana, and this year with the younger, Nao. Others might envy his luck in the pairing; it's only natural he had fun. Mannami 2-dan seemed regretful, but Pair Go is not just about strength, so you can say that the result is decided by luck. We hope she will do her best again next year.

(Black) Chiaki Mukai 4-dan & Shinji Takao 9-dan vs. (White) Mika Yoshida 8-dan & Taiki Seto 7-dan
The Mukai/Takao pair has a lot of experience and they were highly rated before the tournament began. Because there are few chances to play Pair Go, it's hard to match a pair who combine well together. Faced with strong opponents, the Yoshida/Seto pair seemed unable to display their full strength. Kansai teams often do well in this tournament, but regretfully they were eliminated in the first round.
At the public commentary, Aoba 4-dan spoke about the success of Kansai teams. 'They say that even when the female players make strange moves, Kansai male players just smile and pretend everything is OK.' This helps the female player to relax and play confidently. It was interesting that Ishida just listened silently. After all, it's well known that when he plays Pair Go Ishida shows his feelings and grumbles in a loud voice.

(Black) Fumiko Sakakibara 6-dan & Naoki Hane Gosei vs. (White) Kikuyo Aoki 8-dan & Chang Hsu Kisei
Ishida also predicted the result of this game before it was played. 'Aoki and Chang will win. Aoki is enjoying good form and has recently won more than ten games in a row. She's also become the challenger for the Women's Kisei,' he explained.

During his commentary on the opening, he said, 'This move confuses the opponents.' But then he continued oddly, 'Perhaps it confuses you yourself, too.' Aoba commented; 'I don't know if I understand you or if I don't understand you.' This apparently struck Ishida as a sharp comment, for he didn't say anything for a bit. Tomoko Ogawa, who was his co-commentator until last year, is a fellow Kitani disciple, and she sometimes subjects him to some pointed comments, but though his partner was different Ishida was still finding women formidable.

In the middle game, an Aoki/Chang group got cut off. They resisted strongly until the very end, but they were steamrolled by the Sakakibara/Hane pair, so Ishida's prediction did not come true.