This year, the French Pair Go Championship took place in Strasbourg on the weekend of the 10th and 11th of October. Fourteen pairs were present. Would the pair of Nyoshi Cao and Antoine Fenech, reigning national champions for the past two years, be able to add to their tally? Many pairs were hoping to claim their title: Monique Berreby and Olivier Clergue, Marie-Claire Chaine and Farid Ben Malek, and Zhao Pei and Baptiste Noir.

After a fierce competition, Cao-Fenech met Pei-Noir in the grand final (right). After a difficult opening, Nyoshi and Antoine headed into a thunderous endgame and ate a big group to clinch as 3-time champions. In second place, there was a tie between Zhao Pei-Baptiste Noir, Laura Lebastard-Jérôme Salignon and Charlotte Vielfaure-Thomas Debarre.

This year, Dominique Cornuejols and Denis Karadaban will represent France at the International Amateur Pair Go Championship.

– Ian Davis, based on the original article in the Revue Française de Go by Simon Billouet

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In this rather sad elegiac 2002 film — directed by Yojiro Takita — about the end of the Samurai age, at 46:03 minutes we see a goban (floor board) with two bowls of stones on top of the board, in the background of the scene. At 48:51 we see the local lord playing go on a floor board.
– Duncan Brown

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by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Fujisawa Rina makes good start in title defense: The first game of the 34th Women’s Honinbo title match was held at the Kashoen inn in Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture on October 8. It matches the 17-year-old titleholder Fujisawa Rina (right) against Xie Yimin, who held this title for six years in a row. This is the first title match between the two, and it gives us some insight into what the next five years will look like. If Xie can win, the age of Xie, who now holds two titles, may continue. If Fujisawa wins, she may displace Xie from the top position. At the party on the eve of the game, Fujisawa commented that playing a match with Xie had been one of her goals. Perhaps she didn’t expect to play her first match with her as the defending champion. Xie, who will be 26 on November 16, commented that this was her first match with a younger player. Taking white, Fujisawa beat Xie by 2.5 points after 290 moves. The game was decided by a ko fight in the endgame. The second game will be played on October 18.

Women’s Meijin League: In a game played on October 8, Suzuki Ayumi 6P beat Chinen Kaori 4P by resig. As the previous challenger, Suzuki is the number one-ranked player in the league, but this is her first win after two losses. Chinen has already suffered four losses, so she is teetering on the edge of demotion. Joint leaders are Fujisawa Rina and Aoki Kikuyo 8P on 2-0.

Promotion: To 2-dan: Shibano Toramaru (aged 16) (30 wins; promoted as of Oct. 9)

Iyama wins Agon Kiriyama title: The final of the 22nd Agon Kiriyama Cup was held at the Kyoto headquarters of the Agon sect in Kyoto on October 10. Iyama Yuta (left), playing black, beat Kyo Kagen 3P by resig. after 187 moves. This is the fourth time Iyama has won this title, which matches Cho U’s record. The play-off between the Japanese and Chinese titleholders will be held in China on December 25.

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Over 90 players have already pre-registered for this year’s Cotsen Open, coming up October 24-25 at the LA Center Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The popular tournament features a free food truck lunch on both days: Komodo Food on Saturday and Kogi BBQ  on Sunday. The $20 entry fee is refunded if you play in all five rounds.

Volunteers are wanted to help set up on Friday and record top-board games during the tournament. “Free pizza for helping set up the tournament space on Friday, October 23,” promises Tournament Organizer Samantha Davis. Email her at CotsenOpen@gmail.com

If interested in recording/broadcasting for the E-Journal (free EJ caps!); email journal@usgo.org

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The Seattle Go Center  held a large tournament to celebrate their 20th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 3. It was the largest fall tournament they have had in many years, with 48 players participating. The well organized TD’s, Bill Chiles and Dan Top, kept the event on schedule despite the large crowd. The players were smoothly distributed in terms of strength, so that most of the handicapped games used small handicaps. (88% of the handicapped games used two stones or less.)  The next day, Kuma Sensei 6P from the Nihon Ki-in gave a lecture reviewing tournament games.

The Open Section had 8 players and was won by longtime Northwest champion Edward Kim 7d. Edward bested Chanseok Oh, Jeremiah Donley, and Peter Nelson in his three games. Peter Nelson placed 2nd in the Open Section.

Chris Kirschner won all his games in the Dan Handicapped Section, winning that section. Chris is one of the founders of the Go Center, and one of its most active volunteers. Ben Hakala placed 2nd. Jung Doo Nam won the Single Digit Kyu Player Handicapped Section, with David Snow placing second. Mark Richardson won the Double Digit Kyu Player Handicapped Section, with Lucy Wang placing second.

Photo Captions: (Top)  Andy Okun, President of the AGA, playing Harry van der Krogt of the European Go Cultural Center in a friendly game in the tatami room of the Seattle Go Center. (Bottom) First round of the tournament.  Photos and report by Brian Allen.

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by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Iyama defends Meijin title: The fourth game of the 40th Meijin title match was held at the Kashikojima Hojoen, a traditional inn in Shima City in Mie Prefecture, on October 5 and 6. Playing black, Iyama Yuta (right) forced a resignation after 227 moves and so defended his Meijin title with four straight wins. This is his third Meijin title in a row and his fifth overall. The game started with Iyama playing a little too aggressively. Takao (left) swallowed up an important black stone, but Iyama kept fighting relentlessly, so he didn’t get a chance to take the lead. The game developed into an enormous fight, but Takao missed his best chance to attack. Iyama increased the pressure in a fight among a number of eyeless groups and eventually came out on top. Takao was unable to improve on his score in his challenge to Iyama for the 35th Meijin title. At the moment, Iyama seems unstoppable. He has defended all the titles in his quadruple crown and next will be aiming at restoring his sextuple crown, with Oza and Tengen challenges starting soon. He has improved his chances in these matches by finishing off the Meijin match early. The above win was his 15th in a row, which is a new personal record.

Kisei knockout tournament begins: The first game in the irregular knockout tournament to decide the Kisei challenger was played on October 1. B League-winner Yamada Kimio 9P (B) beat Kyo Kagen 3P, winner of the C League, by resig.

Honinbo League starts: The 71st Honinbo League got off to a start on October 1 with a game between two heavyweights, Yamashita Keigo 9P and Kono Rin 9P. Playing black, Yamashita won by resig. He has made a good start in his bid to repeat as challenger.

Korea wins 2nd O-kage Cup: The O-kage (gratitude) Cup is an international tournament for players 30 or under sponsored by Hamada Sogyo and the tourist shops in Okage-Yokocho (Gratitude Alley) in the city of Ise. This year the scale was expanded from three-player to five-player teams from Japan, Korea, China, and Chinese Taipei. The extra two places went to women players. Korea showed overwhelming strength. In the first section, an all-play-all league, it lost only two games out of 15, beating Japan 4-1, Chinese Taipei 5-0, and China 4-1. The other three teams tied for second place, each with one win and two losses, but Japan took second place, thanks to having scored seven individual wins to China’s six. On the top board, Ida Atsushi 8P won all his games.  Chinese Taipei took fourth place, but it will be satisfied with a rare victory over the Chinese team (3-2). In the final, Korea was awesome, beating Japan 5-0. In the play-off for 3rd place, China took revenge on Chinese Taipei, not dropping a game. There were five prizes for top individual performances; these were all won by Koreans. In an interview, the Korean coach Yang Keon 9P commented: ‘I think we did too well. But I did feel that our activity since setting up a national team has borne fruit little by little.’ He said that the members of the national team study from 10 to 5 every day, playing games and studying the opening. As a result, he said, he felt that they were beginning to catch up with China. Concerning the Japanese team, he commented: ‘Their level is extremely high. I think that one factor in our getting this kind of result is there’s a gap in research into the opening.’ In Korea, a lot of time is devoted to studying the opening; rivals will study together and try to work out definitive openings. The accumulation [of knowledge] makes a big difference. ‘We believe that, with the deluge of information (game records), selecting the best patterns and doing research at a more advanced level is important.’ photo: Okage with the sponsors

Tomorrow: Fujisawa Rina makes good start in title defense; Women’s Meijin League; Iyama wins Agon Kiriyama title

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Three U.S. players will participate in the 17th Ibero-American Championship Tournament October 9-11 in Cuba, where leading Latin American players will compete to determine a champion. Last year in Quito, Ecuador there were 47 players of all levels from eleven countries. Besides Latin America, players also came from  Korea, the United Kingdom and the U.S. “Havana is a city rich in history all the way from the 16th century to modern times,” says attendee Bob Gilman, who’s organized several US-Cuba exchanges. “I am eagerly looking forward to playing and extending my relationships with Latin American players.” There is information about the tournament here, and Gilman says people wanting to learn more are welcome to write him at bobgilman.aga@gmail.com.
photo: Cuban Go Federation Rafael Torres Miranda (left) and Cuban go organizer Lazaro Bueno Perez at the 2015 US Go Congress; photo by Phil Straus

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The latest edition of the American Go Association Tournament Regulations have been posted on the AGA’s Tournament Resources page, where you’ll find everything local organizers need to run a tournament. “The essence of go is competition, and tournament play takes that rivalry to its highest level,” says the AGA. “Running a tournament will strengthen your club. You will get to know new players from your area, and you may even build your club’s treasury!”

Organizing a tournament is probably easier than you think, especially if you can put some of local club members to work. Size doesn’t matter. A “tournament” can be held with as few as two players, and there are several interesting formats for as few as four players. Tournament game results can be submitted for AGA rating, a major attraction many tournament players.

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