Go Commentary: Fujisawa Rina vs Mukai Chiaki – 33rd Women’s Honinbo

This is game 3 from the 33rd Japanese Women’s Honinbo final. The game was played between Mukai Chiaki 5p and Fujisawa Rina 2p on November 7, 2014, in Tokyo, Japan.

Mukai Chiaki

Mukai Chiaki vs Fujisawa Rina Womens Honinbo picture

Mukai Chiaki 5p (left) and Fujisawa Rina 2p at the 33rd Women’s Honinbo

Mukai Chiaki 5p was born in 1987, and became a pro in 2004.

She’s challenged Women’s Honinbo and Women’s Meijin five times altogether from 2010 to 2012. Her opponents in those finals were all Xie Yimin 6p, and Chiaki was defeated them all.

However, in 2013, Chiaki eventually defeated Xie Yimin by 3-2 to win the 32nd Women’s Honinbo which was her first career title.

Therefore, this final against Fujisawa Rina was her first defensive final match.

Fujisawa Rina

Fujisawa Rina Womens Honinbo picture

Fujisawa Rina 2 dan at the 33rd Women’s Honinbo

On the other hand, Fujisawa Rina 2p was born in 1998 and became a pro in 2010 at the age of 11 years and 6 months. It was the youngest age to become a pro in Japan, and the previous record for the youngest age was Cho Chikun’s 11 years and 9 months.

In June 2014, Rina won the 1st Aizu Center Hospital Cup by defeating Okuda Aya 3p in the final, and it was her first career title.

Rina is the most prospect young women player in Japan, and this final was her first challenge for a major women’s title in her career.

She is also well known as a grand daughter of Fujisawa Shuko 9p (passed away in 2009).

Women’s Honinbo

Women’s Honinbo is the ranked #1 title for Women’s tournament in Japan. The winner’s prize is ¥5,800,000, which is around US$49,000. Let’s have a look at game 3 from the 33rd Japanese Women’s Honinbo final.

Commented game record

Fujisawa Rina vs Mukai Chiaki

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The Power Report: Xie Makes Good Start in Women’s Kisei Defense; Honinbo League Update; Judan challenger: Kobayashi Satoru or Ida

by John Power, EJ Japan Correspondent

Xie Makes Good Start in Women’s Kisei Defense: The first game of the 18th DoCoMo Cup Women’s Kisei title match, a best-of-three,2015.01.27_Kazuko was played at the Hotel Sunlife Garden in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on January 22. Konishi Kazuko 8P (right) of the Kansai Ki-in is making her first appearance in a title match (she has reached the finals of three knock-out titles but lost each time). Xie has held this title for four of the the last five years. In the nigiri to decide colors, Xie drew white. Konishi played positively in the opening and seized the initiative, but Xie managed to set up the kind of confused fight in which she excels. Konishi failed to find the best move in the crucial middle-game fight, and this gave Xie a chance to upset her lead. Konishi resigned after 136 moves. The second game will be played on January 29. It’s a must-win game for Konishi if she is to take the match to a deciding game on February 2.

Honinbo League Update: Two games were played in the 70th Honinbo League on January 22. Yamashita Keigo 9P (B) beat Takao Shinji 9P by resignation and Kono Rin 9P (W) beat Yo Seiki 7P, also by resignation. Yamashita goes to 3-1, keeping him in second place behind Ida Atsushi 8P (4-0). Kono evened his score to 2-2, and both Takao and Yo, on 1-3, will now have to focus on keeping their league places.

Judan challenger: Kobayashi Satoru or Ida: The second semifinal of the 53rd Judan tournament was held in Nagoya on January 22. It2015.01.27_shida tatsuya was contested by two of the leading young players at the Central Japan branch of the Nihon Ki-in, Ida Atsushi 8P and Shida Tatsuya 7P (right). Ida was the top new star of last year, winning the Honinbo League on debut. Although he lost the title match to Iyama Yuta, he seems to be on course to challenge again. Shida is older (24 to Ida’s 20) and was the top young player in Nagoya until Ida emerged. Shida won the Hiroshima Aluminium Cup in his second year as a pro (2007) and came second in the Agon Kiriyama Cup in 2013. Shida had won their two previous encounters, but in the last year Ida has gotten a lot stronger. Taking black in this game, he forced a resignation, so he will meet Kobayashi Satoru in the play-off to decide the challenger to Takao Shinji.

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UK Go Updates: Charles Hibbert Wins Maidenhead-Hitachi

Maidenhead-Hitachi Tournament: On January 24th, Charles Hibbert 2 dan went on to win all three of his games, claiming the Maidenhead title. Coincidentally, it was also his first-ever tournament. Second and third place were claimed by Alistair Wall and Jitka Bartova. All players winning three or two games received a prize. 55 players took part in the event.
– edited by Amy Su from reports on the BGA website.

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EuroGoTV Update: Ukraine, United Kingdom, Russia

Jitka Bartova 1dUkraine: Oleksandr Hiliazov 1d bested Anton Boreiko 4k at the Kharkiv Championship on January 25 while Leonid Shumakov 5k placed third. United Kingdom: The Maidenhead finished on January 24 with Charles Hibbert 2d in first, Alistair Wall 1d in second, and Jitka Bartova 1d (left) in third. Russia: Mikhail Dobricyn 3k took the Russian Championship Under 12 in Cheljabinsk on January 18. Behind him were Egor Arsentjev 2k in second and Savva Mezin 6k in third. 
– Annalia Linnan, based on reports from 
EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news; photo courtesy of EuroGoTV

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Go Classified: Players Wanted; Free Baduk TV Offer

Phoenixville, PA: Players wanted for the Phoenixville Go Club.  We meet Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights at Artisan’s Cafe in downtown Phoenixville.  Free mug of coffee for each first time visitor!  Contact Craig at scorelessdraw@gmail.com with questions.

Join the American Go Association and get two months of Baduk TV English for freeWant to try Baduk TV English for free? From now until the end of January, you can get two months of free access to Baduk TV English (valued at $40) when you join the American Go Association…click here to read more.

 

 

 

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Kyu Tourney Deadline Feb. 3

Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 3.14.21 PMThe deadline for young kyu players who want to compete in the North American Kyu Championships is Feb. 3rd, with the tourney itself held Feb. 7th, on KGS.  Kids and teens (under the age of 18) who are members of the AGA, CGA, Gimnasio de Go, or MGA, may all enter in the event.  With thousands of dollars in scholarships available, to both the AGA Go Camp, and US Go Congress, kyu players of any rank should enter.  Prizes will be awarded roughly every five ranks, starting at 25 kyu, and working up to 1 kyu.  The registration form is here, more information is available here.

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Atlanta Celebrates MLK Day with Stone Mtn. Hike

 

Screen Shot 2015-01-24 at 4.35.24 PMOn Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2015, the Atlanta Go Club and the Atlanta Chinese Go Association organized a hike up Stone Mountain, in memory of Dr. King, who referred to the mountain in his I Have a Dream speech — “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.” Feijun (Frank) Luo 7d, led young kids to play go at both the shelter in the middle of the mountain, and the pavilion on the top of the mountain. “The kids greatly enjoyed mountain climbing, playing go during the trip, and the spectacular view on top of Stone Mountain,” said Luo. Brandon Zhou 4d, who won the Ing Foundation’s World Youth Goe Qualifier in the U.S. junior division in 2014, was among the participants. “Playing go on Stone Mountain is a good way to pay tribute to Dr. King,” said Luo, “go is a board game that best displays equality and freedom — it represents equality because every stone has an equal value by itself, and it expresses freedom because playing styles are unrestricted and free.” -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Frank Luo: Clockwise: Ryan Dong, Edwin Lin, Brian Zhou, Ryan Li, Brandon Zhou, Feijun (Frank) Luo, Daniel Luo, and Ethan Zhou. Kids not pictured above: Alex Lin, Vicki Gu, Eileen Chen, and Jerry Chen.

 

 

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