임상규 is 3170, probably mixed up with another player? But it's probably for the best that Sumire is seen as Korean pro as that's where her training

Yes, I made a mistake, and Sumire's opponent wasn't that strong.

But today's opponent was! Park Mingyu 9 dan, 11th player of Korea and 3432 in goratings (right above Kyo Kagen) lost to Sumire by 1.5 points.
I saw part of the game in youtube. Their body language, both of them, was "I am losing". According to IA, both were ahead at different stages, so it could have gone either way.

Sumire is now 2-3 in Supreme Player, while Park is 0-4. Most likely, both will be demoted, but what a great result today.

A recent win by Sumire: http://www.badukilbo.com/news/view.php?idx=2384

English Translation (ChatGTP did):

“They said that the hanbok I tried on for the first time at the hanbok shop suited me very well. Even while wearing the hanbok, it didn't interfere with playing Go at all and felt as comfortable as my own clothes.”

Sumire, born in 2009, became a professional Go player on April 1, 2019, through the special prodigy admission of the Nihon Ki-in. Influenced by her father, Shinya Nakamura, a Japanese professional Go player, and her mother, Miyuki, a Go instructor, she started learning Go at the age of three.

From her elementary school years, she frequently traveled to Korea for short-term studies, where she was exposed to advanced Go techniques and culture, gradually blossoming her skills. Her improvement was remarkable. It's no surprise that Sumire, often called the "genius Go girl of Japan," was the first overall draft pick by the new team Pyeongtaek in the soon-to-start Women's Go League.

Sumire’s first day as a professional Go player in Korea was on March 4, marking 101 days since she officially announced her activities in Korea. During these 100 days, she played 51 games, achieving 33 wins and 18 losses.

Here is a brief Q&A with Sumire after her victory.

About the Game
Q: How was the game?

A: In the beginning, it didn't go very well, but in the middle game, my opponent played aggressively, which actually made it a fair match. I think my opponent had opportunities in the endgame too. I was lucky.

First Match Against O Yu-jin
Q: How did it feel playing against O Yu-jin for the first time?

A: Her ranking is much higher than mine, and she is well-known, so I was nervous. Since it was a quick game, it's hard to evaluate based on one match. I want to learn more from her in the future.

Endgame Weakness
Q: There has been talk about your weakness in the endgame. Has it improved?

A: Recently, I've made fewer mistakes, but it's still an issue. I think today I was just lucky to finish well. (laughs)

Japanese Fans
Q: Search queries for 'Namwon' and 'Chunhyang' are surging in Japan. Any words for Japanese Go fans?

A: I'm always grateful for the support from Japan through the internet. Although the Chunhyang Cup is an unofficial tournament, I'm happy to win my first title after about 100 days in Korea. I'm also thankful to Korea for giving me this opportunity and always being kind to me. (I wasn’t asked about the situation in Korea^^)

First Person to Call
Q: Who will you call first? Your dad?

A: My dad probably saw it online, so my mom will likely call me frequently.

Expectations in the Tournament
Q: Did you think you would reach the finals when you entered the tournament?

A: Not at all. I expected Kim Eun-ji and O Yu-jin, the highest-ranked players, to face off in the finals. The semifinals against Heo Seo-hyun were very tough, and O Yu-jin was also a difficult opponent today.

Knowledge of Chunhyang
Q: Do you know much about Chunhyang?

A: Honestly, I didn't know anything when I came down here (laughs), but yesterday I learned a lot about Chunhyang while taking pictures at Gwanghallu. I understand that she is the most beloved person in Korea. This place has good air, and I believe there were many beauties like Chunhyang in the past.

Sumire found a way to win in Korea as well. It is more difficult for me to keep track of her results, but gotoeveryone shows her as 46 wins-26 losses in 2024. She was 33-18 on May 10, 2024. This means she is 13 wins-7 losses since May 10. And she was 41-25 on June 15, which means she is 5-1 since June 15.

A good page is https://gorisenri.livedoor.blog/archive ... e-all.html .

Thank you, this is very good. That page is also a good resource for how the Korean promotion system works.

Her profile on Nihonkiin webpage says her affiliation is Korean Go Association. I guess that means she could earn 4d in Korea. Is it definite that she will be coming back?

If I recall correctly, she is currently competing in the Korean qualifier for the Nongshim Cup. Although it's unlikely she'll get into the final squad, it does imply she would be playing for Korea.

As of today, she is a Korean player. To all effects. She started in Korea as 3d because that was her ranking in Japan, and if she becomes 4d in Korea, Japan will acknowledge her ranking.

Also, she is playing in international events as a Korean player, and she might, in the future, play against Japanese players, or get wins for a Korean team.

But I don't think any of this means she's staying in Korea forever, or go back to Japan. She's doing what she has to do now, because she decided so. And in the future, she will take more decisions. I don't know anything, of course, but I doubt she has thought that much. What she will be doing when she turns 20, or where she is going to live,... so much can happen. She is a pro player but, above everything, she is a person. There are many life related factors.

As a fan... I'd like her to become Kisei, or Meijin, or something big

I shared this article in Leo's thread before:

S.Korea is becoming the new Mecca for the game of Go

It turns out some Japanese players have been in Korea before. It says that Leo was on his way too. He didn't have any official games in Japan since March according to the Kansai Kiin game search. It some how feels like I was watching some of his games on Pandanet couple of weeks ago but it must have been in March if he went to Korea in April.

What is unusual about Sumire is that she has a formal transfer to the KBA. As far as I know other players that are mentioned in the article didn't do it that way. Now she appears to play in qualifiers for international tournaments and even team tournaments. When I come to think of it I realize that I never hear of a women's Nongshim cup team event, could it be that this is something completely different than the Nongshim cup winner stays event?

I wonder if there is another dimension to this Korea connection. Maybe family or other relatives in Korea? A love for K-pop and K-drama? Are these Japanese players going to the same dojo in Korea?

Sumire trained in Korea before becoming a pro.

Sumire is an only child. Her father is a pro, her mother is a strong amateur, and a go teacher. Go is kind of important in that family.

So, although other players have gone to Korea for some training, her level of commitment is higher than other players', to the point of making such a big change in her life.

Quick reminder, again: she is 15 and living in another country.

I get the feeling there is too much straining at gnats about Sumire's stay in Korea.

For one thing, young female pros studying abroad is not new. Miyazaki Shimako went to China in the late eighties and was allowed to play in the Women's Mingren. She finished quite high up, too (as a 2-dan, I think). I expect it was because she was the 1st (new) Women Meijin around the same time but she had an exceptional winning record around that time, too - certainly better than Sumire as I recall.

But in Sumire's case there may be other factors at play. Father Shinya studied in Korea in the early 2000s, I think, under a couple of players - I think one was Kim Seong-ryeong. Sending his daughter to Korea could be a way of "repaying his debt" - a very Japanese thing to do.

A further factor may be that there is a very significant presence of people of Korean heritage in Osaka, where the Nakamuras come from (try a tour round Ikuno Ward for an exotic day out). There are significant pockets of Koreans in other Kansai areas such as Kobe and Kyoto, and even a bit further away in Nagoya. I can imagine that such people, if they are go players, would be taking great pride, or at least noticeable interest, in Korea's go achievements, including those within Japan, as was the case with Cho Nam-ch'eol, Kim In, Cho Chikun and Cho Hun-hyeon.

This is not something that I have looked into at all - it's just stuff I come across when reading, and I make no claims as to remembering it all properly.

That her father, Shinya, studied in Korea in the early 2000s is a good pragmatic explanation. Maybe she also works with Korean teachers and maybe even knows some Korean?

It is harder for me to relate to the reasoning that she is more motivated than most young players and that is the reason she went to Korea. She might be very motivated but two highly motivated persons often do everything differently. One might go to Korea and another stay in Japan if their outlook or situation is different.

I don't know what the important thing is. I would have thought that the reason why she went to Korea and how long she will stay was on everyone's mind until maybe she goes back to Japan. Then the question if she is coming back will have been answered. A new question will emerge: is she ever going back to Korea

Finally, the day came that Sumire, representing Korea, played a game against a Japanese player in an international tournament.

In a prelim game of the Samsung Cup, today Sumire played Takeshita Ryoya 2-dan and won. I don't know about the game, and it's only the first prelim game of a big tournament. The game itself won't be in any history book. But I'm pretty sure both players will remember it.

Sumire has been playing a lot lately.

Although she is the player with most wins in Korea (not the best rate), she has also been losing a lot lately. Her ranking has been rising steadily, about 10 positions per month since her transfer, in the last weeks she has had a few unexpected loses. Not always really unexpected, but against players behind her in ranking.

I follow her here:

https://gorisenri.livedoor.blog/archives/nakamura-sumire-all.html

It uses black balls for loses and white balls for wins but, more important, grey background for loses against lower rated players ("unexpected" is just a way of talking) and yellow, for wins against higher rated players (also "unexpected").

After her transfer, she had some yellow wins and very few grey loses. In the last month, 6 grey loses.

It reminds me of her slump after winning the female Kisei. Probably anxiety, pressure... And also, after winning a lot, she might have the feeling that any move will work, any complicated game can be turned around, and that's not true.

Sumire is still young. She has to work a lot in her play, obviously. But also in her head.

just my opinion

Sumire is going to play her first final in Korea.

A couple days ago, Sumire played Kim Minseo 4-dan, an usual rival in last games. I didn't know, but it was the semifinal of the Korean female Kisei (or whatever name it has in Korean). Sumire got a good win (B+9.5), and is now 4-1 against Kim.

Her rival in the final will be Choi Jeong 9-dan. Best of 3, so at least Sumire will play 2 games against Choi. Probably only 2.

Reminder: Sumire played and lost the female Kisei in Japan 0-2, and won it next year.

The first game of the Korean women's Kisei final has ended, and Nakamura managed to eke out a solid 0.5-point win. Maybe Kisei is the title for her; she did manage to claim it once in Japan after all. We'll see. She only needs to win one more game!

Second game, and... what a pity, Sumire lost!

From the beggining, it was clear that Choi didn't want to lose again. She played agressively and got an early lead. I thought, no way Sumire is going to win this, against a stronger and more experienced player. But the gap didn't increase. Rather, both players made some mistakes here and there (according to AI, of course), and it looked like anything could happen. Or that none of them wanted to win

Sumire made the game even, and got a good advantage after it. The game was as good as 99% in her favour. But the difference in points was still small, and after some yose and some ko fighting, Choi turned the tables again, this time for good, and got the win. W+2.5

Last game, tomorrow. On one side, I think that Sumire has a fighting chance. She has won one game, and put up a very decent fight in the other. But, on the other hand, experience is an important factor, and here Choi is obviously ahead. So, my bet is that Sumire will have to wait for another chance to grab her first title. I wish I will be wrong.

Third game of the female Kisung (Korean Kisei), and Choi Jung is the new champion.

This game was even more aggressive than the previous one. Sumire resigned after losing a big big group. Not immediately, she kept on playing even after she had no chance. Probably, was a bit shocked. And also, probably, the lost chances from the previous game (just the day before) were in her head.

She played another game the next day (today, as of when I am writing this). U-23 Championship, 2nd round. Against a 1-dan. And lost too. It's not that Sumire can't lose a game like this. But, the same player who pushed Choi Jung to the limit, lost an easier game the next day... it seems to me that her mental skills need more work.

Oh, and she is going to play another final match. Starting tomorrow (dec 12th), female Kuksu. Against Kim Jaeyoung 9-dan.

Perhaps Sumire needs some rest, too.