Following Nakamura Sumire

[Uberdude]

Nakamura Sumire won the game, but Baba Shigeru wins the coolest name award.

[silviu22]

It looks like she plays "Takatsu Masaaki 1dan" (高津　昌昭初段 in Japanese), but I don't know who that is. He doesn't seem to be listed in the list of 1dan players from here: https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/player/dan/.

You do know there is Kansai Ki-in as well? https://kansaikiin.jp/wp/prokisi/

I didn't know there were two different web sites. But thanks, now I know it's https://kansaikiin.jp/kisi_prof/takatsumasaaki.html: 33 years old, became 1d in 2011. He spent 8 years as 1dan...

On that web site, the translation for his name was "Ji Jin Changzhao"? What's up with these guys??

[Zenit]

On that web site, the translation for his name was "Ji Jin Changzhao"? What's up with these guys??

Whatever machine translation software is used on that site is thinking it's a Chinese name. His name would be read Gaojin Changzhao in Chinese. I have no idea why it would think 高 is "Ji". Maybe it's a special reading I haven't heard about.

[John Fairbairn]

I have no idea why it would think 高 is "Ji". Maybe it's a special reading I haven't heard about.

I don't know what the automaton was (wrongly) thinking, of course, but the character it was facing wasn't 高 - it was 髙

It's common for Japanese people to use old variants of characters in their names (shima is another common case). It's rather like the way English people add an -e to common-or-garden words (Cooke for Cook, Smythe for Smith, Broome for Broom, etc etc). The Japanese variants were especially common in woodblock days, no doubt because they are a bit easier to carve, and so they perhaps now have an air of catalpan elegance for their users.

[Uberdude]

Tomorrow at the Wu Qingyuan women's championship there will be what I think is a special game between Sumire and the Chinese girl pro Wu Yiming. We've seen Sumire can beat weak Japanese pros, it will be interesting to see how she fares against her less famous Chinese counterpart. English commentary on Yike at https://home.yikeweiqi.com/#/live/room/27113/1/24917797

[Schachus]

Those two already faced each other 3 months ago - in pair go:
My translation from the report on the pair go chamiponship in the german go magazine:

„[...] At the side of the pair go world championship, the very young 1 dan professionals were invited to play a qualification match for a place in the main tournament next year. The japanese kids Nakamura Sumire 1p (10 years old) and Fukuoka Kotaro 1p (13years old) were facing the chinese kids Wu Yiming 1p (11 years old) and Hu Zihao 1p(12 years old). It was a close game, but after and endgame mistake from the japanese duo, the cinese kids and 1 dan professionals were able to secure the spot in the pair-go tournament next year“

[Uberdude]

Wu Yiming won the first game (it appears there is more than 1 arranged).

[Zenit]

I have no idea why it would think 高 is "Ji". Maybe it's a special reading I haven't heard about.

I don't know what the automaton was (wrongly) thinking, of course, but the character it was facing wasn't 高 - it was 髙

It's common for Japanese people to use old variants of characters in their names (shima is another common case). It's rather like the way English people add an -e to common-or-garden words (Cooke for Cook, Smythe for Smith, Broome for Broom, etc etc). The Japanese variants were especially common in woodblock days, no doubt because they are a bit easier to carve, and so they perhaps now have an air of catalpan elegance for their users.

Oh yes, you're right. Still weird though, since that doesn't change the reading or meaning. It's apparently pronounced gou1 in Cantonese and go in Korean, so it's not like it randomly decided to read one character in another language either. Unless it's Vietnamese or something. What a mystery!

[wolfking]

Wu Yiming won the first game (it appears there is more than 1 arranged).

It is best of three. Winner gets a spot in next year's Wu Qingyuan Cup main tournament.

[Kirby]

Looks like Wu Yiming won the second game, too... Maybe she also needs a thread?:

[Tryss]

A very peaceful game, and already in yose by move 120.

According to katago, Sumire has a small advantage up to move 127 (at move 126, b+5.2 and 77% wr). 127 lose her 27%wr and 5pts compared to L11, and after 133, she is estimated at 15% wr and -5pts

[John Fairbairn]

Sumire has just won the Japanese 2019 Journalists' Prize. Surprise, surprise.

The citation mentions not just her own performance (13 wins four months after being the youngest pro ever) but also the boost she gave to the spread of go.

Previous winners of the prize are: Sakai Hideyuki, Cho U, Zen, Go Jump (for Hikaru no Go), Masamitsu Junji (the guy who crowdfunded the 13x13 tournament), Ishikura Noboru, AlphaGo, Iyama Yuta, and Mannami Nao. Sumire is in distinguished company already!

[silviu22]

Sumire won her 3rd round match vs Takatsu Masaaki 1p on Dec 19 in Kisei prelims. She plays Iwamaru Hei 6p in the 4th round. She needs two more wins to make it to Kisei league C next year. The C league is very competitive - only 2 female players played in C league this year (Xie Yimmin and Ueno Asami).

One of the two amateurs lost (the other hasn't played its 3rd round game). Ueno Asami has won her 3rd round game, too. Sumire is one of 5 female players that won their 3rd round games in Kisei prelims.

[silviu22]

Here is a summary of Sumire's 2019 participation in Japanese tournaments using data from https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/. She is still active in tournaments with black name. She is out or did not participate in tournaments with red names:

• Kisei: Won 3 games in a row in West Block, frame 5. Last win was on Dec 19th. Plays Iwamaru Hei 6p next. Bracket: https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/kisei/045.html.
  [Update]: She lost her game against Iwamaru Wei on Jan 23, 2020.
• Meijin: Won her 1st game in Pre-selection C vs Yamada Kazuo 7p (might be Yamada Wakio 2671 on goratings.org) on 12/26. Bracket: Kansai/Chubu, Frame 4 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/meijin/046.html. Will play Naoyoshi Furuta 4p next.
• Honimbo: Won 3 games in a row in Qualifying B/C vs Yamamoto Kentaro 5p, Masahiro Takabayashi 7p and (Yoichi Yoda 7p or Shunta Utani 2p). Can't tell which was the 3rd opponent, because of the stupid nicknames on the Nihon Ki-in web site. She plays Hane Yasumasa 9p next in the final of her Qualifying B frame. See the Kansai/Chubu section, frame 9 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/honinbo/076.html. If she wins that game, then she will play in another round of qualifying (they call that one "Qualifying A" ). There you have to win 2 or 3 games to get to the "Final qualifying". And if you win that, you make it to the Honimbo league. Pretty elaborate! (Understandable since they have more than 100 professional players).
  [Update]: She lost her game vs Hane Yasumasa on Jan 16, 2020.
• Oza: Did not participate. The drawing date for qualifying B/C was on Feb 15, 2019, so she was not eligible this year.
• Tengen: Did not participate. The lottery date was Mar 13, 2019.
• Gosei: She will play against Hiromasa Yanagawa 7p in frame 7 of Kansai/Chubu section in 1st game of Pre-selection C. See https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/gosei/046.html.
• Judan (nicknamed "10-dan"): Sumire won 3 games in frame 7 of Kansai/Chubu, but lost the 4th game vs Komatsu Taiki 3p on Dec 12th. See https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/jyudan/059.html
• Agon-Kiriyama Cup - Did not participate. Preliminaries started in Feb. The tournament allows amateurs, but there were probably too many things going on back then preparing for Pro admission.
• King of New Stars/Shinjin-O - Sumire lost the final preliminary game on Dec 16th against Nyu Eiko 2p. Main bracket: https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/shinjin/045.html.
  Sumire will be playing Yamada Kazuo 7p in the Meijin preliminaries soon https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/meijin/046.html. She's in Kansai/Chubu, frame 4 bracket.
• Okan (Crown): Did not participate
• NHK: Did not participate. Don't know how you get in, I can't see any preliminaries
• Ryusei: Lost on April 22nd her 1st round game vs Omori Ran 1p. Frame 8 of Nihon Ki-in Kansai office section https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/ryusei/029.html.
• Masters Cup: You have to be over 50 years old and have at least 7 major titles to participate.
• Aluminum Cup (nicknamed "Young Fight"). Won 1 game but lost the 2nd on Sept 23 against the eventual winner of her bracket, Miyamoto Chiharu 1p. The winner had to play 3 games in the same day!.
• SGW Cup Nakajima - Did not participate
• Women's Honimbo: lost her 1st round qualification game on Nov 4th against Akiko Tsukuda 5p.
• Women's Tachioi Cup: won on Oct 3rd and Nov 21st. Plays Wang Yi Yi 3p next. See West block, frame 3 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/aidu/007.html. [Update] She lost her game vs Wang Yi on Jan 30, 2020.
• Women's Meijin: Did not participate. The drawing date was July 27, 2018 so she wasn't eligible.
• Women's Kisei - won 2 games in qualification, but lost in main bracket on Sep 3th against Mannami Mao 3p. (Mannami Mao eventually made it to the semifinals).
• Women's Saikyo: Won her 1st preliminary game on Dec 23rd against Takatomi Kayami 3p. Plays Ayako Ono 1p next. Bracket: West 2, Frame 3 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/senko/005.html.
• Women's Hakata/Kamachi Cup: Will play her 1st round vs Chiharu Miyamoto 1p. See West, Frame 1: https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/kamachi/001.html.
  [Update]: She lost her game vs Chiharu Miyamoto on Jan 13, 2020.
• Wakatake Cup: Lost 1st round match vs Kikkawa Hajime 3p.
  [Update]: The actual opponent in Watake Cup was Kikkawa Hajime, according to John Fairbairn.

Edits:
[Dec 28, 2019] She won her game in Meijin preliminary on Dec 26th, 2019.
[Jan 18, 2020] She lost her game in Hakata/Kamachi preliminary on Jan 13, 2020.
She lost her game in Honimbo preliminary on Jan 18th, 2020.
[Jan 24, 2020] She lost her game in Kisei prelims vs Iwamaru Wei on Jan 23, 2020.
[Jan 31, 2020] She lost her game vs Wang Yi 3p in Women's Tachoi Cup.

[John Fairbairn]

Sumire ended the year up to 27 December 2019 with a score of 24-7, which placed her in 11th position for winning ratio of all pros who had played at least 24 games (and top female; Ichiriki Ryo was top with 47-14).

Other female stars glittered, too. Ueno Asami was third in the traditionally favoured list of number of wins (favoured because it reflects the difficulty of winning through in the many knockout tournaments). She had a 44-25 tally (Shibano Toramaru was top with 52-18) and Fujisawa Rina was joint 4th with 38 wins. That included a 12-win streak, BTW, 5th highest in the year (Ichiriki top on 16). Xie Yimin was 12th with 31-23 and Suzuki Ayumi joint 15th with 29-15. Kato Chie was joint 19th on 27-18.

These figures include women's, young players' and seniors' tournament. But for the women it's a situation they have created for themselves and so is all the more commendable.

Wakatake Cup: Lost 1st round match vs Hajime Yoshikawa 3p

This is a mistake: her opponent was Kikkawa Hajime 3-dan, who went on to be runner-up in this Young Bamboos Cup, which is a restricted event for players under 40 in the Nihon Ki-in Osaka branch.