Following Nakamura Sumire

[ez4u]

In mamumamu's latest rating list (through the end of June), Sumire is now ranked 237th out of 445 rated Japanese professionals. She still has a long road ahead of her, but this puts her ahead of such well-know female former title holders as: Kobayashi Izumi (241), Kato Keiko (259), Chinen Kaori (263), and Yoshihara Yukari (280). For comparison Fujisawa Rina is now ranked 38th and Ueno Asami is ranked 63rd.

[John Fairbairn]

Sumire got knocked out in Round 1 of the 5th Senko Cup by Ueno Asami.

She has also signed up to play a series of 12 games in four three-game matches with Koreans. This is a tie-up between Cyberoro and Yugen no Ma, called Sumire's Oro Challenge. The games are 10 minutes each + 3x40s.

She lost the first match against Korean Women's No. 2 Kim Ch'ae-yeong 6-dan by 0-3. Match 2 should have been completed by now, but I haven't seen the result but as it was against Seo Neung-uk 9-dan, once the world's best fast player, even one win would be a major triumph. Shen next plays Seo Pong-su, and finally (1 August) meets Cheong Yu-chin, a new 14-year-old 1-dan.

[Ferran]

Match 2 should have been completed by now, but I haven't seen the result but as it was against Seo Neung-uk 9-dan, once the world's best fast player, even one win would be a major triumph.

This one?

Take care

[Shenoute]

Seen on Tygem today.

[John Fairbairn]

Sumire lost her 3-game match with Seo Neung-uk 9-dan, but did win her first game (Game 2) in the four-opponent series, by 3.5. It's her second win against a 9-dan.

[John Fairbairn]

Sumire beat Takao Shinji, 9-dan and multiple title holder, in a National Squad internet game (15 August 2020). Improvements in her style are also being noticed (and in that regard, note that Takao is a squad coach).

In official games, she is currently on 10-12, steadying the ship with a 2-2 score since last month. Even though she is one of the newest pros, she is joint top with two others in the race to get to 2-dan based on number of wins.

Ueno Asami is also continuing to keep the distaff flag flying high. She beat Shida Tatsuya 8-dan in the NHK Cup to proceed to Round 3.

[John Fairbairn]

Next big step to be taken by Sumire: she will transfer her registration to the Nihon Ki-in Tokyo branch from January 2021. This will offer her stronger competition. At the lower ranks, tournament preliminaries are organised within branches, so that for the most part Sumire would face only Kansai branch pros if she stayed in Osaka. There are more pros in Tokyo, and they at least believe they are stronger than their Kansai counterparts (who in turn believe they are stronger than their Kansai Ki-in counterparts, and they've got the likes of Iyama to prove it).

This transfer by Sumire has been on the cards for some time, but interrupting schooling was a problem. However, next April she has to move up to junior school anyway. Her physical move will presumably be just before that.

Coincidentally, another Nakamura heads the list of nominations for the Nihon Ki-in Hall of Fame, which is a little bid odd in some ways, as Sumire is probably more famous than all of them!

Doseki is the other Nakamura, and he is joined by Yasui Sanchi, Honinbo Satsugen, Karigane Junichi, Takagawa Kaku, Fujisawa Hideyuki and Araki Naomi. That must be close to the toughest list ever to choose from, so I expect there must be a good chance of multiple inductees this year (in October).

The name Araki Naomi will probably be unfamiliar to most of you but he is a very worthy candidate. He was Japanese professor of medicine and Chancellor at Chiba University but his most important job was editing and collecting games of many past players (Shuwa, Shuei, Shusaku, Jowa, Shuho). The works on Shuwa and Shuho were unfinished at his death on 1962 but were completed by his widow, Fujiko. A minor sideline was that he was the first chairman of the Igo Bunka-kai (Go Cultural Society) which he formed with Mitamura Tokushiro in 1954. It published a ground-breaking typewritten Japanese Go Journal in English. From memory he was instrumental also in launching the first international amateur tournament in 1963 and Go Monthly, so those of you in the west should be backing his nomination.

Elsewhere, the resurgence of go among Japanese women continues. A well known manga/anime voice actress, Terui Haruka, has spent the lockdown since March in studying go and has just achieved 1-dan (from scratch). She said she just lost track of time playing over games. She learnt about go from a tv programme called Go Focus. She had been vaguely aware of Hikaru no Go before that, but that was not her source of inspiration. But possibly her own achievement might spark off another go manga in the near future.

[silviu22]

Sumire lost in Ryusei 30 on July 20 and won on Sept 9 in Female Kisei since my last update. The Kisei game is much more important result, since she now made it to the main tournament for 2nd year in the row.

Here's her status as far as I can tell in the Japanese tournaments (Black=still in it, Red=eliminated, Pink=did not participate). June 2020 games are in Green. The dates are for my reference to know when to look again:

Male+Female tournaments:

• Kisei 45 - eliminated in Jan 2020. Kisei 46 should start in Oct 2020.
• Meijin 46 - eliminated Mar 5, 2020. Meijin 47 should start in Dec 2020
• Honimbo 76 - eliminated Nov 2019. Honimbo 77 should start in Oct 2020
• Oza 69 - Won 1st game in Prelim C on 3/12. Won 2nd game vs Sano Takatsugu (8p, #873 2823) on 6/18. Will play Ishida Atsushi 9p next. See frame 1 of Kansai/Chubo from https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/oza/069.html. Oza 70 should start in March 2021
• Tengen 47 - eliminated Apr 2, 2020. Tengen 48 should start in Apr 2021
• Judan 60 - should start in Sept 2020
• Ago/Kiryama 27 - eliminated on Feb 24, 2020 by Sakaguci?. Kiryama 28 - should start in Feb 2021
• Ryusei 30 - Defeated Araki Issei 4P on June 29, 2020 in final of prelim B. Lost to Nakano Shoya 1p in Prelim A. Ryusei 31 should start in April 2021?
• NHK - Has pretty restrictive criteria (no preliminaries). She will probably have to win a women's title to qualify.
• Shinjin (King of New Stars) 45 - eliminated in Dec 2019. New Rookie 46 should start in Nov 2020.
• Hiroshima 15 - Will play Mariko Honda 1p in 1st round of qualifying. See "Female Kansai" in https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/wakagoi/015.html. Hiroshima 16 should start in Aug 2021
• Thanks Cup 11 - eliminated on Apr 6, 2020 by Xie Yimmin. Thanks Cup 12 should start in April 2021
• Okan (Crown) Cup - Not eligible (seems to be for Nagoya branch only).
• SGW Nakajima 3 - did not participate? SGW 4 should start in Aug 2021

Women-only tournaments:

• Honimbo 39 - lost in 1st round of prelims (Nov 4, 2019). Honimbo 40 should start Oct 2020.
• Tachiaoi (Aizu Hospital 7) - lost on Jan 23, 2013 after winning first two rounds. Tachiaoi (Aizu Hospital) 8 should start Oct 2020.
• Kisei 24 - Defeated Yasuko Asano 2p or Akiko Tsukuda 5p in her only prelim A game on Sept 7. So she made it to the main tournament for the 2nd year in a row. See Kansai/Chubu bracket 3 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/fkisei/024.html. Kisei 25 should start July 2021.
• Senko/Saikyo 5th - Lost to Ueno Asami (3p, Female Honimbo, #398 3121) in 1st round of main tournament on July 13, 2020. She won in Dec 2019 and on Feb 13, 2020 (last one vs Ono Ayako, 1p (2682)). Defeated Mariko Deguci 1p on June 25, 2020 in final round of prelims by 0.5 point. Saikyo 6 should start Dec 2020.
• Camachi 1 she lost in 1st round (Jan 13, 2020). Hakata/Camachi 2 should start in Dec 2020.

Her 2020 record is 11-12 as far as I can tell. Total record (2019-2020): 28-19.

She is 4-2 since the restart:
June 18: defeated Sano Takatsugu 8P in Oza 69 Prelim C.
June 25: defeated Deguchi Mariko 1P in Senko 5 final Prelim.
June 29: defeated Araki Issei 4P in Ryusei 30 Prelim B.
July 13: Lost to Ueno Asami (3p, Female Honimbo, #398 3121) in 1st round of Saikyo 5.
July 20: Lost to Nakano Shou (1p, ???) in Ryusei 30 prelims.
Sept 9: Defeated Yasuko Asano 2p or Akiko Tsukuda 5p in Female Kisei 24 prelims and made it to main tournament.

[silviu22]

Sumire has been a busy girl this week and played 4 games (all wins!).
She won 3 games on Sept 14th vs Honda Mariko 1p, Miyamoto Chiharu 1p and Omori Ran 1p in Hiroshima 15. So she did one better than last year and made it to the main tournament.
She also defeated Ishida Atsushi (9p, #726 2928) on Sept 17 in Oza 69 prelims. I think this is her biggest victory so far. Will play Gao Lin Zhenghong (?) 7p next.
This means she has improved to 15-12 for 2020.
Also, the female Kisei 24 main bracket has been decided: she will play again a member of the Ueno clan in the first round. This time it is a more suitable opponent: Ueno Risa 1p.

Here's her status as far as I can tell in the Japanese tournaments (Black=still in it, Red=eliminated, Pink=did not participate). Sept 2020 games are in Purple. The dates are for my reference to know when to look again:

Male+Female tournaments:

• Kisei 45 - eliminated in Jan 2020. Kisei 46 should start in Oct 2020.
• Meijin 46 - eliminated Mar 5, 2020. Meijin 47 should start in Dec 2020
• Honimbo 76 - eliminated Nov 2019. Honimbo 77 should start in Oct 2020
• Oza 69 - Won 1st game in Prelim C on 3/12. Won 2nd game vs Sano Takatsugu (8p, #873 2823) on 6/18. Defeated Ishida Atsushi (9p, #726 2928) on Sept 17. Will play Gao Lin Zhenghong (?) 7p next. See frame 1 of Kansai/Chubo from https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/oza/069.html. Oza 70 should start in March 2021
• Tengen 47 - eliminated Apr 2, 2020. Tengen 48 should start in Apr 2021
• Judan 60 - should start in Sept 2020
• Ago/Kiryama 27 - eliminated on Feb 24, 2020 by Sakaguci?. Kiryama 28 - should start in Feb 2021
• Ryusei 30 - Defeated Araki Issei 4P on June 29, 2020 in final of prelim B. Lost to Nakano Shoya 1p in Prelim A. Ryusei 31 should start in April 2021?
• NHK - Has pretty restrictive criteria (no preliminaries). She will probably have to win a women's title to qualify.
• Shinjin (King of New Stars) 45 - eliminated in Dec 2019. New Rookie 46 should start in Nov 2020.
• Hiroshima 15 - Defeated Honda Mariko 1p, Miyamoto Chiharu 1p and Omori Ran 1p on Sept 14, 2020 and made it to the main tournament. See "Female Kansai" in https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/wakagoi/015.html. Hiroshima 16 should start in Aug 2021
• Thanks Cup 11 - eliminated on Apr 6, 2020 by Xie Yimmin. Thanks Cup 12 should start in April 2021
• Okan (Crown) Cup - Not eligible (seems to be for Nagoya branch only).
• SGW Nakajima 3 - did not participate? SGW 4 should start in Aug 2021

Women-only tournaments:

• Honimbo 39 - lost in 1st round of prelims (Nov 4, 2019). Honimbo 40 should start Oct 2020.
• Tachiaoi (Aizu Hospital 7) - lost on Jan 23, 2013 after winning first two rounds. Tachiaoi (Aizu Hospital) 8 should start Oct 2020.
• Kisei 24 - Defeated Tsukuda Akiko (5p, #979 2749) in her only prelim A game on Sept 7. So she made it to the main tournament for the 2nd year in a row. Will play Risa Ueno 1p in the first round. See Kansai/Chubu bracket 3 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/fkisei/024.html. Kisei 25 should start July 2021.
• Senko/Saikyo 5th - Lost to Ueno Asami (3p, Female Honimbo, #398 3121) in 1st round of main tournament on July 13, 2020. She won in Dec 2019 and on Feb 13, 2020 (last one vs Ono Ayako, 1p (2682)). Defeated Mariko Deguci 1p on June 25, 2020 in final round of prelims by 0.5 point. Saikyo 6 should start Dec 2020.
• Camachi 1 she lost in 1st round (Jan 13, 2020). Hakata/Camachi 2 should start in Dec 2020.

Her 2020 record is 15-12 as far as I can tell. Total record (2019-2020): 32-19. Current ranking on goratings.org: #770, 2901. (However, this doesn't include her last 4 wins).

She is 8-2 since the restart:
June 18: defeated Sano Takatsugu 8P in Oza 69 Prelim C.
June 25: defeated Deguchi Mariko 1P in Senko 5 final Prelim.
June 29: defeated Araki Issei 4P in Ryusei 30 Prelim B.
July 13: Lost to Ueno Asami (3p, Female Honimbo, #398 3121) in 1st round of Saikyo 5.
July 20: Lost to Nakano Shou (1p, ???) in Ryusei 30 prelims.
Sept 9: Defeated Yasuko Asano 2p or Akiko Tsukuda 5p in Female Kisei 24 prelims and made it to main tournament.
Sept 14: Defeated Honda Mariko 1p, Miyamoto Chiharu 1p and Omori Ran 1p in Hiroshima 15 prelims and made it to main tournament.
Sept 17: Defeated Ishida Atsushi (9p, #726 2928) in Oza 69 in Prelim B 1st round.

[silviu22]

Sumire is out of Oza 69 after losing to Takabayashi Masahiro 7p (2784) on Oct 1st.

2020 results: 15-13, overall: 32-20

The other child prodigy (Wu Yimming 2p from China) defeated Xie Yimmin 6p from Japan in 1st round of 3rd Qingyuan Cup. She lost her 2nd game, but still, I believe she is stronger than Sumire right now.

[silviu22]

Sumire Defeated Ueno Risa(1p, 2837) on Oct 8th in 1st round of Female Kisei. This puts her in the top 8 of that tournament.

2020 results: 16-13, overall: 33-20

[John Fairbairn]

For those who like to keep track of records, Sumire's game with Ueno Risa in the Women's Kisei (the Docomo Cup) was the youngest ever match-up in an official tournament in Japan (probably anywhere). It was 11+14 = 25.

Sumire, in what is her first tournament at the finals level, next faces Aoki Kikuyo.

She has also just won a special award in the annual Kansai Go and Shogi Clubs Prizes.

Elsewhere among the women, Fujisawa Rina (just turned 22) has just won the 1st Hakata Kamachi Cup, defeating Ueno Asami in the final on 9 October. This is one of the few events that has a 3rd place playoff: Mukai Chiaki beat Nyu Eiko. The sponsors also made an important announcement at the final. The Hakata Kamachi Cup itself will now cease, but they will take over the Women's Meijin which terminated last year. Conveniently, Rina is also the current holder of that title. The current event was her first trip Fukuoka, s place she found "delightful". She'll probably be back many times. The new Women' Meijin will surely be held there, because Hakata = Fukuoka, and local pride is generally re-asserting itself and blossoming there.

[John Fairbairn]

A partial update:

After going 7-10 for the year 2020 up to April, Sumire seemed to go up a notch after games resumed in June. She qualified for the main events of three tournaments (i.e. qualified via the preliminaries): the Senko Cup, the Women's Kisei and the Young Carps. In September she was undefeated, with 5 wins. Her score for that period, June to end September, was 8-2. Her victims included Ishida Atsushi 9-dan.

In terms of the official tally of wins (which is currently only as of 20 September), Sumire has now moved the top of this year's queue of 1-dans trying to get to 2-dan, despite being the youngest and one of the very newest to enter the lists. She is on 15-12. Interestingly one of her closest rivals in this race is Ueno Risa (14) who is on 8-8, and she also qualified for the Women's Kisei finals, and as luck would have it she has been paired with Sumire in Round 1. That game is scheduled for 22 November, but at premium rates for those who want to watch it online.

While Sumire and Risa are steaming ahead in the 1-dan section, the foreigners are having a tough time. Antii is on 0-7, Indonesian-born Rafif Shidqi Fitrah is on 0-2 and Chang Fukang of Malaysia is on 1-2. Given her pedigree back to Kitani Minoru, we might also have hoped for a brighter start by Cho Kosumi, but she's on 0-3.

Two other things caught my eye in this week's go news. One was Cho Riyu commenting on the all-female Hakata-Kamachi games said the content of the games was "of extremely high quality". The other is that the two major puzzles of the accuracy of Dosaku's game records have now been solved. And not by researchers but by two young pros! Nice to know they are not all AI obsessed

[silviu22]

Sumire lost her 2nd round game in Female Kisei 24 vs Aoki Kikuyo (8p) on Oct 26, so she is out of Female Kisei 24.

According to my calculation, that puts her 2020 results as 16-14, Overall: 33-21.

She seems to be in Rookie of the year 46 qualifying. See frame 7 of https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/shinjin/046.html. Will play Tsuji Hana (?) 1p

The other tournament she's still in is Hiroshima 15 (main tournament: https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/wakagoi/015.html).

[Ferran]

Nakamura 1-p against Hoshikawa 4-p [KK], at the Kansai Kiin's Open. The sgf can be downloaded here and I found some commentary (without any sort of even AI-translated subtitles, I'm afraid) here.

Take care.