Following Nakamura Sumire

[John Fairbairn]

Spelling: Go Seigen Cup (versus Kim Ch'ae-yeong).

Go lived nearly 90% of his life in Japan and was naturalised. And as for the event being in China, even Wikipedia, as I bet most people here do, says Hong Kong, not Xiang Gang, and Sun Tzu is far commoner than Sun Zi, taichi than taiji etc etc.

But we are spoiled for choice actually. Go used three different names in Japan, one being pure Japanese (just briefly, in 1948), and had one other misapplied to him (misreading by Japanese people).

[CDavis7M]

Ah, "Wu" should have tipped me off that this was Go Seigen. Go world will give you the Japanese pronunciation for names, but nothing else. Thanks for the details.

[John Fairbairn]

Ah, "Wu" should have tipped me off that this was Go Seigen. Go world will give you the Japanese pronunciation for names, but nothing else. Thanks for the details.

It's noble of you to It's noble of you to admit you didn't recognise the Chinese version. That just reinforces the sense of using the Japanese version (which is also a lot easier to say).

[pajaro]

But I don't know if it will be broadcast on YouTube because it is not in the list of upcoming matches: https://www.youtube.com/c/nihonkiin_ch/ ... shelf_id=0

Is there somewhere else that it would be broadcast or discussed?

The game has just been scheduled (AFAIK) so there is still a chance that it will be broadcasted. The Sumire hype is still going on, and Kobayashi Koichi is not some random 9p
But if it not broadcasted live, there a couple of youtube channels that will surely discuss it. In Japanese, I am afraid. I can't understand it, but sometimes, just the plays that they replay, tone of the voice, the "hmmm"... is useful.

We'll have to wait, but I'd like to see it live. Not only the play, but the body language. As I said before, I think Kobayashi will win, but how will she handle the situation?

[pajaro]

The game with Kobayashi Koichi is over. Sumire lost with white, B +5.5.

I watched only a bit in WBaduk. I think the Japanese server is then Nihon Kiin one. Yuugen no ma?
Anyway, what surprised me was the use of time. When I logged in, Sumire was already in her last minute of byo-yomi, while Kobayashi had still 50 minutes of his main time. I don't know the number of move.

I guess Sumire was ultra cautious.

[gazzawhite]

Anyway, what surprised me was the use of time. When I logged in, Sumire was already in her last minute of byo-yomi, while Kobayashi had still 50 minutes of his main time. I don't know the number of move.

I guess Sumire was ultra cautious.

The time data on wBaduk isn't reliable for longer Japanese games, as they don't stop during breaks. It's likely that it was Sumire's turn during the lunch interval, so she would have had an extra 45 minutes compared to what wBaduk was indicating.

[pajaro]

Oh, right...

I didn't know this, but I saw something like +45min. I didn't pay too much attention. I found it strange, because Sumire seemed to have lost on time. I thought that the broadcasting had some delay.

Some comment read on-line: the game was close until yose, but then Kobayashi's experience hit hard.

[pajaro]

After some time, Sumire has played (and won) 2 official games. She played them the same day, against Kobayashi Chizu first, and SHimosaka Miori later. Female Meijin, prelims.

Two games the same day? I was surprised. Turns out, players have only 1 hour, quite fast for a tournament like this. You play in the morning, and depending on the result, you choose your lunch. But only one missed day of school.

About the female Meijin, here is something else that I didn't know. Years ago, the main tournament was a league, with seeded players, a challenger, and so on. Then it changed to a knock out tournament for a couple of years. And in 2020, it wasn't played. I don't know if it was delayed due to the pandemic, or other issues. But the tournament came back in 2021, with a new sponsor and, again, with a league. Being the first edition of the league, all seats (7) were open. So the prelims were only 3 rounds, I think. After this edition, some players keep their seats and only a few (3) are demoted. So the next prelims will be tougher, with many more rounds.

Only last thing: Kobayashi Izumi is very near of Sumire in the pairings. If Kobayashi won her games yesterday (same day as Sumire), they will play next. The Kobayashis can comment next time they all meet.

[pajaro]

I nearly forgot!

Very important: Sumire had her hair cut. She lost her ponytail.

[pajaro]

Today Sumire beat O Keii in the first round of the female Kisei. Sumire killed a big group, which is always good to watch

This is the third time that Sumire plays in the main event. That's every year she has been a pro, I think. Perhaps this is going to become a special tournament for her. Let's see if she can win it in the near future.

[Ember]

I nearly forgot!

Very important: Sumire had her hair cut. She lost her ponytail.

Such a tease! You need to provide a picture with that statement!
https://www.nikkansports.com/general/ni ... 820-2.html

[CDavis7M]

I'll just remember her as on the filing folder.

[pajaro]

Yesterday (11/11/21), Sumire played Suzuki Ayumi in the second round of the femake kisei.

Before the game, I thought that it's still a bit early for Sumire to face the 4 top female players (you know who I am talking about). Sumire would lose, and guess what, she did.
But it was only a 1/2 point defeat. Pretty even, much closer than I expected.

Lately, Sumire hasn't had many official games. About one year ago, she was playing the first rounds of the main tournaments, winning a lot of them. We could see her growing. Now she doesn't play so often. But she doesn't stop improving.

[pajaro]

Sumire has played some official games these last few days.

Nov 22nd, she played (and won) Fujii Koki 1dan in the prelim of the Shinjin O. Still 2 games to get to the main event. But it's the tournament where she should play.
Nov 29th, she played (and, again, won) Kim Soo Jon 9dan, in the C prelim of the Honinbo. A looong way to the league Not her first win against a 9 dan, btw.
Today, Dec 2nd, she played (did you guess? she won) Hoshiai Shiho 3dan in the female Meijin. 2 more games till the main event, I think. In this case, it's a league with 7 players, so getting a seat means playing 6 good games.

The female Meijin doesn't count for promotions, but the Honinbo and the Shinjin O do. Not bad.

But...
She also played Kaneko Maki 2 dan in a prelim of the Teikei (a new tournament) and lost. Sumire also lost to Moro Arisa 2 dan in the prelim of the Wakakoi (aka Hiroshima Aluminum), and had lost 2 of 3 games of the Discovery Cup. In this one, she only won an insei.

In the Amazon Army thread, John said that Sumire didn't play in Hiroshima, probably because of school. Well, she did take part in the prelims, but lost early.
Is it possible that she plays all games that she has to, but chooses when to focus? I'm not saying she is losing on purpose. As a pro, no matter how young you are, I think (hope!) that you always play to win. But your motivation may not always be the same.

[pajaro]

One more win in the Shinjin O, against Suzukawa Natsumi 1-dan. Last one before the main event will be Nishioka Masao 2-dan.

I was checking their Nihon Kiin profiles, where you can see their last 11 scheduled 11 games (played or not), and I notice that Masao's oldest game was in 2021/07/15, Natsumi's oldest was in 2021/08/30, and Sumire's oldest was in 2021/10/04. Total games this year (so far, as of today) of 59 for Sumire, 30 for Masao and 18 for Natsumi. Sumire is playing a lot. And with junior high school, her life must be really stressing.