Shibano Toramaru
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:01 pm
When 18-year-old Shibano Toramaru beat Ke Jie (then world no.1 ) in the Japan-China Ryusei-Longxing match at the end of April 2018, it got, so far as I can see, a brief and ignored one-line mention from uberdude here. In stark contrast, the Japanese were squirming with excitement.
I have just been reading an interview with Shibano. He was already fairly well known, having won the 2017 Shinjin-O (this tournament over the long years has been a reliable indicator of future greatness), and in the process he set a couple of records: he became the youngest player to progress from turning pro to winning a title, and also the first title holder from the generation that learnt go from Hikaru no Go. He also has a highly individualistic style - an aggressive one that seems suited to today's international go where, so far, he has held his own.
What caught my eye was his approach to go. He said he was aware that he was in the vanguard of what is already being called the post-Iyama generation and that there were great expectations of him, but he claimed not to think about that and to play each game on its own merits. He said his approach to both ordinary day-to-day life and go study is a relaxed, natural one. If he does make any special effort in anything it is precisely to make each day hassle free.
His usual method of study is to play on the internet, which he does a lot, and if he has time left over he plays over game records or does tsumego. But he does not play over game records from books on a real board, but on the computer - click, click, click. He spends about a minute per game. He concedes this is not a great way to study, but he is not looking at all the moves, only at the new moves, which he tries to store away in a corner of his brain. This of course means all his free waking hours are spent on go, but he sees no other way to improve his technique. He has sought advice from older pros but the main takeaway from that was just to keep his physical fitness in trim, and so he has started on that.
The game against Ke Jie was a rare but welcome chance to test himself against the best. What he got from it, having won, was a huge boost to his confidence - though it won't have escaped his notice that he also got a 3 million yen prize.
His victory against Ke Jie was, in a small way, also a victory against AI strategy. Ke played the Q16-R14-N17 two-sided shimari said to be popular with AI programs but which humans had previously scorned on the grounds that it uses too many stones for too little certain territory (and FWIW Ke got only just over 20 points out of it, whereas a two-stone shimari usually works out on average at about 16 points).
Shibano commented on his own style. He admitted he's not quite sure what to make of it. When he first turned pro (in 2014) he favoured thickness but he then tried experimenting with other styles and has ended up with his current mish-mash. But one thing that hasn't changed, he said, is that the basis of his style is that he loves to attack. He is not specially proud of his reading ability, and he lagged behind others in his tsumego study group, at least as regards depth of analysis. His real strength may be that he is unfazed by who his opponent is, and he always stays calm whether he is winning or losing. That helps him find the best move. He got this attitude from Hong Malk-eun Saem, a Korean who settled in Japan to try to become a pro, failed, set up a successful salon in Osaka, then eventually did become a pro in the Kansai Ki-in. Hong taught him to play the board, not the man.
I have just been reading an interview with Shibano. He was already fairly well known, having won the 2017 Shinjin-O (this tournament over the long years has been a reliable indicator of future greatness), and in the process he set a couple of records: he became the youngest player to progress from turning pro to winning a title, and also the first title holder from the generation that learnt go from Hikaru no Go. He also has a highly individualistic style - an aggressive one that seems suited to today's international go where, so far, he has held his own.
What caught my eye was his approach to go. He said he was aware that he was in the vanguard of what is already being called the post-Iyama generation and that there were great expectations of him, but he claimed not to think about that and to play each game on its own merits. He said his approach to both ordinary day-to-day life and go study is a relaxed, natural one. If he does make any special effort in anything it is precisely to make each day hassle free.
His usual method of study is to play on the internet, which he does a lot, and if he has time left over he plays over game records or does tsumego. But he does not play over game records from books on a real board, but on the computer - click, click, click. He spends about a minute per game. He concedes this is not a great way to study, but he is not looking at all the moves, only at the new moves, which he tries to store away in a corner of his brain. This of course means all his free waking hours are spent on go, but he sees no other way to improve his technique. He has sought advice from older pros but the main takeaway from that was just to keep his physical fitness in trim, and so he has started on that.
The game against Ke Jie was a rare but welcome chance to test himself against the best. What he got from it, having won, was a huge boost to his confidence - though it won't have escaped his notice that he also got a 3 million yen prize.
His victory against Ke Jie was, in a small way, also a victory against AI strategy. Ke played the Q16-R14-N17 two-sided shimari said to be popular with AI programs but which humans had previously scorned on the grounds that it uses too many stones for too little certain territory (and FWIW Ke got only just over 20 points out of it, whereas a two-stone shimari usually works out on average at about 16 points).
Shibano commented on his own style. He admitted he's not quite sure what to make of it. When he first turned pro (in 2014) he favoured thickness but he then tried experimenting with other styles and has ended up with his current mish-mash. But one thing that hasn't changed, he said, is that the basis of his style is that he loves to attack. He is not specially proud of his reading ability, and he lagged behind others in his tsumego study group, at least as regards depth of analysis. His real strength may be that he is unfazed by who his opponent is, and he always stays calm whether he is winning or losing. That helps him find the best move. He got this attitude from Hong Malk-eun Saem, a Korean who settled in Japan to try to become a pro, failed, set up a successful salon in Osaka, then eventually did become a pro in the Kansai Ki-in. Hong taught him to play the board, not the man.
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