Gold Medals for China and Korea

Men' s Team - prize giving ceremony

The last gold medals of the go competition at the World Mind Sports Games went to the men’s team from the Republic of Korea and a mixed pair from China. In the team event, the Koreans substituted Han Sanghun for Lee Younggu, who had beaten Japan’s Takao Shinji in the morning, and left their star Lee Sedol, who had lost to Japan’s Kono Rin, in the lineup. Lee promptly lost again, to China’s Ding Wei, but the rest of the Korean team won all their games: Won Sungjin beat Chang Hao; Choi Chulhan beat Kong Jie; Han Sanghoon beat Xie He; Kim Jiseok beat Piao Wenyao. Result: Republic of Korea 4, China 1. Lee’s two losses were the only games the Korean team dropped in the entire men’s team event.

In the play-off for third place, the Japanese team triumphed by a 4-1 score over the team from Chinese Taipei. Kimono-clad Yoda Norimoto beat Chen Shih-Yuan, Takao Shinji beat Pan Shan-chi; Hane Naoki lost to Hwang Yih-tzuu; Yamashita Keigo beat Hsiao Cheng-hao; Kono Rin beat Lin Han-chieh.

Chinese Mixed Pair

In the pair go competition, China’s Wang Xiangru and Liu Yirong convincingly defeated Hsieh Yi-min and Chou Chun-hsun of Chinese Taipei to bring China its third gold medal of the Games. The play-off for third place was won by Lee Hajin and On Sojin of the Republic of Korea, who defeated China’s Li He and Yu Bin.

A large crowd attended the awards ceremony, where Ying Ming-hwa of the Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundaton draped bronze medals around the necks of the Japanese team, silver medals around the necks of the Chinese team, and gold medals around the necks of the team from the Republic of Korea, and Liu Siming, Director General of the Board and Card Games Administrative Center of the State General Administration of Sport of China, handed bouquets to the medal-winners. The Korean team took their victory in stride, standing with their hands on their hearts as the flags were raised and the Korean national anthem was played. This ceremony was followed by the pair go awards ceremony, at which the medals were presented by Hua Yigang of the China Weiqi Association and the bouquets by Ms Taki Hiroko of the Japan Pair Go Association.

By brining China’s total in the go competition to three gold medals, the medal won by the Chinese mixed pair brought earned China the go championship trophy in the Games. The Korean golds in the men’s team competition and men’s individual competition, however, told the same story as the other international tournaments for the past fifteen years: the Republic of Korea is still at the top. They also won the most medals overall (nine to China’s five), and won a medal in each of the six go events.

The Japanese teams were hoping for more than two bronze medals, but they can take some consolation in the gold medal won by their contract bridge seniors team in a  dramatic come-from-behind performance against the USA. The DPR Koreans can also take pride in their gold medal in the open amateur event, and Chinese Taipei in its silver medal in the mixed pairs.

At a press conference the next day, Jose Damiani, president of the International Mind Sports Association and the World Bridge Federation, praised the Chinese for their splendid organization of the Games. Estimating the total number of players of the five mind sports at about one billion worldwide, he noted that mind sports have more participants than spectators, the opposite of the situation in physical sports, and stressed the importance of teaching mind sports at schools and universities, not only for the benefit of the young but also for the mental health of the elderly. In response to a question from a British reporter, he urged people to work for Olympic recognition of mind sports, similar to the recognition gained by the paralympics, as a key step toward holding another World Mind Sports Games after the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012. He added that if London decided against this, another city was already fully prepared to host the event. Mr Damiani also noted that mind sports was one of the first activities to make full use of the new technology of the internet, and urged the other media to give mind sports more attention.

At the same press conference, Mrs Xiao Min, Assistant Manager of the General Administration of Sport of China, noted that China had an advantage in mind sports insofar as in China, both board games and card games are administered by the same organization, a fact attested to by their success in chess and bridge as well as go and xiangqi. The Chinese intend to hold a national mind sports games sometime next year.

Shigeno Yuki, Secretary General of the International Go Federation, stressed that this was the first international go tournament to include both professionals and amateurs. In reply to a reporter’s question, she commented that the tournament format could be improved to give the professional participants more serious competition with each other in the later rounds.

For amateur players especially, however, these games have been a dream come true, and an inspiration to organize more types of international competition in the near future.

James Davies

Interview with the Czech Team

Ranka interviewed three members fo the Czech team after their loss to the team from the Republic of Korea in the first knockout round on October 17.

from left to right Dach, Danek and Silt

Ranka: (to team captain Vladimir Danek): Please tell us about your game in the first round of the men’s team knockout, against Korea.
Danek: I lost, but I was was happy to play against Choi Chulhan. I also played Korean professionals in 1992, and 1997 when I was stronger.

Ranka: What of your team’s other games in this afternoon’s match?
Danek: We all lost. In one game one of our players almost killed a large group, but it was a ko, and the professional had of course anticipated it, so in the end the group lived. If we had any chance it was on the first board. Ondrej Silt has been an insei in Japan for three years. That makes a difference. He is pretty strong. If he gets a game that matches his style, he can beat professional opponents. He has won his last three games with Catalin Taranu.

Ranka: How was your game against Christian Pop in the match with Romania in the morning?
Danek: It was a peaceful game, as are all games with Christian Pop. I got the advantage when he tried a move that didn’t work, but later I made mistakes and lost the advantage, and the game. He is 180 points above me in the European rating system, a difference of almost two stones. A few years ago we were even but he has gone up and I have gone down. We have played many times. He usually wins, but when we have an important game, usually I win—in the Toyota and Denso Cup, for example. Today’s game was the exception. It was important and I lost.

Ranka: The western European countries that were strong twenty or thirty years ago are not doing as well as the Eastern European countries these days. Why do you think this is happening?
Danek: They are too rich, too lazy. Some time ago I was discussing forming a professional league for the eight top European players. When we drew up a list, seven of the eight players were from Eastern Europe. This is not a good situation from the standpoint of finding sponsorship. These discussions are temporarily on hold.

Ranka (to Ondrej Silt): How was your game this morning against Catalin Taranu?
Silt: Hopeless.

Ranka: But you won.
Silt: It just happened. Catalin often loses games that he should win.

Ranka: And your game this afternoon against Won Sungjin?
Silt: I was looking forward to being given a free lesson from a Korean professional player. I wanted to play an interesting fighting game, but he was very calm and collected, just played on the three-three points and took territory, so I got a different kind of game from what I expected. The best thing was that Kobayashi Satoru said that Czechia is among the eight strongest countries in the world.
Danek: Kobayashi Satoru was Silt’s sensei when he was an insei in Japan.

Ranka (to Zbynek Dach): How was your game against the Korean player?
Dach: I decided to play fast. He never gave me a chance. He had black and he always kept sente, kept taking profit.

Ranka: And your game against Lucian Corlan from Romania?
Dach: I lost. He played very well. He took all the points. I got hardly anything. I tried to start fighting, but I lost the fight. We were lucky to get into the knockout.

Ranka: Your overall impressions of this event?
Dach: I had good games with players from Finland, Hungary, and Romania. Playing for a team is good, because you’re playing for the whole team, not just for yourself. My one complaint is that we didn’t have the chance to watch our teammates’ games after we finished our own games. It was nice that there were other mind sports being played here. Even though I didn’t have time to watch them, I met and talked with the players at dinner and lunch.

Ranka: Did you make any special preparations for this event?
Dach: No, I was too busy getting my visa.

Ranka: Thank you all for the interview.

Interview with Matthew Robert Macfadyen

Matthew Robert Macfadyen

Ranka: How did you start to play Go?
Matthew: My father was a biologist. He learned about Go from a colleague in the USA who had some Japanese students. I used to play a lot of chess with my brother at that time. My father thought maybe we would be interested in Go. So, he bought us a Go set. With this set and a very basic knowledge of rules, I started to play Go with my brothers and some school friends.
Then when I was 17 years old, I went to Oxford University in England. There was an active Go club there where I could go to play with other students. I was about 15 kyu at that time and didn’t make any improvement in the first year. The strongest player in the club gave me 6 stones and still beat me. I didn’t play so much in the university, about once or twice a week.

Ranka: How did you become 6 dan?
Matthew: After I left the university, I started to work in weather forecasting and the London Go Centre opened. I now lived in the city where some of England’s strongest players lived. For the three years that the Go Centre remained open, we used to live at the Go Club on weekends, playing and discussing games. Then during the rest of the week we would read Go books at home. Quickly I jumped from 1 kyu to 3 dan, and I began playing in tournaments. Once I wanted to take a week off without pay to attend a tournament. I was told I couldn’t do that, so I said, “Yes I can. I resign.” After that I travelled around Europe and played in many tournaments. I became 6 dan in 1980. I learned a lot from the Japanese books and game records.

Ranka: Which style do you prefer, Japanese style or Korean Style?
Matthew: Well, I enjoyed a lot the pair games played by Chou Chun-Hsun 9p and Hsieh Yi-Min 4p from Chinese Taipei. It seems that Chou Chun-Hsun’s only interest is in life and death. In the semi-finals, the Taipei pair tricked their Chinese opponents into trying to kill a group that they couldn’t kill and finally won the game, which had been favorable to their opponents.
My favorite player is Go Seigen. I’ve been influenced by his shin-fuseki. I also like Honinbo Jowa very much. He would develop many groups on the board, each of them quite weak, and then launch an attack from his “weak” groups and crush his opponents. This is not very often done in modern Go. Kato Masao sometimes attacked from weak groups when he was young, and you sometimes see this style in O Meien’s games, but most players attack from strength. I like to attack from weak positions. The accuracy of professional players like Lee Changho, who can calculate the endgame when there are just 50 stones on the board, is amazing, but that’s not how I like to play.

Ranka: Which tournaments did you play in the WMSG? Which is the most interesting one?
Matthew: I played in Individual Men and Pairs. I was very excited to play with a Korean 9p. I got a nice game in the first 40 moves. After that, it was just like holding onto a ledge with your fingernails and just trying to survive. The most enjoyable game I played was with Jan Hora 6d from Czechia. We had played before in the World Amateur Championship in Tokyo. It was a very interesting game. He started on the 7-9 point This time I started with 5-5, and he played even higher at 6-6.
Go is an experience you share with your opponent. There are different kinds of players: some play to win; some play because they love it. I love this game. The word “amateur” comes from a Latin root meaning “to love”. An amateur is someone who loves what he does. When I knew that I was going to play with Jan, I had a visceral feeling that it was going to be a good game.

Ranka: Do you play this 5-5 opening very often?
Matthew: I got good results with this opening first in a game with Liu Xiaoguang (China) in the World Amateur Championship in 1981. It was good for me over the first 50 moves, in the next 20 moves we became even, and then at the end I missed a connection at the edge and my position collapsed. I used to spend a lot of time studying openings. I like to try invent new moves. Some strange moves work well when there’s an extra stone in the right place, so if that situation arises, you can use them.

Ranka: Do you teach beginners now?
Matthew: Not really. After I quit my first job, I didn’t have regular jobs for 20 years. I used to stay at home to do housework, look after my children and study and teach Go while my wife went out to work. Now my wife stays at home and I work as an electrician. So I don’t have much time to teach. Another thing is that I’m bad at teaching beginners. When you are teaching beginners, you have to keep from getting interested in the position yourself, because then things quickly get over their heads. That’s the mistake I can’t avoid making. I used to teach by e-mail, sometimes teach seminars, and even have people come to stay at my home for lessons, but I don’t teach much any more.

Ranka: Thanks very much for the interview!

James Davies and Chen

Semifinal Results

Kim Ji Seok

The semifinal rounds of the men’s team tournament and the pair go tournament were played on the morning of October 17 at the Beijing International Convention Center. The winners, who will vie for the gold medals this afternoon, were from China, the Republic of Korea, and Chinese Taipei.

The Korean men’s team reached the final by beating the Japanese team 4-1. Hane Naoki, Japan’s current Honinbo, scored the only win for the Japanese, beating Korea’s Choi Chulhan by resignation on the second board. On the other four boards, Won Sungjin beat Yoda Norimoto by 3.5 points, Lee Younggu beat Takao Shinji by 8.5 points, teenaged Kim Jiseok beat Yamashita Keigo, Japan’s Kisei title-holder, by 2.5 points, and Korea’s superstar Lee Sedol beat Kono Rin, the Japanese Tengen title-holder, by resignation.

Hwang Yih-Tzuu (C. Taipei) vs Jie Kong (China)

In the other semifinal match, the Chinese team defeated the team from Chinese Taipei 4-1. China’s lead player Chang Hao, a veteran at the age of 31, beat Chen Shih-Yuan by 2.5 points and Piao Wenyao, China’s youngest player at age 20, beat Hsiao Cheng-Hao by 8.5 points. The other three games were decided by resignation: Ding Wei (China) beat Lin Han-chieh; Kong Jie (China) lost to Hwang Yih-tzu, and Xie He (China) beat Pan Shan-chi.

In the pair go semifinals, Hsieh Yi-min and Chou Chun-hsun defeated China’s Li He and Yu Bin to ensure at least a silver medal for Chinese Taipei. This was no upset: Hsieh (age 18) currently holds the women’s Honinbo and Meijin titles in Japan, and Chou won the LG Cup, a major international tournament, in 2007. In the other semifinal match Fan Weijing and Huang Yizhong, China’s second pro pair, defeated Lee Hajin and On Sojin from the Republic of Korea, producing a final showdown between pairs from China and Chinese Taipei and a bronze-medal play-off between pairs from China and the Republic of Korea.

While the Japanese men’s team plays the team from Chinese Taipei for a bronze medal this afternoon, in another building, Japan’s senior contract bridge team will be playing the US senior team for a gold medal. At the World Mind Sports Games, somewhat surprisingly, Japanese bridge is out-glittering Japanese go.

James Davies

Interview with Martin Stiassny

Martin Stiassny EGF-V. President, IGF-Director

Ranka: It must have been quite a challenge to organize this big event. Would you tell us what kind of role the European Go Federation played in organizing the 1st WMSG?
Martin: EGF was involved because we have 35 members in the IGF. It was difficult for the IGF to contact these members directly . So we were responsible for contacting them to collect information, I worked very closely with Yuki Shigeno (IGF-Secretary General) and Thomas Hsiang (IGF-Director). Also I had very close internal cooperation with other Go federations to prepare for the 1st WMSG.

Ranka: Did all the members of the European Go Federation participate in this WMSG?
Martin: Nearly all. But not all. I feel sorry about that. Two were missing—Luxembourg and Slovenia. I did asked Luxembourg why they didn’t make it. It turned out that they didn’t have enough time. There are so many Go events to be busy with in these days: the European Go Congress, World Amateur Championship, etc. For Slovenia, because there was only one free flight provided by Air China, they decided that it would be too expensive for the federation and their players.

Ranka: How was your cooperation with the Chinese organization committee?
Martin: It was perfect. We worked in a very friendly atmosphere. Nothing could have been better.

Ranka: This tournament focused mainly on championship play. What about the spectators?
Martin: I would say that it is difficult to have a competition with thousands of spectators. But I think, at least all the participants here should have the opportunity to watch the games. After finishing their games, many players might want to stay to watch the other games. But in fact they were asked to leave the playing room immediately after their games. That is not OK. Lots of them came to me to ask for help. Sure, I could help someone sometimes, but not everyone every time. I think this depends on the room too. In the World Amateur Championship, the players play in the center, in a roped-off area. Standing outside that area, the spectators can watch the games without disturbing the players. Here the rooms are all too small. However, if it’s not possible to have spectators in the rooms, there should be more live broadcast games in the hall. Only one game displayed is surely not enough.

Ranka: What is your general impression of this event?
Martin: It is an excellent event. I think it is the start of a hopefully long relationship between all players and countries. Especially for Europe. Half of the IGF members are from Europe. We really need this kind of big event to make contact with the rest of the world and to learn from each other. Actually I am quite surprised that the team tournaments, not the individual tournaments, are especially highlighted.

Ranka: What is your relationship with federations of the other mind sports?
Martin: I regret that I don’t have much relation with them. At the beginning of organizing the 1st WMSG, during some high official meetings, we did have some contact with them. But here, in Beijing, I have had hardly any contact with them. I didn’t watch any of the chess competition, or bridge competition. That is a point that needs to be improved.

Ranka: What is your opinion of the future of the WMSG?
Martin: I think that it may happen again, and I really hope so. It’s not so easy to organize this kind of huge event. It needs a large amount of money, and also some powerful government or city that is willing to have it. But it is still possible. I believe in it and I want to work for it. Every player wants it again. I’m sure it will happen again!

Ranka: Thank you very much for the interview and all the excellent work you have done for the WMSG!

Interview by Max and Chen

Quarterfinal Results

Team Japan

The winners in the quarterfinal round of the men’s team event are from China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. The matches were not close; the winning teams won all their games. The losing teams from the Ukraine, Hong Kong China, DPR Korea, and the Czech Republic have the consolation of knowing that they lost to some of the best go players in the world. In the semifinal round the Japanese team confronts the Korean team while the Chinese team plays the team from Chinese Taipei.

The two Chinese pairs won their games in the quarterfinal round of the pair knockout, defeating the one remaining amateur pair (Kim Shin-young and Hong Seok-ui of the Republic of Korea) and the one remaining Japanese pair (Kanazawa Kumiko and Kobayashi Satoru).  China is now assured of at least one pair go medal. Also competing for medals will be Hsieh Yi-min (aka Xie Yimin) and Chou Chun-hsun of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Kim Eunseon and Hong Sungji of the Republic of Korea, and On Sojin and Lee Hajin of the Republic of Korea, who defeated Chang Kai-hsin and Lin Chih-han of Chinese Taipei.

Jan Hora and Jitka Bartova

Kim Shin-young and Hong Seok-ui may have lost their chance for a medal, but by beating a pro pair in the first knockout round, they earned the title of International Amateur Pair Go Champions. This title comes with a certificate, plate, and cash prize from the Japan Pair Go Association, a certificate from the Prime Minister of Japan, and a certificate and plate from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The seven amateur pairs who lost in the first knockout round are competing in a separate knockout to determine the runner-up in this International Amateur Pair Go Championship.

Mariya Zakharchenko and Iurii Pliushch

In the first three games of this separate knockout, Mariya Zakharchencko and Iurii Pliushch  of the Ukraine beat Wang Xiangru of China, Jo Saebyol and Jo Taewon of DPR Korea beat the Hiraokas of Japan, and Jitka Bartova and Jan Hora of the Czech Republic beat Tungalag Ravjir and Sansar Tsolmon of Mongolia. In the semifinal round these three winning pairs will be joined by Rita and Tibor Pocsai of Hungary.

James Davies

Amateur Pair Defeats Pro Opponents

Hong Seok-ui (left) and Kim Shin-young (right)

The pair go competition shifted from round-robin mode into knockout mode this morning. Apart from the presence of professional players, the biggest change is in time control. Each pair now has an hour of clock time, followed by the same 30-second-per-move overtime system as used in the other events. In the first knockout round, seven of the eight professionl pairs defeated their amateur opponents, but one amateur pair rose in rebellion: Kim Shin-young and Hong Seok-ui of the Republic of Korea defeated pros Konishi Kazuko and Imamura Toshiya of Japan.

The Kim-Hong pair came to this tournament with impressive credentials. Kim qualified by being the top ranked Korean insei. Hong won his way into the the World Mind Sports Games through a two-stage tournament among the top twelve in the Korean amateur rating system, and he also finished first at the European Go Congress in 2007 and second in 2008. In their next game, Kim and Hong will face two Chinese pros: Li He and Yu Bin.

The DPR Korean pair (Jo & Jo) came close to scoring a second amateur victory in their match against Lee Hajin and On Sojin from the Republic of Korea. Theirs was the last pair game to end; south prevailed over north, pro over amateur, by two and a half points. Lacking any professional pairs, DPR Korea is now eliminated from the main pair competition. In the next round Lee and On will take on Chang Kai-hsin and Lin Chih-han from Chinese Taipei, who defeated Japan’s Hiraoka pair.

Czechia plays Romania

In the last round of the men’s team event, the teams from China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and the Republic of Korea again won all their games. Lee Sedol made his first appearance for the Korean team, defeating Bram Koster of the Netherlands. The teams from DPR Korea and the Ukraine coasted into the knockout round on 4-1 scores, defeating the teams from Russia and Serbia. The close match was the contest between Czechia and Romania for the eighth place in the knockout. Czechia emerged victorious by a 3-2 score: Ondrej Silt defeated pro 5-dan Catalin Taranu on the first board, Jan Simara defeated Cornel Burzo on the third board, and Martin Kuzela defeated Mihai Serban on the last board.

In the first round of the knockout this afernoon, the Czechs will face the unbeaten team from the Republic of Korea, and the Ukrainian team will face the unbeaten team from China. In the other two matches Japan is paired against DPR Korea and Chinese Taipei is paired against Hong Kong China.

James Davies

Chinese Women Do It Again

The Chinese women’s team defeated the team from the Republic of Korea 2-1 to take the gold medal in the women’s team go competition at the World Mind Sports Games. As in China’s semifinal victory over Japan, it was Zhang Yan and Wang Xiangyun who got the job done, beating Kim Hyemin and Kwon Hyojun on boards one and two. On the third board Park Jiyun salvaged some honor for the Republic of Korea by defeating China’s Teng Yi. In the playoff for third place, the Japanese team won all three of their games against the DPR Korean team.

The Chinese Gold Medalists

At the awards ceremony in the evening the audience gave a warm round of applause and two cheers as tournament director Wang Runan placed bronze medals around the necks of the white-jacketed Japanese trio and IGF director Thomas Hsiang handed them bouquets. The volume of the applause rose and the number of cheers increased as the silver medals and bouquets were awarded to the black-jacketed Korean team. Then the audience let loose with their full approval as the red-jacketed Chinese team and their coach Yu Bin received the gold medals. As the crowd left the Beijing International Conference Center, one member of the Chinese team was seen to be literally jumping for joy. A new generation has arisen in the world of Chinese go, and by taking both the individual and team gold medals, they have served notice that they are second to no one.

Rep. of Korean Mixed Pair

In the last preliminary round of the mixed pairs event, the Mongolian pair beat the Ukrainian pair to take first place in block D. The pairs from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea finished undefeated in blocks A-C, while the pairs from Czechia, DPR Korea, Hungary, Mongolia, and the Ukraine finished with one loss apiece. The pair competition now moves into the knockout stage, which will be played in four rounds on October 16-17. The professional pairs drew lots to determine their amateur opponents in the first round. Chang Kai-hsin and Lin Chih-han of Chinese Taipei drew the strong Japanese pair (2006 world amateru go champion Hiraoka Satoshi and his wife Yuriko), while Lee Hajin and On Sojin of the Republic of Korea drew the strong DPR Korean pair (2004 international amateur pair go co-champion Jo Saebyol and WMSG individual gold medalist Jo Taewon).
These will be two matches to watch.

Team Russia

In the A block of the men’s team competition, the teams from Russia and the Netherlands lost 5-0 to the teams from the Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei. In the seventh and final preliminary round they will face the north and south Korean teams. To proceed into the knockout stage, the Dutch or Russian team will have to score an upset over these tough Korean opponents. In other key matches in block A, the Australian team defeated the German team 3-2 and the Ukrainian team shut out the French team 5-0. In the last round the Australians will try their luck against the team from Chinese Taipei while the Ukrainian team is drawn down against Serbian team.

In block B, the team from Hong Kong China earned their fifth win by defeating the team from new Zealand 4-1. The Hong Kong team is now assured of a place in the knockout stage, unless the Canadian team can topple the undefeated Chinese team in the last round. Also watching the results of the Canada-China match will be the Japanese team, who likewise have five wins and will face the Hong Kong team in the last round, and the teams from Czechia and Romania, who both have four wins and will play each other in the last round.

James Davies

Piao vs Yamashita

White: Yamashita Keigo 9p (Japan)
Black: Piao Wenyao 5p (China)

Komi: 6.5. Men`s Team, 5th round
Commentary by Li Zhe 6p. (Click on the diagram to launch the game viewer. SGF file available here.)
White 14. In a game Piao played against Chang Hao, White played 15, followed by Black 14 and White 36. That is probably a better strategy. The continuation was Black 37, White 18, Black 22, White 49.
Black 17. Already Black has the better position.
White 18. A probe. If Black answers at 22, White will clamp at 21.
White 20-34. White makes a small life in gote.
Black 35. Black has the lead.
White 36-40. White has to start a fight and attack.
Black 41-67. The moves in this long sequence are more or less forced.
White 68. White has no choice but to cut and keep fighting.
White 70. White 72, followed by Black 73 and White A, would be better.
White 72. To add to his other woes, White is becoming short of liberties.
Black 81. White cannot trap these black stones, which are now positioned effectively between two weak white groups.
Black 87. Tests White`s response. One possible choice for White is to answer at 90, but then Black will attack at 105 and Black 87 will be useful in the fight that follows.
White 88. The other choice, but this does not turn out well either.
Black 89-White 94. Black promptly gains eight points and an eye in sente.
White 98. If White connects at 99, Black will connect at 98. White will have to struggle to save his upper group, and if he succeeds, his struggles will probably endanger the white group below.
White 116. Better is White 122, Black 165, and then White 116, threatening to cut at 176.
Black 123. The white top center group is dead, so Black does not have to answer White 122 directly. Black now has a won game.

Result: White resigns after Black 177.

Et les autres disciplines?

Déjà la fin des jeux se profilent à l’horizon. La salle du second étage dans laquelle s’est déroulé le championnat open individuel et le tournoi féminin par équipe était débarrassée de ses gobans, horloges et pierres, et toutes les activités du go sont désormais uniquement regroupées au troisième étage.

Si les échecs et le bridge catégorie jeune accessibles dès l’entrée dans le complexe, le xiangqi et le jeu de dames sont nettement moins évidents à trouver. Placés dans des salles au bout de chacune des ailes de l’entrée il faut après avoir cheminer dans de long couloirs, changer de niveau via un escalier mécanique pour y arriver.

Le bridge adulte est situé quand à lui complètement à part dans l’intercontinental hôtel éloigné du centre. Nous avons entendu parlé d’une salle monumentale, d’une terrasse agréable et bien équipé. Nous n’en sauront pas plus car le service de navette ne circule pas aujourd’hui, le taxi est cher et se perd parfois en route, et la marche à pied dépasse la demi-heure. Des demi finales sont pourtant au programme là bas aujourd’hui.

Joueuses de dames

Nous nous sommes donc attardé dans les locaux réservé au draughts (jeu de dames). Contrairement au go , l’ensemble des activités tout comme les couloirs réservé à la circulation des spectateurs sont regroupés dans une salle unique et pas très haute de plafond. La moquette amortit bien le bruit des pas, mais on entend quand même le parquet craquer de temps à autre. En fait le bruit semble un problème important, il y a de nombreuses affiches qui invitent les spectateurs à se faire discret, et les organisateurs ont fait plusieurs rappels à l’ordre à l’aide de la sonorisation. Cela m’a permis de découvrir que le français est la langue internationale choisi par la fédération. Juste avant le début de la compétition une minute de silence est demandé par les arbitres pour la concentration des joueurs ; pour le go les arbitres annoncent le début de la compétition simplement 5mn avant.

Un arbitre m’explique que ici les spectateurs n’ont pas à sortir de la pièce après les 20mn qui sont alloués après le début des parties comme c’est la règle dans la salles de go. Un couloir en carré délimité par des cordons de toiles sépare les tables du centre de quelques tables placés contre les murs : celle ci regroupent apparemment les joueurs les plus forts. L’affichage n’est pas du tout en chinois, ce qui est aussi une différence des affichages sorti des ordinateurs de l’étage du go. Par contre aucun grand tableau avec les petits drapeaux de toutes les couleurs comme nous avons en haut.
En ce moment se déroule 2 compétitions, une sur 64 cases et une sur 100 cases. Les joueurs semble faire preuve d’une très grande concentration. En les regardant je trouve que nos parties de go ressemblent plus à du blitz que ce qui se joue ici. Une autre différence est que tout les joueurs notent chaque coup sur une feuille de papier. Un geste nous rapproche du go enfin : la manipulation des pièces jouées du bout des doigts plutôt qu’avec l’aide du pouce.

Salle de jeu du xiangqi (échecs chinois)

Transfert dans le labyrinthe des couloirs vers le Xiangqi. La taille de la salle haute en plafond contraste avec un nombre restreint de table. Tout est très ordré et regroupé, avec là encore un cordon qui sépare les spectateurs peu nombreux des tables de jeux, dans un angle de la pièce des fauteuils vides et bien alignés permettent de profiter de 2 écrans géants.
Les 3 arbitres sont gâtés : Ceux ci peuvent s’asseoir sur 3 fauteuils placés à proximité de 3 des tables de jeux et profiter ainsi en tout confort du spectacle des 3 parties.
Les panneaux d’affichage sont encore plus moderne que eux du go, chaque joueur a sa petite plaque d identité plastique avec son drapeau. Je note que si les 2 premières places sont tous chinois, d’autres nationalités apparaissent ensuite comme l’ Angleterre, les USA, l’Argentine… La grande majorité des patronymes ont par contre des consonances chinoises : une personne du staff que nous rencontrons dans le bureau ne peut guère nous en dire plus à ce sujet. Très aimable elle reconnaît que la fédération de Xiangqi est très active, et joignant le geste à la parole elle nous offre 2 beaux livres d’initiation… en chinois malheureusement pour moi.

Salle de jeu des échecs

Nous terminons notre petit tour de découverte par les salles d’échecs situées au rez de chaussée (soit le premier étage pour les chinois qui n’ont pas de rez de chaussée). 2 grandes salles d’affilée, la première à l’éclairage très blanc et lumineux, la second à l’éclairage plus jaune, plus chaleureux et plus feutré. L’espace est généreux dans l’ensemble avec de grands espaces de circulation et de nombreuses tables de jeux pour la compétition. A l’entrée sur la gauche on retrouve là encore deux écrans, quelques jeux d’accès publique et des chaises pour regarder. Le matériel d’affichage est moderne et d’excellente qualité (plaques individuelles plastiques). La pièce qui m’a le plus impressionné reste le bureau de cette fédération avec son petit salon et ses canapés de cuir pour accueillir les visiteurs, quel luxe en comparaison des autres fédérations !
Après ce petit tour rapide de cet évènement majeur, je concluerai par ce qui me semble le plus important à mes yeux : autant il y a beaucoup beaucoup de parties amicales de discussions et de vie au troisième étage, celui du go, autant les autres étages sont hélas bien pauvres de ce coté. Il est 17h, certaines parties du championnat ne sont pas encore terminés. La petite salle pour jouer au calme des parties amicales est pleine à craquer. La situation est encore plus critique dans le hall ou il est bien difficile de trouver un goban de libre. Les discussions s’animent parfois, les rires fusent aussi, les pierres circulent sur les intersections des plateaux. Les professionels du plus haut niveau participe à cette animation en jouant ou en commentant certaines des parties. Hier soir par exemple, juste avant la fermeture du centre en soirée, deux coréens professionels qui gagnent habituellement des fortunes dans leurs tournois jouaient une partie amicale en toute simplicité dans un coin cette petite salle, comme deux joueurs amateurs dans un petit club européen, le tout sous le regard admiratif de quelques amateurs européens. Les nord coréens ont rejoint le groupe des joueurs processionnels qui attirent le plus l’attention des joueurs qui déambulent entre les tables. L’ équipe française vient de perdre toutes ses parties contre l’Ukraine et est au désespoir. Rejoint par l’équipe de paire-Go les commentaires et le débat vont bon train autour du système de qualification à adopter pour ce genre de compétition. Il serait cependant trop long de décrire tout se qui se passe dans ce hall et son animation.
Pour ce qui est des compétitions bien entendu on retrouve le même intéret et la même passion dans chacune des fédérations présentes ici et dans chacun de leurs joueurs.

Max et Chen