Tuo Jiaxi Stopped! Kang Dongyun Rocks the Second Stage

The second stage of Nongshim Cup had started. In the first stage, teenager Tuo Jiaxi from China met Kang Dongyun 9p from Korea. Tuo Started very well for China in the first stage with beating 4 players, but unfortunately he can't do the same in the second round.

Kang Dongyun, 9p

In the first round, Kang Dongyun from Korea who won the gold medal in the 1st WMSG defeated Tuo Jiaxi from China by 1.5 points. I think Kang Dongyun won the game during the endstage. His peep at move 163 eliminated white's potential in the upper side. After 303 moves, black won by 1.5 points

Tuo Jiaxi (W) vs. Kang Dongyun (B), up to move 61

In the second round, Kang Dongyun met "King of cool" Yamada Kimio from Japan. Taking black, Kang played the same opening as his previous game. I think Yamada Kimio's opening is somewhat slow. He tried to gain moyo in the left side, but failed, and then he tried to control the center, but failed again. After 157 moves, Yamada Kimio resigned. The territories gap was too big.

Yamada Kimio (W) vs. Kang Dongyun (B), up to move 58

In the third round, Kang Dongyun played Piao Wenyao from China. A ko fight was started in the right side at move 74, as Kang tried to gain some advantages in the right side.After 283 moves, black won by 2.5 points. White was only able to control the upper board, but it's not enough to chased black's territory.

Piao Wenyao (W) vs. Kang Dongyun (B) up to move 63

In the fourth round, Kang Dongyun met the current Honinbo title holder, Hane Naoki. The game was interesting. Playing as white, Hane Naoki played an opening to created moyo in the bottom board. When Kang invaded with move 25, Hane chased the group, but black made it to live with move 81. Hane Naoki resigned at move 199, I think black led around 12 points on the board.

Hane Naoki (W) vs. Kang Dongyun (B), up to move 63

With this, Japan down to their last player, Takao Shinji. I think the task is too hard for Takao sensei to win this cup for Japan. Korea and China each has 3 players. The second stage is not end yet. Kang Dongyun met Qiu Jun from China next.

Cho U Leads The Tengen-sen

After defeated Kono Rin in the first 34th Tengen title match, Cho U won the second match again.

Taking black, Cho U beat Kono Rin by resignation in 151 moves.

Cho U played a solid game. He created a big moyo in the right side after Kono decided to jump into the corner.

Cho U (W) vs. Kono Rin (B), up to move 58

Kono resigned after his early invading group was killed by Cho U.

I think Kono's move at move 38 is rather funny. It created double atari in his shape. Perhaps Kono thought
that it's ok, but later it really backfired him.

Cho U recently has a pretty impressive record. He defended his Meijin title against Iyama Yuta, he took the lead
in Oza-sen against Yamashita Keigo, the title holder, and now he took the lead from Kono Rin in the Tengen-sen

I wonder if Kono can defend his title this year with this bad start. The third game will be played in December 4.

China Closed First Round

The 4th game of the 7th Jeongganjang Cup has been played. Song Ronghui from China beat Mannami Kana from Japan by resignation.

Song Ronghui (left), Mannami Kana (right)

The opening was unusual. Mannami Kana played for influence in this game, but easily destroyed by Song Ronghui.

Mannami Kana (B) vs. Song Ronghui (W), W+R

With the end of the match, it means that the first stage has over.

China did very good in both Jeongganjang and Nongshim Cup this year. Both of their first player won the first stage.

The next stage will be played in January 11.

Three Concecutive Wins!

After beating the former Female Meijin title holder in the second game, the sixteen years old Song Ronghui from Chinascored another win for China's team in 7th Jeongganjang Cup by beating Lee Hajin, 3p from Korea.

Song Ronghui (left) vs. Lee Hajin (right)

Taking black in this game, Song Ronghui won the game by 4.5 points.

Looking at black 13, I think this move is a new trend (well, not really new I think). Instead of attacking with R8,the old fashion was attacking with R12. Based on "Get Strong At Attacking", R8 is wrong, because it makes black's positionon the top right corner becomes thin.

Lee Hajin (W) vs. Song Ronghui (B), up to move 57

White's yose was pretty good, but it was not enough to chased black's lead.

Song Ronghui's Second Win

After won her first game against Lee Daehyeoi, Song Ronghui from China won her second game against Kato Keiko from Japan.

Kato Keiko played black and Song Ronghui played white in this game

The game was a big moyo game. Kato's move at move 95 was pretty strange. I think B8 was the vital point. Her invading group was involved in a ko fight, which I think can be avoided by playing B8.

Kato Keiko (B) vs. Song Ronghui (W), up to move 53

Kato Keiko resigned at move 172 where she failed to killed one of Song Ronghui's group.

Mengapa saya ...?

1. Mengapa saya berkata "Saya tidak bisa" jika Alkitab mengatakan bahwa saya bisa melakukan segala sesuatu di dalam Dia yang memberi kekuatan kepada saya (Fil 4:13)?

2. Mengapa saya merasa kurang jika saya tahu bahwa Allah akan memenuhi segala keperluan saya menurut kekayaan dan kemuliaanNya dalam Kristus Yesus (Fil 4:19)?

3. Mengapa saya harus merasa takut jika Alkitab berkata bahwa Tuhan tidak memberi saya roh ketakutan, melainkan roh yang membangkitkan kekuatan, kasih, ketertiban (2 Tim 1:7)?

4. Mengapa saya harus merasa kurang iman jika saya tahu bahwa Allah telah mengaruniakan kepada saya ukuran iman tertentu (Rom12:3)?

5. Mengapa saya menjadi lemah jika Alkitab berkata bahwa Allah adalah terang dan keselamatan saya dan bahwa saya akan tetap kuat dan akan bertindak (Maz 27:1, Dan 11:32)?

6. Mengapa saya harus membiarkan iblis menang atas hidup saya jika Roh yang ada di dalam saya lebih besar dari pada roh yang ada di dalam dunia (1 Yoh 4:4)?

7. Mengapa saya harus pasrah kalah jika Alkitab berkata bahwa Allah dalam Kristus selalu membawa kita di jalan kemenanganNya (2 Kor 2:14)?

8. Mengapa saya harus kekurangan hikmat jika Kristus sendiri telah menjadi hikmat bagi saya dan Allah akan memberi hikmat jika saya minta padaNya (1 Kor 1:30; Yak 1:5)?

9. Mengapa saya harus depresi jika saya dapat mengingat bahwa saya dapat berharap pada Allah yang kasih setiaNya tidak habis-habisNya setiap pagi (Rat 3:21-23)?

10. Mengapa saya harus kuatir, resah, dan rewel jika saya dapat menyerahkan segala kekuatiran saya pada Tuhan yang memelihara saya (1 Pet 5:7)?

11. Mengapa saya harus selalu hidup dalam beban jika saya tahu bahwa di mana ada Roh Allah, ada kemerdekaan, dan Kristus telah memerdekakan kita (2 Kor 3:17; Gal 5:1) ?

12. Mengapa saya harus merasa terhukum jika Alkitab berkata bahwa saya tidak ada lagi di bawah penghukuman sebab saya di dalam Kristus (Rom 8:1) ?

13. Mengapa saya harus merasa sendirian jika Yesus berkata Ia akan selalu menyertai saya, tidak akan membiarkan dan tak akan meninggalkan saya (Mat 28:20; Ibr 13:5)?

14. Mengapa saya harus merasa terkutuk atau merasa saya menjadi korban nasib sial jika Alkitab berkata bahwa Kristus telah menebus kita dari kutuk hukum taurat sehingga oleh iman kita menerima Roh yang telah dijanjikan itu (Gal 3:13-14) ?

15. Mengapa saya harus merasa tidak puas dalam hidup ini jika saya,seperti Paulus, bisa belajar untuk menjadi puas dalam segala keadaan (Fil 4:11) ?

16. Mengapa saya harus merasa tidak layak jika Kristus telah dibuat menjadi dosa karena kita, supaya di dalam Dia kita dibenarkan oleh Allah (2 Kor 5:21) ?

17. Mengapa saya merasa takut disiksa orang jika saya tahu bahwa jika Allah di pihak saya tidak ada yang akan melawan saya (Rom8:31) ?

18. Mengapa saya harus bingung jika Allah adalah Raja Damai dan Ia memberi saya pengetahuan melalui RohNya yang diam di dalam kita (1 Kor 14:33;2:12)

19. Mengapa saya harus terus-menerus gagal dan jatuh jika Alkitab berkata bahwa sebagai anak Allah saya lebih daripada orang-orang yang menang dalam segala hal, oleh Dia yang telah mengasihi saya (Rom8:37)?

20. Mengapa saya harus membiarkan tekanan hidup mengganggu saya jika saya dapat punya keberanian karena tahu Tuhan Yesus telah menang atas dunia dan penderitaan (Yoh 16:33)?
" Diamlah dan ketahuilah,bahwa Akulah Allah ! " (Mazmur 46:11a)

7th Jeongganjang Cup Starts!

The 7th Jeongganjang cup has been started. Jeongganjang is atournament sponsored by Jeongganjang Co. It's a knockout women team competition (similiar to Nongshim cup).

There are 3 countries, China, Korea, and Japan.

Here's the players' list:

China: Zheng Yan(2d), Tang Yi(2d), Li He(1d), Wang Xiangyun(1d), Song Ronghui(1d)

Korea:Park Jieun(9d), Kim Hyeoimin(5d), Lee Minjin(5d), Lee Daehyeoi(3d), Lee Hajin(3d)

Japan: Aoki Kikuyo(8d), Kato Keiko(6d), Umezawa Yukari(5d), Mannami Kana(4d), Suzuki Ayumi(4d)

The first match has been played. It was between Lee Daehyeoi(W) vs. Song Ronghui (B), won by Song Ronghui by 5.5 points.

Lee daehyeoi (Left) vs. Song Ronghui (right)

The game was interesting. The joseki sequence in the left upper corner is interesting. I rarely see it. Black played a good game. I think black won the game when she eliminated white potential moyo in the center.

Song Ronghui (B) vs. Lee Daehyeoi (W), up to move 67, B+5.5

Song Ronghui is a good young female player. She won the gold medal for China in the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Individual Women category. She was also China's team member in the 6th Jeongganjang Cup, but she lost to Aoki Kikuyo from Japan.

I wonder if she can gain another win against Japan's first player, following his country pal, Tuo Jiaxi's 4 straight wins in the Nongshim Cup.

The 34th Tengen-sen Start!

The 34th Tengen title matches had been started. Kono Rin, Tengen, challenged by Cho U,Meijin.
The first match was played at November 10.

Played as black, Kono Rin played a strange fuseki. The fuseki looks like a low chinese fuseki, but in fact the stone was one point lower.

I think the trade in the opening (around move 26- 41) was good for white. Another good strategy by Cho U was move 52. He thickened his group before attacked Kono's invasion stone. It's a good example of "getting thick before attacking".

I think Kono's invasion at move 109 was the losing strategy. I don't think he was thick enough to invade. The result from that trade was good for white.

Kono Rin (B) vs. Cho U (W), up to move 155, the combination White A, Black B, White C, Black D create a ko fight for black to kill white

Kono resigned at move 170, where white eliminated his potential moyo in the middle. Overall, I think Kono was outplayed by Cho in this round.

Cho U seems pretty busy. He was just finished a title match against Iyama Yuta in the Meijin title matches, and then, not even a week after, he played Kono Rin in Tengen, while at the same time, he is also playing Yamashita Keigo for Oza title (Cho won the first match. The second match will be played at November 13). He is really busy!

Kono's overall result against Cho is not good. He only won twice out of 6 times they met. He beat Cho twice in Ryusei final this year, and in this year Daiwa Shoken Cup's semi-final.

But I think Kono still has the chance despite his bad result against Cho. I think he recently played really good. He also eliminated his nickname "one title specialist" when he won this year's Ryusei (for the last 3 years, Tengen was the only title Kono has, but he defended it nicely).

I wonder if Kono able to defend his title for 4 straight years.

Xie Yimin Defend Her Title

Xie Yimin, the current Female Honinbo title holder, won the fourth game of 27th Female Honinbo, and keep her title for another year.

She won the fourth game against Suzuki Ayumi, the challenger, by 0.5 point.

Up to move 6, the opening was the same with this year Ryusei's final (Cho U (B) vs. Kono Rin (W), W+R). Move 7 in that game was played at 'A' by Cho U, but Suzuki Ayumi played an enclosure in the top right.

Move 10 is rarely seen. I don't know the joseki after Suzuki Ayumi's niken biraki answer. If you know, please tell me.

Xie Yimin (W) vs. Suzuki Ayumi (B), W+0.5

I think the game was very well played. After 309 moves, Xie Yimin won the game along with the title.

I think Xie Yimin is the strongest female player right now in Japan, considering that she is only 18 years old, it's incredible to see number of titles she has won.
I wonder why she didn't play for Japan in the Jeongganjang cup for Japan. Is it due to the fact that she is not Japanese?

Congratulation for Xie Yimin. I hope she can improve more and become the first woman to win an open tournament in Japan (so far I know, no woman ever won an open tournament yet. The closest were Aoki Kikuyo became runner-up in Shinjin-O cup and Xie Yimin as 3rd Nakano Cup runner-up, losing to Iyama Yuta).

Cho U Defend His Meijin Title

The seventh game of 33rd Meijin Title Match had been played.

Cho U, the title holder, won the last game and defend his title for one more year.

Iyama played black this time. I found it a little strange, since he also played black in the sixth game. I think in a title matches, nigiri only played in the first match and the two players changing color in every next matches. Or is there any special circumstance?

Anyway, Iyama played a moyo oriented move with move 5, which answered by Cho with low chinese fuseki.

Cho U(W) vs. Iyama Yuta (B), up to move 52

The game was pretty good with a big trade in the early game. Iyama resigned at move 236. I think white is ahead about 3 points on the board without komi, so it's understandable why Iyama resigned.

Eventhough he lost, I think Iyama has played very good during this seven series match.I think if Iyama can improve more and doesn't burn out, he can be Japan new star in international arena.

Congratulation for Cho U. I hope he can improve more and win an international tournament for Japan.

Cho U seems pretty happy. Of course. He won the title against his "this year's rival"

Iyama Yuta Drive All The Way To The Seventh Game

The sixth game of Meijin Title Match has been played.

After losing three straight games, Iyama Yuta won the sixth game by resignation.

The game was pretty fast.It was ended only in 99 moves where Iyama spliited Cho's group.

The last game will be broadcasted live at September, 5-6 in IGS

Xie Yimin Took the Lead

The third title match of 27th Female Honinbo has been played.Xie Yimin, the title holder won against Suzuki Ayumi, the challenger by 1.5 points.

The game was peaceful. No big fight or semeai on the board. I think Xie Yimin won the game in the yose. He played a probe at move 159, which then allowed her to split Suzuki Ayumi's group (eventhough she lost sente as the result).

Xie Yimin (B) vs. Suzuki Ayumi (W), B+1.5, up to move 53

It seems that Xie Yimin is back to her shape. After lost to Suzuki Ayumi in the first title match, she won the last 2 matches. Recently she won a gold medal with her partner, Zhou Junxun, in the 1st World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) for C.Taipei in the Mixed Pair division.

Suzuki Ayumi, along with Aoki Kikuyo and Koyama Terumi also won a medal for Japan in that tournament. They won bronze medal in Teams Women division.
The fourth game will be played in November, 5.