Thanks to a solid first day, winning 12-7 on 29 July 2000, the Korean team of new stars were able to survive losing the second day's battle, on 31 July, 8-9 to the visiting Japanese team. The overall result of the 7th Japan-Korea New Stars Exchange was therefore 20-16 to the Koreans - their third successive victory.

Germany's Hans Pietsch, playing for Japan, was unfortunately unable to win the one game his schedule allowed him.

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The 7th Japan-Korea New Stars Exchange begins on 29 July 2000, continuing till 1 August in Seoul, and the visiting Japanese team looks formidable, on paper at least.

It will be headed by four Kansai Ki-in 9-dans Kiyonari Tetsuya, Ota Seido, Yokota Shigeaki and Kurahashi Masayuki. The provisional squad of 20-odd players also includes Hans Pietch 3-dan from Germany and new World Amateur Champion Sakai Hideyuki, who appears to be enjoying something close to superstar status at present.

Unlike the China-Korea New Stars match, this is a team event, and the definition of "new star" is very broad - it includes 9-dans. It is also technically described as an "exchange", so that losses can be diplomatically explained away as "goodwill."

Because the matches are unofficial there has been no fixed pattern so far, but each team member will expect to play between two and four games. The composition of each team also remains fluid until the last moment, as availability depends on who gets knocked out of the various official tournaments, but on the Japanese side it does include players from both the Nihin Ki-in and the Kansai Ki-in.

The venue alternates between the two countries.