Shinkai Hiroko 5-dan is the first Women's Saikyo champion and holder of
the Tokyo Seimitsu Cup. Despite having reached one of the highest grades for a woman,
she had astonishingly never put a title to her name before in a 21-year pro career.
In the televised final she had a long struggle against Yashiro Kumiko 3-dan but
her coolness saw her come through a series of small middle-game mistakes by both players.
The final was played on 12 November 1999 at the Nikken Satellite Studios (NKB)
in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, for transmission on SkyPerfecTV and the IGS Go Server on 20 November.
As a special follow-up on IGS, on 8 December Shinkai played Alexander Dinerstein
in an event co-sponsored by the the Nihon Ki-in and the European Go Federation.
Shinkai played at the NKB Tokyo site while Dinerstein was at the EGF centre in
the Netherlands. He is a Russian currently studying go as an apprentice professional
in Korea. He won the 1999 European Go Congress.
To download the Shinkai-Kobayashi game in sgf format right-click here and choose to save the link on your machine.
HOW DOES THE WOMEN'S PRO SAIKYO TOURNAMENT WORK?
Sponsors are Tokyo Seimitsu Co. Ltd., a leading producer of semiconductor-manufacturing systems. The main tournament is a knockout limited to 32 players comprised of the
women's title holders and the top prize-money winners.
Winner's prize in the single-game final is 4.5 million yen.
Time limits are 3 hours each except in the final where each player has 1 hour plus 60 seconds a move thereafter. Komi is 5.5 points.
The title means Women's Pro Strongest Players Tournament.
