You know you're famous as a go player when you get your photograph published without a go board. The latest edition of Nipponia (No. 14, 2000), an English-language magazine about Japan published by Heibonsha, has accorded this distinction to "young, cheerful and intellectual" Umezawa Yukari 4-dan. Not only that, they have given her cover-page status (see right) and an interview entitled "Go princess has skill and charisma". In it, Umezawa - well known and popular overseas - enigmatically says: "When I visited Europe, I saw that people like go because it's a game. In Japan, people tend to look at go as a traditional art. I'm glad that's not the case overseas."
Umezawa is the go consultant behind the comic series Hikaru no Go, mentioned many times in this column. We have also profiled her in the Big pro-Little pro series.
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21x21 ANYONE?
For those who like to collect these things, the latest issue of Go Weekly (12 March 2001) has a 21x21 game between two pros, Yuki Satoshi 9-dan and Yoshida Mika 7-dan (White). The komi was 6.5 points. It was a Kansai Kiin event called Royal Festa in Kashihara, sponsored by the Hotel Kashihara in... Kashihara City , Nara Prefecture. They even made a special 21x21 demo board. The game ended in victory for Yuki after 177 moves.
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Older News From 21 March 2001: HIKARU NO GO TO HIT SMALL SCREEN
The long-running comic series Hikaru no Go - the success of which shows no signs of letting - up is to be made into an "anime" cartoon series for television, owners Shonen Jump have announced. Broadcasting will start in October, probably for 30 minutes each weekday evening.
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Older News From 2 March 2001: 10TH AMATEUR SAIKYO
The 10th Amateur Go Saikyo [Strongest] tournament in Tokyo in February 2001 was rather special. For one thing two top Korean amateurs were invited to mark the 10th anniversary, though they were not what Koreans would regard as "top" and neither made it past Round 2. But one new feature was the introduction of komi bidding. The usual bids were 6.5 and 7.5. There was also a 1,000,000 yen first prize, which attracted all the big names, but it was won by Yo Kyo, who is of Chinese extraction.
