The recent excellent performances by home-grown players over foreign-born players in Japan continued when Takanashi Seiken 7-dan won his first title (and 800,000 yen) on 25 March 2001. He overcame Korean Kimu Sujun 6-dan in the 31st New Stars (Shin'ei) Tournament, the junior partner of the televised quickplay Hayago Championship, in a game broadcast on 18 and 25 March, Takanashi having defeated another emerging home-grown talent in the semis, Mizokami Tomochika, recent winner of the NEC Shun'ei Cup. Kimu beat Taiwan-born Cho U.
Whether you count Takanashi as a real new star, though, is a moot point. He will be 30 in May.
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Older News From 13 February 2001: SEMI-FINALISTS KNOWN
The quarter-finals of the 31st New Stars (Shin'ei) Tournament, the junior partner of the televised quickplay Hayago Championship, were completed in December 2000, but results are not announced until games are broadcast. The last quarter-final was broadcast on 4 and 11 February.
We now know that Mizokami Tomochika will play Takanashi Seiken and Cho U will play Kimu Sujun in the semi-finals.
Takanashi's name keeps popping up recently but Cho U is the man of the moment with his 5-0 record in the Honinbo League - maybe these two are favourites for the final.
Earlier results not so far reported:
Round 2
Mizokami Tomochika 1-0 Akiyama Jiro
Takanashi Seiken 1-0 Imai Kazuhiro
Cho U 1-0 Takao Shinj
Kimu Sujun 1-0 Kono Rin
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Older News From 2 January 2001: EIGHT NEW NEW STARS JOIN EIGHT OLD NEW STARS
The 31st New Stars Tournament, the junior partner of the televised quickplay Hayago Championship, lived up to its name in Round 1. Half of the 16 players were new compared with the previous term. The round was completed in December 2000 with no real surprises.
Takao Shinji is probably the favourite, being the man with the track record. He was last year's beaten finalist. The Kansai Kiin will also expect great things of 23-year-old Nakano Yasuhiro, recently promoted to 7-dan. But we predict the one to watch is Kono Rin, pupil of Kobayashi Koichi. Kono won an all-pro quickplay event on the IGS server recently. Players were meant to be anonymous, using account names, but word leaked out at Kobayashi's club. Kono is still a teenager - he turns 19 on 7 January 2001 - but he has been a pro for four years already.
The New Stars Tournament Cup is a year-long lightning tournament shown on TV Tokyo (Channel 12). It is the junior partner of this same sponsor's Hayago Championship.
Top prize is 800,000 yen. The runner-up gets 180,000 yen. Match fees are also paid.
The tournament is a 16-player knockout with a single-game final, which is in the spring. The players invited are the top prize-money winners from the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in up to and including 7-dan at the time of the start of the event.
Time limits are 30 seconds a move but each player may spend up to three minutes a move on two occasions. Komi has always been 5.5 points.
The Japanese name for this event is the Shin'ei Tournament. We are calling it New Stars here to avoid confusion with the very similar NEC Shun'ei Cup, and also the Shinjin-O.
