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It is still day 1 in the third Kisei game - but a major fight was already consumed, and another one is about to begin.

Here are 2 quizzes from this first day of playing.

Problem 1

Black to play - choose from A to G. Pay attention at both areas of influence and potential territory, but also at groups and balance of power. Shall black play in the largest open area (A), or invade and put pressure on white in the lower left (B), or make a base for his own weak group (C), or attack from the center (D), or connect below (E), or take white’s base away while expanding (F), or strengthen his main area, the right side (G)?

Problem 2

Black to play - choose from A to F. Since the lower side is a hot area, all suggested moves are concentrated here. Shall black connect with A (to get strong before attacking), or attack from the outside (B or C), or take white’s base away (D or E), or play a large territorial move, threatening white from a distance (F)?

The third game of the top Japanese pro title, Kisei, starts today.

It “starts” today because it’s a 2 day game, so most of the excitement usually happens in the second day. I’ll watch it on Cyberoro and update my Kisei 2007 page as the game develops.

I intended to write my thoughts on the 2nd game as I watched it live on Cyberoro, but that good intention was “ruined” by the fact that Cyberoro published live variations to each move, which I believe to be the comments of the professional(s) following the game, and I just impatiently opened each one as it became available, so I only added my thoughts on those - which was definitely entertaining, but not the best learning experience for me.

So what I plan for this third game is to try to think, at each and every move, what I would play, and write down my thoughts, and only later look at the variations on Cyberoro.

Yamashita just won the second Kisei game - I feel very sad for Kobayashi Satoru. I sure hope he will be able to recover in the following games.

I am not only sad on a personal level (he’s the brother of my ex-sensei in Japan, Mrs. Kobayashi Chizu) - but also since he’s one of very few “old boys” from the Kitani school that can still put up a fight with the new generation of players in Japan.

Go, Satoru sensei!

As I mentioned on the Kisei 2007 page, I was delighted to find out that I can watch the most important Japanese Go title, live - first by finding some Japanese client software (that’s how I followed the first game), then discovering that Cyberoro broadcasts it live!

That is awesome - while it is exhausting to follow a 2-day title game, I like it a lot - I feel just like in the “old days” when I was insei in Japan!

Not to mention that they broadcast other games as well - today is Thursday in Japan, which is the day of the week when high-dan games are scheduled at Nihon Ki-in: the veteran Rin Kaiho is playing against the young Iyama Yuta, veteran Takemiya is playing against young Tsuruyama (who was insei at the same time I was), another games pairs 2 veterans: Otake Hideo and Kudo Norio… and I can watch all these games now.

Thanks, Cyberoro Go server!