All views expressed are those of the author and may not be those of the IGF
The World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) is a unique gathering of top Go players from all over the world. Among the 68 countries represented this time there was quite a level difference, comparing one country’s representative to another. This gap explains itself readily when also comparing how many active Go players there are in a given country and how many years have passed since the game of Go was introduced there. Actually, it is rather amazing to find that, in countries where Go only has been played seriously a short time, dan-level is already achieved. By now the game of Go has huge name recognition and is regarded, even by non-players, as the ultimate mind-sport. In about 10 years countries participating in the WAGC could conceivably reach one hundred!
As with previous episodes of the WAGC the traditional Go countries of China, Korea and Japan are favourites to win. These 3 countries are the main contenders for the first prize and already have taken first place more than once each. China, which has an impressive track record of 15 wins, is followed by Japan with 7 wins and Korea with 3 wins. Perhaps this is the time to add a fourth country to these top contenders, namely the relative newcomer of D.P.R. Korea or North Korea. The representative of D.P.R. Korea has never won the WAGC yet, but came in runner up twice which is quite a feat.
The Chinese representative Weixing Tang is only 13 years old, but in spite of his age is a major talent. He has been competing in the pro-challenge in China four times already and right after this 27th WAGC he will try for the fifth time. He undoubtedly already can meet lower ranking professionals on even terms, but as competition in China is severe making pro is no piece of cake.
For those among you who are not yet convinced of Tang’s formidable caliber here is fact which will help putting things in perspective. Last year at the 2005 WAGC the Chinese representative Yu Qing Hu convincingly won the tournament. Hu, however, was only the runner up of the qualifying tournament in China; guess who won? Yes, the same old Weixing Tang, only 12 at the time!
Although nobody doubts the supremacy of China, Korea and Japan there was one year when the winner of the WAGC was not among them. In 1986 the representative from Hong Kong (or Chinese Hong Kong as it is now officially called at the WAGC), Chan Ka Yui, came in first. Although originally Chinese born, the following year Chan moved to Japan and become a pro at the Kansai Ki-in in Osaka. In recognition of his level, he could skip the lower ranks to start his pro career from 5-dan. Chan, who is called Chin Kaei in Japanese, made 9-dan in 1998, a feat achieved by no fewer than 8 of the WAGC winners who turned pro soon after winning the event.
This exception notwithstanding, although representatives from Hong Kong are always very strong, its participants to the WAGC are usually regarded as just a little under the top three. The same can be said for Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei) at the WAGC. Although the representatives from Taiwan are usually very strong, beating the favorites has always taken a pro-level player. The top field as a whole seems to be slowly catching up and borders between strong amateur and pro are not as clear as they once were. For the nearby future, however, it seems as yet possible to predict that China, Korea and Japan will hold on to the top seats a little while longer and will continue seeing their champions come in first.
Besides differences in strength, over the years the field of participants has always provided an excellent example of diversity making it obvious that people of almost any age, belief or creed can find Go interesting and work hard to get better at it. Among players in the WAGC, we have seen school going children as well as participants well in their seventies. Doctors, company owners, police officers, university professors, roof tile layers, lawyers, brokers, and full time Go-instructors, about any imaginable occupation can be found among the field of participants over the years. To be honest though I need to admit that every year again among the participants we can find a lot of programmers and system engineers. Computer people like Go!
This time too interpreters speaking about 8 languages altogether were employed by the Nihon Ki-in to make communicating possible. But, be the truth be told, although 8 languages is most of the time sufficient, having interpreters for 20 languages would even have been better. For competing it of course is not necessary to know many languages, as Go is the common language all participants have in common!
It has always been up to individual countries to find an elegant way of deciding who is going to be their champion. Most countries nowadays show excellent game spirit by adopting some kind of point system in order to avoid sending the same player year in year out. Every country wants to see its representative do well at the WAGC and sending the strongest player available is, of course, important. But it doesn’t stop there. Participating in the WAGC also is a means of giving different talented players a chance to test them selves with the world top, making contact with top players of neighboring countries and providing a worthwhile Go-study trip.
Japan as well as Korea, by the way, prohibits players currently training to be pro from taking part in the preliminaries. This is the reason why it is unlikely that the Japanese representative, for example, will be 18 years old or younger. The age limit in Japan for becoming a pro is 18 and players who are younger than that, but still strong enough to survive the preliminaries, are 99% of the time insei or pro trainee. The representative for Korea in 2005, Chung Hwey Seo, brought about quite a stir when he declared the day before the 1st round that he already had passed the pro-test and would start his professional career in a couple of months. He had managed to pass the test in the open qualifying tournament without being a pro trainee. So, he wasn’t an insei and the moment when he was chosen to represent Korea in the WAGC he officially was not a pro yet and the organization decided that it was ok for him to compete. Remarkably, Seo, who at the moment of playing the 26th WAGC was thus already officially recognized as pro level already could not win the tournament, but had to be satisfied with 4th place. Now, that alone should be sufficient to make clear what level we are talking about when talking about the WAGC top field!
The WAGC is a rather costly affair. As anybody can tell who has helped organizing a big event, providing playing facilities and lodging does not come cheap. The more so when taking in regard that the participants to the WAGC are not just players who you can put up in the garage or on the floor in the living room. As the playing field continues growing perhaps in the future participants will be asked to pay an entrance fee in order to make ends meet.
To hold the WAGC in a style befitting the events status hotels need to be booked and air tickets sent. The tournament’s most faithful sponsor, Japanese Airlines, by the way, takes care of those tickets. The Ki-in staff has the co-operation of the local staff and furthermore employs professional players to referee the tournament. All in all there are usually about 30 people busy in front and behind the scenes in order to make everything go the way it is supposed to go.
Blissfully ignorant of the organized chaos behind the scenes most players for the 2006 WAGC arrived in Japan on 24th and 25th of May. The first thing for them to do was to check in at the Narita Nikko Hotel, which is about a 10-minute bus ride from Narita international airport, outside Tokyo. After that players were asked to register at the Nihon Ki-in desk set up at the ground floor which was open from 16:00.
At the registration desk, by the way, players get meal vouchers. Not all meals were arranged for so the participants also got some pocket money to spend as they saw fit at a local restaurant. Furthermore the players got a set of briefing papers for the tournament and papers for the International Go Federation which holds a meeting before the start of the tournament every year. Registering all participants can take quite a long time and it usually takes 4 to 5 hours. Experience from previous WAGCs makes clear that getting the job done before 20:00, as was the case this year, is rare. The Ki-in and staff and interpreters would like to take credit for the smooth sailing at the registration and, come to think of it, throughout the whole tournament. Although the staff did its best, of course, the main reason why everything went without a hitch was mainly the participants themselves. Most of the representatives had been to Japan before and or participated in this event in earlier years. Without needing to be told everybody most of the time already knew what to do.
A few contestants were delayed by unforeseen circumstances like airplane trouble or visa difficulties, but among a group this size this is something which can be expected, and, as a matter of fact, is counted on. As a preventative measure from 26th May one staff member (Mr. Shinki who retired immediately after this WAGC) was stationed at the airport and left behind in order to catch late comers. In the mean time the rest of the players set off to Haneda airport in order to board flight JL1847, the domestic flight to Nagasaki airport.
Once arrived in Nagasaki we traveled down by bus to Sasebo where Huis Ten Bosch (meaning Forest House) is located. The trip took over one hour and as it was past lunch time already the organization had arranged for lunch boxes to be consumed during the trip. "Hey, this is just like a school trip" was on the mind and a few lips of the group. When the three bus loads of players and staff at last got to the final destination everybody was hoping for the rest of the day off. Jet Lag and just generally being tired of moving all the time takes its toll.
Less than two hours after arriving, however, the players had to be at the orientation, where it was made sure everybody understood when and what was going to happen, as well as some technical stuff, how the Canadian byoyomi clocks (Chronos digital timers) worked, for example. This last part, the clocks, was explained and discussed in English, Chinese, Korean and Spanish, but almost not in Japanese, this would have dire consequences in one very important game.
Saturday 27th was the first and only day before the start of round 1 that the players didn’t need to get on buses or planes. The morning was free and everybody was visibly relieved with this chance to relax and look around a bit. From the afternoon there was a children’s Go tournament scheduled parallel with two friendship matches, a Pair Go event and an individual match up. Some of the participants could be found there mingling with the children. This group of Japanese kids, by the way, were mainly kyu players and not yet insei material
At this kind of small side event, there generally was some confusion as the Ki-in staff had left the organization of the friendship games completely in the hands of Nagasaki people. John Power, for example, had to interpret this announcement "The games will not be played in this room but in conference number 5…" In spite of the fact that finally everybody had found their seats and was waiting for the games to commence. Fortunately nobody took the announcement serious (perhaps least of all John Power) and the games started without any additional moving around. The Pair Go event was held over two rounds with Japanese ladies, many of them in Kimono, pairing up with the foreign players. Although a wealth of small prizes was put on display at the front of the playing room, the organization being too busy getting things going forgot to hand them out. Fortunately none of the participants was aware they had missed out and everybody seemed to be most satisfied with their kimono clad playing partners! Lots of conversations were struck up between the home team and the foreign Go players. Minor details aside, the Pair Go happening was a successful event, contributing to the pleasant Go experience.
There also were individual friendship games held wherein the WAGC participants had great success and a positive win rate as is customary. This confidence booster goes back many years and makes for a nice warming up, helping to get the participants ready for the first round.
In the evening a press conference was held. Each and every year the faces showing up here do not change much and I knew most gathered in the small pressroom. In spite of the importance of the WAGC, news coverage inside Japan usually is a bit tepid. Although we are well in the 21st century now and Japan is no longer the undisputed Go Number 1 of the world, to a certain extent the Japanese seemingly still regards international Go events as friendship matches.
From the late 19th century on Japan and the Nihon Ki-in have done an excellent, and still are doing, a great job of helping popularizing Go around the world and the whole international Go scene acknowledges that and is, of course, grateful. All the same, as Japan’s champions do not automatically win each and every tournament they participate in anymore, perhaps the time has come to shift the accent from promoting Go abroad to competition and promoting Go inside Japan. As the game of Go is, thanks to the Nihon Ki-in and its professionals, now reasonably well established in many countries, Japan’s dedication to promoting the game is perhaps better turned to the Japanese youth. In spite of the fact that the Hikaru no Go manga set off a Go-rage some years ago, those flames have all but died out and youngsters are usually much more interested in TV games than Go. Many people around the WAGC event feel that the Ki-in has missed a chance to promote Go inside Japan. For starters, better and more serious press coverage of the WAGC event might help things along a bit. Now she’s back in Japan, Yuki Shigeno (pro 2 dan) is working very hard everyday in order to promote Go inside her home country.
Behind a row of desks at the front of the room, the participants of Hong Kong, China, Cyprus and Japan were waiting to answer questions. They were accompanied by JAL director Mashiko Takashi, Head referee Ishida Yoshio (pro 9 dan), Nihon Ki-in director Kudo (pro 9 dan) and IGF director Umezawa Yukari (pro 5 dan). Cyprus, by the way, is participating for the first time this year. Next year Costa Rica is scheduled to make its debut appearance.
The four participants were asked which pro they liked best. The Chinese youngster, Tang Weixing (aged 13), told us he liked Go Seigen a lot. But Dimitri Regginos from Cyprus stole the hearts of the Japanese press by saying: "I like Takemiya very much. I also like Go Seigen, but I especially replay a lot of games of Shusaku". Japan's Hiraoka carefully answered like this "Well, all professional players are strong and fantastic players I cannot just single out one and say that I like that one best". Than, after a short interval he continued, "Recently, however, I often go over Yi Se-tol's games for study. Japan hasn't won this event in a while so of course I would like to lay my hands on the top spot very much. At the same time, however, I think this amateur championship itself is a unique chance to meet, play and get to know players from all over the world. I very much welcome a chance like this, regardless of my results."
This frank answer shows that, inside Japan, players are well aware of the superb Go played in Korea. The last time, by the way, when Japan won the WAGC was in 2001 when Sakai Hideyuki, now pro a the Kansai Ki-in, came in first.
After the press conference, the official opening ceremony and dinner party was held, it goes without saying that drinking was kept down and everybody tried to get a good night’s sleep before the start of the first round.
The 27th WAGC could boast a record number of countries participating. No fewer than 68 players struggled over eight rounds to get ahead of one and each other. The latest additions are Bulgaria, Cyprus and Azerbaijan. Strictly speaking 8 rounds is not enough to clearly sort the top players in order. Perhaps in future events the number of rounds will be increased or system other than the currently adopted Swiss pairing system will be used.
It often happens that there is no clear winner and, because several people end with the same number of wins, an SOS tiebreaker is used. To calculate a player’s SOS (Sum of Opponents' Scores) you add the number of wins of the players said player has played during the tournament. What this comes down to is that the first round drawing is can be very very important. All top contenders hope from the bottom of their heart that they are drawn against somebody they can beat, but, at the same time, is strong enough to win many games in order to help them gathering all important tie-breaking SOS. The stronger the player they beat is the higher the SOS and although Go is 100% a game of skill here’s where lady luck sneaks in, big time!
As a matter of fact, there have been complaints from the top field players about the SOS. Staff members invariably answer the same thing to those complaints, though: "If you win all your games you do not have to worry about a thing…"
Through the years the WAGC is often also used as an event to showcase to the participants rural parts of Japan, which in a way makes the location of Huis Ten Bosch at Sasebo city (close to Nagasaki) a bit of a surprise. Huis Ten Bosch is a theme park, where famous parts of medieval Dutch cities are faithfully reproduced. It is huge and very popular with Chinese and Korean tourists for whom it is only a short trip away. It was nice to see that through the event many visiting tourists would pull up a chair outside the playing hall to play a game of 5-in-a-row.
There are many points of interest in any WAGC, but I’d like to focus for a moment on the growing level of participants who have studied Go away from home, mostly in Japan. There are altogether six participants with insei or Go study experience in Japan. Leszek Soldan from Poland is the oldest at 44, followed by Farid ben Malek (35) from France, Cristian Pop (31) from Romania, Emil Nijhuis (25) from the Netherlands, Pal Balogh (20) from Hungary and Ondrej Silt (19) from Czechia.
Insei, or 'Go intern', is often thought of as the last step on the road to becoming a pro. All the same, it goes without saying that not all insei actually make pro or reach pro strength just by virtue of gaining insei status. In this respect, the 27th WAGC can be looked on as an acid test: will at least one of those ex-inseis be able to beat China, Korea or Japan and in doing so penetrate the prestigious top three?
The only non-Asian born player who ever achieved this was Ronald Schlemper from the Netherlands (in the 10th WAGC). He did it a second time (in 13th WAGC), just to show the Go world that his first result was no fluke. Actually Schlemper, himself a former insei, was at the top of the A group of the Tokyo insei, the strongest in Japan. Instead of becoming a pro, however, he decided to drop out and pursue a medical career instead.