Japanese Championships 2013 - Results

"Poi-Poi is everything, but at the same time it is also nothing."
From an intense conversation about an abstract concept 'Poi-Poi' after one of the rounds

by Junta

From May 1-6 I played in the national championships finals in Tokyo - 43 players, all qualifying through regional championships, other major annual events, rating etc. I was given one of the three 'presidential nominee' spots as a player with a high rating (I was 2nd seed).

I'd finished the Doeberl Cup in Canberra, my last tournament in Australia before my 10 months' exchange in Japan, very badly losing nearly 30 Elo, so I wanted to relax, not think too much about results and enjoy playing in a new environment.

This worked very well, as I scored 8 wins and 3 draws, winning the title of Japanese Champion for 2013. I really enjoyed catching up with friends and meeting many new faces in the Japanese chess scene, and I look forward to playing in Tokyo again (maybe in August).

Chris Kevork, another Canberra player, also took part and performed well (he is currently working in Japan).

From the closing ceremony. Photo courtesy of Masako Uesugi

The final standings and crosstable (in starting rank order of Japanese Chess Association ratings) are below.

Standings 

Place Name            Rtg  Loc  Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Junta Ikeda,       2367 2077 9.5      55.5  68.5   57.5
  2   Shinya Kojima,       2384 2408 8.5      60.0  74.5   57.5
  3   Naohiro Nakamura,  2058 2097 7.5      59.0  73.5   46.0
 4-6  Akira Watanabe,       2281 2334 7        56.0  69.5   37.5
      Gentaro Gonda,     2078 2058 7        54.5  67.0   39.5
      Naoto Mitsuya,          1894 7        52.0  63.0   38.0
7-13  Ryosuke Nanjo,       2327 2365 6.5      59.0  73.0   42.0
      Koji Noguchi,       2072 2129 6.5      57.0  71.0   44.5
      Atsuhiko Kobayashi,  2011 2059 6.5      57.0  71.0   42.0
      Ryo Shiomi,       2109 2210 6.5      55.0  69.5   42.0
      Masahiro Baba,       2235 2239 6.5      53.0  65.5   32.0
      Sho Inoue,       2038 1966 6.5      52.0  63.5   39.0
      Enju Sakai,       1978 1959 6.5      50.0  61.5   35.5
14-18 Yoto Usuba,            1883 6        56.5  68.0   40.0
      Tang Tang,       1927 1988 6        54.0  68.5   37.0
      Averbukh,Alex,  2214 2325 6        53.0  66.5   37.5
      Kazuhiro Sotoo,       1966 1769 6        51.5  61.5   35.0
      Teruomi Toshiba,       2001 6        49.5  60.0   35.0
19-23 Hideaki Ukai,       1810 2031 5.5      50.0  61.0   33.0
      Chris Kevork,   1892 1631 5.5      49.5  59.5   34.0
      Hiroto Taga,            1700 5.5      49.0  62.0   31.5
      Taro Shinoda,       1918 1901 5.5      48.0  60.5   30.0
      Satoshi Hirao,       1795 1835 5.5      41.0  51.5   29.0
24-31 Toshiki Tanaka,       1838 1886 5        53.0  65.5   38.0
      So Sakai,       1831 1789 5        52.5  63.0   41.0
      Go Umayabara,            2045 5        51.0  63.0   32.5
      Toyoaki Fukuda,       1934 1797 5        48.0  58.0   30.5
      Mikio Takahashi,       1894 5        44.5  54.5   27.0
      Koichi Sugimoto,   1989 2027 5        44.0  53.5   29.0
      Kenji Hiebert,        1371 5        44.0  53.5   27.0
      Akira Kinoshita,  1804 1751 5        38.0  46.5   25.5
32-34 Kenichi Hamane,       1884 1775 4.5      44.5  57.0   29.5
      Yuichiro Takada,          1818 4.5      44.5  54.0   28.5
      Daigo Kanda,       1906 1793 4.5      44.0  53.5   24.5
35-37 Ryo Kitano,            1661 4        45.5  55.5   24.5
      Kohei Takatsuki,       1636 4        43.0  53.5   25.0
      Soichi Wakahara,       1461 4        38.0  47.5   21.5
38-39 Kenshin Matsumoto,  1562 1541 3.5      44.5  53.5   21.5
      Hiroaki Manabe,            1628 3.5      41.5  51.5   25.0
40-42 Eiji Hakamada,       1743 1475 3        41.0  50.0   17.5
      Megumi Hasegawa,     1752 1623 3        39.0  47.5   14.5
      Yosuke Kawanaka,       1604 3        38.0  46.0   11.0

Cross Table

No  Name            Rtg  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10   11  

1.  Shinya Kojima,       2384 8.5   11:W  6:W 22:W  8:W  7:W 10:W  9:D  2:D  5:L  3:D  4:W
2.  Ryosuke Nanjo,       2327 6.5   12:W  7:L 25:W 17:W  9:L  3:D 16:W  1:D 22:W  8:D  5:L
3.  Akira Watanabe,       2281 7       :D  8:L   :D 21:W 19:W  2:D 11:D 10:D 15:W  1:D 23:W
4.  Averbukh,Alex,  2214 6       :W  9:D 16:D  7:L 25:D 26:W 12:D 23:L 34:W 18:W  1:L
5.  Masahiro Baba,       2235 6.5     :D   :D   :L   :L 34:W 12:D 23:D 20:W  1:W 10:D  2:W
6.  Ryo Shiomi,       2109 6.5   14:W  1:L 26:D 42:W 23:D 13:W 17:W  7:L 28:W  9:D  8:L
7.  Koji Noguchi,       2072 6.5     :W  2:W 29:D  4:W  1:L 28:L 30:W  6:W  9:L 17:W 20:L
8.  Naohiro Nakamura,       2058 7.5   16:D  3:W 20:W  1:L 22:W 23:W 28:W  9:L 17:D  2:D  6:W
9.  Junta Ikeda,       2367 9.5   19:W  4:D 32:W 29:W  2:W 16:W  1:D  8:W  7:W  6:D 10:W
10. Atsuhiko Kobayashi,       2011 6.5   21:W 16:L 27:W 22:D 30:W  1:L 15:W  3:D 23:W  5:D  9:L
11. Gentaro Gonda,     2078 7      1:L 23:W 34:W 30:D 20:W 17:L  3:D 12:W 18:L 28:W 35:W
12. Go Umayabara,            5      2:L 24:W 30:L 27:W 29:W  5:D  4:D 11:L 35:D 19:L 42:D
13. Hideaki Ukai,       1810 5.5     :D   :D   :D   :D 32:D  6:L 27:W 26:D 16:D 21:W 18:L
14. Koichi Sugimoto,       1989 5      6:L 28:L 38:W 33:L 39:W 42:W 22:L 25:W 26:W 23:L 30:L
15. Teruomi Toshiba,            6       :D   :D 36:W 23:L 26:D 29:W 10:L 19:W  3:L 16:D 28:W
16. Tang Tang,       1927 6      8:D 10:W  4:D 35:W 28:D  9:L  2:L 30:D 13:D 15:D 22:W
17. Sho Inoue,       2038 6.5     :D   :D 41:W  2:L 33:W 11:W  6:L 35:W  8:D  7:L 19:W
18. Enju Sakai,       1978 6.5     :D   :D   :D   :D 35:D 30:L 29:W 32:W 11:W  4:L 13:W
19. Taro Shinoda,       1918 5.5    9:L 29:L 40:W 34:W  3:L 27:D 31:W 15:L 32:W 12:W 17:L
20. Naoto Mitsuya,          7     33:W 32:D  8:L 24:W 11:L 35:D 36:W  5:L 30:W 22:W  7:W
21. Mikio Takahashi,            5     10:L 30:W 24:D  3:L 36:L 39:L 38:W 33:W 42:W 13:L 31:D
22. Toshiki Tanaka,       1838 5     34:W 41:W  1:L 10:D  8:L 32:W 14:W 28:D  2:L 20:L 16:L
23. Yoto Usuba,            6     35:W 11:L 33:W 15:W  6:D  8:L  5:D  4:W 10:L 14:W  3:L
24. Satoshi Hirao,       1795 5.5   36:W 12:L 21:D 20:L 42:D 33:D 32:L 41:D 39:W 31:D 34:W
25. Yuichiro Takada,          4.5   37:D 31:D  2:L 41:W  4:D 36:D 35:L 14:L 29:W 30:L   :D
26. Toyoaki Fukuda,       1934 5       :D   :D  6:D 32:D 15:D  4:L 33:W 13:D 14:L 35:L 36:W
27. Daigo Kanda,       1906 4.5     :D   :D 10:L 12:L 41:W 19:D 13:L 40:D 31:L 29:D 39:W
28. So Sakai,       1831 5     38:W 14:W   :D   :D 16:D  7:W  8:L 22:D  6:L 11:L 15:L
29. Kenichi Hamane,       1884 4.5   39:W 19:W  7:D  9:L 12:L 15:L 18:L 37:D 25:L 27:D 38:W
30. Kazuhiro Sotoo,       1966 6     40:W 21:L 12:W 11:D 10:L 18:W  7:L 16:D 20:L 25:W 14:W
31. Akira Kinoshita,       1804 5     41:L 25:D 42:L 36:D 37:W 40:D 19:L 38:D 27:W 24:D 21:D
32. Hiroto Taga,            5.5   42:W 20:D  9:L 26:D 13:D 22:L 24:W 18:L 19:L 39:W 33:W
33. Ryo Kitano,            4     20:L 38:W 23:L 14:W 17:L 24:D 26:L 21:L 41:D 40:W 32:L
34. Kohei Takatsuki,            4     22:L 37:W 11:L 19:L  5:L 38:W 40:W 36:W  4:L 42:L 24:L
35. Chris Kevork,   1892 5.5   23:L 40:W 37:W 16:L 18:D 20:D 25:W 17:L 12:D 26:W 11:L
36. Hiroaki Manabe,            3.5   24:L 39:W 15:L 31:D 21:W 25:D 20:L 34:L 38:L 37:D 26:L
37. Megumi Hasegawa,     1752 3     25:D 34:L 35:L 38:D 31:L 41:L 42:L 29:D 40:D 36:D   :D
38. Yosuke Kawanaka,            3     28:L 33:L 14:L 37:D 40:L 34:L 21:L 31:D 36:W 41:W 29:L
39. Kenshin Matsumoto,       1562 3.5   29:L 36:L   :D   :D 14:L 21:W 41:W 42:D 24:L 32:L 27:L
40. Eiji Hakamada,       1743 3     30:L 35:L 19:L   :D 38:W 31:D 34:L 27:D 37:D 33:L 41:L
41. Soichi Wakahara,            4     31:W 22:L 17:L 25:L 27:L 37:W 39:L 24:D 33:D 38:L 40:W
42. Kenji Hiebert,        5     32:L   :D 31:W  6:L 24:D 14:L 37:W 39:D 21:L 34:W 12:D

From the closing ceremony. Photo courtesy of Masako Uesugi