13th Female Myeongin - Challenger final

Who will be the female Myeongin contender this time and thus be allowed to challenge Rui Naiwei for the title of the Female Myeongin this year ?

The challenger final is a Best-of-3 between Choi Jung (1.Dan) and Kim Miri (2.Dan).

Choi Jung was able to win a row of 8 games during the 5th Auction cup. Besides she already met Rui Naiwei in tournament: She lost by 0,5 points in the final of the 5th Female Gisung. Will she be able to get her revenge ?

Kim Miri has already had some successes as well. One of the greatest was her qualification for the 14th Samsung Cup. And guess who was one of her opponents in the progress: Correct, in the last rounds of the preliminary she was able to defeat Rui Naiwei.

It seems like both challengers would be able to beat Rui Naiwei, who is holding the title since its 6th edition. But who will face her in the end?
The first game already took place at the 19.01.2012. Here is the corresponding kifu:



It just might be me but I'm impressed how Choi Jung was able to dominate in this game. She took the first victory and is in a good position now.

The next game will be on the 26.01.2012.
If a tie breaker is needed, it will be played on the 27.01.2012.

Shogi bot beats female Shogi professional!

Let me quote the website:

"Just like the Chess computer “Deep Blue” which has beaten the humanbeing, the computer Shogi(Japanese Chess) software, “Akara 2010″ has beaten the woman shogi master Shimizu, through a fight up to 6 hours. “Akara 2010″ is the latest development on Shogi computer software, and is a combination of 4 softwares which are sold as different packages at retail. It decides the next move by majority voting of the 4 softwares, and if they get even on the draw on 2 by 2, the strongest software “Gekisashi” will make the final decision.

The last Shogi fight between man and computer was in 2007, using a software called “Bonanza”, which the computer lost the title. Now this time the software wins for the first time, with the struggle for 35 years, just keep on losing.

As the next move, the “Akara 2010″ will be challenging a male shogi master in about half a year, and if the software will win, the new challenge against the strongest master is going to be made."

Some photos from the event: http://www.ipsj.or.jp/50anv/shogi/20101012.html

Maybe one day a shogi bot will beat the Meijin of Shogi. :)