Interview with KAZUTO HASEGAWA

Put together by Ants Soosõrv (translated by Irene Einberg), 1997

At first let me give You a hearty congratulations from "The Renju World" for becoming new world champion.
Thank you (he smiles shyly)!
Please introduce yourself shortly. How old are You, how long have You played renju, what is Your profession and what is Your family status?
I was born on the 12th of February in 1963, that means that I am 34 years old. I started to play renju when I was 13. I am single and my profession is engineer of computer software systems.
What kind of hobbies do You have besides renju?
My hobby is race of bicycle.
What were Your bigger achievements before becoming the world champion?
The most important of them is, of course, the title of meijin. I have also been six times in the meijin finals. And I got it for the first time.
Which place did You expect before the WC?
I hoped to gain a better place than in the former championships (in 1989 - 4th, in 1991 - 5th, in 1993 - 5th). I wanted to be in the top three.
What were the main reasons why You succeeded to become the new world champion?
Of course I was a little afraid of Meritee and Kawamura. It was very important that the game with Meritee happened to be the last one. If I had met him in the first round - all could have been in a different way. I consider as enormously important the game with Aldis Reims (it was in the 6th round - A.S.). Aldis made a mistake and I succeeded to win, but his tactics itself was an important and unfamiliar to Japanese. I used his tactics against Mr. Sagara and Mr. Nara, and won these games. This is one of the reasons why I became the world champion. Because I have lost many points to them in the former world championships.
What are Your strong sides while You are playing renju? You seem to count the variants pretty quickly?
Yes, it's true. I consider also quick appraisal of position as a vigorous side of me. I can almost immediately say if the move that is made is strong or not.
How You apprise the title of world champion compared with the title of meijin?
Both achievements were results of hard work. The title of world champion is perhaps more important since here I succeeded to forward Meritee, Kawamura and other strong players. But in both competitions Nakamura was missing. I dream of defending the title of meijin against Nakamura if I am able to do that (he is smiling shyly again).
How do You evaluate the performance of other Japanese players?
As a part of Japanese delegation I could say that I am generally satisfied. All of our four players were in the top seven! Kawamura's personal appearance was a failure. Loss to Meritee in the first round influenced his further games.
I saw Kawamura dropping some kind of liquid into his eyes. Did he have problems with them?
Yes, his eyes got tired quickly.
What do You think about the new renju rules which are presented by Ando Meritee ("Renju World" no. 25)?
Personally I am interested in them, but the majority of Japanese players is quite conservative about the new rules.
What do You think how long does it take to change the opinion of other Japanese players?
It could take some ten years.
Thank You very much for Your interesting interview!
You are welcome!