Tournaments

World Championship AT  |  Photos (2)  |  Games (66)  |  Articles (1)

Russia, Moscow, August 1991 (08-06 - 08-10), RIF rule

Final Standings:

Pl	Participant	Country	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts
1	Nakamura Shigeru	Japan		1	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	10
2	Yamaguchi Yusui	Japan	0		1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	8
3	Reims Aldis	Latvia (USSR)	½	0		1	0	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	7
4	Nara Hideki	Japan	0	1	0		0	1	1	1	1	½	½	1	7
5	Hasegawa Kazuto	Japan	0	0	1	1		1	0	0	1	1	1	1	7
6	Palmgren Jan	Sweden	0	1	½	0	0		1	0	½	1	1	½	5½
7	Sundling Ingvar	Sweden	½	0	0	0	1	0		1	0	1	1	1	5½
8	Kozhin Mikhail	Russia (USSR)	0	0	½	0	1	1	0		1	1	0	½	5
9	Gardström Petter	Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	0		0	1	1	3½
10	Voskanyan Eduard	Armenia (USSR)	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	1		1	1	3½
11	Sinyov Igor	Russia (USSR)	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	3
12	Unterweger Michael	Austria	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	0		1

The 2nd Renju World Championship took place in Moscow, USSR, August 6-10, 1991. It was very well organized although the timing was very critical - as we know, 2 weeks later the USSR was dissolved and all 15 countries became independent. It resulted with the appearance of many new renju countries in RIF.

The 2nd WC brought together a large number of people. The organizers had managed to create the all-in-one environment - perfect solutions for renju events!
The chance to live in the hotel, eat in the restaurant, play renju in the tournament hall, take part in sports activities such as table-tennis and basketball - it was all in one place.

The Japanese delegation arrived with the strongest team ever, led by their super player Shigeru Nakamura. It was the first time for the most of players from outside Japan to meet Nakamura in person. He was a living legend among the others. People admired him, looked at him, yet did not bother him with questions, maybe being a bit afraid to talk to him as he was so important and famous renju person. Besides, the language problem was common during the 2nd WC. Most of the people there were from the USSR countries, therefore they spoke mostly Russian, and the English skill was not so good, and the great Nakamura did not speak any English at all. So, most people who tried to communicate with Nakamura they used the body language and facial expressions. Only then, in 2nd WC it became clear that Nakamura would not play any exercise or friendly renju games in the leisure time, he politely rejected everyone's invitations, with a shining smile. So many people secretly hoped to have some games with him.

Nakamura fulfilled everybody's expectations regarding his skill and performance in the A-final. He won nearly every game again, only making two draws, and no losses at all!

Yusui Yamaguchi visited USSR for the second time. Therefore, he had some experience about the local conditions. He felt confident, and secured the 2nd place easily.
There were 4 Japanese in top 5 finally. Only Aldis Reims managed to squeeze between them, taking the honorable 3rd place.

Observers could realize that the power of Japanese is as big as two years before, and they also evidenced that Latvian master Aldis Reims had somehow found the way how to fight against Japanese dominance. Aldis was one of the two persons who managed to make draw against the famous Nakamura.

Japanese who had not heard much about Reims before, quickly realized that Aldis had a skill that made them feel afraid. In the next 6 years, until the day Aldis left the arena of active renju, he was one of the most feared renju players by Japanese. You do not need to search for lots of evidence. Aldis had a great score in games against top Japanese, he managed to win them anytime, anywhere. Really amazing. Ask him how he does that!
Aldis Reims was the pioneer of European renju power, balancing the East and West in the world of renju.

Ando Meritee

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