This is a game from 1997 between Hans Pietsch 1p (at the time) and Yoda Norimoto 9p, from the 1st LG Cup.
Hans Pietsch
Hans Pietsch.
Hans Pietsch was a German Go player who became a professional at the Nihon Kiin (the Japanese Go Association) in 1997.
That year, while still a 1 dan professional, Hans defeated Yoda Norimoto 9p in the 1st LG Cup in Korea.
Tragically, Hans was shot by robbers in a random act of violence, and died shortly afterwards, on January 16, 2003.
He was on a trip to promote Go in South America at the time.
The Nihon Kiin posthumously promoted Hans to 6p.
10th anniversary
January 16, 2013 was the 10th anniversary of Hans’ death.
One of his German friends asked for this game to be commented in memory of Hans. Many Go players remember Hans’ cheerful nature and warm heart.
You can read more about Hans Pietsch here:
Hans Pietsch on Sensei’s Library
The Nihon Kiin’s tribute page for Hans
Sorin Gherman’s page about Hans
Yoda Norimoto
Yoda Norimoto 9p was one of the best players in the world when this game was played.
He won the 1st Samsung Cup, defeating Yu Changhyeok 9p in the final 2-1, and lost the final of the 3rd Ing Cup 3-1, against Yu Changhyeok once again.
At the time when this game was played, he’d already won several domestic Japanese titles, and was regarded as the top player in Japan.
Yoda plays well balanced games and he likes solid and tidy positions. He was described as a ‘Samurai’ in Korea, because his style of play is well disciplined, and the motion with which he plays his stones is very Samurai like.
Yoda places stones on the board with a full snap, and it recalls the image of a Samurai.
About An Younggil 8p
Thank-you Mr. Younggil.
This is a marvelous choice for a commented game and we are all grateful to you, as we are still mourning the loss of a great player.
Thank you so much! A very good choice imho.
Hans Pietsch was an idol in Germany and his death a big loss
Thank you very much, I really appreciate it a lot!! 감사합니다.^^
I have a question Mr Younggil (which surely will seem stupid for You) but could You illustrate me why, in the variation 2 on move 65, at the end A is more valuable than B? does not, for example, B c9 on move 73 balances the trade? Sorry in advance for asking if it’s a trivial question…
Good question! Oh, I forgot to explain about that.
Normally, when there’re bonukies, (take a stone out) center one is more important than the other on the side. Because it can affect more on the rest of the board. In this game, black can play at C9 after the trade, but I can’t say this is better than in the actual game.
Thank you for explanation Mr.Younggil:) and thanks also for all the work through which You always enlighten us these Games, allowing us (or me at least!) to enjoy and appreciate them much more.
The value of the ponnuki at B is almost entirely local. It is restricted to the right edge of the board. It is undeniably worth quite a few points, and even helps to stabilize the group, but since the group will definitely live locally anyways, it will have no effect on anything that happens anywhere else on the board. The ponnuki at A is the “center facing ponnuki”, which is said to be worth 30 points. I think any esimation of value is pointless, but its presence will make a huge difference in fighting all over the board. For instance, when you suggest C9, imagine w playing at C11. Because of w strong center ponnuki, the b stone is suddenly under fairly severe attack.
Oh whups, it seems this question was already answered while I looked at the game.
Thank you, by the way, for this wonderful review.
Thank you too Nicolas for your explanation! You have made the point very clear! You sure have to be a strong player
I hope to be one day too ahah 
Great choice! Thanks a lot!
a very nice way to remember Hans Pietsch, thanks so much!
Thanks for commented this game, Mr Younggil.
Thank you my friend. It was an excellent idea to analyse Hans lifetime masterpiece to commemorate his tragic death ten years ago.
I shared the posting of your comments on tis game by Daniella Trinks at my page on Facebook.
Thank you very much , it was very interesting game. For a 1 dan he played so well.
For another gocommentary i purpose the last game of kato masao, if i remember well he played the chinese opening with black and killed his opponent very fast
.
Thank you for your suggestion. I have no idea about the last game of Kato, but do you have the game record or the link?
http://www.go4go.net/go/games/sgfview/5597
He used the Chinese Opening
Thanks for the link. I’ll think about it.
Thank you for showing the game with your very good commentary!
I’m German, but I started playing 9 years after Hans became pro, so I’ve never really seen his games. I’m glad he could play such a nice game, it must have been fun.
Another great analysis, thanks so much!
I’ve a technical question by the way – how much time do you spend on commenting a single game? Sometimes commenting on top pros you point out mistakes which seem to require very deep reading and accurate positional judgement (matters of timing e.g.), that is truly impresive!
It takes quite a long time to comment a game. Recently I’ve been studying games with two other pros from Korea for a while, and that helps a lot, but they’ve gone back to Korea just a week ago. Occasionally, I get some ideas by watching others’ commentaries. Thanks.
Particularly, Hans died in Guatemala, Central America. He was promoting Go there and was taken by Mr. Edgardo Caceres (well know Go player in that country and several times present in the WAGC) for an archeological tour.
There’s a report with the detailed things that happened in Sensei Library by Mr. Caceres himself.. who witnessed all. Very Sad
http://senseis.xmp.net/?HansPietsch
And, forget to mention, even Mr. Caceres and another japaneses who witnessed all were prosecuted as guilty of his death. From any perspective an horrible history.
Thank you, An Younggil, and RIP Hans!