'Ozai' vs. Guardian of the 9-dan Gate

   A clarification on the title: 'kghin' has beaten down many 9d players on KGS to 8d (including 'bojim', 'mysterious' and 'chenns'), and that is why some have started calling him 'the Guardian'. Of course it is also true that there are some players who have become 9-dan by beating 'kghin', but who says that the Guardian has to be unbeatable?

   'Ozai' registered on KGS just yesterday (April 20) and he (she?) is already in the Top 15 KGS Players, having become 9-dan after beating 'Cornel' 7d and 'turk' 7d (the latter with two handicap stones). He logs off immediately after playing so it was not possible for me to ask him where he is from. All we know is that he uses the English client, but that does not tell us much... (We will post more info on him when we have more details.) About his strength, after looking at his games, I think that he must be about 7-8 dan, maybe stronger, but definitely not professional level.

   Today 'Ozai' faced 'the Guardian' and he was not able to pass the test... The game was fun, but clearly harder for White ('Ozai'). I am sure that move 30 (J4) was not a good decision - it was better for White to approach Black's top right corner (with R14). In the game, White had problems in the right side after Black defended that corner. There was a big ko fight, and the result was very painful for White's bottom group, which ended up being captured.

   Having lost the game, 'Ozai' was demoted to 8d. I believe it will be hard for him to pass the 9-dan Gate again.

   Happy Easter to everyone!