By Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister
On March 15, Hashimoto Ūtarō 9d defeated Rin Kaihō Meijin in the first game of the Pro Best Ten Final. Rin took the second game on March 22, and the third on March 28. (Game Records: Game One, Game Two, Game Three)
Adachi Tadashi (pictured), President of the Nihon Ki’in, passed away on March 29.
The March issue of Kidō Magazine featured a lengthy interview with Ishida Yoshio Hon’inbo. He patiently dealt with the usual “who do you like among the classic players” questions. He stated he liked Shūho when he was a new pro. Ishida opined that the classical players would quickly catch on to komi and be very competitive. The vaunted opinion of him as “The Computer” was discussed – he denied he makes constant calculations every move. “Frankly, I have no confidence in my ability to calculate in a large-scale situation but in a localized engagement I seldom make a mistake.” He also altered the perception of his nickname, suggesting it referred to his poise and calmness as opposed to calculation. There was a lot of discussion of his main rival Rin Meijin and there seemed a perceptible bias against Rin from the questioning. Kidō remarked “Strangely enough, you are the first player to say that Rin’s technique is quite good.” Ishida pushed back against this apparent bias against the young players, and particularly Rin – forcing Kidō to concede – if Rin was not strong he would not be Meijin. Ishida previewed the youth dominated future, suggesting that while players like Fujisawa Shūkō were still superior in large scale fights, over a seven game match, Rin’s consistency, and his own, would win out.
Photos from Go Review, game records from SmartGoOne
