by John Power, special Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Chunlan Cup starts: The Chunlan Cup is a Chinese international tournament held every two years and sponsored by the 
Chunlan Group, which started out manufacturing electrical goods and which is said to be one of the 50 biggest industrial groups in China. The first two rounds of the 12th Cup were held in Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, on March 21 and 23. Five young players from Japan took part; four of them were eliminated in the first round, but Motoki Katsuya picked up a win he will remember all his career when he beat the legendary Lee Sedol of Korea by 3.5 points. However, he was eliminated in the second round. Five Chinese and three Koreans made it to the quarterfinals, including the world’s top two, Park Junghwan and Ke Jie. Full results are given below. We do not have a date for the quarterfinals.
Round 1 (March 21): Kim Jiseok 9P (Korea) (B) beat Ichiriki Ryo (Japan) by resig.; Motoki Katsuya 8P (Japan) (B) beat Lee Sedol 9P (Korea) by 3.5 points; Xie Ke 5P (China) (B) beat Kyo Kagen (Xiu Jiayuan) 7P (Japan) by resig.; Peng Liyao 5P (China) (W) beat Shibano Toramaru 7P (Japan) by resig.; Kang Dongyun 9P (Korea) (B) beat Yo Seiki (Yu Zhengqi) 7P (Japan) by resig.; Lian Xiao 9P (China) (W) beat Chen Qirui 5P (Chinese Taipei) by resig.; Dang Yifei 9P (China) (W) beat Shin Jinseo 8P (Korea) by resig.; Pavol Lisy 1P (Europe) (W) beat Eric Lui 1P (North America) by resig.
Round 2 (March 23): Gu Zihao 9P (China) (W) beat Motoki by resig.; Dang (B) beat Tan Xiao 7P (China) by resig.; Chen Yaoye 9P (China) (W) beat Lisy by resig.; Xie (W) beat Tang Weixing 9P (China) by resig.; Park Junghwan 9P (Korea) (W) beat Peng by resig.; Ke Jie 9P (China) (B) beat Kang by resig.; Kim (W) beat Xie Erhao 9P (China) by resig.; Park Younghoon 9P (Korea) (B) beat Lian by half a point.
Ueno receives prize: The photo shows Ueno Asami at the Prize Ceremony for the 21st Women’s Kisei title. Ueno won it 
on January 29 this year by defeating perennial women’s champion Xie Yimin 2-0. At 16 years three months, she became the youngest-ever holder of this title. The award ceremony was held at the Tokyo Dome Hotel on March 28. In the photo, Ueno is flanked by Iyama Yuta (on the left), who gave a congratulatory speech in Ueno’s honor, and Takao Shinji, who proposed the toast. Ueno’s bright red kimono, a furisode, which is worn by unmarried women, matches the youthful optimism of the new titleholder.
Iyama wins 2017 Grand Champion tournament: The Grand Champion tournament is a tournament for all the current titleholders 
plus some of the top players in the prize-money list. The semifinals and semifinal of the 2017 version were held on March 31. The semifinals were played in the morning. Kono Rin 9P, playing white, just barely managed to edge Ichiriki Ryo, winner of the previous tournament, by half a point. In the other game, Iyama Yuta (W) beat Motoki Katsuya 8P by resig. Iyama later commented that he was lucky to eke out a win in this game.
The final was played in the afternoon and telecast on the Igo Shogi Channel and also relayed on the Nihon Ki-in’s net channel Yugen-no-ma. Taking black, Iyama secured a resignation after 195 moves. In the key fight of the game, Iyama flattened out White’s moyo; some white stones cut off his group, but he set up a one-eye vs. no-eye capturing race with them, so this was a big gain.
Here are more details for those interested. The tournament follows the NHK format: 30 seconds per move plus ten minutes of thinking time, to be used at will in one-minute units. Up to the third round, games are played on the net; the final is a public game, played on a stage in front of an audience, with a public commentary being given on another part of the same stage. (Just for the record, the tournament name until two years ago was Go Tournament Winners Championship.)
Tomorrow: Yamashita Keigo becomes Honinbo challenger; Cho U takes sole lead in Meijin League; 8th Huanglongshi Cup starts; Iyama defends Judan
