by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Shibano to challenge for Meijin title: The final round of the 44th Meijin League was held in Tokyo and Osaka on August 1. All of the games were important to the players playing them, either for winning the league or retaining their places. Three players were in the running to be the challenger: Iyama Yuta, Shibano Toramaru, and Kono Rin. They were not playing each other, so a three-way tie was possible, but only the two higher-ranked players would qualify for a play-off. This meant that Iyama and Shibano had an advantage, but Iyama lost his final game while Shibano and Kono won, so these two made the play-off. Results of games played since my last report are given below.
The play-off between Shibano and Kono was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on August 8. Taking black, Shibano won by half a point after 202 moves; he took revenge for losing the Honinbo play-off to Kono earlier this year. He will be making his first challenge for a top-seven title. Without intending any disrespect to Kono, it’s safe to say that the Japanese go public has been eagerly awaiting Shibano’s title-match debut. When the best-of-seven starts, on August 27, he will be 19 years nine months old, making him the second-youngest challenger ever for the Meijin title (Iyama holds the record of 19 years three months). Shibano took four years 11 months from the start of his career to make this challenge, the quickest for any top-seven challenger (previous record was held by the late Kato Masao, who challenged for the Honinbo title five years after becoming a pro. Becoming the challenger for a top-three title earned Shibano an automatic promotion to 8-dan, effective the following day. He is the fastest to reach this mark.
(July 4) Hane Naoki 9P (W) beat Suzuki Shinji 7P by 2.5 points.
(July 11) Shibano Toramaru 7P (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig.; Mutsuura Yuta 7P (W) beat Son Makoto 7P by resig.
(July 18) Iyama (B) beat Kono Rin 9P by resig.
(August 1) Hane (B) beat Iyama by resig.; Kono (W) beat Yamashita by 3.5 points; Shibano (B) beat Suzuki by resig.; Murakawa Daisuke Judan (W) beat Son by resig.
Kyo becomes Tengen challenger: The play-off to decide the challenger to Iyama Yuta for the 45th Tengen title was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on August 15. Taking black, Kyo Kagen Gosei beat Sada Atsushi 4-dan (Kansai Ki-in) by resignation. Kyo’s form has picked up this month. The title match will start on October 11.
6th Kuksu Mountains Cup: This is a Korean-sponsored tournament that was a team tournament for its first four years but switched to an individual tournament last year. Players have a time allowance of 30 minutes plus 40 seconds by three times. First prize is 50 million won. The four rounds were held over three days, from August 3 to 5 and, which must be very unusual, as three different locations.
This year Chinese players dominated the tournament, with “veteran” Chen Yaoye 9P, who is 29 years old, defeating Liao Yuanhe 8P in the final. Of the three Japanese participants, only Yamashita Keigo picked up a win, but that was over Park Junghwan, many times a world champion. Results follow (I don’t have full details for most of the games):
Round 1 (August 3). Shin Minjun 9P (Korea) beat Wang Yuanjun 9P (Chinese Taipei); Byun Sangil 9P (Korea) (W) beat Iyama Yuta 9P (Japan) by resig.; Lee Tonghun 9P (Korea) beat Fan Tingyu 9P (China); Liao Yuanhe 8P (China) beat Lee Jihun 9P (Korea); Kim Jiseok 9P (Korea) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P (Japan); Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) beat Xu Haohong 6P (Chinese Taipei); Yamashita Keigo 9P (Japan) (B) beat Park Junghwan 9P (Korea) by resig.; Chen Yaoye 9P (China) beat Lee Changho 9P (Korea).
Quarterfinals (August 4) Byun beat Shin Minjun; Liao beat Lee Tonghun; Shin Jinseo beat Kim; Chen beat Yamashita.
Semifinals (Aug. 4). Liao beat Byun; Chen beat Shin
Final (Aug. 5). Chen beat Liao
As a side event, an invitational Pair Go tournament was also held. Results:
Round 1 (Aug. 3). Yu Li-chun 2P & Wang Li-ch’eng 9P (O Rissei) (Chinese Taipei) (B) beat Heo Seohyun 1P & Yoo Changhyuk 9P (Korea) by resig.; Gao Xing 4P & Yu Bin 9P (China) (B) beat Tsuji Hana 1P & Yamada Kimio 9P (Japan) by resig.
Final (Aug. 5). Yu/O (W) beat Guo/Yu by resig.
(Play-off for 3rd) Heo/Yoo (W) beat Tsuji/Yamada by resig.
Tomorrow: 1200 wins for O Rissei; Iyama’s second marriage; Sakai to resume medical career
