American Go E-Journal » 2021 » September

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Fujisawa wins Senko Cup
The final rounds of the 6th Senko Cup were held in the Guest Pavilion Akekure (Dawn and Dusk) at the Crefeel Koto hotel in East Omi City, Shiga Prefecture, on September 10 and 12. This tournament is a little unusual in that the previous winner does not defend the title but starts out again in the main tournament. The winner of the 5th Cup was Ueno Asami; she reached the final, so the result was the same as if she were defending the title. She was joined in the final by her main rival, Fujisawa Rina. The latter prevailed in the final, so she won this title for the third time. First prize is 8,000,000 yen (just under $73,000 at $1 = 109.62 yen), which makes this the most lucrative domestic female title. Second prize of 4,000,000 yen is also quite generous. Fujisawa now holds five of the six women’s titles, the other four being the Women’s Honinbo, the Women’s Meijin, the Women’s Hollyhock, and the Hakata Kamachi Cup. The lone hold-out is the Women’s Kisei, held by Ueno. Fujisawa also holds the Young Carp title. This is her 19th title; she is rapidly catching up with XieYimin (27 titles).

Results:
Semifinals (Sept. 10). Ueno Asami (B) beat Xie Yimin 7P by resig.; Fujisawa (B) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7P by resig.
Final (Sept. 12). Fujisawa (W) beat Ueno by resig.

The 79-year age gap
On September 9, Sugiuchi Kazuko 8P, at 94 the oldest active go player, was paired against Fukuoka Kotaro 2P, at 15 one of the youngest professionals at the Nihon Ki-in. The gap between the two was 79 years. Taking black, Fukuoka won by resignation. After the game, he commented: “Sugiuchi Sensei’s posture and movements were very natural and struck me as beautiful. I’m glad I had a chance to play her.’ The biggest gap ever in a professional game was 80 years, set when her husband, the late Sugiuchi Masao, then 95, played Onishi Ryuhei 1P, then 15.

New Honinbo league members
The four vacant seats in the 77th Honinbo League have been decided, and two have gone to Kansai Ki-in players. On August 26, Sada Atsushi 7P (KK) (W) beat Koyama Kuya 4P by 2.5 points. Sada makes a comeback to the league immediately after dropping out of the previous league.
On September 2, Yo Seiki 8P (KK) (W) beat Ko Iso 9P by resig. and won a seat for the sixth time after a gap of two terms. On the same day, Motoki Katsuya 8P (W) beat Koike Yoshihiro 6P by resig. This will be his fourth appearance in the league; he won the 72nd league.
In the game for the last open seat, played on September 9, Tsuruyama Atsushi 8P (B) beat Anzai Nobuaki 7P by resig. Tsuruyama also made an immediate come back to the league. He commented that he was happy to make his second league; one appearance could be dismissed as a fluke, but not two.

Three-way tie in international tournament
The 2021 6th Hulu Island Weiqi Cultural Festival China-Japan-Korea Tournament was held from September 12‾14 on the net. It is a team tournament, with three-player teams from China, Japan, and Korea competing. It features former top players, though one member of the Japanese team might object to the first adjective. Each team won one match and lost one and each scored three individual wins, so the result was a three-way tie for first. Chinese rules were used, and the time allowance was one hour plus one minute x 5. Prizes were 300,000 yuan (about $18,450 at one yuan = 15.3 cents), 200,000, and 100,000. Results follow:

Round One) Korea 2-China 1
Yoo Chang-hyeok 9P (B) lost to Yu Bin 9P by half a point.
Lee Chang-ho 9P (B) beat Chang Hao 9P by resig.
Cho Hun-hyeon 9P (B) beat Nie Weiping 9P by resig.

Round Two) China 2-Japan 1
Nie Weiping 9P (W) lost to Kobayashi Koichi 9P by resig.
Yu Bin (B) beat Kobayashi Satoru 9P by resig.
Chang Hao 9P (W) beat Takao Shinji 9P by half a point.

Round Three) Japan 2-Korea 1
Kobayashi Koichi (W) beat Cho Hun-hyeon by 4.5 points.
Kobayashi Satoru (B) beat Yoo Chang-hyeok by resig.
Takao Shinji 9P (B) lost to Lee Chang-ho by 2.5 points

Shin Jinseo wins Chunlan Cup
Shin Jin-seo 9P of Korea, the world’s top-rated player, beat Tang Weixing 9P of China 2-0 in the best-of three final of the 13th Chunlan Cup (the tournament started in July last year). In the first game, played on the net on Sept. 13, Shin (W) upset his opponent’s lead and won by half a point. The second game was played on Sept. 15; taking black, Shin won by resig. after 173 moves. First prize is $150,000.
Shin was born on March 17, 2000, and this is his fourth international title (see below for the other three). The other three are given below. Shin has a reputation for surpassing AI, which has earned him an interesting nickname: “shinko chino,” which means “Shin-built intelligence.” That is a pun on the term “jinko chino,” which means “artificial intelligence.”
Shin’s other titles: 4th Globis Cup (2017); 31st TV Asia (2019); 24th LG Cup (2020, this tournament began in 2019).

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Hoshiai to make first challenge
The play-off to decide the challenger to Fujisawa Rina for the 40th Women’s Honinbo was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on August 23. Taking black, Hoshiai Shiho 3P (right) beat Koyama Terumi 6P by resignation. She will make her first challenge for a title. She may be a new name for some readers, but actually she is one of the best-known women players in Japan, as she has been serving as the MC of NHK’s TV tournament telecast on Sundays. Hoshiai turned 24 on September 4. The title match begins on September 28. Her opponent, Koyama Terumi, deserves praise for reaching the play-off. In an era of domination by young stars, the 51-year-old Koyama revived memories of her younger days when she won the Women’s Meijin title four times (1996‾98, 2005).

Ichiriki takes lead in Meijin title match
This year’s 46th Meijin title match features what is undoubtedly the strongest pairing in current tournament go in Japan. Iyama held the top three titles and has continued to lord it over the go world despite entering his 30s. The challenger, Ichiriki Ryo, has been the in-form player in recent months and has looked the most likely to dethrone Iyama. However, although he has won 14 titles, he has not yet won one of the big three, unlike his closest rival, Shibano Toramaru. This match is his chance to rectify that.
The first game of the match was held at its customary venue of the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, on August 26 and 27. Iyama drew white in the nigiri. Both players played aggressively, so the game featured fierce fighting throughout, making this a spectacular start to the title match. However, Ichiriki’s strategy at an important point in the middle game was a little dubious, so Iyama took the lead. Ichiriki made an all-out attempt to capture a large group, but White cut off a black group and won the capturing race with a brilliant combination, one that he apparently worked out 25 moves in advance. Ichiriki resigned after move 212.
The second game was played at the Shiki-sai Ichiriki or Four Seasonal Colors Ichiriki in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, on September 8 and 9, Ichiriki being written with the same characters, “one strength,” as in the player’s name. Although there’s no connection between the family that founded the inn and Ichiriki’s family, it was a pleasant coincidence for Ichiriki (the venue would have been chosen before the organizers knew who the challenger would be). The game was a real rough-and-tumble affair, with various moves supposed to be bad style, such as empty triangles and moves pushing through a knight’s move, appearing in the messy infighting. Iyama (B) delivered what Go Weekly called “unlimited punches,” with Ichiriki sometimes absorbing the impact, sometimes dodging lightly. Ichiriki had an edge, but in the endgame he missed a move that would have secured a win, so the game became a half-pointer. However, Iyama later made a mistake, so the half point went in Ichiriki’s favor. This was Ichiriki’s first win in a two-day game?he lost 0-4 when he challenged Iyama for the 42nd Kisei title in 2018.
The third game was played at Kakujoro inn in Tahara City, Aichi Prefecture, on 15 & 16 September, with Hane Naoki acting as referee. Ichiriki (B) got into trouble when he came under a severe attack, but he was able to pull off an upset. Iyama resigned after move 225. The fourth game will be played on September 28 and 29.  

Ichiriki wins Kisei S League
In a repeat of his Meijin League performance, Ichiriki Ryo has won the S League of the 46th Kisei tournament without dropping a game. Second place was taken by Yo Seiki 8P of the Kansai Ki-in. Results since my last report are given below.
(Aug. 16) Murakawa Daisuke 9P (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig.
(Aug. 23) Ichiriki (B) beat Takao Shinji by resig.
(Sept. 16) Yo Seiki 8P (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P by 2.5 points.
The final-round game between Kono Rin and Yamashita Keigo has yet to be played.

The winners of the other leagues have also been decided, though not all the games have been played yet. In the B League play-off, Son Makoto 7P, who won the B2 League with 6-1, defeated Shida Tatsuya 8P, who won the B1 League with 5-2. The game was played on September 6, and Son, taking black, won by resignation. The knock-out to decide the challenger looks like this: Numadate Sakiya 7P, winner of the C League, plays Son Makoto; the winner then plays Shibano Toramaru, winner of the A League; the winner plays Yo Seiki 8P, who came second in the S League; the winner then plays Ichiriki in a “best-of-three” in which Ichiriki has a one-win advantage, so he needs to win only one game to become the challenger.

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ichiriki’s perfect record in Meijin League
The final round of the 46th Meijin league was held on August 6. There was no suspense at the top of the league, as Ichiriki had taken an unbeatable lead of 7-0 in the previous round, but at the other end there were issues of demotion still to be decided. Kyo Kagen, Hane Naoki, Yamashita Keigo, and Shibano Toramaru were sure of their places. Yo Seiki, who had a bye in the last round, was the only player sure of dropping out. That meant that out of Kono Rin, Motoki Katsuya, and Anzai Nobuaki, two would have to drop out. Complete results for the final round follow:
Ichiriki Ryo Tengen (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by resig.
Kyo Kagen Judan (W) beat Kono Rin 9P by half a point.
Motoki Katsuya (W) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig.
Anzai Nobuaki 9P (B) beat Shibano Toramaru Oza by resig.

The position became simplified when Motoki won his game. He improved his score to 4-4 and took 5th place. Anzai needed not just to win but also to have Motoki (and Kono) lose, in which case there would be a play-off with Motoki for the sixth seat. This happens only when the players have the same rank, so this rule applies only to the three newcomers to the league, who are all ranked 7th. That’s why Anzai didn’t get a play-off with Shibano, although they finished on the same score. Shibano’s luck in keeping his place with a 3-5 score is indicative of how the Meijin League favors the status quo. In the Honinbo League, a score of 4-3 is sometimes not enough to keep your place. Incidentally, Kono is enduring one of the worst slumps of his career, the loss above being his 11th in a row. This was his 10th Meijin League in a row and the first time he lost his seat.

Ueno makes King of the New Stars final
On August 9, Ueno Asami, Women’s Kisei, (W) beat Nishi Takenobu 5P in the semifinal of the 46th King of the New Stars tournament by 4.5 points. This made her the second woman player to make the final. The first was Aoki Kikuyo 8P (then 7P) in the 22nd title. The other finalist is Sotoyanagi Sebun 3P; the best-of-three starts on September 20.

Iyama wins Gosei, once again
The fourth game of the 46th Gosei title match was held at the Niigata Grand Hotel in Niigata City on August 17. Taking white, Iyama Yuta won by resignation after 198 moves and so survived a kadoban. He played quite aggressively and did not seem to fall behind at any stage. The highlights of the game were two brilliancies played by Iyama. One was a surprising move adding a stone to three captured white stones, but giving White leverage that he used in his second brilliancy. Incidentally, the referee for this game was Cho U. Aged 41, Cho was making his debut in this role. He was also the referee for the first game in the Meijin title match (see below). It’s a little unusual to choose as referees players who are still competing at the top. Cho is slated to play Iyama in the semifinal of the 69th Oza tournament; if he won that game, he would meet Ichiriki in the final to decide the challenger. (As it happened, Iyama beat Cho.) Actually, it’s not just Cho. The other three members of the group popularly called “the top four of the Heisei (1989-2019) era,” that is, Takao Shinji, Hane Naoki, and Yamashita Keigo, are also serving as referees for the Meijin title match.
The fifth game was held at the Nihon Ki-in headquarters in Tokyo on August 29. Iyama drew white in the nigiri and continued where he left off in the fourth game. He took the edge in the middle game, so Ichiriki felt that he had to stake the game on attacking a large white group. When this attack failed, he resigned. The game lasted 180 moves.
Iyama regained the title that he had held for six years in a row (2012‾2017: 37th to 42nd). He lost it to Kyo Kagen in 2018, who lost it to Hane Naoki in 2019, who lost it to Ichiriki Ryo in 2020. Perhaps a new dynasty will start. Iyama once again becomes a quadruple title holder. This is his 65th title, so he moves ahead of Sakata Eio into sole second place on the all-time list:.
Most titles won
1. Cho Chikun: 75
2. Iyama Yuta: 65
3. Sakata Eio: 64
4. Kobayashi Koichi: 60
5. Otake Hideo: 48
6. Kato Masao: 47
7. Cho U: 41
8. Yoda Norimoto: 36
9. Rin Kaiho: 35
10. Xie Yimin: 27