by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Snap inspections planned by the Nihon Ki-in
On Sept. 16, the Nihon Ki-in decided that in order to maintain the fairness of official tournaments, it would hold snap, unannounced inspections of the personal belongings of players engaged in official games. Led by a member of the board of directors, officials would make a temporary halt to play in a specified area (such as one floor) and examine players’ belongings. Any players with devices with communication functions would forfeit their games, and their names would be made known within the Ki-in. Any players refusing to permit an inspection of their belongings would be treated in the same way.
Some background: As of October 1, 2018, Nihon Ki-in players were forbidden to take electronic devices into playing areas, being required to put them into lockers. As of Jan. 1 this year, players were forbidden to leave the playing area at meal times. A portion of playing areas were set aside as rest areas, and rest rooms were included in the playing area. (See my report of Feb. 25, 2021.)
Upcoming book: “Fuseki Revolution: How AI Has Changed Go”
A book on the influence of AI on go theory will be published soon by Kiseido. The title is “Fuseki Revolution: How AI Has Changed Go” and the author is Shibano Toramaru. (Full disclosure: I am the translator.)
Promotions
To 9-dan: Katayama Yasuo (200 wins; as of Sept. 17). Katayama is a member of the Nagoya (Central Japan) branch of the Nihon Ki-in. He was born on July 28, 1964 and became 1-dan in 1981. His career score is 491 wins to 471 losses, 11 jigo and 1 no-contest. It’s interesting to see that the 200 wins required for promotion to 9-dan make up just over 40% of all his lifetime wins. To 8-dan: Mitani Tetsuya (150 wins; as of Sept. 17). His lifetime tally is 330 wins to 216 losses and 2 no-contests. The wins for his latest promotion are just 27% of his career wins.
To 7-dan (120 wins): Kobayashi Izumi (as of Aug. 17); Ohashi Hirofumi (as of Aug. 17); Xie Yimin (as of Aug. 20)
To 2-dan (30 wins): Ikemoto Ryota (30 wins; as of Aug. 6); Kondo Toshiki (as of Sept. 7)
Obituary
Saijo Masataka 9-dan died on August 6. Born on Jan. 5, 1941 in Chiba Prefecture, Saijo became a disciple of Sakai Yasuo 8P. He became 1-dan at the Central Japan (Nagoya) branch of the Nihon Ki-in in 1964 and reached 8-dan in 1981. He retired in 2004 and was promoted to 9-dan. Saijo made many trips overseas to teach go and in particular was a familiar face at the European Go Congress for many years.
