by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal
Shibano starts fightback in Honinbo
The fourth game of the 75th Honinbo title match was played at the Imai Villa, Kawatsu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture on June 30 and July 1. For the challenger, Shibano Toramaru Meijin (photo), it was his first kadoban, that is, a game that can lose a series. With Shibano having won the Judan title two days after the third Honinbo game, this game became a clash between two triple crowns: Iyama Kisei, Honinbo & Tengen vs. Shibano Meijin, Oza & Judan. Go Weekly didn’t mention if this was the first such pairing.
In this game, Shibano, who played white, followed a consistent policy of making strong groups so that he would not come under attack. Iyama was able to build a moyo and seemed to take a small lead (according to AI), but Shibano used his thickness to stage an upset late in the middle game. Black resigned after 166 moves. The fifth game will be played on July 8 and 9.
S League
An important game in the second round of the 45th Kisei S League was played on July 2. Taking white, Takao Shinji 9P beat Ichiriki Ryo 8P by resig. Having reached the play-off to decide the challenger in the previous tournament, Ichiriki was considered one of the favorites, but it’s hard to recover from an early setback in a small league (just five rounds).
Meijin League
One game in the 45th Meijin League was played last week. On June 30, Yamashita Keigo 9P (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P by resig.
Fourth-generation player loses first game
Nakamura Sumire is not the only young female player who is attracting attention from the go media. Cho Kosumi 1P (photo), the daughter of Cho U 9P and Kobayashi Izumi 6P, who in turn is the daughter of Kobayashi Koichi 9P and Kobayashi (Kitani) Reiko 7P, who was the daughter of Kitani Minoru 9P, made her debut as a professional in April, but didn’t get to play her first official game until July 6. Playing black, she lost to Seki Kotaro 3P in Preliminary B of the 30th Ryusei tournament. She resigned after 148 moves. Incidentally, a reporter asked Kosumi if she was thinking of her father in choosing her navy-blue shirt and she answered, yes. Cho U is fond of black and navy-blue clothing; maybe Kosumi will make it a family tradition.
Promotions
To 8-dan: Mizuma Toshifumi (150 wins, as of July 3)
To 5-dan: Ms. Osawa Narumi (70 wins, as of July 3)
Obituary: Sakai Isao
Sakai Isao 7P died on June 3. He was born on July 9, 1939, and became a disciple of his father, Sakai Michiharu 9P (three of whose brothers were also professionals in Nagoya). He qualified for 1-dan at the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in in 1961, reached 6-dan in 1983 and was promoted to 7-dan after his retirement in 2005.
