American Go E-Journal » John Power Report

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Sumire’s progress

(Nov. 17) Sumire (W) beat Nyu Eiko, Senko Cup-holder, by resig. (26th Women’s Kisei, main tournament, round 2).

(Nov. 21) Sumire (B)  lost to Sakai Yuki 2-dan by resig. (prelim. round final, Teikei Young Stars).

(Nov. 26) Sumire (W) lost to Koike Yoshihiro (round 1, 17th Young Carp).

(Dec. 1). Sumire (B) beat Mukai Chiaki 6-dan by resig. (main tournament sf, 26th Women’s Kisei).

(Dec. 5). Sumire (W) beat Koyama Ryugo 7-dan by resig. (First Tournament, round 1, 48th Kisei)

 (Dec. 8) Sumire (B) beat Fujisawa Rina Women’s Honinbo by resig. (play-off to decide the challenger, 26th Women’s Kisei).

(Dec. 15) Sumire (W) beat Okuda Aya 4-dan (prelim., round 2, 10th Women’s Hollyhock Cup).

(Dec. 22). Sumire (W) beat Nyu Eiko by resig. (34th Women’s Meijin League).

Promotions

To 9-dan: Cho Riyu (200 wins, as of Dec. 16)

To 6-dan: Yamamoto Kentaro (90 wins, as of Aug. 12). The go press missed this promotion at the time. 

To 2-dan: Mito Shuhei (30 wins, as of Nov. 25)

Retirement

Takamura Tetsuro 5-dan retired as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Born in Kumamoto Prefecture on Jan. 1, 1961, he became a disciple of the late Shimohira Akio 9-dan and qualified as a professional in 1979. He reached 4-dan in 1986 and was promoted to 5-dan on retirement. He was a member of the Nagoya branch of the Nihon Ki-in.

Obituary

Aragaki Takeshi 9-dan died on November 28. He was born in Okinawa on June 4, 1956. He became a disciple of the late 23rd Honinbo Sakata Eio and made 1-dan in 1971. He reached 9-dan in 1994 and retired in 2020. He won the 4-dan, 5-dan, and two 6-dan championships in, respectively, the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 9th Kisei tournaments. 

My next report will be a statistical overview of 2022.

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Ichiriki and Shibano win Teikei Young Stars leagues

The final section of the Teikei Young Stars tournament consists of two six-player leagues. The winners meet in a play-off to decide the title. In a tournament labeled as for “young stars”, it was a little surprising to find holders big-three titles, namely, Shibano Toramaru Meijin in the A League and Ichiriki Ryo Kisei in the B League. All the games were played from December 17 to 22, and, not surprisingly, each won his league 5-0 (each was two wins clear of the field) and will meet in the best-of-three play-off scheduled for March. Actually, Seki Kotaro Tengen also played in the B League, though he did not do very well, scoring 2-3.

Konishi wins first title

The three Teikei tournaments are now in their second terms. The first to be decided was the Female Legends tournament. In the final, held on December 24, Konishi Kazuko 8-dan (B) beat Kuwahara Yoko 6-dan by resignation. The game was played in the Ryusei Studio at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo. In her fifth appearance in a tournament final, Konishi finally scored her first success. First prize is 2,000,000 yen ($15,564 at $1 = ¥128.5).

Women’s Meijin League

With three rounds completed, there are only two undefeated players in the 34th Women’s Meijin League:  Ueno Asami on 3-0 and Nakamura Sumire on 2-0.

Below are results since my previous report.

(Nov. 7) Ueno Asami, Women’s Hollyhock title-holder, (B) beat Ueno Risa 2-dan by resignation. This is the first official game between the sisters.

(Dec. 1) Ueno Asami (W) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan by resig.

(Dec. 5) Nyu Eiko (B) beat Xie Yimin 7-dan by resig.

(Dec. 15) Ueno Asami (W) beat Kobayashi Izumi 7-dan by resig.

(Dec. 19) Ueno Risa (W) beat Suzuki by resig.

Tomorrow: Sumire’s progress; Promotions & retirements

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Iyama saves Japan in Nongshim Cup

The second round of the 24th Nongshim Cup was held on the net in late November. Japan did badly, but in the final game of the round, Iyama Yuta, who won four games in a row in the previous cup, once again saved their bacon, picking up the first Japanese win. Results follow.

Game 5 (Nov. 25). Kang Dongyun 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Shibano Toramaru 9-dan (Japan) by resig.

Game 6 (Nov. 26). Kang (W) beat Tuo Jiaxi 9-dan (China) by resig.

Game 7 (Nov. 27). Kang (B) beat Yo Seiki 8-dan (Japan) by half a point. (This was Kang’s fifth win in a row.)

Game 8 (Nov. 28). Lian Xiao 9-dan (China) (W) beat Kang by resig.

Game 9 (Nov. 29). Iyama Yuta 9-dan (Japan) (B) beat Lian by resig.

The third round is scheduled for February 20~24.

Shin wins Samsung Cup

The 27th Samsung Cup will always be remembered as the first tournament in which a woman player, Choi Jeong 9-dan, reached the final. In the best-of-three title match, however, she lost 0-2 to Shin Jinseo 9-dan, the world’s number one rated player. The first game was played on November 7; taking black, Shin won by resignation. The second game was played on the following day; taking white, Shin again won by resig. Shin finally won this title after coming second in the 25th and 26th cups. The first game was a convincing win for Shin, but in the second the lead switched back and forth. Shin seemed to prevail because of his greater powers of concentration.

Kawabata Yasunari inducted into Hall of Fame

Kawabata Yasunari, author of “Meijin” (Master of Go), was inducted into the Go Hall of Fame on November 11. He is the second literary figure inducted after the haiku poet Shiki. “Meijin” is a novel based on newspaper commentaries Kawabata wrote about the retirement game played by Shusai Meijin with Kitani Minoru and is the most famous literary work dealing with go.

Chinese players meet in LG Cup final

Two more rounds in the 27th LG Cup were played in mid-November. In the quarterfinals, the last remaining Japanese player was eliminated, then the world number one was eliminated in the semifinals. Details follow.

Quarterfinals (November 13 & 14). Shin Jinseo 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Mi Yuting 9-dan (China) by resig.; Kang Dongyun 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Ke Jie 9-dan (China) by resig.; Yang Dingxin 9-dan (China) (W) beat Shibano Toramaru 9-dan (Japan) by resig.; Ding Hao 9-dan (China) (W) beat Kim Myonghoon 9-dan (Korea) by 2.5 points.

Tomorrow: Ichiriki and Shibano win Teikei Young Stars leagues; Konishi wins first title; Women’s Meijin League

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Ida sets new record in Crown

The Crown title is a regional title, open only to the members of the Central Japan (Nagoya) branch of the Nihon Ki-in. The one-game final of the 63rd title was held on November 22. Ida Atsushi 9-dan (B) beat Mutsuura Yuta 7-dan by resignation. This was his seventh successive Crown title, a new record (though other players have won it more often). First prize is 1,700,000 yen.

China wins 23rd Agon Kiriyama Play-off

The annual Japan-China Agon Kiriyama Cup Play-off was held on the net on December 17. Li Qincheng 9-dan of China, who held white, beat Hirata Tomoya 7-dan of Japan by resignation. Actually, the Chinese go world has apparently been in a chaotic state because of covid-related restrictions, and there were repeated changes in the arrangements for this play-off. In the end, the Chinese managed to hold their Agon-Kiriyama Cup the day before this play-off (Li beat Xie Erhao 9-dan in the final). The chaos didn’t seem to affect Li’s play. 

Iyama wins Ryusei title after life-and-death hallucination

The final of the 31st Ryusei title was telecast on December 26. Iyama Yuta (B) beat Yuki Satoshi 9-dan of the Kansai Ki-in by resignation after 111 moves. This is his fourth Ryusei title, but his first for ten years. Most title matches in 2022 featured at least one young player, but this was an exception: Iyama is 33 and Yuki 50. This is Iyama’s 71st title, so he is just four behind Cho Chikun. His pace has slowed considerably, so it no longer seems so certain that he will reach three digits.

There’s a strange story attached to this triumph, though. In his quarterfinal game with Kato Atsushi 9-dan, both Iyama and Kato hallucinated that one of Kato’s groups was dead when it could live with one move. As a life-and-death problem, it could easily be solved by an average amateur. Having assumed it was dead, neither player took another look at it. At the end of the game, Iyama took this group of six stones off the board and counted the score. He and Kato had agreed the game was over and the latter made no objection when the former took the group off the board (it needed another move to live). The result was a 3.5-point win for Iyama. Kato accepted this result, so there was no problem as far as the rules were concerned. Takao Shinji 9-dan, who did the commentary for the TV program, said that in 30 years as a professional he had never seen anything like it.

Iyama confided to Cho U, who later became the commentator for the final, that he was deeply upset by his oversight and felt that he had lost the trust of go fans. He told Cho that he was determined to win the final while playing a good game to regain the trust of fans.

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Ueno repeats as Young Carp champion

The main section (for the best 16) of the 17th Hiroshima Aluminum Cup Young Carp Tournament was held in the Central Japan Newspaper Headquarters Building on November 26 and 27. For the third year in a row it was won by a woman player and for the second year in a row that woman player was Ueno Asami. In the final, Ueno (W) defeated Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan by resignation. (The winner of the 15th Cup was Fujisawa Rina.)

This tournament is open to players 30 and younger and 7-dan and under. First prize is 3,000,000 yen.

New members of the Meijin league

The play-offs for the new seats in the 48th Meijin League were held on November 18. Cho U 9-dan (B) beat Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan by resignation. Cho, who has won the Meijin title five times, is making a return after missing two leagues. Fujita Akihiko 7-dan (W) beat  Kono Rin 9-dan by half a point. Sada Atsushi 7-dan beat Ida Atsushi 9-dan by resig. Both Fujita and Sada are making their debuts in the league.

48th Meijin League

The first round was completed during December. Results follow.

(Dec. 8) Cho U (B) beat Kyo Kagen Judan by resignation.
(Dec. 15) Shida Tatsuya 7-dan (B) beat Fujita Akihiko by half a point.
(Dec. 19) Iyama Yuta (B) beat Yamashita Keigo 9-dan by resignation.
(Dec. 24) Sada Atsushi (W) beat Yo Seiki 8-dan by 2.5 points.

Honinbo League

The following games have been played since my last report.
(Nov. 7) Yo Seiki (B) beat Otake Yu 7-dan by 1.5 points.
(Nov. 10) Shibano Toramaru  (W) beat Fujita Akihiko by resig.
(Nov. 17) Kyo Kagen (B) beat Tsuruyama Atsushi 8-dan by resig.
(Nov. 24) Ichiriki Ryo Kisei (W) beat Motoki Katsuya 8-dan by resig.
(Dec. 8) Yo Seiki (W) beat Tsuruyama by resign. 
(Dec. 12) Shibano (B) beat Otake by resig.
(Dec. 15) Ichiriki (B) beat Kyo Kagen by resig.
(Dec. 22) Motoki (W) beat Fujita by resignation.

As of the end of 2022, Ichiriki, Yo, and Shibano were tied on 3-0. (In my previous report, I wrote that I would present the league this time, but a software malfunction prevents me from keeping my promise.)

Tomorrow: Ida sets new record in Crown; China wins 23rd Agon Kiriyama Play-off; Iyama wins Ryusei title after life-and-death hallucination

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Seki defends Tengen

The 48th Tengen title match started off with Black winning both games (see my report of October 24). There was a gap of over three weeks before the next game, which was played at the Hotel Marital Sosei Kurume in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture, on November 14. Taking white, Ida Atsushi 9-dan, the challenger, beat Seki Kotaro Tengen by resignation after 202 moves. This gave Ida a 2-1 lead, so Seki’s grip on the title seemed to have been loosened.

The fourth game was played at the Hotel New Awaji in Sumoto City on the island of Awaji in Hyogo Prefecture. Seki (B) fought strongly and evened the series.

The final game was played at the Tokushima Grandvrio Hotel in Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku  (not far south of the venue for the fourth game) on December 15. Seki drew black when they redid the nigiri. The initial fighting seemed good for White, but when the dust settled, Seki had the lead. After that, however, he made a series of small mistakes, so the game became very close. At a crucial point in the endgame, Ida made a mistake, miscalculating the value of a move: he played a one-point move because he thought it was worth two points. That was his last chance to pull off an upset. Seki managed to hold on for a half-point win.

At 21 years zero months and 18 days of age, Seki set a new record for the youngest player to defend a top-seven title. (When Shibano Toramaru defended the Oza title in 2020, he was seven days older.)

Winning his second top-seven title earned Seki promotion to 9-dan.

Iyama defends Oza

Iyama Yuta made a good start in the 70th Oza title match, beating the challenger, Yo Seiki 8-dan of the Kansai Ki-in, in the first game, played on October 21, by the narrow margin of 1.5 points. The second game was played at the Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto on November 11. The game featured a struggle between large groups, but it ended up even closer than the first game, with Iyama (B) winning by just half a point.

The third game was played at the Hotel Okura Kobe in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, on November 18. Like the first two games, this one was also very closely contested, but Yo (B) made a blunder while attacking a white group. He resigned after 180 moves.

Iyama thus defended his title with straight wins. He maintained his triple crown with the Honinbo and Gosei titles. This is also his 70th title. He commented that, what with losing the Kisei and Meijin titles, 2022 was not a great year for him, so he was relieved to have ended it with a success.

Shibano wins 47th Kisei play-off

The first game of the “best-of-three” play-off to decide the Kisei challenger was held on November 18. Taking black, Yamashita Keigo 9-dan, the winner of the A League, defeated Shibano Toramaru Meijin, the winner of the S League by resignation. However, the S League winner is gifted a win in this play-off, so Yamashita couldn’t afford to drop a game. The second game was played on November 21. Taking black, Shibano beat Yamashita by resignation, so he became the challenger. 

Incidentally, since the current Kisei tournament system came into effect in the 40th term, the S League winner has always become the challenger. (In this report, I am focusing on 2022, but I can reveal that Ichiriki Ryo Kisei won the first game of the title match.)

Tomorrow: New members of the Meijin league; Meijin & Honinbo League updates; Ueno repeats as Young Carp champion

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Yoda suspended by the Nihon Ki-in

This is not a matter one wants to get involved in, the reason being that, with the paucity of information available, it’s not possible for an outsider to make any meaningful judgment, but I can give some details. My report on the Masters Cup published on August 23, 2019, gives the bare bones of the dispute. More details are given in my report of February 22, 2020. The Nihon Ki-in board of directors suspended Yoda from play for six months. At the time, he missed some games, but when Yoda launched a legal appeal against the ruling, making the matter sub judice, the Nihon Ki-in reinstalled him until the court case was finished. The court gave its decision on October 14 and found in favor of the Nihon Ki-in, which announced that Yoda had been suspended for six months, from October 15 to March 16 next year. When he turned up at the Ki-in to play a game the next day, a director blocked his way to the playing room and he was informed in person of the ban. Yoda had won a seat in the Samsung Cup in the Japanese domestic qualifying tournament, but had to give this up. Nakamura Sumire was selected to replace him.

Most wins (as of Nov. 4)

1. Ueno Asami Women’s Hollyhock: 43-20

2. Nakamura Sumire 3-dan: 42-20

3. Fujisawa Rina Women’s Honinbo: 41-15

4. Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan: 36-10; Nyu Eiko Senko Cup: 36-18; Ichiriki Ryo Kisei: 36-21

7. Otake Yu 7-dan: 33-12; Ida Atsushi 9-dan: 33-14

9. Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan: 32-22

10. Shibano Toramaru Meijin: 31-16

(This week Go Weekly listed only the top six. 7th to 10th are my best guesses.)

Best winning streaks

7: Cho U 9-dan, Kono Rin 9-dan

6: Kobayashi Izumi 7-dan, Nishioka Masao 3-dan,

Winning streaks recently ended

10: Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan

9: Rin Kanketsu 8-dan

8: Motoki Katsuya 8-dan, Sakai Yuki 3-dan

7: Shida Tatsuya 8-dan, Muramatsu Daiki 6-dan, 

6: Akiyama Jiro 9-dan, Yamashita Keigo 9-dan

5: Iyama Yuta Honinbo, Ogaki Yusaku 9-dan, Kono Takashi 8-dan, Anzai Nobuaki 8-dan, Konishi Yoshiakira 1-dan, Takao Shinji 9-dan 

Retirement

Makihata Taeko 5-dan retired as of November 5. She was born in Tokyo on February 9, 1980. She became 1-dan in 1997 and reached 4-dan in 2014. She was promoted on 5-dan after retiring. 

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Honinbo League

As I reported on October 25, the 78th Honinbo League got off to a start on October 3 when Yo Seiki beat Fujita Akihiko. 

(Oct. 20) Ichiriki Ryo Kisei (B) beat Tsuruyama Atsushi 8-dan by resig.; Shibano Toramaru 9-dan (B) beat Motoki Katsuya 8-dan by 1.5 points.

(Oct. 24) Kyo Kagen Judan (W) beat Otake Yu 7-dan by resig. 

That completes the first round. I will give the league chart in my next report.

Women’s Meijin League

Kobayashi Izumi, a newcomer to the league, and Nakamura Sumire, the previous challenger, have both made good starts. Results to date:

Kobayashi Izumi 7-dan (B) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan by 7.5 points.

(Oct. 27) Nakamura Sumire 3-dan (W) beat Xie Yimin

Sumire’s progress

Nakamura Sumire’s results for the year so far are 42-20 (see “Most Wins” item below). Her overall results as a pro are 123 wins to 62 losses, so she has won a fraction under two thirds of her games.

(Oct. 17) Sumire (W) lost to Xie Yimin 7-dan by 2.5 points (Prelim. B、71st Oza).

(Oct. 20) Sumire (B) beat Tsukuda Akiko 6-dan by resig. (main tournament, 26th Women’s Kisei).

(Oct. 27) Sumire beat Xie Yimin – see Women’s Meijin League article above.

(Oct. 28) Sumire beat Kwon Hyojin – see Samsung article above.

Reo loses first game

Fujita Reo 1-dan, who set a new record by becoming professional 1-dan at nine years four months, played his first official game on October 25. His opponent was a fellow member of the Kansai Ki-in, Watanabe Koki 4-dan and the game was in the first round of the King of the New Stars preliminary. Taking white, Reo lost by resignation. His play was perhaps a little too reckless; his more experienced opponent was able to take charge of the game. 

Record win?

On October 17, Sugiuchi Kazuko 8-dan (W) beat Koda Akiko 4-dan by resig. in the preliminary round of the 10th Women’s Hollyhock Cup. She was born on March 6, 1927, so that makes her age 95 years eight months. Her husband, Masao 9-dan, played his last game at the age of 97. He holds the record for the oldest professional to win a game: 96 years 10 months. His wife is surely the oldest woman professional to win a game.

Tomorrow: Yoda suspended by the Nihon Ki-in; Most wins; Best winning streaks; Winning streaks recently ended; Retirements

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

China wins 1st Hoban Cup

I submitted my previous report (uploaded on October 25) in the midst of the final round. Ueno Asami had just won three games in a row, including a win over the world’s number one woman player, Choi Jeong 9-dan. In game 13, played on October 20, Zhou Hongyu 6-dan (B) beat her by resignation, so China won the 1st Cup with one player, Yu Zhiying, still in reserve. First prize is 100,000,000 won ($71,225 at $1 = 1404 won). Japan came second and Korea third. Ueno received a prize of for winning three games in a row.

Shibano wins Meijin title

The sixth game of the 47th Meijin title match was held at the Atami Sekitei Inn in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture, on October 24 and 25. Taking black, Iyama Yuta Meijin, who was facing his second successive kadoban, played solidly in the opening. The challenger, Shibano Toramaru 9-dan, played aggressively, making attack after attack. In the middle game, a black group suddenly got cut off. It looked as if the fate of this group would decide the game: Iyama’s response was to play a tenuki, that is, to switch elsewhere.

There was an incident in this game that won’t appear in the game record. After Black 31, Shibano suffered a nosebleed. Usually it’s a breach of etiquette for the player whose turn it is to leave the go board, but, after seeking Iyama’s approval, Shibano returned to his room and somehow stopped the bleeding. He also changed his mask, as the previous one was spotted with blood. Of course, all this happened on his time, though Go Weekly doesn’t say how long Shibano was absent.

Iyama’s tenuki strategy worked well for him. Gradually he seized the initiative. Shibano was unable to find a good way of attacking the group Iyama had left to fend for itself. He resigned after 215 moves. The title match was now even. Iyama was displaying great tenacity, just as he did in last year’s Honinbo title match with Shibano.

The final game was played at the Tokiwa Hotel in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, on November 2 and 3. Iyama drew black. From the opening, Shibano launched fierce attacks on black, but Iyama displayed his customary skill at looking after his groups and took the lead. However, Shibano made a relentless attack on a large black group and was able to kill it. Iyama resigned after 202 moves.

After a gap of two terms, Shibano was Meijin again. Iyama still had three titles—the Honinbo, Oza, and Gosei—but he dropped to third place in the official rankings, after Ichiriki Kisei and Shibano Meijin. Shibano commented that beating Iyama in a big-three title match had been one of his major goals, so he was very happy at finally being able to pull it off. The top seven titles are now divided among five players.

2022 Samsung Cup

The highlight of this year’s Samsung’s Cup, the 27th, was the extraordinary performance of Korea’s Choi Jeong 9-dan. She has long been the world’s top woman player, but this time she surpassed herself, becoming the first woman to reach the final of an international tournament. In Round 2, she beat Japan’s number one, Ichiriki Ryo, then beat two players who have won international tournaments. Japan started out well, with three out of four players making the second round, but no one went further. Still, it was encouraging to see Nakamura Sumire win her first game against an 18-year-old Korean 4-dan. She was a late entry for the tournament when Yoda Norimoto was suspended and became unable to play (see story below). Selected results followed. 

Round 1 (Oct. 27, 28). Ichiriki Ryo 9-dan (Japan) (W) beat Oh Yujin 9-dan (Korea) by resig.; Kyo Kagen 9-dan (Japan) beat Han Woojin 5-dan (Korea) by resig.; Yang Dingxin 9-dan (China) (B) beat Shin Minjun 9-dan (Korea) by resig.; Choi Jeong 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Sada Atsushi 7-dan (Japan) by resig.; Nakamura Sumire 3-dan (Japan) (W) beat Kwon Hyojin 4-dan (Korea) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9-dan (Korea) beat Mi Yuting 9-dan (China); Fan Tingyu 9-dan (China) beat Kang Dongyun 9-dan (Korea).

Round 2 (Oct. 31, Nov. 1) Choi (W) beat Ichiriki by resig.; Byun Sangil 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Gu Jihao 9-dan (China) by resig.; Kim Myonghoon 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Tang Weixing 9-dan (China) by half a point; Kim Jiseok 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Xu Haohong 8-dan (Ch. Taipei) by half a point; Yang (W) beat Kyo by resig.; Lee Hyeonjin 6-dan (Korea) (B) beat Nakamura by 1.5 points; Park Jeonghoon 9-dan (Korea) (W) beat Tan Shui 9-dan (China) by resig.; Shin (W) beat Fan Tingyu 9-dan (Korea) by 1.5 points.

Quarterfinals (Nov. 2, 3). Kim Myonghoon (W) beat Kim Jiseok by resig.; Shin (W) beat Park by resig.; Choi (B) beat Yang by resig.; Byun (W) beat Lee by resig. Semifinals (Nov. 4, 5). Choi beat Byun; Shin plays Kim in the other semifinal—it must have been played by now, but the result is not given on the Nihon Ki-in HP.

Tomorrow: Fujisawa defends Women’s Honinbo; Iyama makes good start in Oza; Kisei challenger: Shibano or Yamashita; Tsuruyama wins first title

By John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Most wins

The top four players in this list are all women, which is probably a first.

1. Ueno Asami, Women’s Hollyhock: 39-15; Nakamura Sumire 2-dan: 39-18
3. Fujisawa Rina, Women’s Honinbo: 37-14
4. Nyu Eiko, Senko Cup: 36-16
5. Ichiriki Ryo Kisei: 34-20
6. Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan: 32-9
7. Otake Yu 7-dan: 31-9
8. Ida Atsushi 9-dan: 30-14; Suzuki Ayumi 7-dan: 30-19
10. Hirata Tomoya 7-dan: 29-6

Most successive wins
8: Rin Kanketsu 8-dan, Motoki Katsuya 8-dan, Koike Yoshihiro 7-dan
6: Akiyama Jiro 9-dan, Shida Tatsuya 8-dan, Sakai Yuki 3-dan
5: Yamashita Keigo 9-dan, Cho U 9-dan, Kono Rin 9-dan, Kono Takashi 8-dan, Muramatsu Hiroki 6-dan, Konishi Yoshiakira 1-dan

Winning streaks recently ended
10: Hane Yasumasa 9-dan
9: Kato Yuki, Nakamura Sumire 
8: Nyu Eiko
7: Ueno Risa 2-dan
6: Shibano Toramaru 9-dan, Mizokami Tomochika 9-dan
5: Yamashiro Hiroshi 9-dan, Sotoyanagi Sebun 4-dan, Kono Mitsuki 8-dan

Promotion
To 8-dan: Anzai Nobuaki (150 wins, as of Sept. 27)

Quasi-professionals

The Nihon Ki-in has long had a system of “quasi-professionals.” Players who failed to qualify as professionals by the age deadline are able to become professional teachers, though they cannot play in tournaments. They have also played a part in go history. They do not play in a promotion tournament, but are periodically granted promotions. In recognition of their long years of service, the four quasi-professionals registered at the Nihon Ki-in were each promoted a rank on August 30 (the decision was made by the board of directors). Details follow. To 5-dan: Sumino Sachiyo (age 99). To 4-dan: Kawamura Noriko (turned 77 on Oct. 17); Kobayashi Takayuki (age 66); Mizuno Yoshika (also 66). Ms. Sumino was a disciple of Kubomatsu Katsukiyo 8-dan; she was married to the late Sumino Tsunehiro 9-dan, a member, like her, of the Kansai branch of the Nihon Ki-in; the late Kubouchi Shuchi 9-dan of the Kansai Ki-in was her elder brother. Kobayashi is the second of the four go-playing siblings Chizu 6-dan, Kenji 7-dan, and Satoru 9-dan. The last-mentioned has won the Kisei title and is at present chairman of the board of directors of the Nihon Ki-in. 

Retirement

Koyama Hideo 5-dan retired as of September 28. Born on February 26, 1951, in Tokyo, Koyama became a disciple of Kitani Minoru. He became 1-dan in 1974 and reached 5-dan in 1989. After his retirement, he was promoted to 6-dan.