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by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

76th Honinbo League: Shibano has sole lead: We may well see a rematch of the players who fought the Honinbo title match last year. With only one round to go, Shibano Toramaru has the sole lead on 5-1. Next are three players on 4-2: Kyo Kagen, Ichiriki Ryo, and Hane Naoki. Shibano meets Hane in the final round; even if he loses, he will qualify for a play-off. It’s already decided that the bottom four players will lose their league seats.
Recent results follow.
(March 4) Sada Atsushi 7P (W) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig.
(March 11) Kyo 8P (B) beat Ichiriki 8P by resig.; Onishi Ryuhei 7P (B) beat Tsuruyama Atsushi 8P by resig.
(March 18) Shibano Toramaru Oza (W) beat Ko Iso 9P by resig.  

Meijin League: Ichiriki and Hane share lead: With four rounds completed, two players, Ichiriki Ryo and Hane Naoki, remain undefeated, but each has already had his bye, so their scores are 3-0. Third is Kyo Kagen on 3-1.
Recent results:
(March 4) Yo Seiki 8P (W) beat Yamashita Keigo 9P by 4.5 points.
(March 11) Shibano (W) beat Kono Rin 9P by 1.5; Hane Naoki 9P (W) beat Anzai Nobuaki 7P by 2.5.
(March 18) Kyo Kagen 8P (W) beat Motoki Katsuya 8P by resig.; 

Ichiriki wins Shusai Prize: The Shusai Prize for 2020 was awarded to Ichiriki Ryo 8P in recognition of his outstanding record in winning two top-seven titles, the Gosei and the Tengen, achieving the best results by a Japanese player in international go, and winning a number of Kido Prizes (see my report of Feb. 21). (I wonder if a triple-crown winner has ever missed out on the Shusai Prize before, but it’s understandable if the selection committee wanted a new face–Iyama has won eight of the last 12 Shusai Prizes.) 

Promotions
To 5-dan: Horimoto Mitsunari (70 wins; as of March 9)
To 3-dan: Ms. Nakajima Mieko (40 wins; as of Feb. 23); Ms. Hoshiai Shiho (40 wins; as of March 5). Hoshiai is one of the best-known women professionals in Japan, as she is the main M.C. of the NHK Cup. Also, Oda Teppei (40 wins; as of March 19)
To 2-dan: Nakamura Sumire (30 wins, as of March 16); I Ryo (30 wins; as of March 19) 

Retirement   
Yoshioka Kaoru retired as of February 28. He was born in Saga Prefecture on March 1, 1960. He became a disciple of Yasunaga Hajime, qualified as 1-dan in 1980, and reached 8-dan in 2013. He was promoted to 9-dan after his retirement. 

Obituaries
Yamada Wakio: Died of a cerebral infarction on Feb. 17. Born in Osaka on May 12, 1969, he became a disciple of Yamashita Yorimoto 7P and made 1-dan in 1984, reaching 7-dan in 1993. He was posthumously promoted to 8-dan. With his older brother Yamada Shiho 7P and younger brother Yamada Kimio 9P, he was a member of the Kansai branch of the Nihon Ki-in.

Miyazaki Hiroshi: Died of aspiration pneumonia on March 2 at the age of 85. Miyazaki was born in Tokyo on June 23, 1935. He became a disciple of Kobayashi Seiichi 6P. He made 1-dan in 1960 and reached 5-dan in 1972. He was promoted to 6-dan after his retirement in 2002.

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Sumire extends winning streak, sets new record in promotion to 2-dan: Nakamura Sumire is going from strength to strength: she extended her winning streak to ten games and with the last of these wins, in a game played in the morning on March 15, secured promotion to 2-dan (effective as of the following day). At 12 years zero months of age, she broke a Nihon Ki-in record that had stood for 52 years. It was set by Cho Chikun, who made 2-dan when he was 12 years three months old. She also pushed Iyama Yuta, who became 2-dan at 13 years three months, into third place. On top of that, she took sole first place in the successive-wins list; it’s possible that she is the first woman player to top this list, but I could be wrong. Unfortunately, her streak came to an end in the afternoon of the same day. Sumire commented that she was happy to have made 2-dan while still (barely) an elementary-school pupil (she starts middle school in April). Just for the record, of the 13 Nihon Ki-in pros who debuted in April 2019, Sumire was the fourth to be promoted and the first of the eight female players in this group. Later in March, she also won a special tournament for teenagers (see preceding article). More details are given in the list of results since my last report below.
(March 1). Sumire (W) beat Tahara Yasufumi 7P (28th Agon Kiriyama Cup, Prelim. C). This win was a one-day-early birthday present to herself.
(March 10) Sumire (B) beat Tamura Chiaki 3P by resig. (preliminary, 6th Senko Cup).
(March 11) Sumire (W) beat Tajima Shingo 6P by half a point (First Tournament, Kisei tournament; incidentally, Tajima is a disciple of her father’s).
(March 15) In the morning, Sumire (B) beat Matsubara Taisei 6P by resig. (Prelim. B, Agon Kiriyama Cup). In the afternoon, she lost to Koyama Kuya 4P (W) by resig. in the same tournament. 
(March 18) Sumire (W) beat O Keii 2P by resig. in the 8th Women’s Hollyhock Cup prelim. and qualified for the main tournament.
(March 29) Sumire (B) beat Rafif Shidqi Fitlah 1P by resig. (Prelim. C, 47th Gosei tournament). This was her final game as an elementary-school pupil; her record this year is 13-2, which is not a bad first quarter, and her cumulative record to date is 51 wins to 26 losses. Sumire commented: “It was a difficult game, but at no stage was it bad for me.” Asked about her record, she responded: “It’s nice that I’ve won more games than I expected.” (Fitlah 1P of Indonesia made his debut as a professional in April 2020. He was born on July 12, 2002.)

Note: There was a lot of speculation about when Sumire’s promotion would come, but it was not easy to calculate, as not all games are counted in the list of cumulative wins. Her actual record when she got promoted was 49 wins, 25 losses, but only 30 of the wins counted for promotion. (Eligible domestic tournaments are the top seven open titles, King of the New Stars, Ryusei, Hiroshima Aluminum Cup, Agon Kiriyama Cup, Gratitude Cup, and SGW Golden Mean. Notably missing are women’s titles and the NHK Cup. International tournaments include: Samsung, LG, Bailing, MLily (but not the preliminary tournaments for these four), Nong Shim, Chunlan, Globis, World Go Championship, Xin-Ao, Tianfu Cup (previous two held only once each so far), and National Champion Mountain Range Cup. Notably missing are the Ing Cup, because of unorthodox rules, such as buying extra time with stones, and international women’s titles. (An additional reason for confusion is that tournaments sometimes change status, being made official. The best—or worst, depending on your point of view—example is the Hiroshima Aluminum Cup. Xie Yimin won the first cup, but she missed out on a place in go history as the first woman to win an official tournament open to both males and females because it did not become an official tournament until the sixth term.

Tomorrow: 76th Honinbo League: Shibano has sole lead; Meijin League: Ichiriki and Hane share lead; Ichiriki wins Shusai Prize; Promotions/Retirement/Obituaries

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ueno to challenge for Women’s Meijin: The 32nd Hakata Kamachi Cup Women’s Meijin League ended in a tie between Suzuki Ayumi 7P and Ueno Asami, Women’s Kisei, who were both on 5-1. A play-off was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya in Tokyo on March 15. Playing black, Ueno won by resignation after 155 moves, thus taking revenge for her loss to Suzuki in the 5th round of the league. The title match with Fujisawa Rina will be played at the Nihon Ki-in on April 14, 16, and, if necessary, 19.
Results since my last report follow.
(Feb. 22) Suzuki Ayumi (B) beat Ueno Asami by resig.; Mukai Chiaki 6P (W) beat Kato Chie 2P by resig.; Nyu Eiko 3P (W) beat Tsuji Hana 1P by resig.
(March 1) Suzuki (W) beat Tsuji by resig.; Xie Yimin 6P (B) beat Mukai Chiaki 6P by half a point.
(March 4) Xie (B) beat Suzuki by 1.5; Mukai (B) beat Tsuji by resig.
(March 11) Ueno (W) beat Kato by 14.5. 
(March 15, play-off) Ueno (B) beat Suzuki by resig.

Ichiriki wins NHK Cup: The final of the 68th NHK Cup was telecast on March 21. Ichiriki Ryo 8P, who these days is Japan’s number one player in fast-go tournaments, beat Yo Seiki 8P, currently the top player at the Kansai Ki-in. Taking black, Ichiriki secured a resignation after 233 moves. He also won the cup two years ago. Yo reached the final for the first time in eight appearances.

Yu Zhiying wins Senko Cup: The Senko Cup World Go Strongest Woman Player Tournament 2021 was held on the net from March 22 to 24. The Japanese players (five out of a total of eight) all played their games at the Tokyo East Side Hotel Kaie in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Fittingly, the world’s top two women players, Yu Zhiying of China and Choi Jeong of Korea, made the final, with victory going to the former. This tournament has been held three times, and Yu has yet to lose a game in it (the previous cups were held in 2018 and 2019; the tournament was cancelled last year). The play-off for third place was won by Ueno Asami. First prize is 5,000,000 yen (about $45,454, at $1 = \110).
Round 1 (March 22). Mukai Chiaki 5P (Japan) (B) beat Yu Lijun 3P (Ch. Taipei) by resig.; Ueno Asami 4P (Japan) (B) beat Kuwabara Yoko 6P (Japan) by resig.; Choi Jeong 9P (Korea) (W) beat Xie Yimin 6P (Japan) by 2.5; Yu Zhiying 6P (China) (W) beat Fujisawa Rina 4P (Japan) by resig,
(Semifinals, March 23). Yu (B) beat Mukai by resig.; Choi (B) beat Ueno by 1.5.
(Final, March 24) Yu (B) beat Choi by resig.
(Play-off for 3rd, March 24). Ueno (B) beat Mukai by resig.

Nakamura Sumire wins Teenagers Tournament 
The Senko Cup Female Teenagers Tournament was staged on March 23 and 24 as a kind of side event to the international Senko Cup. Participants were the eight youngest female players at the Nihon Ki-in and it was won by a pre-teen, the 12-year-old Nakamura Sumire. The prize was one tenth of the international tournament. This is Sumire’s first tournament win, but it is not an official one, so results are not included in official counts. Results are given below (full details were not available, except for the final), with ages in parentheses. Note: Ueno Risa is the younger sister of Ueno Asami; she became a pro at the same time as Sumire.
(Round 1) Honda Mariko 1P (16) beat Mori Chisaki 2P (18); Nakamura 2P (12) beat Osuga Seira 1P (17); Cho Kosumi 1P beat Tsukada Chiharu 1P (16); Ueno Risa 1P (14) beat Yokota Hinano 1P (17).
(Semifinals) Nakamura beat Honda; Ueno beat Cho.
(Final) Nakamura (W) beat Ueno by 6.5.

Tomorrow: Sumire extends winning streak, sets new record in promotion to 2-dan

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Korea wins Nong Shim Cup: Other players took part in the final round of the 22nd Nong Shim Spicy Noodles Cup, played on the net in late February, but they were like extras in attendance just to enhance a dominating star performance by Shin Jinseo 9P of Korea. For the first time in quite a while, the three countries participating, China, Korea, and Japan, entered the final round on equal terms, with each having lost three games and each having two players left. However, Shin showed why he is the world’s top-rated player by slicing through the opposition. He also won the final game of the second round, so that gave him a winning streak of five against the top players from China and Japan. Korea’s final player, Park Junghwan, remained a spectator. This was the 13th team victory for Korea to eight for China and just one for Japan. The prize for first place is 500,000,000 won (about $441,000, at $1 = 1134 won). Results follow:
Game 10 (Feb. 22). Shin (W) beat Iyama Yuta 9P (Japan) by resig.
Game 11 (Feb. 23). Shin (B) beat Yang Dingxin 9P (China) by resig. (In the previous Nong Shim Cup, Yang won seven games in a row, the last of them being against Shin.)
Game 12 (Feb. 24). Shin (B) beat Ichiriki 8P (Japan) by resig.
Game 13 (Feb. 25) Shin (B) beat Ke Jie 9P (China) by resig.

Here is some background on Shin. Born on March 17, 2000, he was the youngest player taking part. He became a pro in 2012 and reached 9-dan in 2018. His first international victory was in a junior tournament, the 4th Globis Cup. In 2019, he won the 31st TV Asia tournament. Last year, his record was 76 wins to ten losses, a winning rate of an astonishing 88.37%. This just pipped the previous Korean record of 88.24% (75 wins, ten losses), set by Lee Changho in 1988. From October to December, he played a seven-game match, called the Super Match, with Park Junghwan and beat him 7-0. So far, he has not won a major international title, but he has reached the finals of the current 9th Ing Cup and 13th Chunlan Cup.

Iyama defends Kisei title, sets new record: Kono Rin 9P scored his first win in the 4th game of the 45th Kisei title match, but there his resistance ended. The 5th game was played at the Ryugon inn in Minami Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, on March 4 and 5. Halfway through the middle game, Kono (B) played a very aggressive move that took the players following the game by surprise. His attack worked, in that he was able to cut off and capture a white group, but he had to take gote to avoid the threat of a ko. That let Iyama set up a large moyo in the center and at the top, and Kono was unable to reduce it. He resigned after White 152. Ironically, his dramatic attacking move became the losing move.
This win secured the series for Iyama and gave him his ninth successive Kisei title, surpassing Kobayashi Koichi’s record of eight. It was also his 50th top-seven title, extending his record. Overall, it is his 67th title. 

Shibano evens score in Judan title match: This year’s Judan match—the Daiwa House Cup 59th Judan Title Best-of-Five Match, to give it its full title—is being fought between two of the top players of the younger generation: Shibano Toramaru, aged 21, who won this title last year, and Kyo Kagen (Xu Jiayuan) 8P, who turned 24 on March 17. Kyo set a record by winning the 43rd Gosei title at the age of 20 years seven months, but since then he has been a little overshadowed by the emergence of Ichiriki Ryo and Shibano as the standard-bearers of the post-Iyama generation, so he must be keen to win his second top-even title. 
The first game in the title match was played at its customary venue, the Osaka University of Commerce, on March 2. Taking black, Kyo won by resignation after 205 moves. The second game was played at the Hotel & Resorts Nagahama, which is actually a facility belonging to the Daiwa House Group, in Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, on March 24. Kyo made an oversight, and Shibano (B) also surprised him with a couple of moves that could easily be blind spots, so Shibano dominated the game, forcing Kyo to resign after 157 moves. The third game will be played on April 8.

Tomorrow: Ueno to challenge for Women’s Meijin; Ichiriki wins NHK Cup; Yu Zhiying wins Senko Cup; Nakamura Sumire wins Teenagers Tournament