American Go E-Journal » Go News

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Shibano takes Judan title, sets new records

   Even though professional go resumed on June 1, it took over two weeks for the 58th Judan title match, which had been interrupted with the score tied at 1-1, to get underway again, so in the end there was a break of close to three months. On June 17, the third game was finally played at the Nihon Ki-in headquarters in Tokyo. Taking white, the challenger, Shibano Toramaru Meijin, forced Murakawa Daisuke Judan to resign after 176 moves. 

   The fourth game was held at the same venue on June 26. Playing black, Shibano won by resignation after 141 moves. This gave him his third concurrent title, to go with the Meijin and Oza titles, and broke some records set by Iyama Yuta. At 20 years seven months, he is the youngest player to secure a triple crown, the previous record being Iyama’s 23 years one month. Shibano achieved this feat five years nine months, after becoming a professional; that put a big dent in the previous speed record, Iyama’s ten years three months. 

Iyama extends lead in Honinbo title match

   I gave the result of the second game of the 75th Honinbo title match in my previous report (June 22), but I have some supplementary information, so please bear with me. The game was played at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo on June 13 & 14, having been transferred from the originally scheduled venue, the Kokura Castle Garden in Kita-Kyushu City, because of a recent resurgence of the coronavirus in that city. It is the first Honinbo title game to be held at the Ki-in for 45 years. The last such game was the 7th game of the 30th title match. As it happened, the referee for this game was Ishida Yoshio, also known as 24th Honinbo Shuho, and he played in the 1975 game, beating Sakata Eio and winning the Honinbo title for the 5th year in a row. 

   As with Game One, there were no party or other related events, though what was called a “mini” press conference was held. Iyama took a small lead in the middle-game fighting and used great skill to convert this into a solid lead. Shibano resigned after 143 moves.

   The third game was played at the originally scheduled venue of the Takarazuka Hotel, Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Taking white, Iyama played positively in the opening and scored another convincing win. Shibano resigned after move 172. This was Iyama’s third one-sided win in a row, so Shibano’s Honinbo challenge seems to be in bad trouble. 

Sumire’s “second start” improves on her first 

   Japan’s youngest professional player, eleven-year-old Nakamura Sumire 1P, had a very successful first year, scoring 24 wins to 17 losses in 2019 and posting the best winning percentage for a 1-dan. Things had been a little tougher for her this year, though her record of 7-10 before Covid-19 put a stop to professional go, was nothing to be ashamed of for a new 1-dan. The enforced break does not seem to have affected her form and she has already evened her score for the year. On June 18, taking black, she beat Sano Takatsugu 8P by resignation after 141 moves in Preliminary C in the 69th Oza tournament. This was her first official game since April 6 and was played at the Kansai HQ of the Nihon Ki-in. On June 25, taking white, she beat Ms. Deguchi Mariko 1P in the final round of the preliminary tournament for the 5th Senko Cup by half a point. This secured her a seat in the main tournament (the best 16). Deguchi being her senior, this game was played on her home ground, the Kansai Ki-in. On June 29, Sumire (W) beat Araki Issei 4P by 6.5 points in Preliminary B of the 30th Ryusei tournament. Araki is a fellow member of the Nihon Ki-in’s Kansai HQ, so that is where the game was played. Just for the record, Sumire’s score to date is 27-17. Three straight wins is a great way to get back into the swing of across-the-board. Sano 8P commented that he had checked out some of the games Sumire played on the net during the enforced break and he got the impression her game was maturing. To his cost, he was able to confirm this.

Tomorrow: Iyama extends lead in Meijin League; Kisei S League; Suzuki to challenge for Women’s Hollyhock Cup

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Korea dominates opening rounds of 25th LG Cup

After a gap of two months caused by the shutdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19, professional go activity resumed in Japan in June with the holding of two major events. On June 1, the 25th LG Cup King of Go, a Korean-sponsored international tournament, started its opening round. With international travel restrictions still in effect throughout north Asia, the games were played on the Net. Moreover, the 16 games were spread over three days, presumably to ensure there was no overcrowding in the local venues. This year Korean players did well in the international qualifying tournament, also held on the Net, so half of the 32 players in the first round were Korean. They were joined by nine players from China, five from Japan, and two from Chinese Taipei. Each game featured a Korean player. With 18 players last year, China scored ten wins in the first round; with two fewer players, Korea did almost as well this year, winning nine games. Japan had two more players than last year, thanks to Son Makoto and Onishi Ryuhei winning seats in the qualifying tournament, but, like Chinese Taipei, were unable to pick up a win. Onishi came closest, losing by just half a point. As an elementary-school pupil, Onishi spent some time studying in a Korean dojo, and he remembered that his opponent, Lee Taehyun, often reviewed his games for him.

   In the second round, Korea won six games to China’s two, but one of the Chinese wins went to Ke Jie, so Korea won’t be counting its chickens just yet. The next round will be played in November.

   Games were played at the headquarters of the respective go associations. Players were spread out to maintain social distancing and there were extra cameras, so that the opposing countries could monitor the playing room. With no opponent on the other side of the go board, players were able to dispense with their masks. The time allowance is three hours each, followed by byo-yomi of 45 seconds x five times. Komi is 6.5. There is no break for lunch.

Round 1

(June 1)  Byun Sangil 9P (Korea) (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 9P (Japan) by resig.; Kang Dongyun 9P (Korea) (W) beat Kyo Kagen 8P (Japan) by resig.; Park Junghwan 9P (Korea) (W) beat Ichiriki Ryo 8P (Japan) by resig.; Lee Donghoon 9P (Korea) (B) beat Son Makoto 7P (Japan) by resig.; Lee Taehyun 7P (Korea) (B) beat Onishi Ryuhei 5P (Japan) by half a point; Shin Minjoon 9P (Korea) (B) beat Wang Yuanjun 9P (Chinese Taipei) by resig.

(June 2) Tang Weixing 9P (China) (B) beat Kim Jiseok 9P (Korea) by resig.; Lian Xiao 9P (China) (B) beat Lee Younggu 9P (Korea) by resig.; Yang Dingxin 9P  (China) (B) beat Seol Hyunjoon 5P (Korea) by resig.; Ke Jie 9P (China) (B) beat Park Kunho 4P (Korea) by resig.; Hong Kipyo 8P (Korea) (B) beat Li Xuanhao 5P by resig.

(June 3) Zhao Chenyu 8P (B) beat Choi Jeong 9P (Korea) by resig.; Ding Hao 5P (China) (W) beat Park Seunghwa 8P (Korea) by resig.; Shin Jinseo 9P (Korea) (W) beat Fan Yunro 8P (China) by resig.; Gu Jihao 9P (China) (W) beat Kim Sanghyun 2P (Korea) by 4.5 points.

Round 2 (June 5, 8)

(June 5) Kang (W) beat Tang by resig.; Lee (B) beat Lian by resig.; Shin Minjoon (B) beat Ding by resig.; Yang (W) beat Lee by resig.

(June 8) Ke (W) beat Shin Jinseo by resig.; Park (W) beat Hong by resig.; Byun (W) beat Zhao by resig.; Weon (W) beat Gu by 1.5 points. 

   If official go activity as such in Japan resumed on June 1 with the LG Cup Net games, the first pre-virus old-style face-to-face game was played on June 2 and 3. This was the first game of the 75th Honinbo title match and, despite fears about too many unplayed title games piling up, it was only a couple of weeks behind schedule. It was held, as originally planned, at the Tokiwa Hotel in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, but minus all the “trimmings.” Usually securing a title-match game is a coup for a provincial city or town, and the local dignitaries and notable go players do their best to make a big occasion of it. They stage an elaborate welcome party for the players and their large “entourage” of go officials and reporters and also hold side events, such as tournaments for children, public commentaries on the title game, and sightseeing for the players. None of that took place this time, but at least the face-to-face game got played, though everyone wore masks and had their temperatures checked. 

Iyama makes good start Honinbo defence

   Shibano drew black in the nigiri, but the game was dominated by Iyama. He showed excellent judgment in deciding that he could afford to sacrifice a large group. Shibano resigned after 182 moves.

   The second game was originally scheduled to be held in the Kokura Castle Garden in Kita-Kyushu City, but it was switched to the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo (I haven’t seen an explanation of the reason). It was played on June 13 and 14; taking black, Iyama won by resignation after 143 moves.

   The third game will be played at the Takarazuka Hotel in Takarazuka City on June 22 and 23.

Iyama leads Meijin League

   Iyama Yuta and Shibano Toramaru have just started their first best-of-seven title match, but the chances look good there will a second one in the autumn, as Iyama, on 5-0, has kept his sole lead in the 45th Meijin League. At present, the main threat to him would seem to be Ichiriki Ryo 8P, the only player with only one loss. However, he still has four games to go and his loss was to Iyama, so he will need outside help to catch up. Incidentally, after losing every game in the Honinbo League, Yamashita finally picked up his first win in the Meijin League. Results since my last report follow. 

(June 4) Hane Naoki Gosei (W) beat Rin Kanketsu 8P by 5.5 points. 

(June 8) Yamashita Keigo 9P (W) beat Cho U 9P by 11.5 points; Iyama Yuta Kisei (W) beat Hane by resig.

(June 11) Kono Rin 9P (W) beat Kyo Kagen 8P by half a point. 

Kisei S League starts   

   The first game in the 45th Kisei S League was played on June 11. It was between the players promoted from the 44th A League. Ichiriki Ryo (W) beat Cho U by resig.

Retirement

Sanno Hirotaka 9P retired as of May 29. He was born on May 29, 1940 in Hiroshima Prefecture. In 1952, he became a disciple of Segoe Kensaku, Hon. 9P. He made 1-dan in 1957 and reached 9-dan in 1979. He reached the landmark of 500 wins in 2006. He made instruction tours of Europe and the US in 1964. He is a fan of Shusaku and contributed a number of game commentaries to “Invincible.”