American Go E-Journal » Go News

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ishida Yoshio scores 1100^th win: In a game in Preliminary C of the 45^th Gosei tournament, Ishida Yoshio 9P (also known as 24^th Honinbo Shuho) (W) beat Tsurumaru Keiichi 7P by resignation. This was his 1100th official win (to 692 losses and one no-result). He is the 15^th player to reach this landmark.

Promotion: To 4-dan: (Ms.) Okuda Aya (50 wins, as of January 18)

2018 statistics: Here are some of the statistics for last year.
Most wins: 1. Shibano Toramaru 7P (second year in a row): 46 wins, 23 losses; 2. Ichiriki Ryo 8P, (Ms.) Fujisawa Rina 4P: 43-23; 4. Fujita Akihiko 6P: 41-8; Onishi Ryuhei 3P: 41-11; 6. Yamashita Keigo 9P: 40-23
7. Mutsuura Yuta 7P: 37-18; 8. Koike Yoshihiro 3P: 36-12; 9. Seki Kotaro 2P: 35-15; (Ms.) Ueno Asami 2P: 35-20; (Ms.) Nyu Eiko 2P: 35-23; Iyama Yuta: 35-26; 13. Kyo Kagen Gosei: 32-13; Kono Rin 9P: 32-16; 15. Hane Naoki 9P: 30-17
Best winning percentage: 1. Fujita Akihiko: 83.67%; 2. Onishi Ryuhei: 78.85%; 3. Koike Yoshihiro: 75%
Most successive wins: 1. Koike Yoshihiro: 19; 2. Seki Kotaro: 15; 3. Onishi Ruhei: 14

Promotions based on 2018 prize-winnings
These promotions are based on the prize-winnings list, but note that there may be players who won more but were promoted by other means, that is, cumulative wins or entering a league, etc. Only prize money for the top seven titles is counted. One 6-dan is promoted, accompanied by two each from the lower ranks. Promotions take effect as of January 1, 2019.
To 7-dan: Fujita Akihiko
To 6-dan: Tsuruta Kazushi, Adachi Toshimasa
To 5-dan: Yo Chito, Ito Masashi
To 4-dan: Onishi Ryuhei, Koike Yoshihiro
To 3-dan: Otake Yu, Hirose Yuichi
To 2-dan: Shibano Ryunosuke (older brother of Toramaru), (Ms.) Kaneko Maki

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Ueno makes good start in Women’s Kisei: The first game in the 22^nd Women’s Kisei title match was held at the Hotel Sunlife Garden in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on January 17. The defending champion Ueno Asami (W, at left in photo) beat Fujisawa Rina by 2.5 points after a marathon 310 moves. The challenger took the lead in territory early on, but Ueno attacked tenaciously and finally overhauled Fujisawa in the endgame. The second game will be held on January 28.

Xie to challenge for Women’s Meijin: Xie Yimin 6P (left) may be titleless for the first time in over a decade, but you can’t keep her out of the action. In the play-off to decide the challenger for the 31stWomen’s Meijin title, she beat Koyama Terumi 6P by resignation after 179 moves. She will challenge Fujisawa Rina for the title. Koyama, who has won this title four times, was hoping to play in her first title match for 13 years.
Tomorrow: Ishida Yoshio scores 1100^th win; 2018 stats and recent promotions

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Honinbo League: The fourth round of the 74^th Honinbo League has been completed. Instead of one player breaking clear, the position has become complicated, with four players sharing the lead. On January 7, Yamashita Keigo 9P (W) beat Anzai Nobuaki 7P by half a point. That improved Yamashita’s score to 2-2, so he is still in the running to win the league (he’s also helped by his number one ranking). Anzai goes to 0-4, so he looks unlikely to retain his league seat. However, the narrow margin shows that he is not being outclassed. In the second game, played on January 10, Yo Seiki 8P (B) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resig. Yo and Hane are now both on 3-1. The only undefeated player at this point was Ichiriki Ryo 8P, who was on 3-0. On January 17, he played Shibano Toramaru 7P; taking white, the latter beat him by resignation, so both went to 3-1. On the same day, Kono Rin 9P (W) beat Ko Iso 8P by resignation. Kono improved to 2-2, but Ko went down to 0-4. Ko also looks like losing his place, but being ranked number two gives him a slight advantage over Anzai.

Meijin League: Two games in the second round of the 44thMeijin League were played on January 10. Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Mutsuura Yuta 7P by resig. and Shibano Toramaru 7P (W) beat Murakawa Daisuke 8P by 2.5 points. Two more games were played on January 17, and one of them could have a big effect on the league. Suzuki Shinji 7P (B) beat the favorite, Iyama Yuta, by half a point. In the other game, Son Makoto 7P (W) beat Hane Naoki 9P by resignation. On 2-0, Kono is the provisional leader.

Judan challenger: Murakawa or Takao: The first semifinal of the 57^th Judan tournament was played on December 27, with Takao Shinji 9P (W) beating Yamashita Keigo 9P by 2.5 points. The second was held on January 7. Murakawa Daisuke 8P (W) beat Onishi Ryuhei 4P by resig.
Tomorrow: Ueno makes good start in Women’s Kisei; Xie to challenge for Women’s Meijin

by John Power, Japan correspondent for the E-Journal

Chen Yaoye wins 1st Tianfu Cup: The semifinals of the 1st Tianfu Cup were held on December 21 and the best-of-three final on December 23, 25, and 26. In one semifinal, Chen Yaoye 9P of China (W) defeated Park Junghwan 9P of Korea by resig. In the other, Shin Jinseo 9P of Korea (B) beat Jiang Weijie 9P of China by resig. In the first game of the final, Chen (W) won by resig.; in the second, Shin (W) won by 2.5 points. In the deciding game, Chen (B) won by resig. Chen, who turned 29 on December 16, won his third international title; Shin missed the chance to take his first. First prize is 2,000,000 yuan (about $292,000).

Iyama makes good start in Kisei: The first game of the 43rd Kisei best-of-seven title match was held at the familiar venue of the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in Bunkyo Ward on January 10 and 11. It featured a familiar pairing: Yamashita Keigo challenging Iyama Yuta Kisei for the fourth time, including three times in a row from 2014 to 2016. Iyama has held this title for six years in a row; Yamashita (at right in photo, making the first move) has won it five times, including four years in a row. Besides that, Iyama has made one unsuccessful challenge and Yamashita has made unsuccessful challenges to Hane Naoki 9P and Cho U 9P.
Yamashita drew black in the nigiri. Yamashita started out by taking the lead in territory, then fell behind, and then upset Iyama’s lead. However, Yamashita apparently thought he was still behind, so he started a risky fight and perished. He resigned after 172 moves. If he had played more peacefully, he would have had a good chance of winning.
The second game will be played on January 21 and 22.

Tomorrow: League updates; Judan challenger