Keith Arnold, hka with Patrick Bannister
Perhaps the best evidence of time flying appears in an ad in the January issue of Go Review. A Deluxe Go set is offered for sale – Cherry bowls, 7.5mm Clamshell and Slate stones and a two inch thick Kaya board for the princely sum of $110, shipping from Japan included.
On January 15, Sekiyama Riichi, the first tournament Honinbo, passed away. He was the teacher of Kajiwara Takeo 9 dan
We will be seeing a lot of Ishida Yoshio in this series, as he begins his dominance in this period. But he still had time for fun, as shown in this striking photo. Below is a photo of the second game of the Nihon Kiin Championship against the champion, Ohira. This was the only game Ishida lost, securing the title 3-1 on January 20-21. Game records of the match here. Game 1; Game 2; Game 3; Game 4.
Here in the United States, Takao Matsuda 6 dan of New York, author of the famous Matsuda Go Letters, won the New Jersey Open, defeating Takahiko Ishikawa 5 dan of Philadelphia in an all-Japanese final. Ishikawa was a judo instructor, and was the All Japan Judo Champion two years in a row.
League matches started with the New Year. Pictured at right is Kajiwara Takeo taking black against Fujisawa Hosai 9 dan in the Meijin league on January 21st. Perhaps you can see Kajiwara’s first move, on tengen. An expert on the fuseki, Kajiwara played the move to offset Hosai’s penchant for mirror go. Did it work? Find out in the game record here.
Finally, just to show that we have not come that far, a go computer was demonstrated by Toshio Ikeda of Fujitsu. The computerized board, 2 meters square, could solve “any problem given to it” but could not play a full game. A steal at $30,000 dollars. The article concludes “one day we may yet have a computer become a pro!” Pictured next to Ikeda is Go Seigen. Ikeda was an avid go player and rule expert, his “On the Rules of Go” was published posthumously by Fujitsu in 1992. Here’s a game between Ikeda and Go Seigen.
photos courtesy of Go Review, Igo Club and GoBase.org, game records courtesy of SmartGo/GoGod
