American Go E-Journal

by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

THIS JUST IN: Kono to challenge for Kisei
The second game of the “best-of-three” play-off to decide the challenger to Iyama Yuta for the 41st Kisei title was held at the Nihon Ki-in headquarters in Tokyo on November 14. Taking white, Kono Rin 9P (right) beat Cho U 9P by 1.5 points. As the winner of the S League, Kono started off with a one-win advantage, so this secures him victory. He will be making his first challenge for this title. Kono’s main achievement so far has been to win the Tengen title three years in a row. The title match starts in January.

International tournaments

Tang wins Ing Cup: The final three games in the best-of-five final of the 8th Ing Cup, a tournament held only in the year of the Olympics, were held in Shanghai on October 22, 24, and 26. Tang Weixing 9P of China beat Pak Jeonghwan 9P of Korea 3-2. In the fifth game, the 23-year-old Tang (B) beat Pak by 5.5 points and won this title for the first time (I don’t have the details of the other games). The Ing Cup is known for its special rules: komi is 8 points (Black wins a draw); the time allowance is three hours, but two extensions of 20 minutes can be bought for two points each. First prize is 400,000 dollars.

Tri-country Young Stars: This is a Chinese-sponsored tournament for three young stars, one each from China, Korea, and Japan; it was held in Nanchang City in Jiangxi Province on October 24 and 25. Competing were Li Qinchang for China, Shin Jinseo for Korea, and Ichiriki Ryo for Japan. Ichiriki is the winner of the 1st Globis Cup; Li is the winner of the third Globis Cup and the 28th TV Asia Cup (both held this year); Shin came second in the 28th TV Asia Cup. The format is an irregular knockout, with lots drawn to decide the two players who meet in the first round (playing conditions follow the NHK Cup). It turned out to be Shin and Ichiriki, and the former won. Ichiriki then played Li; taking white, Ichiriki won by
resignation (he now leads Li 2-1), so he met Shin again in the final. Shin (W) won this game by resignation, and Ichiriki took second place.

Obituary: Miyamoto Yoshihisa 9P
Miyamoto Yoshihisa 9-dan of the Kansai Ki-in dies of liver-cell cancer on October 31. He was 77. Born in Hyogo Prefecture on June 16, 1939, Miyamoto became a disciple of Hashimoto Utaro. He became 1-dan in 1951 and reached 9-dan in 1970. He retired last year. He won the 30th Kansai Ki-in No. One Position title in 1986. He is the younger brother of the later Miyamoto Naoki 9P.

by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal

Cho U doing well in Kisei knock-out: Until he was 30, Cho U 9P was winning titles at the same rate as Cho Chikun,
but then he was dethroned at the top player by Iyama Yuta. In recent years, he has not featured in title matches. He thought that a change of scenery might improve his form, so he returned home to Taiwan for a while with his wife, Kobayashi Izumi, and their two children. Another motive was to have his children learn Chinese. He has since returned to Japan (I don’t have any dates) and seems to have recovered something close to top form. At present, he is doing very well in the Kisei knock-out tournament that follows the leagues. On October 24, Cho, the winner of A League, defeated Yuki Satoshi 9P, the B League winner; taking white, Cho won by resig. On October 31, Cho, playing black, beat Yamashita Keigo 9P, who came second in the S League, by 5.5 points. That earned him a place in the “best-of-three” knock-out final. In the first game, played on November 10, Cho beat Kono Rin 9P, the winner of the S League, by half a point. The second game will be played on November 14; if Cho wins, he wins the final 2-0; if Kono wins, he will become the challenger to Iyama Kisei because the winner of the S League is given a one-win advantage.

Women’s Meijin League: Two games were played in the 4th round of the 29th Women’s Meijin League on October 27. Aoki Kikuyo 8P (B) beat Sakakibara Fumiko 6P by resig.; Kato Keiko 6P (W) beat Suzuki Ayumi 7P by resig. Both Aoki and Kato improve their scores to 2-2.
On November 7, Fujisawa Rina, Women’s Honinbo, (W) beat Kato Keiko 6P by resig. and kept the sole lead on 5-0. Fujisawa has just one more game to play, against Aoki Kikuyo 8P. Even if she loses it, only one player has a chance of beating her: Okuda Aya 3P, who is ranked no. 2 to Fujisawa’s no.3. Okuda has played fewer games and is on 2-1. If she wins her next three games and Fujisawa loses hers, Okuda’s high rank will give her victory, but the odds very much favor Fujisawa. On November 10, Suzuki Ayumi 7P (W) beat Ishii Akane 2P by resignation.

Kobayashi Satoru wins 1,100 games: On November 3, Kobayashi Satoru 9P secured his 1,100th win by beating Ohashi Naruya 7P in the first round of the 42nd Gosei title; Kobayashi had white and won by resignation. With 574 losses and 1 jigo, he has a winning percentage of 65.7. He is the 11th Nihon Ki-in player to reach this landmark; at 57 years six months he is the 7th youngest, and, at 42 years seven months, the 6th quickest. His winning percentage is the 6th best. He has won ten titles, including the Kisei.

Promotion
To 3-dan: Shibano Toramaru (40 wins; as of October 21)

Third of four reports. Tomorrow: International tournaments