by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the American Go E-Journal
Kono Extends Lead In Gosei: Iyama Yuta 9P didn’t have much time to enjoy his Honinbo triumph: just four days later, he was fighting yet another title-match game. The second game of the 38th Gosei title match was played in the Nagaoka Grand Hotel in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture on July 22. The challenger, Kono Rin 9P (left), had got off to a good start in the series, reversing the disastrous trend of his previous record against Iyama. His good form continued in the second game. Taking white, Kono forced a resignation after 194 moves and now has a chance to take the title in the third game, scheduled for July 26.
Kisei League Update: Three games have been played in the 38th Kisei leagues so far in July. They have not altered the lead in either league, but one favorite has suffered a setback. On July 11, Kiyonari Tetsuya 9P of the Kansai Ki-in, playing white, defeated Yoda Norimoto 9P (right) by resignation in the A League. Kiyonari went to 2-1 and is doing well in his comeback to the league. Yoda is now 1-2 and will have to focus on keeping his place rather than on winning the league. On July 18, Kobayashi Satoru 9P (W) defeated Cho U 9P by resignation in the A League. Kobayashi is now 2-1 and Cho 1-2. The latter was regarded as one of the early favorites, but his prospects don’t look good now. In the B League on the same day, Hane Naoki 9P (W) defeated Kono Rin 9P by 1.5 points. Both players are now on 1-2. In the A League, Yamashita Keigo Meijin has the sole lead on 2-0. In the B League, both 25th Honinbo Cho Chikun and Murakawa Daisuke 7P of the Kansai Ki-in are on 2-0.
Iyama Retains Honinbo Title With 4.5-Point Win in Game 7
Saturday July 20, 2013
In the end, Iyama Yuta 9P’s hold on the Honinbo title came down to 4.5 points.
That was Iyama’s margin of victory over Takao Shinji 9P in the final game of the 68th Honinbo title, which concluded on July 18 at 7:42p after 262 moves in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. This is the third time in three years that the Honinbo has gone the full 7-game distance, including last year when Iyama took the title from Yamashita Keigo 9P. Iyama and Takao began their grueling duel in mid-May with Iyama winning the first game. Takao quickly made up the loss by controlling the next two games. However, Iyama (right) was not intimidated and fought back in games four and five, giving himself a chance to capture the match in game six, but Takao quickly extinguished those hopes in just 194 moves to set up yet another dramatic final game for the match. In the decisive seventh game (left), Iyama, taking black, used almost half of his eight-hour time allowance during the first day alone. When Takao sealed the move (W74) at 5:07p on July 17, he had four hours and forty-eight minutes remaining while his opponent only had four hours and five minutes. At 9a the next morning, the tricky sealed move was revealed and
[link]
“[changed] the flow of the game,” according to live game commentator Rin Kanketsu 7P. Yet up until move 70, either player could have taken the title. It was white’s tenuki at move 82 that was the crucial misstep that allowed black to secure thickness and give Iyama the advantage. White attempted to complicate the game at move 92 but Iyama stayed unfazed through the endgame and claimed victory with only two minutes left on his clock. In a post-game interview, Iyama said he felt fortunate to have held on to the title after such a challenging series. Takao felt lucky he made it to the end but was disappointed in his own performance. Since his most recent Honinbo title in 2007, Takao has tried to “reclaim the crown” three times to no avail. Iyama, on the other hand, holds five of the seven major Japanese titles (Kisei, Honinbo, Tengen, Oza, and Gosei) and also won the 25th Asian TV Cup at the end of June, proving his international prowess.
– Annalia Linnan, based on a more detailed report — including more photos and game records — on Go Game Guru; photos courtesy Go Game Guru