History of Topics 2005

  Cho U Meijin & Honinbo has achieved his first international triumph, defeating Yu Bin 9-dan of China 3-1 in the final of the 9th LG Cup. Cho won a prize of 250 million won (about 25 million yen or $233,000). Yu had to be content with a second prize of 80 million won.
  To recap, the first two games of the best-of-five match were played in Shanghai at the end of March and the players were tied 1-all. When the match was resumed in Seoul, Cho won two games in a row to secure victory. This was the first international-tournament win by a player representing Japan since Cho Chikun won the 8th Samsung Cup in December 2003.

Full results:

Game 1 (28 March, Shanghai). Yu Bin (W) won by resignation. Game 2 (30 March, Shanghai). Cho U (W) won by 1.5 points. Game 3 (18 April, Seoul). Cho U (B) won by resignation. Game 4 (20 April, Seoul). Cho U (W) won by 2.5 points.

  This tournament was staged by the Nihon Ki-in as one of the events commemorating its 80th anniversary in 2004. Actually, only one amateur player, Fernando Aguilar of Argentina, took part, so it just barely earned its 'open' status.
  The final was held on 18 April and it pitted Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan, a former number one in Japan, against China's current number one, Gu Li 7-dan. Taking black, Kobayashi won by 5.5 points.
  Below are the results of the previous rounds.

Round One
(18 December) Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan (Japan) beat Fernando Aguilar 6-dan amateur (Argentina); Guo Li 7-dan (China) beat Alexandr Dinerchtein 1-dan (Russia).
(26 December) Zhou Junxun 9-dan (Taiwan) beat Hane Naoki 9-dan (Japan).
(3 January) Cho Hun hyun-9-dan (Korea) beat Feng Yun 9-dan (USA).

Semifinals
(5 February) Kobayashi beat Cho.
(26 February) Gu beat Zhou.

  One game was played in the 30th Meijin League at the Nihon Ki-in on 21 April. O Meien 9-dan (W) defeated Cho Sonjin 9-dan by resignation. O improved his score to 3-2, but Cho sank to 0-5, virtually losing all chance of keeping his league place.

30th Meijin league (10 December 2004 to summer 2005)
Title-holder: Cho U

The first semifinal in the 30th Gosei tournament was held at the Nagoya headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in on 21 April. Playing black, Hane Naoki Kisei defeated Nakaonoda Tomomi 9-dan by resignation.
The other semifinal will be fought between Yuki Satoshi 9-dan and Cho Chikun, 25th Honinbo. The date has not yet been decided, but the final to decide the challenger to Yoda Gosei is expected to be held during June.
Last year Hane went into a prolonged slump after winning the Kisei title, but he seems to be avoiding that this year (putting aside his Fujitsu Cup setback).

  Two more places in the upcoming 30th Kisei leagues were decided on 21 April. Imamura Toshiya 9-dan of the Kansai Ki-in (W) defeated Kim Shujun 7-dan by resignation and Kato Atsushi 8-dan (W) defeated Miyazawa Goro 9-dan, also by resignation. Kato will be playing in his first league.
  Komatsu Hideki 9-dan had already won a place. The fourth place will be decided by a game between Morita Michihiro 9-dan and Honda Kunihisa 9-dan (Kansai Ki-in).

  Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan suffered his first loss of the year when Yamada Kimio 8-dan (W) beat him by resignation in the main section of the 53rd Oza tournament. His winning streak thus came to an end at 15 (the first two wins were scored last year).

  Michael Redmond 9-dan played two games in Preliminary A of the 12th Agon Kiriyama Cup on 18 April and won both of them. In the morning, playing white, he beat Kasai Koji 6-dan by 12.5 points; in the afternoon, playing white again, he beat Hoshino Masaki 8-dan by 11.5 points.

  Two games were played in the 30th Meijin League on 14 April. At the Tokyo headquarters of the Ki-in, Yamashita Keigo Tengen (W) defeated Ogata Masaki 9-dan by resignation. This result keeps Yamashita in second place on 3-1, while Ogata, on 1-4, will be getting a little nervous about keeping his place.
The second game was played at the Kansai Ki-in and was a win for the home player. Imamura Toshiya 9-dan (B) defeated Yamada Kimio 8-dan, who is actually also an Osaka player but affiliated with the Nihon Ki-in, by resignation. Iwamura evens his score at 2-2 while Yamada drops to 1-3.

30th Meijin league (10 December 2004 to summer 2005)
Title-holder: Cho U

  O Meien had a good week last week, with three important wins in six days. First of all, he was the only Japanese representative to survive the first two rounds of the Fujitsu Cup. Three days after the second round, he defeated So Yokoku 7-dan in the play-off to decide the fourth place in the 61st Honinbo league.

  We omitted to note that O Meien had white in his first-round game.

  (14 April) Michael Redmond 9-dan (B) defeated Aoki Shinichi 9-dan by 2.5 points (final preliminary, 44th Judan tournament).

  The first round of the 18th Fujitsu Cup was held at the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya, Tokyo on 9 April. This day was the height of the cherry-blossom-viewing season in Ichigaya, with large crowds flocking there to enjoy the rows of cherry trees in full bloom on the embankments next to the railway line. Caught up in the fierce competition of the oldest international title, the players were probably oblivious. The Japanese were determined to make up for their poor showing in this tournament recently; they made a reasonable start, winning four out of six games, but the real test will come in the second round, on the 11th, when the seeded Korean players who dominate this tournament make their appearance. China will be a little disappointed with its start, having seen two of its top players, Chang Hao and Zhou Heyang eliminated.

The results:
Round 1 (Tokyo, 9 March)
  Yamashiro Hiroshi 9-dan (Japan) (W) defeated Chang Hao 9-dan (China) by resig.
  O Meien 9-dan (Japan) defeated Kim Seong-ryong 9-dan (Korea) by half a point.
  Yu Bin 9-dan (China) (B) defeated Ishida Yoshio 9-dan (Japan) by 8.5 points.
  Gu Li 7-dan (China) (B) defeated Catalin Taranu 5-dan (Europe) by resig.
  Yi Se-tol 9-dan (Korea) (B) defeated Nakaonoda Tomomi 9-dan (Japan) by resig.
  Cho U 9-dan (Japan) (B) defeated Zhou Heyang 9-dan (China) by 3.5 points.
  Wang Xi 5-dan (China) (W) d. Ziang Zhujiu (Jujo) 9-dan (USA) by resig.
  Yuki Satoshi 9-dan (Japan) (B) d. Eduardo Lopez Herrero (Argentina) by resig.

  The third game of the 43rd Judan title match was played in the Kuroyon Royal Hotel in the town of Omachi in Nagano Prefecture on 7 April. Taking white, O Rissei defeated Cho Chikun by 19.5 points and took a big step towards becoming the first player to win the Judan title five times in a row. The big winning margin arose from an oversight by Cho that cost him a group.
  The fourth game will be played on 14 April.

  On 7 April, Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan won what was a crucial game for him in his quest to become the Meijin challenger. Playing white, Kobayashi defeated Yoda Norimoto Gosei by half a point. After a very close contest, the issue was decided by a fight over a half-point ko that Kobayashi won. This was Yoda's second successive loss by half a point and it put a big dent in his chances of becoming the challenger.
  On 4-0, Kobayashi is the only undefeated player. His main rivals at this stage are Sakai Hideyuki on 3-1 and Yamashita Keigo on 2-1.

30th Meijin league (10 December 2004 to summer 2005)
Title-holder: Cho U

  Komatsu Hideki 9-dan has won the first of the four vacant places in the 30th Kisei leagues. In a game played on 7 April, Komatsu (B) defeated Ogata Masaki 9-dan by 4.5 points and so will make his debut in the Kisei league.
  The pairings in the other three play-offs are: Honda Kunihisa 9-dan vs. Morita Michihiro 9-dan; Miyazawa Goro 9-dan vs. Kato Atsushi 8-dan; and Kim Shujun 7-dan vs. Imamura Toshiya 9-dan. Incidentally, in an earlier round Kim defeated his teacher, Cho Chikun, who was trying to make a comeback after dropping out of the previous league.

  With the tournament year just over one quarter finished, here are the top winners so far.

  1. Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan: 11-0 (Kobayashi has won 13 games in a row); Kim Shujun 7-dan: 11-5
  3. Cho U Meijin Honinbo: 10-2 (so far, Cho hasn't lost any games in Japanese tournaments); Yamada Takuji 7-dan 10-2; Komatsu Hideki 9-dan: 10-3; Cho Chikun, 25th Honinbo: 10-6
  7. Yamashiro Hiroshi 9-dan: 9-1; So Yokoku 7-dan, Cho Riyu 7-dan: 9-2; Takao Shinji 8-dan: 9-4; Aoki Shinichi 9-dan, Yamada Kimio 8-dan: 9-5.

  Korea did best in the second round of the 18th Fujitsu Cup, securing four places in the quarterfinals. Next came China, with three wins, a big improvement on last year, when it didn't survive the second round. The mathematics of the above mean that Japan got just one place, one fewer than last year.
  Perhaps the most notable result of the round was the win by the number one player in the Chinese ratings, Gu Li 7-dan, over Yi Ch'ang-ho. Japanese fans will most regret three games which were touch-and-go most of the way but which all ended up as losses by one and a half points. They have to pin their hopes on O Meien.

Results in the second round (11 April)
  Yu Ch'ang-hyeok 9-dan (Korea) (W) d. Yuki Satoshi 9-dan (Japan) by resig.
  Gu Li 7-dan (China) d. Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan (Korea) by resig.
  Yi Se-tol 9-dan (Korea) (W) d. Yoda Norimoto 9-dan (Japan) by 1.5.
  O Meien 9-dan (Japan) (B) d. Pak Yeong-hun 9-dan (Korea) by resig.
  Ch'oe ch'eol-han 9-dan (Korea) (W) d. Cho U 9-dan (Japan) by 1.5.
  Song T'ae-kon 9-dan (Korea) (B) d. Yamashiro Hiroshi 9-dan (Japan) by 1.5.
  Yu Bin 9-dan (China) (W) d. Zhou Junxun 9-dan (Chinese Taipei) by 3.5.
  Wang Xi 5-dan (China) (W) d. Hane Naoki 9-dan (Japan) by resig.

Quarterfinal pairings (Seoul, 4 June)
  Yu Ch'ang-hyeok vs. Wang, Yi vs. Yu Bin, Ch'oe vs. O, Song vs. Gu.

  Takao Shinji 8-dan commented that he thought he was going to miss out when he lost his final-round game in the Honinbo league, but he rose to the occasion in the play-off, held at the Nihon Ki-in on 4 April. Taking black, he forced a resignation from Cho Sonjin 9-dan after 111 moves, so he will be making his big-three title-match debut after all.
The first game of the 60th Honinbo title match will be played at the Temmangu Shrine in Dazaifu City in Kyushu on 9 and 10 May. Takao is 28 and Cho is 25 -- this will be the first title match between players both in their 20s since Kobayashi Koichi challenged Cho Chikun in 1982.

60th Honinbo league (7 October 2004 to spring 2005)
Title-holder: Cho U

  The first two games of the best-of-five final of the 9th LG Cup were held in Shanghai at the end of March. Yu Bin 9-dan of China and Cho U 9-dan of Japan each won a game with white, so the final now becomes a best-of-three. The remaining games are scheduled to be played in Seoul on 18, 20 and 22 April.

Game 1 (28 March). Yu Bin (W) won by resignation.
Game 2 (30 April). Cho U (W) won by 1.5 points.

  In the climactic game of the 60th Honinbo league, Cho Sonjin 9-dan (B) beat Takao Shinji 8-dan by half a point and so caught up with him in the final round. Both players finished on 6-1, two wins clear of the rest of the field, and are meeting in a play-off on 4 April to decide the challenger.
  Unlike the earlier rounds, all the games in the final round were held on the same day, 31 March, at the Nihon Ki-in in Ichigaya, Tokyo. The results in the other three games were as follows.

O Meien 9-dan (B) beat Mimura Tomoyasu 9-dan by resignation.
O Rissei Judan (W) beat Han Zenki 7-dan by resignation.
So Yokoku 7-dan (W) beat Yoda Norimoto Gosei by resignation.

  Despite his loss, Yoda kept his place; thanks to his higher ranking in the league, his 4-3 took precedence over the same scores posted by O Meien and So Yokoku; these two will meet in a play-off on the 14th to see who gets the fourth place in the next league. Mimura, O Rissei and Han drop out. The last-mentioned had a painful initiation to top-level league competition.

60th Honinbo league (7 October 2004 to spring 2005)
Title-holder: Cho U

  As of the 10th term, the Korean-sponsored international tournament the LG Cup has followed the lead of the Samsung Cup in holding an open tournament for 16 of the places in the main tournament. This open qualifying tournament was held from 21 to 25 March in Seoul, with 30 Japanese professionals participating.
  A cumulative total of 185 players have participated in the Samsung Cup qualifying tournament over the past three years without gaining one place in the main tournament (there seems to be no limit to the number of players who can take part in the Samsung, but the Japanese were allotted just 30 places in the LG qualifying). The Japanese representatives did a bit better this time, however, with Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan and So Yokoku 7-dan winning places.
  As usual, the Chinese did well, taking nine of the 16 places, with the other five going to Koreans. Oya Koichi 9-dan, who wrote a report on the tournament for Go Weekly, commented that, yet again, he was astonished by the strength of the Korean 1-dans. A 1-dan eliminated Korean great Cho Hun-hyeon 9-dan, and one of the final-round games featured a clash between two Korean 1-dans, which means that there's a 1-dan in the main tournament. It's almost unimaginable for a Japanese or Chinese 1-dan to win a place in an international tournament. The other thing that surprised Oya was the number of new patterns and new josekis he saw.
  Michael Redmond 9-dan was a member of the Japanese contingent, but unfortunately he lost his first game on time.

  In the final of the 2nd JAL New Stars title, Yamada Takuji 7-dan defeated Kim Shujun 7-dan to win his first title. Taking white, Yamada scored an upset victory by 7.5 points. The time allowance is ten seconds a move, though the players have an extra ten minutes they can use at will in one-minute units. The date of the game was not given; presumably it was played during March.

  The CSK Cup, the Okinawan-sponsored international team tournament, becomes even more international this year, with the venue moving to Seoul, where it will be held from 1 to 3 May.

Teams are as follows:
Japan) Hane Naoki 9-dan, Yamashita Keigo 9-dan, Yoda Norimoto 9-dan, Yuki Satoshi 9-dan, and Takao Shinji 8-dan
Korea) Yi Ch'ang-ho 9-dan, Kim Seong-ryong 9-dan, Yi Se-tol 9-dan, Ch'oe Ch'eol-han 9-dan, and Pak Yeong-hun 9-dan
China) Gu Li 7-dan, Kong Jie 7-dan, Zhou Heyang 9-dan, Hu Yaoyu 7-dan, and Wang Lei 8-dan
Chinese Taipei) Rin Kaiho 9-dan, O Rissei 9-dan, O Meien 9-dan, Cho U 9-dan, and Zhou Jujnxun 9-dan
On paper, the Korean team looks unbeatable, but it has managed only second place in the last two cups. The team will be keen to avenge its 1-4 loss to China last year, while Japan will be hoping to improve on its last place. Since Korea, Japan and China have each won the tournament once, it should be Chinese Taipei's turn this year.

  The retirements of the following four players have been announced in the current Go Weekly:
  Tanimiya Teiji 9-dan, Tsuchida Masamitsu 9-dan, Koyama Shizuo 7-dan, and Hidaka Toshiyuki 7-dan.