History of Topics 1999

  Kobayashi Koichi has evened the score in the 24th Gosei title match, so the match will go the full distance for the first time in five years. The fourth game was played at the Bunka Kaikan Forte (Culture Hall Forte) in the town of Nonoichi in Ishikawa Prefecture on August 19. Playing white, Kobayashi forced the title holder, Yoda Norimoto, to resignaiton after 198 moves and so evened the score at two wins each.
  Of their time allowances of four hours each, Kobayashi had two minutes left and Yoda was down to his last minute. The deciding game will be played at the Hotel Asocia Shizuoka Terminal in Shizuoka Prefecture on August 26.

  The final of the 12th Fujitsu Cup: The World Go Championship was held at the Kudan Kaikan in Tokyo on August 7. Yoo Chang-hyuk 9-dan of Korea, holding black, defeated Ma Xiaochun 9-dan of China by half a point to win his second Fujitsu Cup. Yoo previously won the 6th Cup. This was the second year in a row that the final featured a Korea-China pairing and each time Korea has triumphed. Yoo is said to be the most popular go player in Korea, even surpassing Lee Chang-ho, the world's number one.
  Korean players are known for their strong fondness for territory, but Yoo is an exception, as he favours thickness and likes to fight. The playoff for third place was won by Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan of Japan (black), who defeated Cho Chikun 9-dan, also playing for Japan, by resignation.

  The playoff to decide the challenger for the 24th Meijin title was held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 9. Holding black, Yoda Norimoto Gosei defeated Kobayashi Koichi Judan by half a point and so he will make his first challenge for the Meijin title.
  The best-of-seven title match will begin in September.

  The last four games of the 24th Meijin league were held at the Nihon Ki-in on August 5, with the following results.

  Kobayashi Koichi beat Takemiya Masaki.
  Yoda Norimoto beat Mimura Tomoyasu.
  Kobayashi Satoru beat Sakai Maki.
  O Rissei beat Ryu Shikun.

  This meant that three players tied for first place on 6-2: Kobayashi Koichi, Yoda and Ryu. However, according to the rules of the league, only the two higher-ranked players (based on their results in the previous league) qualify for a playoff in the case of a multiple tie. Despite having the sole lead before the final round, Ryu failed to make it into the playoff, which will be fought between Kobayashi Koichi and Yoda.

Final scores in the league:
  Kobayashi Koichi, Yoda, Ryu: 6-2
  O Rissei: 5-3
  Kato Masao: 4-4
  Takemiya, Kobayashi Satoru: 3-5
  Mimura Tomoyasu: 2-6
  Sakai Maki: 1-7

  Kobayashi Satoru, Mimura and Sakai lose their places in the league.

  In the third game of the 24th Gosei best-of-five title match, the challenger, Kobayashi Koichi, picked up his first win of the series and so kept his chances of taking the title alive. The game was played in the town of Kotohira in Kagawa Prefecture on July 25. Playing black, Kobayashi defeated Yoda Norimoto by 2.5 points after 242 moves. That makes the score 2-1 in Yoda's favour. Of their respective time allowances of four hours, Kobayashi had 17 minutes left and Yoda was down to his last minute.
  The fourth game will be played in the town of Nonoichi in Ishikawa Prefecture on August 19.

  The best-of-three final of the 1st Chunlan (Spring Orchid) World Championship, sponsored by the Chunlan group of companies, was held in Nanjing in China in June. Cho Hoon-hyun 9-dan of Korea defeated his disciple, Lee Chang-ho 9-dan, 2-1 to take the first prize of $150,000. In the one-game playoff for third place, Choi Myung-hoon 6-dan of Korea defeated Chang Hao of China, so Korea monopolized the top three places.

  The following players have earned promotions during July.To 6-dan: Endo Yoshifumi, Kitano RyoTo 5-dan: Kono RinTo 4-dan: Kawai ShojiTo 3-dan: Takano Hideki, Inagaki YoTo 2-dan: Kato Keiko, Takemiya Yoko (the son of Takemiya Masaki)

  On July 29, two of the favourites to become the 24th Kisei challenger met each other in the first round of the Tournament to Decide the Top Player, the final stage of the Kisei. In fact, the same two players met each other in the best-of-three playoff to decide the challenger last year. The pairing was Kobayashi Koichi vs. Yoda Norimoto. Like last year, Kobayashi prevailed, defeating Yoda by 5.5 points. Having got rid of his most dangerous rival, Kobayashi must now fancy his chances of repeating as Kisei challenger.

  The semifinals of the 47th Oza tournament were played during July. In one semifinal, Kato Masao 9-dan defeated Yamada Kimio 7-dan; in the other, Cho Chikun Kisei & Meijin defeated Rin Kaiho 9-dan. The winner of the playoff between Kato and Cho will challenge O Rissei for the title.

  The third vacant place in the 55th Honinbo league was decided in a game played on July 29. O Meien 9-dan, who had dropped out of the previous league with a 1-6 score, promptly won his way back in by defeating Nakamura Hidehito 9-dan in the playoff in the final preliminary section of the tournament.