Following Iyama Yuta (no world ranking discussions)

[John Fairbairn]

Title matches have resumed in Japan. The first game of the 75th Honinbo thus became, on 2nd and 3rd June, the first such game to be played under anti-Covid conditions.

Both Iyama Yuta and Shibano Toramaru had to play with masks on, like everyone else - scorers, journalists, maids. And all had to g through forehead temperature checks before entry.

But while social distancing was enforced in the press room, the traditional and seating arrangements in the game room flouted the 2-metre social-distancing rule. The board is about 45 cm and players' knees have to be 15 cm from the edge of the board, so that maintaining a 2-yard gap is not at all easy. And as for period of close contact, which in the UK is supposed to be 15 seconds for 2-metres apart, they are allocated 8 hours each, all of which was actually used.

Both they and the scorers are young, of course, but veteran referee Cho Chikun was evidently not being shielded, and he and the scorers sat shoulder to shoulder, though admittedly side by side. Also, the game took place in Yamanashi Prefecture, well away from the main centres of infection, though that may not have been deliberate. The Tokiwa venue is commonly used for title matches, and Game 2 of the 74th Honinbo took place there.

Among the trivial points of interest, Iyama (3 crowns) beat Shibano (2 crowns) despite being forced to sacrifice a large group. Game 2 is on 13/14 June.

[Ferran]

If we're talking about this game someone was fast.

Take care.

EDIT: If anyone wants the official, it's here.

[hyperpape]

Just noticed that in the go4go DB, Iyama has 10 straight wins against current or former Japanese title-holders (Shibano-3 games, Ichiriki-2, Kyo-1, Kono-1, Cho U-1, Ida-1).

[Ember]

Iyama won the 5th game of the 75th Honinbo title match vs. Shibano Toramaru by 4.5 points and defends his title.

He has now won the Honinbo title 9 times in a row, which puts him at the same level as Takagawa Kaku (Honinbo 1952-1960) and very close to Cho Chikun who won the title 10 times in row (1989-1998).

[AloneAgainstAll]

Iyama just won his league game against Cho U and is leading Meijin League by 7-0! But its not all decided (i suppose) - if he lose his last game against Rin Kanketsu, and Ichiriki win his game against Murakawa Daisuke, both will end with 7-1 score. I guess then it will be additional game to decide challenger.

[John Fairbairn]

Iyama won his last Meijin league game with an empty triangle and so becomes the challenger to Shibano Toramaru. First game of the 45th Meijin final will be on 25 August in Tokyo.

Murakawa Daisuke, Rin Kanketsu and Cho U were all demoted from the league.

[AloneAgainstAll]

Iyama won first game of Meijin final, W+1,5. Got early lead 70% (according to FA), and iirc he was never in danger of losing, good game for Iyama. 2nd game starts 15th of september (why so big gap?).

[Ember]

Iyama won first game of Meijin final, W+1,5. Got early lead 70% (according to FA), and iirc he was never in danger of losing, good game for Iyama. 2nd game starts 15th of september (why so big gap?).

Because I can watch the game during my vacation of course! ;-P

[Uberdude]

Iyama lost to Cho U in the semifinal of the Oza tournament, so it'll be Cho or Kyo Kagen challenging Shibano.

[ez4u]

Ichiriki beat Kono Rin in the Tengen challenger decision game and will face Iyama. It will be Ichiriki's third attempt in this title. Iyama won 3-1 in 2016 and 3-0 in 2017.

[AloneAgainstAll]

Ichiriki Ryo beat Iyama Yuta in first game of Tengen final B+0,5. It was very close game, Iyama had solid lead in early phase (all eastimations according to FA) when Ichiriki didnt countered white keshi severe enough, however after some complicated middle game though FA said Iyama have more than 99% lead, it was Ichiriki who won it - i guess its beacuese FA thinks that game was played under chn rules with 7,5 komi.

[jlt]

The game (downloaded from Fox):

[pajaro]

Iyama just became the challenger to #46 Gosei.

I have read a comment in twitter (sorry, I can't find it now). According to it, he won thanks to a brilliant move (I assume tesuji in the original). I think it must be move 139 or so. This makes J11 an eye. Black can make another eye in gote in E6, so I guess that #139 is more forcing than I think. But I can't see what's going on.

The game:

[John Fairbairn]

It seems worth noting that, having just retained the Gosei title at the end of August 2021, Iyama Yuta has now passed Sakata Eio in the list of all-time official titles won in Japan.

Cho Chikun still heads the list with 75 (81 if you count unofficial titles) and Iyama now has 65 (75 including unofficials) to Sakata's 64. Iyama is still only 32. Of course, in Sakata's day, there were far fewer titles to win. It might also be added that Cho also achieved more than double the number of runner-up places than Iyama did. So all three have been quite remarkable (and rich!).

Xie Yimin is 10th in the list at 27, and so is the highest woman.

[pajaro]

Comparing performances in different times is tricky.

You win a title if you are better than your opponents. But when you win a lot, I often wonder... are you that strong? Are your opponents too weak? I don't know about Sakata's era, but Cho had to fight his fellow Kitani Minoru pupils. When Iyama rised, the four at the top were Yamashita, Cho U, Hane and Takao, fighting on equal ground. Now, Iyama's rivals are Ichiriki, Shibano... but I feel that there is still a gap.