Japanese Title and League scene

[John Fairbairn]

My mistake about colours. I saw a photo where shibano had a mass of black stones in front of him and assumed they were his. It was perhaps the post mortem instead.

[pajaro]

Last game of the Meijin.

Today (already played), first day. Iyama got black in the nigiri. Two years ago, in the Honinbo, he got white. Does it matter...?

He has been ahead most of the game, and regardless what AI says, I like black better. I think his position is solid, and also reduced white's left, a potential big territory.

Shibano sealed the move after being pincered. The outcome, very soon.

Ah, and the Ichi Meter must have liked in the Kiin, because today Cho U and Shinji Suzuki are using another meter. This one includes a kiai meter too

[Elom0]

Last game of the Meijin . . .

. . . Ah, and the Ichi Meter must have liked in the Kiin, because today Cho U and Shinji Suzuki are using another meter. This one includes a kiai meter too

Kiai metre? Wow I must see that then.

[kvasir]

The second day saw various meters, including the Uni meter and the Cho U meter. The commentators were also in a very good mood, especially Cho U. Iyama did his thing and never added a move to the only group that could possibly be attacked, despite being ahead in territory, finally the attack came and Iyama played the strangest move for 137 and proceeded to die his group. Therefore we have a new-old meijin in Shibano.

[gowan]

Glad that Shibano won at last But what are these "meters"? I thought they were just graphic display of winrate.

[pajaro]

Good for Shibano.

Yesterday, Iyama had it. And for most of the second day, he was still ahead. But a big dragon died. Unexpectedly? To me, yes and no. Yes, because "big groups never die". But no, because Iyama has a tendendcy to leave groups undefended. He must be confident on his shinogi skills. But, when you are ahead, and it's the final game of such a match...

I saw a tweet yesterday, by Tobita Saki 2-dan. You know her? She has a popular youtube channel. As a player, she is not strong. As a commentator and teacher, she is probably better. Well, in that tweet, she said something like "big groups don't die, but we'll see about that one". Really? I thought. The one that died, could you really think it could be under attack? In the end... But that's pros. They see ahead and a lot of potential situations.

Shibano, we all remember, was in the same situation 2 years ago, in the Honinbo. 3-1 ahead, then 3-3 even, then losing in the finall game. This time, it was the same... until it wasn't (Iyama's fault). What was happening in Shibano's head? How did he sleep? The pressure sure was overwhelming, and most other players would have cracked. Like he did, 2 years ago. But this time, he was strong enough.

The next Kisei (unless Yamashita pulls a miracle) will be Kisei vs. Meijin.

About the meters: it's evidence that pros passed primary school
It's just something made with paper and cardboard to show who they think is ahead. Check youtube, you will understand.

[kvasir]

According to the mamumamu rating there is chance for Yamashita Keigo. His predicted win rate, in a single game, is 28.6% and by that he has 8.2% chance at winning the two games in a row required to become the challenger.

I like the new meters. If only they'd also cancel the AI percentage bar. It is not easy to evaluate these positions accurately but the bar just gives it away. In this game in particular it was evaluating black ahead, around 70-80%, it was as little a as B+2.5 when I reviewed the game, but black was ahead ~20 points in territory so it was quite obvious if you followed the AI percentages on youtube that the white's attack was going to be very severe.

I also liked how Cho U appeared to just give one or two move variations instead of trying to playout the game. I guess all the laughter made it amusing to watch, even if I didn't understand anything

[CDavis7M]

I'm happy for Shibano. What a match. I missed most of the video streams. I think I will just wait for the magazine reviews.

Compared to last year We went from 3 title holders to 5, including all 3 of Reiwa's Crows: Ichiriki, Shibano, and Kyo. So then I have to think about that newspaper article from a year ago (or whenever it was) where they called for the rise of these 3 over Iyama. I thought it was silly because Iyama was still dominant and Reiwa had just begun. But now these guys are proving themselves.

I'll be paying more attention to Kyo. I wonder if he will hold on to the Judan title when that comes back in March.

There's still more games this year but I can already say that Japanese Go in 2022 has been much more exciting than the 2021 scene.

[Elom0]

Iyama Yuta Wins by half a point against Yo Seiki in the second game of the Oza

[Elom0]

I'm happy for Shibano. What a match. I missed most of the video streams. I think I will just wait for the magazine reviews.

Compared to last year We went from 3 title holders to 5, including all 3 of Reiwa's Crows: Ichiriki, Shibano, and Kyo. So then I have to think about that newspaper article from a year ago (or whenever it was) where they called for the rise of these 3 over Iyama. I thought it was silly because Iyama was still dominant and Reiwa had just begun. But now these guys are proving themselves.

I'll be paying more attention to Kyo. I wonder if he will hold on to the Judan title when that comes back in March.

There's still more games this year but I can already say that Japanese Go in 2022 has been much more exciting than the 2021 scene.

I mean, I liked when Iyama was dominant in the Japanese stage like Shin Jinseo is now in the world stage. But with all those title matches Iyama would never get to play in international tournaments. So I only want him to hold the Honinbo and make sure the other pros make sure Iyama doesn't qualify for title matches, especially the Kisei and Meijin. They seem to be doing a good job in the Kisei, almost knocking Iyama out of the S-League.

[pajaro]

The final games of the Meijin prelim tournament was played today.

Cho U will go back to the league after 3 years, and Sada Atsushi will play in it for the first time.

Kono Rin, who I tought would win too, lost to Fujita Akihiko. Another new player.

Hane Naoki lost his seat after 14 years, but Yamashi Keigo, another of the Heisei 4, is still there and will play for the 19th time.

[pajaro]

The next Kisei (unless Yamashita pulls a miracle) will be Kisei vs. Meijin.

Well...

in the first game to decide the challenger, Yamashita won.

Now everything is down to the game they will play next 21st.

I would really like Yamashita to challenge for Kisei again and, of course, win it.

[CDavis7M]

If that happened we really would be in a golden age of variety in Japanese Go!

[Harleqin]

I remember when Yamashita challenged O Rissei for some major title. Must have been about 20 years ago.

[pajaro]

That must have been when Yamashita became Kisei for the first time, I think.

To me, Kisei meant Yamashita Keigo, the same way that Meijin meant Yoda Norimoto. Long time ago...
Sadly, not again. Shibano won, so he will face Ichiriki. I remember them playing in the leagues and other tournaments, but not in a final match. 7 games, starting January.

My money is on

Shibano