John Fairbairn wrote:
As the year 2017 draws to an end, I think it is worth cleaving through the AG obsession to remember some landmarks with players of the past.
Two recent ones I'll mention here.
Lian Jianwen died a fortnight ago, aged 74. He wasn't specially famous but readers from the era when the start of the Japan-China matches created an AG level of excitement will probably recall his name, and he was notable for a lucid and pure style that was an excellent model for amateurs.
In November Rin Kaiho was elevated further within the Japanese gong hierarchy and is now a member of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Ribbon, i.e. Class III. He is now on a par with Go Seigen. Fellow members of this class include Hank Aaron and Clint Eastwood. There are no remunerations but Rin will now have the perk of addressing amateurs in simuls with "Go ahead, punk, make my day" before slugging them out of the park.
But where is Cho Chikun's gong?