Following Iyama Yuta (no world ranking discussions)

[Uberdude]

Seemed to me Ichiriki was always behind: the m2 turn seemed to indicate a willingness to sacrifice the lower right corner (because then he can capture one stone in sente if Iyama kills), but then he went and spent a move to live there so didn't get much benefit from attacking Iyama's lower left group in exchange for all the tenukis Iyama got to the top side. And then the turn into the right side didn't make sense if he also wanted to stop black's upper moyo.

[Zenit]

Seemed to me Ichiriki was always behind: the m2 turn seemed to indicate a willingness to sacrifice the lower right corner (because then he can capture one stone in sente if Iyama kills), but then he went and spent a move to live there so didn't get much benefit from attacking Iyama's lower left group in exchange for all the tenukis Iyama got to the top side. And then the turn into the right side didn't make sense if he also wanted to stop black's upper moyo.

Yeah, that move really surprised me. It just seemed so... incredibly slow. I guess the idea is that the two isolated black stones become weaker when the white group becomes stronger? But the white group already looked stronger than the black stones anyway so I'd much rather attack the stones directly and maybe develop the left side while attacking. But well, I'm much much weaker than these players so what do I know.

[Uberdude]

3rd Kisei game starts today and I already like Iyama. It must be mentally tough for Ichiriki to not get dispirited with all these losses. Position at end of first day:

$$B Iyama (black) vs Ichiriki, Kisei title match 3rd game
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . X O . . . X O O O O O . |
$$ | . . X . O X . O . X . X . O X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O . X O O X , . . . O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . X . O . . . X . X . X . X . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X X . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . O O X O O . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . X O X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . X O . O . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . W . . X O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Iyama (black) vs Ichiriki, Kisei title match 3rd game
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . X O . . . X O O O O O . |
$$ | . . X . O X . O . X . X . O X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O . X O O X , . . . O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . X . O . . . X . X . X . X . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X X . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . O O X O O . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . X O X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . X O . O . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . W . . X O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

[pookpooi]

Ichiriki Ryo ran into byoyomi while Iyama Yuta had more than one hour left. And the same fate happens. This is Iyama Yuta 12th consecutive win against Ichiriki Ryo.

Now next week is actually the long awaited LG cup final! Hope the Goddess of victory is still side with him then.

[Elom]

Apparently, NHK-e will show a special program following Iyama Yuta 9p during his ascension in the LG cup.

In the People's Honour Award ceremony, each of the recipients got a dashing inkstone set—


source: http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/news/etc/post_715.html

But does that compare to the miniature go set Iyama 9p gave to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a thank you? You decide.


source: http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/news/etc/post_715.html
Let's hope there are no ghosts in this one.

[Uberdude]

Fourth kisei game is today and tomorrow. Can Ichiriki avoid another whitewash? Iyama as black did another diagonal opening and then 3-3 invasion with the subsequent fight sprawling across the board.

$$Bc Iyama (black) vs Ichiriki
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X W . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . X X O . O . O O X O . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . O X O . . . . . O X X . . . O X . . |
$$ | O O O X X X X X X O O O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X X X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . O O X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Iyama (black) vs Ichiriki
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X W . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . X X O . O . O O X O . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . O X O . . . . . O X X . . . O X . . |
$$ | O O O X X X X X X O O O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X X X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . O O X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

[pookpooi]

Ichiriki Ryo played faster than Iyama Yuta in this game, though the result is the same (or even worse, Fox commentator with FineArt think the game is already 'done' in the first day).
The streak between these two is now extended to 13-0 games.

[Uberdude]

Ichiriki Ryo played faster than Iyama Yuta in this game, though the result is the same (or even worse, Fox commentator with FineArt think the game is already 'done' in the first day).

Yes, white breaking out along line 13 at the cost of c10 getting munched seemed like a massive failure, and the k16 pain too...

[John Fairbairn]

A bit of real-world perspective, if I may...

This Game 4 was played in Ofunato City, which was almost wiped out by a tsunami in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake - the biggest ever earthquake recorded in Japan, I believe. The affected area included Miyagi Prefecture, where Ichiriki comes from.

Whether that affected him, too, I don't know, but clearly Ofunato's recovery is a measure of the wonderful resilience people can show - a message for Ichiki, perhaps - and it's nice that go can take a small part in signalling that recovery. It was the first title game in Ofunato for almost 50 years, and the present case local boy Sotoyanagi Sebun was also one of the recorders.

The players' own assessments seem to differ slightly from those mentioned here. Iyama said he didn't really understand what was going on around the time of the sealed move, perhaps having overplayed a little before that, and Ichiriki also made the same phase of the game the crux - but he thought it was a "little worse" for him. But he added that nothing seems to have gone right for him from Game 2 onwards.

[pookpooi]

There's a shortcut for Ichiriki Ryo to recover if he can acquire his position in World Go Championship 2018.

[Uberdude]

Iyama in international action today in the Nongshim cup: forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14546&p=227938#p227938.

[EdLee]

Apparently, NHK-e will show a special program following Iyama Yuta 9p during his ascension in the LG cup.

Maybe this one ?

[Uberdude]

First game of Judan title match today against Murakawa Daisuke. Hopefully not another whitewash. Murakawa did take the Oza from Iyama in 2014.

Update: Iyama won by resign, Big fight between two weak groups, Iyama ended up surviving through ko and the ko threat wasn't enough to stop him killing Murakawa's group afterwards to boot.

[pookpooi]

It's not really that bad for black. Too early to resign...

[Uberdude]

It's not really that bad for black. Too early to resign...

Uhm, that entire middle left Black group is going to die so white is ahead 50 points or so. I suppose Murakawa could have played out a few more moves to make the kill clear but probably didn't feel like the humiliation.