Life In 19x19

Tomorrow Ichiriki will have really good chance for getting his first title - he is already leading 2-0 against Hane Naoki in Gosei. FGS has broadcast (with FA evaluation), game start 8:00 local time.

Ichiriki won to take his first title.

Ichiriki won to take his first title.

Not quite. His first major title.

He has also won the Nakano U20 (2012), 39th Shinjin-O (2014), 4th O-Kage (2013), 8th Young Carp (2013), 1st Globis U20 (2014), 5th O-Kage (2014), 1st Ibero-Japan (2014), 25th Ryusei (2016), 7th O-Kage (2016), 11th Young Carp (2106), 4th Japan Titlewinners (2017), 27th Ryusei (2018), 25th Agon-Kiriyama (2018), 66th NHK (2019).

And he also has experience in major title matches, with a string of runner-up places - mostly minor majors like the Gosei, Oza and Tengen, but let us not forget he made it to a Kisei final, which was possibly a greater achievement than winning the Gosei, given the long and tortuous route to the final through the leagues.

When the Japanese lockdown started, pros were invited by the Go Weekly newspaper to submit ideas or topics to help fans cope with go-withdrawal symptoms. Ichiriki was one of those who stepped forward with what the newspaper called two "superhard" endgame problems. These were on 13x13 boards and both looked finished. After staring at them for a bit, I could just see there were a tiny handful of plays left, but my impression was still that these were trivial, and although I'd be far too lazy to sit down and try to get even these few moves in the right order, I could easily imagine other amateurs easily could.

But Ichiriki said these were specially composed problems to factor in a wide range of, er, factors. He had tried them out on various pro friends and no-one had solved one in under ten minutes.

I was still sceptical and looked forward to the next issue where all would be revealed. That was on 1 June 2020. As of now (15 August) the answers are still being revealed, despite being given a full page in the newspaper every week since 1 June. That's about ten issues. the factors include things like not just the order of playing ko threats but the order in which you create ko threats.

You can try one for yourself. The problem below was the one I assumed was the easier one, because the other included a double ko. It turns out this one may be the more sophisticated one.



Black to play, 6.5 komi, prisoners equal. Coffee required: one whole jar.

John Fairbairn wrote:But Ichiriki said these were specially composed problems to factor in a wide range of, er, factors. He had tried them out on various pro friends and no-one had solved one in under ten minutes.

Clock's ticking, Bill.

A piece of the puzzle : Somewhere on this road, you could find a really nice "double ko" If black settle "naturally",

Current situation is pretty clear - Iyama Yuta and Shibano Toramaru are on high top both with 3 major titles (although Iyama hold "better" titles), while Ichiriki holds Gosei. However balance of force might change, since very soon Shibano and Iyama will play Meijin match.

Ichiriki is also doing well in Tengen toornament, will play in semifinal against Nishi Takenobu (4d!). If he win 2 games in a row, he will face Iyama again, but Tengen final match will start not so soon. Anyway, with having won Gosei title, i hope Ichiriki will do much better than in previous challenges against Iayama.

Interesting situation is in Kisei - sole amateur player Kurita Yoshiki is doing very well being 2-1 currently (beat Mochizuki Kenichi(8d) and Nakano Yasuhiro(9d), lost to Cho Riyu(8d)). If he win rest of 2 rounds, he will advance to B league i think, which would be pretty big achievement.

Honinbo last preliminary is going to end soon - Onishi Ryuhei (5d) is doing well there and is 1 win away from instant promotion to 7d (well, i know that now titles means not much, and for sure much less in "old times", but still he is pretty young (20y5m), and the power of youth is sth we should watch imho) - he "just" need to win against veteran Kono Rin!

Is it possible for one of the admins to create a separate thread for this fiendish yose problem please - it would be sad if it just vanished into cyberspace. I have looked at it for an hour and I know that I can't solve it - but I might just understand the answer. Perhaps John F might give us some hints and the fact that it has taken ten weeks to partly reveal the answer makes it all very tantalising.

Thanks - John T

The solution to the Ichiriki Problem A is apparently as follows - a void game.



In the variations the Black stones in the left centre come into play but I'm afraid I haven't got the patience to examine it all properly. Too many overtones of seeking the far end of fart for me . I posted it simply because I was impressed at the sort of things pros (even Japanese 8-dans) can do.

Onishi Ryuhei did it! He won against veteran Kono Rin (B+R) in Honinbo last preliminary, and advanced to Honinbo League first time in his life. He also secured automatic promotion to 7d.

John Fairbairn wrote:The solution to the Ichiriki Problem A is apparently as follows - a void game.

In the variations the Black stones in the left centre come into play but I'm afraid I haven't got the patience to examine it all properly. Too many overtones of seeking the far end of fart for me . I posted it simply because I was impressed at the sort of things pros (even Japanese 8-dans) can do.

In my last variation black seems to win. See from Black 105.

Won’t White connect at N6 on the right side rather than G6 in the center? White threatens to retake the ko. Black has to connect the ko, so White has time to connect at G6 winning by half a point?

Honinbo League was formed - Shibano Toramaru, Kyo Kagen, Ichiriki Ryo, Hane Naoki (kept league spots from previous cycle), and 4 new players - Ko Iso, Tsuruyama Atsushi, Onishi Ruyhei and Sada Atsushi (got automatic promotion to 7d like Onishi). I didnt make much search but feels that on average,it will be youngest league in a while.

Kisei Leagues are almost finished - only one round left in Kisei S leagues and all other are finished. If Takao Shinji wins, he is absolutely sure of being 1st place, and then just one win in two games of being Kisei challenger. If he loses, there are 3 players who can match his points. Not sure whats are tie breakers in Kisei S league though.

League A was won by Yamashita Keigo - now to become challenger he need to win 3 games in a row. Not impossible!
League B1 was won by Shibano Toramaru. After his bad luck in League A last year (he went 4-3, but due to other results, and low position, he got demoted), now he got there back. To become challenger, he needs to win 5 games in a row. Also not impossible!
League B2 was won by Mutsuura Yuta. Same number of wins like Shibano Toramaru to succed in becoming challenger.
League C was won by Hon Akiyoshi 3d!! As you know, to win C league you need perfect record (5-0), and he did it.I feel we will hear about him soon again.

In Meijin tournament, there is ongoing match between Shibano Toramaru (current Meijin), and Iyama Yuta. Iyama leads 2-0. In the other part, next Meijin torunament is in phase of last preliminary (decide who will take 3 spots in Meijin League). Onihishi Ryuhei is there, so he has chance to be in 2 leagues this year.

In Oza we are already in final phase - challenger deciding game should be played soon between Kyo Kagen and Cho U (who pretty surpringsly eliminated Iyama Yuta).

Not much changed in Tengen from my last report.

Gosei tournament is in early phase (no surpise since new Gosei was crowned month ago). 3 females has still chances to got into final knockout phase - Aoki Kikuyo(8d), Ueno Asami(3d) and Mukai Chiaki(5d). 3 others were already eliminated.

Judan is in phase of final knockout (20 players, 4-5 rounds - yeah some players starts from 2nd round). Onishi Ruyhei is there, rest are bunch of 7-9 dans except Ohashi Hirofumi who is 6d ( i think its the guy who is very into AI and write about it pretty much, i hope i didnt confusef him with someone else).

In female scene Ueno Asami just took Female Saikyo (defeated Xie Yimin in final).

Female Honinbo challenge decision torunament ended, and it was Fujisawa Rina who became challenger. First game of her match agains Ueno Asami in just 2 weeks. Good show by Hoshiai Shiho (any relation to Hoshiai Hasseki, anybody?!) - she fought way to the final defeating Suzuki Ayumi and Nyu Eiko, but there Fujisawa Rina proved stronger.

Hataka Tamachi Cup semifinal and final will be played in early october. Semifinals pairs are Muaki Chiaki vs Ueno Asami, and Fujisawa Rina vs Nyu Eiko.

As you see female scene is pretty much competition between Ueno Asami and Fujisawa Rina, with surprise come back of Suzuki Ayumi (current female Kisei, defeated Ueno Asami 2-1). What is rather more surprise is bad stirke of Xie Yimin. Few years ago, she was undiputed nr 1, now she hardly play in any final. And she is younger than Suzuki Ayumi.

Is there anywhere to watch these matches live? Are they broadcast on any go servers? I'd love to more regularly follow the pro matches, but as an English-only speaker it seems difficult .

IGS Pandanet generally broadcasts title games, sometimes league games also. They are in bold, at the top of the ongoing games list. Right now for instance, two games are being broadcasted: Game 3 of the 45th Meijin title match and a game from the 47th Tengen Preliminary A.

The annoying thing being that as soon as the games are finished, they are removed from the game tabs, meaning you can't check the result or the game if you happen to have missed the broadcast. I wish they'd keep these tabs available for a few hours even after the end of the game. Tygem does it and it's a nice way to be able to check on pro games of the day without having to wait for another website to have the sgf.

That sounds great, I'll check it out. I haven't signed into IGS in something like 15 years, but this is a good reason to check it out . Are there spots with lively (English) discussion on the games/series as well? It's one thing to see the games live, but that misses some of the context around the games -- tournament structure, player history, etc. The colour commentary?

Thanks!