May 1974
By
Keith Arnold
Posted: 2024-05-12T06:00:00Z
On May 2, Honda Sachiko 4d completed a two game sweep over Itō Tomoe 5d to win the 20th Ladies' Hon'inbo Title. (Game record: here.)
The Hon'inbo League finished with a four-way tie for the right to challenge Ishida Yoshio Hon'inbo. Sakata Eio, Rin Kaihō, Takemiya Masaki and Katō Masao all finished with 5-2 records after Takemiya and Katō both lost their final round games to Sakata and Rin respectively. A playoff was hastily arranged and, ironically, Takemiya and Katō this time triumphed over their switched opponents in the first round. On May 18-19, Takemiya defeated Katō by 3.5 points to earn the right to challenge. (Game record: here.)
The match followed quickly, and Ishida Hon'inbo comfortably dispatched the challenger by 10.5 points on May 22-23. But for those who thought this meant Ishida would have an easy time of it, Takemiya forced his resignation in Game Two played on May 30-31. (Game records: Game One, Game Two.)
On May 25, the 1st Maryland Open was held in Baltimore, MD. Shin Kang won the first of his record six titles. Join us for the Maryland Open on the May 25-26 (register at https://www.baltimoregoclub.org) and maybe you can be a part of this column in fifty years.
Photo from Kido Yearbook, game records from SmartGoOne