Mid-Year 2025 Update #3
Ichiriki defends 49th Kisei title
In the 49th Kisei tournament, the challenger to Ichiriki Ryo was the same as in the previous year, that is, Iyama Yuta, but this year the match was even tougher for the defending champion. Last year the sequence, from Ichiriki’s point of view, was WLWLWLW (he had white in game 1 and black in game 7) so the pressure was always on Iyama, who fell behind three times.
This year, in contrast, Iyama took a 3-1 lead, putting Ichiriki under intense pressure: he had to win three games in a row to defend his title. Well, he showed that he had the requisite fortitude, though, as the results listed below show, two of his wins were quite narrow ones.
Game 1 (Jan. 16, 17; played at the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo in Bunkyo Ward).
Iyama (W) won by resig.
Game 2 (Jan. 25, 26; Nikko Senhime Monogatari inn, Nikko City, Tochigi
Prefecture). Ichiriki (W) by resig.
Game 3 (Feb. 5, 6; Miyagi Prefectural Governor’s Hall, Sendai City, Miyagi
Prefecture). Iyama (W) by resig.
Game 4 (Feb. 12, 13; Atami Korakuen Hotel, Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture).
Iyama (B) by 4.5 points.
Game 5 (Feb. 26, 27; Mikazuki Sea Park Hotel Katsuura, Katsuura City, Chiba
Prefecture). Ichiriki (B) by 1.5.
Game 6 (Mar. 6, 7; Hotel Kagetsuen, Hakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture).
Ichiriki (W) by 2.5.
Game 7 (Mar. 12, 13; Tokiwa Hotel, Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture). Ichiriki
(W) by resig.
His victory gave Ichiriki his fourth Kisei title in a row, so he maintained a firm grip on his number-one ranking in Japan. At this point, he also held the Meijin, Tengen, and Honinbo titles, so he had four of the top seven. His overall tally was 28 titles, which earned him 10th place on the all-time list.
Ueno Risa wins SENKO CUP
Recently Japan has been enjoying some long-awaited success in international go. In September last year Ichiriki Ryo won the Ing Cup, then in December Ueno Asami won the 7th Go Seigen Cup. The latter’s younger sister, Ueno Risa, has now secured another triumph for Japan, winning the SENKO CUP: World Go Women’s Strongest Player Tournament 2025. In the one-game final, held on March 16, she beat Choi Jeong 9-dan of Korea, who has dominated international women’s go in recent years. This is a Japanese-sponsored tournament in its 7th term with a prize of 10,000,000 yen.
The prize is a generous one; it is one of the reasons that this is a golden age for women’s professional go in Japan, in contrast to the general go scene, where we have seen two top-seven tournaments, the Judan and the Honinbo, demoted, with their prizemoney reduced. The generosity of the SENKO CUP (the official name is written in English caps.) is made possible by its long list of sponsors. Starting with the Japan Economic Newspaper and the Igo Shogi Channel, it includes as special sponsor Senko Group Holdings and, as additional sponsors, Asahi Kasei, Sekisui House, Sekisui Chemical Industries, Mitubishi UFJ Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, and, finally, Tokyo East Side Hotel Kaie, which provides the venue for the tournament.
In the final, Ueno fell behind in the late middle game, but she fought on tenaciously. Near the end, she found a brilliancy, a placement on the first line, that Jeong had overlooked and she pulled off an upset win by half a point. As far as I know, this is the first time two sisters have both won an international tournament.
Full results follow:
(Round One, March 14). Tang Jiawen 6-dan (China) (W) beat Ueno Asami 6-dan
(Japan) by resig.; Choi Jeong 9-dan (Korea) (B) beat Fujisawa Rina 7-dan
(Japan) by resig.; Ueno Risa 3-dan (Japan) (B) beat Quynh Ahn Ha, 6-dan ama.
(Vietnam) by resig.; Luo Yuhua 5-dan (Taiwan) (B) beat O Keii (Wang Jingyi)
4-dan (Japan) by resig.
(Semifinals, March 15). Choi (B) beat Tang by resig.; Ueno (B) beat Luo by
resig.
(Final, March 16). Ueno (W) beat Choi by half a point.
(Play-off for 3rd place, March 16). Tang (B) beat Luo.
Yo Seiki wins NHK Cup
In recent years, Yo Seiki (Yu Chengqi), the top player at the Kansai Ki-in, has enjoyed consistently good results in a wide range of tournaments, but the Japanese “big three” -- Ichiriki, Iyama, and Shibano -- have been a barrier blocking his way to winning a title, especially Iyama. Yo has made six unsuccessful challenges for top-seven titles and he met with four of these defeats at the hands of Iyama. Before the final, his record against Iyama was eight wins to 23 losses. However, Yo has finally made a breakthrough. In the
final of the 72nd CUP, telecast on 23rd March, Yo (W) defeated Iyama by resig. to win his first title First prize is 5,000,000 yen.
Fans who follow this tournament closely will be surprised by the absence of Ichiriki Ryo. He appeared in eight of the last ten finals and in the last six in a row, but this time he was eliminated by Iyama in the quarterfinals.
Tomorrow: Ueno Asami defends Hollyhock Cup; Yang Kaiwen wins Chunlan Cup; Ichiriki defends 80th Honinbo; Iyama defends Gosei