O Rissei retained his title in the final of the 22nd Kakusei on 21 February, defeating Hikosaka Naoto 9-dan in just 84 moves.
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Older News From 19 February 2000: HIKOSAKA AND O RISSEI TO CONTEST KAKUSEI FINAL
The semi-finals of the 22nd Kakusei were held on 31 January and 3 February in Tokyo. Last year's winner O Rissei 9-dan booked another final place by beating Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan, while Hikosaka Naoto 9-dan overcame Kobayashi Satoru 9-dan (no relation to Koichi).
The final is scheduled for the end of February.
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Older News From 19 December 1999: FINAL KAKUSEI SEMI-FINALIST IS HIKOSAKA
The last semi-finalist in the 22nd Kakusei will be Hikosaka Naotol 9-dan. He beat Kataoka Satoshi 9-dan on 11 November to book a game against Kobayashi Koichi.
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Older News from November 6 1999: KAKUSEI SEMI-FINALS ABOUT TO START
Three semi-finalists are now known for the 22nd Kakusei. Kobayashi Satoru, Kobayashi Koichi and O Rissei will be joined by either Kataoka Satoshi or Hikosaka Naoto, all 9-dans.
The distinguishing feature of the Kakusei is that it is biased heavily towards the elite players, who tend to be the busiest. Even though it is only a lightning tournament, fitting the games into their schedule is always a problem, and the final will not be until next April.
FINAL KNOCKOUT RESULTS 1999
Round 1:
Kataoka 1-0 Ryu
Kobayashi S. 1-0 Tono
Kato 1-0 Sonoda Y.
Yoda 1-0 Yamada K.
Round 2:
Kobayashi S. 1-0 Cho
Kobayashi K. 1-0 Kato
O Rissei 1-0 Yoda.
Kataoka will play Hikosaka.
HOW DOES THE KAKUSEI TOURNAMENT WORK?
The sponsors are Japan Airlines (JAL).The winner's prize money is 5.1 million yen, with just under 2 million yen for the losing finalist. This has hardly changed over the years.
The games are satellite telecast on Sky PerfecTV. The first seven terms were a round-robin league comprising the title holder and the top five players emerging from a preliminary tournament. Ties were decided by a one-game playoff. In term 8 this changed to the current system.
Now a preliminary for all 5-dans and above is held, to give 5 players (or more if needed) who join the holders of the top seven titles plus the Kakusei holder in a 12-man final (held in March/April). Eight play off in Round 1 then the last eight play a straight knockout.
Time limits are 10 minutes each, with 30 seconds per move overtime. Komi has always been 5.5 points.
The title is a made-up word meaning crane sage. The crane is an allusion to the Japan Airlines logo, and the sage is a go title. There is also a separate Women's Kakusei tournament.
