Game 4 of the 39th Judan, scheduled for 19 April 2001, has been moved because of the Geiyo earthquake in March. The planned location was Dogo Spa near Matsuyama City, but with the Seto Inland Sea area still suffering aftershocks, the venue will now be the venue planned for Game 5, that is the Takashimaya at Iwamuro Spa in Niigata Prefecture. The new venue for Game 5 (if needed) on 25 April has yet to be fixed.
Game 3 will still be on 5 April in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture. The best-of-five match between Kobayashi Koichi and challenger O Rissei stands at 1-1.
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Older News From 22 March 2001: O RISSEI DAZZLES HIS WAY BACK TO LEVEL TERMS
Game 2 of the 39th Judan on 22 March 2001 was the battle of the sleeveless pullovers. Holder Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan entered the lists with his traditional sober black number, but O Rissei 9-dan was sporting his trademark snazzy Bobby Dazzler.
Whether Kobayashi did wilt from eye strain or not we cannot say, but he should win the sympathy vote - especially as he lost this game by a mere half point. It was played at the Grand Hotel in Tamatsukuri Spa, Shimane Prefecture. The actual site was an annexe called the Chosei-kaku (eternal life inn), a rather apposite name for a go game
O sporting trademark Bobby Dazzler
Unusually for a played out title game, especially one so close, O Rissei had plenty of time left - 43 minutes out of his 5-hour allowance. He is in a hurry to win this match. As he explained at the match-eve party - perhaps mindful of the now oft repeated moan that there are too many 9-dans in Japan - becoming Judan (10-dan) is "rare chance of promotion".
With the match score now 1-1, Game 3 will be on 5 April in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture at the Kuroyon Royal Hotel.
Older News From 3 March 2001: KOBAYASHI LEARNS FROM HIS PUPILS
Perhaps spurred on by his daughter's victory in the Women's Meijin a week ago, Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan once again found the secret of success in title games. Playing challenger O Rissei 9-dan in Game 1 of the 39th Judan on 3 March 2001, he won by 2.5 points.
The game was played at the Hakuunkaku, Ikaho Spa in Gunma Prefecture. Game 2 will continue the spa-tan existence with a trip to the Tamatsukuri Grand Hotel in Tamatsukuri Spa, Shimane Precture, on 22 March. The final is a best-of-five. The schedule for the later games is:
Game 3: 5 April in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture (Kuroyon Royal Hotel)
Game 4: 19 April in Dogo Spa, Ehime Prefecture (Takaraso Hotel)
Game 5: 25 April in Iwamuro Spa, Niigata Prefecture (Takashimaya)
Summing up the prospects for the match, Otake Hideo 9-dan reckoned that Japanese go is not yet ready for a change of generations. The old guard still have much life in them, and that includes Kobayashi (and Cho Chikun, he said). He pointed also to the proxy success Kobayashi has been having with his pupils - not just his daughter Izumi, but also Inori Yoko (new Women's Honinbo), Kono Rin and Oya Koichi.
But he also rated O's chances highly. He said O relies on good biorhythms in his daily life, and if things are going well for him he is formidable. Tiredness from too many games could be his Achilles heel. This same overall rhythm is evident in his go, which is featureless compared to some, but is underpinned by relentless pressure.
Older News from 6 February 2001: O TO TEN IN 273 MOVES
O Rissei 9-dan spoiled the chance of a double title year for Meijin Yoda Norimoto when he bested him by 1.5 points in the Challengers' Final of the 39th Judan (Ten-dan) tournament on 5 February 2001.
As the man in form, O must fancy his chances against holder Kobayashi Koichi who is going through a lacklustre patch.
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Older News From 27 January 2001: YODA-O FINAL
Hopes of Takemiya fans were high that their hero would soon be challenging again for a major title, as he worked his way up through the repechage section of the 39th Judan. Their hopes were boosted especially by his semi-final game against Honinbo O Meien on 7 December 2000, when he made a trademark centre territory of nearly 100 points to win a particularly satisfying game by 4.5 points.
But there was an O too many in the way, and in the final he fell to the Kisei, O Rissei, on 8 January. O's strategy was to take territory in all four corners and then play and early tengen against Takemiya's usual galactic empire strategy based on sanrensei with White. You always get full value for money when Takemiya plays, win or lose.
He lost by 2.5 points and so O now goes on to play the winner of the winners' section, Yoda Norimoto 9-dan to see who challenges Kobayashi Koichi.
Yoda's victim in Round 1 was Cho Chikun 9-dan, who is now being described in Japanese texts as 25th [Lifetime] Honinbo. It seems the Japanese feel embarrassed at describing titleless Cho as a mere 9-dan after so many years of being able to append a title to his name. The honour has been earned, of course. Other past and titleless Honinbos are still being described as 9-dan, as is the case with Takemiya, but they did not win enough Honinbo finals to qualify for the lifetime title. For reference, the others since the last real one, Shusai (21st), are Takagawa Shukaku, Sakata Eio and Ishida Yoshio.
The Judan Championship is sponsored by large daily national newspaper, the Sankei Shinbun (originally known as the Sangyo Keizai Shinbun). It is the successor to the Hayago Meijin.
Top prize is 10.6 million yen. Runner-up gets one fifth as much. Game fees are graduated not just according to the stage of the event but also according to rank.
The structure of the tournament is unusual in that it incorporates a repechage, though it has been copied several times. The purpose is to ensure that the strongest players do not suffer from an accidental loss.
The main section begins with a 16-player knockout (the Winners' Section), but the losers cross over to a parallel Losers' Section knockout. The level at which they enter depends on the level at which they were knocked out of the Winners' Section.
The winners of the two sections eventually play off to decide who challenges the title holder in a best-of-five (in Term 1, however, the play-off was a best-of-five to decide the first holder). With one exception, a player thus drops out only once he has lost two games.
The exception is the winner of the Winners' Section. If he loses the play-off against the winner of the Losers' Section, he gets no second chance.
All those who win two or more games in the main section retain their places the following year. The other eight players drop back to the qualifying stage.
The event is open to all pros from the Nihon Ki-in and the Kansai Ki-in. The preliminary stages are divided into three. First is a knockout tournament for all 1-dans to 4-dans (giving four from the Nihon Ki-in and two from the Kansai Ki-in), and then comes another knockout for the Stage 1 qualifiers and all 5-dans to 9-dans, to find 24 qualifiers for the third stage knockout, where they are joined by the eight players demoted from the main event.
In Term 1, all 9-dans (11) seeded to the main event.
Time limits are now 5 hours each but used to be 6 hours each. Komi is 5.5 points.
Judan means 10-dan (normally 9-dan is the highest rank awarded).
The Hayago Meijin (1956-1961), also sponsored by the Sankei Shinbun (then briefly known as the Sankei Jiji; the name was changed to Sankei Shinbun in 1956), was originally comprised of separate tournaments for East and West Japan, and the respective winners (meijins) were pitted against each other in a telegraph match for the overall title. This was because the Sankei Jiji had separate editions in Tokyo and Osaka.
Although Hayago means "quick go" or "lightning go", in those days it meant games of 5 hours each played in one day, rather than the 10 hours and two days of the main title matches. The final was a best-of-three and komi was 4.5 points.
