As proof that old soldiers never die, Ishida Yoshio 9-dan won the 48th NHK Cup on 11 March 2001, beating Cho Chikun 9-dan by 2.5 points. It is 11 years since Ishida last won.
Ishida recently topped a poll as most popular live game commentator, so this will go down well with many fans. Incidentally, the west's own top pro Michael Redmond was only just pipped for the title of best commentator.
Cho will not be too downhearted by defeat as the day before he won the rather confusingly similar NEC Cup.
Ishida Yoshio 9d Top rated commentator
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Older News From 11 March 2001: CHO GETS CHANCE FOR A TITLE
After the second semi-final on 4 March 2001, the year-long 48th NHK Cup has come down to a final between Ishida Yoshio 9-dan and Cho Chikun 9-dan, to be broadcast on 11 March.
Ishida beat Ryu Shikun 7-dan in his semi, while Cho disposed of old rival Kobayashi Koichi 9-dan.
With the exception of 31-year-old 9-dan Mimura Tomoyasu, who reached the quarter-finals before losing to Ishida, it was very much a successful event for the older player, most of the current title holders crashing out early on.
The NHK Cup is a year-long lightning tournament sponsored by the government-owned broadcasters NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai). It was the first tournament to be broadcast by radio, then - from Term 10 in 1963 - by television. It now appears on Sunday afternoons in a two-hour programme, the first part of which is a go lecture.
Top prize is 4 million yen. The losing finalist gets 800,000 yen.
In the early days of radio eight players of 8-dan and above played a knockout. The previous winner was not seeded. This developed into a 16-player knockout with places decided by seeding based on a popular vote.
Nowadays, 50 players are selected from the major title winners (including the NHK Cup holder and the women's title holders) and the top money winners in the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in. The 14 top title holders and others are seeded.
The unseeded players play in Round 1 (18 games). The 18 winners and the 14 seeds then play a normal knockout culminating in a single-game final. The games are all televised. The final is in March or April.
Time limits have varied over the years. In the days of radio, one format was for each player to have 25 minutes each with 30 seconds a move overtime, giving a 90-minute transmission. Another format was 15 seconds a move with the option for each player to take 3 minutes on any three moves. Later, in television days, the format switched to 10 minutes each with 30 seconds overtime.
