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The Power Report (Part 1): Honinbo League's Second Round Nearly Completed; Xie Catches Up In Women’s

by John Power, Japan Correspondent for the E-Journal
Honinbo League's Second Round Nearly Completed: The first round of the 69th Honinbo League was completed on the last day of its specified month of October. In the fourth game, Cho U 9P (B) defeated Sakai Hideyuki 8P by resignation. Three of the four games in the second round were played on November 6. Yamashita Keigo 9P (B) beat Cho U by resig.; Takao Shinji 9P (B) beat Sakai Hideyuki by resig. and Kono Rin 9P (B) beat Yo Seiki 7P by resig. Yamashita and Kono lead the league with two wins each. Takao and Cho are 1-1; Ida Atsushi 7P is 1-0; Yuki Satoshi 9P is 0-1; and Yo and Sakai are both 0-2. When he set a new record by winning a place in the league at the age of 18, Yo Seiki (right) was hailed as a coming star, but he has had a tough initiation into top-level play. 
Xie Catches Up In Women’s Honinbo Title Match: In the fourth game of the 32nd Women’s Honinbo title match, Xie Yimin faced a kadoban (a game that might lose a series) for the first time ever in this title. Xie had black and played steadily, forcing the challenger Mukai Chiaki to resign after 189 moves. That means that the title will be decided in the fifth game on November 27. 
Big Week Coming Up: There are some big games coming up this week. In the third round of the LG Cup, scheduled for November 11, Iyama Yuta will play Chen Yaoye of China and Takao Shinji will meet Tuo Jiaxi, also of China. The semifinals follow on the 14th. Back in Japan, the play-off to decide the Kisei challenger, between Yamashita Keigo and Murakawa Daisuke, will be held on the 14th. 
Three Promotions And A Retirement: A win by forfeit on October 31 secured Kato Tomoko a promotion to 6-dan with 90 wins as a 5-dan. The promotion took effect the following day. Born in 1969, Kato won the Women’s Honinbo in 1992, the Women’s Meijin in 1995, the Women’s Strongest Player in 2000, and the Women’s Kakusei in 2001. Wins on November 7 earned Fujita Akihiko a promotion to 4 dans (after 50 wins) and Takeda Yoshinori a promotion to 2-dan (after 30 wins). Both promotions took effect on November 8. Kawamoto Noboru 9P, born in 1941, retired as of October 31. He was a disciple of Masubuchi Tatsuko 8P, became 1-dan in 1961 and 9-dan in 1989. He won the 8-dan section of the 9th Kisei tournament in 1984. Tomorrow: Precise Counting At The Spicy Noodles Cup; Yuki Satoshi Breaks Losing Streak To Win Seat In New Meijin League; Kyo Wins Nakano Cup; Globis To Sponsor New International Tournament