Keith L. Arnold, HKA, with Patrick Bannister | Published on 7/30/2023
On July 17 Iwamoto Kaoru 9d was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd Degree, by the Japanese government.
Japanese go players began a goodwill visit to China on July 20. It was led by Ōgawa Tomoko 2d, best known as the author of The Endgame in the Ishi Press Elementary Go Series. The delegation visited destinations from the south to the capital, starting in Hong Kong and proceeding to Guangzhou, Shanghai, and finally Beijing (pictured). Go Review detailed the visit with a go record interspersed with sightseeing details.
The 17th European Go Congress took place in Sprendlingen, Germany, beginning on July 21. Jürgen Mattern went 8-0 to win the event for the sixth time. Takagawa Kaku 9d attended, also visiting Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. He played the top contenders in a simul, beating them all at 2 stones. He speculated that 3 stones was probably right for a one-on-one match. Takagawa was taken aback by the fact that the players recorded the simul games as they went along - something he had never seen in Japan, and he seemed displeased by the added time it took.
Japanese goodwill delegation visits Beijing, China
Photo from Go Review