Keith L. Arnold, hka, with Patrick Bannister | Published on 9/17/2023
On September 10 the finals of the 19th Amateur Hon'inbo Tournament were held, and won, for the ninth time, by Kikuchi Yoshirō (pictured, left).
We pick up on the ongoing title defense of Rin Kaihō Meijin, against challenger Ishida Yoshio Hon'inbo. Recall from last month Ishida entered the match with all the momentum, after winning the league undefeated. And, at the end of the month, he won the first game by jigo. On September 5-6 and 13-14 he secured games two and three. A new Meijin-Hon'inbo seemed certain to be crowned. However, on September 25-26, with his back to the wall, the Meijin delayed the inevitable by the narrowest of margins, winning by the second jigo of the match. (Game records: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4)
We are unable to find the precise date, but sometime around here, the composition of next year's Meijin League was being decided. Iwamoto Kaoru (pictured, right) secured one of the three open spaces - at the age of 70. In honor of this achievement, he would receive the Fighting Spirit prize in the year end awards.
The month ended on September 30 when 38 players from 10 British clubs gathered in Reading for a tournament, which was won by T Mark Hall.
Photos from Go Review, game records courtesy of SmartGoOne