August 1991

Spectators who showed up at the Tokyo Prince Hotel on August 3 for the final round of the Fujitsu Cup got an unexpected disappointment. Qian Yuping and Kobayashi Koichi both failed to appear due to illness. Cho Chikun took first-place honors by default, Qian finishing second. O Rissei was awarded third, Kobayashi finishing fourth. Instead of seeing Cho play Qian for the title, the spectators watched Cho play (and lose) an exhibition game against Nakazawa Ayako, women's Honinbo.

On August 19th Cho Chikun picked up his second title of the month by beating Ishida Yoshio in the final game of the Ryusei, a new cable-TV tournament. Cho won by outplaying Ishida in the endgame, which used to be Ishida's specialty.

And Kobayashi Koichi recovered in time to defend his Gosei title. He lost the fourth game by a half a point after holding a ten-point lead, which is uncharacteristic for an acknowledged master at sewing up won games. But then he settled down and won the fifth game on August 27 by resignation, thereby disposing of Kobayashi Satoru's challenge for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, on August 8 Rin Kaiho defeated Ishii Kunio to finish the Meijin League with a perfect 8-0 record, a feat not accomplished since Ishida Yoshio did it in 1973. The Meijin title match between Rin and Kobayashi Koichi starts September 11 in Singapore. Since Rin has won the Meijin title eight times in the past, and since he beat Kobayashi in the last title fight between them (the 1990 Tengen), Kobayashi has plenty of reason to be apprehensive.

Aoki Kikuyo, now 4-dan, who lost her Women's Meijin title in February, has been on a winning spree. From May 1 to August 14 she reeled off 18 straight victories. Her streak was finally broken by O Meien (8-dan) on August 19, but on August 26 she defeated Miyazaki Shimako (2-dan) to capture the Women's Kakusei title.

Miyazaki Shimako, incidentally, will lead a Japanese tour group to Washington D.C. and Orlando Florida October 10 to 16.

This year's amateur Honinbo tournament was won by Tanaka Masato, an unseeded player from Shikoku. There were tears of joy in Tanaka's eyes after he squeaked past Miura Hiroshi, Japan's representative in the 1990 World Amateur Championship, by half a point in the semifinal round, then upset Kikuchi Yasuro in the final.

In the second Japan Computer Go Championship held August 10, Janusz Kraszek's Star of Poland inexplicably resigned on the brink of victory in the deciding game, giving the Championship to Don Liu's Dragon 3.